After being commissioned at worship this morning, our Mission Team piled into our cars and headed to New Bern.

We all arrived safely, with quite the armada of cars.

It felt like just yesterday many of us were here at the church.

The crew was greeted with a delicious pasta dinner made by Bethann!

To our surprise, our summer rules were still on the wall in the common room.

After a night of devotion, poker, and football, the team headed to bed to rest up for our first work day.

Before we sign off... I feel I should mention that since this is an adult mission trip, there probably won’t be the usual funny bits or recaps that we have come to expect in the summer. We are, needless to say, all mature adults who are taking every moment seriously. So with that, have a good night and enjoy the last few photos that were taken today.

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“I haven’t read the blog...”

Samuel Gray

Reader Since: N/A

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Our first day of work began with a wonderful breakfast spread with eggs, donuts, bagels, yogurt, and more! Bethann is truly spoiling us...

We reconnected with Jeremy, our construction coordinator, and picked up supplies before heading to our two sites for the day.

Before even getting there, we had our first injury of the trip!

The first was a house we worked on back in the summer, but a lot of progress had been done.

Team 1 mainly laid flooring, while Bobby Srour installed the plumbing in a bathroom.

Before:

After:

The second team joined a crew of professionals and volunteers running wire at a new home build.

After a few hours lugging wire over 15ft beams and under the floor, the crew finished all that was needed and headed back to the first site to help out some more.

After a lovely chili dinner and devotional, the crew hit the hay to get ready for a cold day tomorrow.

As a side note... It is getting pretty cold down here. We might even have some ice on the roads tomorrow morning. Could you imagine? Maryland hasn’t had that in so long. Wish we were up there in the warmer weather that we left behind!

Also, these pictures were taken:

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“Sillier when Juliette and the gals were doing it.”

-Anonymous

Reader Since: 2021

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We slept in a bit to ensure the roads would be safe before heading back to work.

The dump closed before we could get there yesterday, so the day started with a trip there.

The group split in two again, the first team going back to Boone to continue making progress on the house.

Bobby, Bobby, Jan, and JohnPaul (BBJJP) went to a new home that needed bathroom flooring replaced.

We all made it back safe and said goodbye to the Trenkamps who are starting school tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we are working half the day and then exploring New Bern! Thank you for the continued prayers as we serve this week.

Also, these photos were taken:

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“The Blog has been the source of all joy and happiness for my time on this earth.”

-JohnPaul D’Andrea

Reader Since: the dawn of time

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The morning started like any other and we made it to the worksite by 9.

The crew went back to our two projects yesterday to make more progress.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

We left after half a days work to explore downtown New Bern!

We couldn’t end the day without celebrating the Birthday Boy!!!!!

We headed to bed early for another full work day tomorrow. Of course, we didn’t get up to anything tiring.

Thumb up counter:

Also, these photos were taken:

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“Of all my mission trips... I like the college one the best.”

-Someone on the trip

Reader Since: 4 BCE

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The crew awoke to another amazing breakfast and many tried some baked oatmeal for the first time. Kristy gave us some history about the area and their ongoing work. They have 7 active houses that they are working on, around 50 approved for work, and over 400 applications just in their county. The need is great!!!

Before we left for the day, we took a look at the weather and saw snow in NC on Saturday morning and snow in DC Saturday afternoon. So, we decided to head back tomorrow after lunch just to be safe.

JohnPaul and Chris were sent on a flooring mission at a new home.

The rest of the team headed back to Boone to make even more progress.

We worked a little later into the day seeing as we were heading out a bit early.

On our final night, Bethann cooked up some stuffed acorn squash. It was delicious! Sam made it back safely to Maryland and we are praying that his presentation tomorrow goes well!!!

Also, these photos were taken:

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“Does anybody even read these blogs?”

- The Rev. Christopher Michael McAuliffe

Reader Since: 2019

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We awoke for our final day of the trip and headed to our sights to finish what we could before heading back to DC.

With that, our week’s work was done and we made our way back before the winter storm. Everyone made it back safely to family, friends, and pets. Thank you to everyone who followed along as we served the people of New Bern. We will definitely be back and look forward what God is calling us to next!