FUMC PSJ Youth Ministry

A tearful start to our day… I am not going to relive it because I will just cry again, but do know that we all will miss our family on the hill greatly. After our tearful goodbyes, lots of hugs and promises to return, off we went to Manchester. Unfortunately, we did not get to eat at the Airport Diner as we had planned, but McDonalds across the street handled us just fine. Moose and cousin Bill Moran met us there to pick up Lindsay and Billy. They are off to Cape Cod for a visit. Then, arrival at the airport, more tears as we said goodbye to Bill and Andrew, and lots of trying to figure out how we can get them home in our suitcases! Linda and the boys got their rental car and headed off to Conneticut for a visit with their family. The rest of us made it through security, where not only Bob and Ada were hand screened, but Mark and Jobie got stopped as well for a couple of little things! Once done, everyone scattered to get Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, do last minute shopping and now we are awaiting the arrival of our plane.
We hate to see the week end. It has been fantastic. However, we are ready to see our family. Thanks to all who have prayed, who have provided transportation and for those parents who allowed us to bring their kids to His Mansion. We love each and everyone of you!

Today was our last full day of work and of course we started with a great breakfast and fellowship with all of our family here on the hill. Meal times are such a special time here. Multiple tables of about 8 and meals served family style. Our kids will share special thoughts about it when they get back I am sure! The kids all spread throughout the dining room and ate with different people each meal.
Did you ever think that scooping poop would be the job of choice?! For four of our girls, that indeed was what they chose! One job today was moving the hay/manure/mud pile from one location to another. These four CHOSE to do the filling of the truck and then the unloading. So proud of them to do something totally different! They did get the truck stuck in the mud, but were able to get it out with the help of Hank. Jobie, Linda and two other girls worked on a landscaping job which was fun. When it rained it was even more hilarious! Madison and Hailey had quite the mud fight when they were all done, which is shown in the gallery. Mikayla and Lindsay continued working in the kitchen.
The boys continued work on the road building. Apparently, Billy is quite adept at swinging a pick ax, but swung so hard that he ended up breaking it! I think the boys are seriously exhausted. While they had fun, they worked very hard! Mike worked on more computers and while the folks on the hill are thankful, Mike’s frustrated that he still has one thing he couldn’t fix!
Today, our group led Prayer and Share. What a wonderful testimony to what God is doing in the lives of these children. Not only did we lead great singing, several kids shared testimony of what God has done in their lives this week. Billy, Lindsay, Madison and Kaitlyn shared how God spoke to them this week and how they now know that God will always be there for them. It was a very special experience! Several residents also shared how seeing these young people with such enthusiasm and such a love of Jesus really gave them hope. God has pulled this group together here. While it makes us happy, we are also sad to leave tomorrow to rejoin the real world. This truly is a special place.
After dinner, we were blessed to have a very special devotion time led by Billy. Tonight he washed the feet of everyone in the group (well, those who were willing!). Then, he shared his testimony. God has been doing some serious work in Billy’s heart over the last year. He helped all of us to see that outward appearances aren’t always what’s inside a person. God has a plan for each and every one of us, but it is up to us to listen to Him and follow Him. I’m not sure that many dry eyes were in attendance at this devotion time and while it is never easy to see our kids cry, I can assure you that it is because they all really got it. Our kids aren’t perfect. They are struggling with what God is asking of them, but the great news is, they are listening. We are so unbelievably blessed to be able to work with these kids. This is the last mission trip for a few of our kids as God is calling them in other directions. We pray that they will continue to open their eyes, ears and hearts to God’s calling.
I have tears in my eyes as I write this tonight. While we certainly are looking forward to being with our families again, we are sad to leave this place. God’s presence is so strong here. Perhaps it is because the outside worldly influences aren’t around. Perhaps it is because everyone here on the hill are believers who are working towards God’s calling in their lives. Perhaps because we have been accepted without question as members of the His Mansion family and been shown the love of Christ. Whatever it is… we are changed people. You cannot leave this place without a change in your life. I cannot wait to see what God will continue to do in each of our lives from this day forward.

