St. James’ Youth Group’s Workcamp Trip 2008

Silver Lake Dunes WorkcampShelby, Michigan

(Oceana County, Western Michigan)

June 21 – 30, 2008

The St. James’ Workcampers

Theme: Love Out Loud

The daily devotions and evening programs built on the overall theme "Love Out

Loud", based on the scripture in 1 John 3:18:

"Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions."

Making a cross to take to the camp

The finished cross

Reflecting the workcamp theme “Love Out Loud”, our cross was covered with sheet music of Christian praise songs used in workcamp. Over that we pasted hearts with our names in them. Two wooden hearts had miniature speakers with recorded greetings and songs; we cut them out of store-bought greeting cards.

Oceana County• Land area 540 sq mi, population 26,873 (49.7 per sq mi)• Grew during the lumber era, which came to a halt

• * Link to video about the county’s asparagus woes in 2006: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5524001554892548822&q=asparagus

• ** US Census Bureau QuickFacts, (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/26/26127.html)

• Now agricultural: – second largest fruit tree acreage in the

state (cherries, peaches, apples); rich fruit belt especially known for apples

– Asparagus (“Asparagus Capital of the World”) competing with South America*

– Strawberries• Migrant workers settling there; Latinos

growing in numbers, 14.4% in 2006** • median household income $35,307

Harvesting asparagus

The finished crossThe school we stayed in

Our sleeping arrangements, on the floor of a classroom

First meeting in the school gym

Presenting our cross at the beginning of the week

Some Sites St. James’ People worked on . . .

Some Sites St. James’ People Worked On . . .

Some Sites St. James’ People Worked On . . .

Some Sites St. James’ People Worked On . . .

Some Sites St. James’ People Worked On . . .

Some Sites St. James’ People Worked On . . .

Some Sites St. James’ People Worked On . . .

Some Sites St. James’ People Worked On . . .

Some Sites St. James’ People Worked On . . .

Some Sites St. James’ People Worked On . . .

Some Sites St. James’ People Worked On . . .

Some Sites St. James’ People Worked On . . .

Shelby Workcamp Stats

• number of youth participants: 280 • number of adult participants: 61• number of youth groups attending: 17• from 11 states (Ind., Ill., Ky., Md., Mich., Minn.,

Neb., N.C., O., Pa., Wisc.)• number of worksites : 33 homes• volunteer hours of service (30 hrs x 341

participants) = 10,230 combined hours!

Lunch and worksite devotions

One Site in Depth . . .

One Site in Depth . . .

We built a small deck with stairs here,

and a large deck with stairs here . . .

One Site in Depth . . .

. . . painted the chicken-coop,

. . . and re-painted this deck.

. . . painted all ceilings inside,

One Site in Depth . . .

Painting ceilings

One Site in Depth . . .

Painting the existing deck

One Site in Depth . . .

Now, that stands out!

One Site in Depth . . .

Preparing post-holes for the new large (10’ x 10’) deck

One Site in Depth . . .

Large deck half done

One Site in Depth . . .

Large deck completed – great for a table!

One Site in Depth . . .

Smaller deck (5’ x 5’) completed

One Site in Depth . . .

What they had at each door before we built the two decks

One Site in Depth . . .

Chickens livin’ in style!

One Site in Depth . . .

Lunch for the double-crew

One Site in Depth . . .

Noon-day Bible study

Things We Remember from our Trip“Footprints in our Minds”

- our residents- becoming closer to our youth group- the sand dunes - Thursday night program - eaten alive by mosquitos - the long drive - excitement on the residents' faces when they saw the finished work

(These memories were written by our

workcampers at the end of the trip)

More Memories . . .

- midnight run to the woods - creamers in the cafeteria (main food source?)- time with our crews - hurrying to eat in the restaurant by the dunes - a calf chewing on my pants - GET DOWN -- the energetic intro to the evening programs- connecting with God - the swings at Cedar Point on the way back to Maryland

More Memories . . .

- trying to slide down the dune on cardboard and wiping out - sign seen in Shelby: "There are only two things we can offer our children: roots and wings"

- "wanna buy a duck?" game - foot washing in an evening program - people we met (inviting and generous)

More Memories . . .

- ultimate frisbee- playing in the championship game - so many animals on the work site - playing with the heifers - building a cool cross together as a youth group to take to camp - seeing the Harbor Springs group again

More Memories . . .

- building a great deck - the roller coasters at Cedar Point - our resident's children - baby cows - songs - the classroom we slept in - Frisbee skills? - the lesson on forgiveness - swimming at the dunes

More Memories . . .

- beating the boys in football - ultimate frisbee team - "It's a Cinnapretzel!" - chicken noises in the night - "Really? Really?" - Country Farm Dairy (tour and ice cream) - clothes/trash pile in the guys' room - The Quest (sand dunes) - good love

More Memories . . .

- chilling with the bros - triple crew - whipped - meeting my crew - hearing real-life experiences of God in our lives - the group devotions

Additional Information:

Group Workcamps, Inc.

http://www.groupworkcamps.com/

More Pics

are on the St. James’ Youth Group website

http://www.stjamespotomac.org/youth

(click on “Workcamps 2000-”)