Mission Trip - Day Three

I know you all are waiting for a food report so you can rest your worries – it’s still good. Today for breakfast, sweet potato pancakes! They even had blackstrap molasses if you cared to try it. Some of you won’t know what that is but when I was a kid that and Karo were the only kinds of syrup I knew existed. This is sugar cane country and they are harvesting right now. That’s where the molasses comes from. This first picture is the cafeteria where we have our meals. (I have no idea why this paragraph is blue and underlined!)

Lunch was equally as good – turkey and gravy, creamed potatoes and green peas, yeast rolls, (they always have a salad bar) and blueberry cheesecake. Now you know how good for you blueberries are so I thought if I turned that down my health would surely decline.


Ellen, one of the long term volunteers, and I are making drapes for the stage in the old school gymnasium. The stage opening is 20’ wide and about 100” in height. We have gotten the two panels sewn together and drapery “header” sewn on the top and are beginning to pin the pleats. We aren’t using the three pronged pleaters but the small single pins instead so we will sew the pleats down and they will be hung on wooden circles that have hooks in the bottom. All of this goes on a great long pipe across the ceiling of the opening. The fabric is navy blue, very thick and really, really heavy with all that width and height. I feel like I’m wrestling with it just to get it still enough to sew on! Tomorrow I'll try to post some pictures of the sewing room - those of you who are stitchers will love it!



This next picture is one end of the warehouse where the kits and supplies are stored.













Those of us working in the warehouse sit at stations like this to make the kits. Others are counting, boxing, and labeling boxes so that they are ready to ship at a moment's notice.












Across from our dorm out in the bayou are shrimp boats and the crop in the field across from the bayou is sugar cane. If you’ve never been in the deep south it is just like you picture it when you read Gone With The Wind except I haven’t seen any Spanish Moss here. Yesterday we had a frost but today it’s warm and windy. December 3rd and it’s in the 70s…I know you folks in Michigan and Indiana are jealous! There’s a beautiful gazebo that goes out over the bayou but they warn you not to “wade” in the water – a picture of a 7 foot ‘gator hangs in the lounge to remind you of this.



There are some nice areas under the trees where you can go for meditation and prayer.
There’s a feeling here that I wish I could capture for you. I can’t describe it well but perhaps this will help you to understand…..you know that as you walk to work each day God is walking beside you.