What an amazingly beautiful glorious day! The sun shone brightly. The temperatures warmed. We ate well. And best of all, NO injuries were had! We were more than ready to enjoy our day off!
After breakfast today, we took our traditional group photo by our friend, Andrew. Of course, trying to wrangle all 22 of us was no easy task. I wish I could post all of the pictures that were taken because most were hilarious!
After the photo, it was time to head off to Lost River Gorge, minus Bob and Ada who were staying back to visit with friends. So, we loaded the two vans. Dave successfully started “Jonah”. Mike, however, when trying to start “The Ark”, wasn’t quite as successful. However, our very own mechanic, Dave, grabbed what we needed, got the Ark started and off we went. Of course we didn’t make it too far without having to stop at a Dunkin Donuts! While the kids knew the trip was at least an hour and half more, they all got drinks and we didn’t make it very much farther before bathroom stops started! After a couple of those and a stop to purchase lunch fixins, we finally made our final way to Lost River Gorge. A delicious lunch and then it was time to meet, Jack, our guide for the afternoon. A very knowledgeable young man who visited the gorge every year of his life, gave us a great tour!
The ¾ mile trail is all boardwalk, but consisted of over 1000 stair steps! To say this place is beautiful is an understatement. When downloading pictures tonight, we have well over 1000 pictures from several cameras. Difficult to pick which are the best. Along the trail, there are eleven natural caves that you can choose to go through. Of course, our kids did every single one of them. Most of the adults did too, but Linda and I felt a couple were a bit too narrow and scary for us! Many consisted of climbing and sometimes crawling on your hands and knees. One specific cave called the Lemon Squeezer (apparently fairly well known) has a “gauge” at the beginning to be sure you will actually fit! Billy and Josh referred to Dave as old at one point. The gauntlet tossed down, he had no choice but to pick it up and squeeze his way through. While it may have been a tight fit, he did it!!
Ten of the eleven caves you could still hear (and sometimes see) the Lost River, but there was one that was completely silent. You could hear nothing… unless of course you were the group from FUMC-PSJ and then you could hear lots of giggling and squealing! We all ended up dirty and a bit wet, but this was a fantastic day!
Today, there was such an overwhelming thought of how great our Lord is. The beauty of this gorge was do beautifully done by Him. While certainly our guide gave us all of the geological reasons that the gorge is the way the gorge is, we know without a doubt, that God orchestrated the whole thing. His handiwork is like no other. We were in awe of Him today!
Today was the day Mike and I celebrated 20 years of marriage and my normally non-romantic man did something that blew me away… and he had the entire group in on it. At the end of the trail today, Mike got down on one knee and proposed to me all over again… silly purple plastic ring and all! Then, he had Billy officiate in a special little ceremony. It was beautiful and so very special to have all of our youth group in on it. The only thing that could have made it better was to have Taylor with us, but she has talked to us several times and that made it wonderful.
Tonight, we ate again at High Tide restaurant. This time, joined by Bob, Ada, Bud and Marty for the ice cream portion of it. What fun! Bill Kurtenbach from the hill spent the entire day with us and we just consider him a member of our youth family. It has been a huge blessing to spend so much time with him. He’s the guy in the photos who you don’t recognize!
It’s been a great day. I know the kids will all sleep well, appreciate the showers, and be ready to go forth and enjoy our last full day of work here at His Mansion. This group is the most amazing group of young people who has risen to all that God called them to. He is certainly proud, as are all the members of the youth leadership team.
Thanks for your continued prayers.

Another beautiful day here in New Hampshire, but this time… it was all sun! Many of us actually made it to breakfast without jackets! It was fantastic.
Work assignments today had the guys working on painting, making more “loam”, and landscaping. Josh and Nic did painting, apparently by a nest of yellow jackets. I only know this because Nic came running over to the garden to ask me if he was allergic to them. While I told him no, I also reminded him that as long as they left them alone, it shouldn’t be a problem. His only reply was “too late!” Mike continued to work on all of the computers on the hill. Interesting combination of PCs and Macs. It became apparent while working on Stan’s computer that Stan has totally gotten used to his iPad when he touched the screen of the Macbook in an effort to get it to do something! :0) William and Matt worked with a resident of the making of loam (and thanks Ron for setting me straight on that!). Dave continued multiple auto repairs… even got to work on his favorite type of car, a Subaru. Actually, he really doesn’t like them! The rest of the males worked on a landscaping project with Hank.
Linda and her girls once again headed up the hill to do more pruning. While they did have to walk the entire way up, it was close enough to the “summit” that they did walk to the summit in honor of Tiffany! Tiffany, you sure are being missed this trip! The pictures from where they were working are beautiful. Quite a gorgeous area.
Jobie and her girls worked back in the garden. We harvested rhubarb today, did lots of cultivating, scuffflehoeing and even some planting of beets. It was a seriously beautiful sunny day so all of us got quite a bit of sun.
Mikayla and Lindsay were back in the kitchen. Mikayla told me she made pastries for lunch today… was a little bit of a stretch, but she did help make several cakes to celebrate Mike and Jobie’s 20th wedding anniversary with our friends on the hill. It was quite special
Tonight’s devotion was led by William and discussed how we all dealt with talking about our faith and love of Jesus with our friends who may not be believers. This devotion brought forth lots of comments and discussion about how important it is to share your beliefs even if it isn’t popular. We all know that will we are on the hill, this is so easy to do because everyone who is here is indeed a believer. The whole place runs because everyone trusts that God will take care of us. However, when we are out in the real world, it is often easy to keep quiet because we don’t want to have people look on us weird. A verse in the bible was shared about how Jesus has said that if we acknowledge Him here on earth, He will also acknowledge us in heaven. It was a great reminder to truly live as we believe.
Tonight was a different night for us. The kids had free time watched over by wonderful Linda, Dave and Mark. Mike and Jobie were asked to join Hank and Cathy at their home for a little fellowship celebrating our anniversary. We are so thankful to have leaders in our group who support us in this little time away. We love you guys!
Tomorrow we are all off to Lost River Gorge (www.findlostriver.com) to spend our day off. No swimming, no diving and nothing too dangerous! The weather looks like it will be fantastic again!
I apologize for no pictures uploaded tonight. I will try and get some up before we leave in the morning. It’s been a long day and I am ready for bed. Thanks again for all your prayers and your fun comments. The kids have loved hearing from you this way