Volunteers: What a Blessing!

Dennis and Pastor Mike from Charles City

I have just finished up a 2 week run of overseeing volunteers: what a blessing this has been for me! With the building of Schlichting Inn, we have put out the word to our churches that we are looking for help; and they have responded.

The Meriden Crew putting up siding

I am always amazed when a group of men will give up their Saturdays to come to camp and work hard and long. This winter we have had groups of men from Muscatine, Adel, Arthur, Oakdale, Meriden, Pella, Sheldon, Ankeny,Clear Lake and the Johnston area. Everyone of these group of men come with different skills and a variety of interests. During this one or two days of work, they accomplish more than our staff can do in a week. They are available to do work that is heavy and tiresome, freeing up our permanent staff to concentrate on some technical parts of the construction process (geothermal, heating, cooling, plumbing, wiring).


The Pella men sheetrocking the meeting room

In addition to these group of men who have given up their Saturdays, we have had 2 groups of young people here to work at the camp. One, a group from Dordt college in Sioux Center and the other, a high school group from the Pella Free Church who gave up their spring break days to come and help us in the Inn and around camp.

The Pella High School Group and Pastor Greg

I have to tell you, I have drug my feet when I get a request for a work project from high schoolers; it is usually the adults who want their kids to experience a service project of some kind; the students are usually not too hot about it. NOT SO WITH THESE TWO GROUPS! I have never seen such a faithful group of kids... and they gave up their week off of school to help me out!! That is a huge blessing to me.

The students cleaned out and re-mulched all of our flower beds, they hauled over 200 sheets of 12' x 4 1/2' 5/8 sheetrock up to the second story of the Inn, they put on siding, insulated, sheetrocked, cleaned, swept, and organized our tools and supplies in the Inn, made targets for 24 hours retreat, hauled picnic tables, hauled wood, picked up trash, pulled wire, mudded nail holes, set up archery range, and anything else I could think up! They worked their tails off.


Dordt College Students

I actually loved being around the kids; they always came and asked me, "What do you want me to do next?" I call that Iniative! Very few young people have that gift. It truely is a gift that will send these young people to the head of the line when they start looking for full time jobs. There is nothing that exhausts me more than having to track down workers to tell them their next assignement.

We see the same thing during the summer with our paid staff; there are those who want to work, and then there are those who just want paid. A big difference. It is the workers who we invite back the next year.

A free piece of advice to parents: Instill a strong work ethic in your kid early; don't allow them to make excuses, to be lazy, to be sloppy or slothful. It never hurt a child to push them a bit... or alot! Kids want to be challenged, they want to do something big, and they can't and won't do anything sitting in front of their video game machine. They should be taught life skills that will go with them into adulthood. A parent of the Pella students wrote me a note after her son returned home: "My son especially noted your willingness to teach him and work alongside him. He mentioned you were almost a grandpa figure for him!" Man... that blessed my heart! A grandpa figure!! and at 54 years old! (I felt like a 80 year old grandpa trying to keep up with these young, strong, able bodied young people. I was determined not to be outworked).

I always have many projects up my sleeve for the volunteer! I can use a bunch of good men, women and children to help me build and keep the camp looking good.

earldtaylor@yahoo.com

The New Look in Church: No Steeples or Stainglass

I was visiting with my mother-in-law the other night and asked about her church. She replied, "Our pastor is leaving. We can't seem to attract any young families. There are 3 or 4 couples and a handful of widow ladies, and one young family." We talked further and she said, "But our building is worth a million bucks." She went on to say the church building was right next to the new mall in West Des Moines and that the city would love to own this piece of property.

It was a no-brainer for me, "Sell the building, hire you a young pastor with a family, pay him a decent wage so he can work full time at the ministry and set up church in a store front or school," I told her. "We could never do that," she said with a shocked look on her face. I said, "Well, then figure on dieing a very slow death as a church!" But I understood her shock; here was a group of older folks who have attended this church all their lives, and had no idea of how to break out of their slow death march and create a new look, a new perspective of ministry, a model that could be attractive to young families. The rut they were in was nothing more than a grave with both ends opened up.

I visited the Onawa Free Church yesterday. Quite the opposite from my mother-in-law's scenario. This established church recently sold their old conventional church building in a hard to find residential area of Onawa. They sold the church building, bought a former car dealership building out on the highway, and are now busting at the seams. The men of the church have created a very lovely, usable space complete with sanctuary, offices, Sunday school rooms, kitchen and fellowship area. They have a huge parking lot complete with enough parking lot lights to light up every nook and cranny of the site. And to top it all off, before the ink was dry on the purchase of the car dealership, another company came along and offered to buy the service building across the street from them; they were able to get into their new building for next to nothing.

I liked their approach; it was not normal or conventional, but the leadership of the church understood they need more space, more visibility, and a facility on ground floor. As a result, the Lord has blessed them abundantly. They just purchased an adjacent building to the church to create a youth center; all for penny's on the dollar for new construction. We pray for Pastor Tim and the congregation that they will be salt and light to those who drive down main street Onawa. Great move!

Don't get me wrong: I love my mother-in-law, and I pray the best for this little Baptist church next to the mall. I am not asking them to throw out their piano and organ; I am not asking them to preach a lighter gospel; I am not asking them to stop meeting the needs of the seniors. I just wanted the church to look beyond their personal interests and needs and to see the fields white unto harvest; To place their church right in the middle of where people are living.

That is our prayer at the camp; to always look for more ways to preach the gospel. To be attractive enough to the unbeliever that he or she will give us a chance to share with them. And to be available when opportunities come our way to respond quickly and with the purpose of presenting the gospel message to those in need and for those looking for answers. I see the crumbling economy as a wonderful opener to share what God's Word says.