PNCC Camp Twinlow

We're back from our 2011 Mission Trip. For the second year in a row, we joined the PNCC at Camp Twinlow in Rathdrum, Idaho. We had a good time last year, but THIS YEAR WAS BETTER. Everything went JUST RIGHT this year.

Look at us in our Shirts!

Dakota took the lead in designing our shirts this year, and she did a fantastic job. They say "Know God, Know Peace. No God, No Peace" on the front, and then "I desire to do you will my god. Your law is written on my heart." Or something like that, from Psalms 40:8 I believe.

One thing that I really enjoyed this year was working at the camp to improve the camp itself. Here's a lumber shed we built. While this was going up, Dakota and I worked on cleaning out the fireplace.

Before

After

Elderhelp program

Of course one of the best projects is working with Elderhelp. We had the perfect job: doing light yardwork for man who had Parkinsons. Tim and I were out back stacking wood when the man’s wife came out. She was crying. She called us angels and was very specific about giving all of us lots of hugs. She kept calling me “Big Papa” which I kind of liked. When we finished up and drove out of there, Tim and I agreed that jobs don’t get much sweeter than that one.

P.E.T. Project

Another project that we worked on was the P.E.T. project. We drove about 45 minutes into Spokane to this INCREDIBLE work shop where assembled and box these "Personal Energy Transports", which are three wheel wagons with pedals where the handlebars should be. These enable the legless in third world countries to become productive members of their communities. We had a blast building these things and it just felt great!

Human Rights Institute

Our third outreach was to volunteer at the Human Rights Institute in Spokane. We did a lot of light renovation and mural painting for them. The work that they are doing is good stuff and we had a lot of fun with it.

JD working

JD and I spent an evening just cleaning the beach stairs. It seems counter-intuitive to spend your vacation weeding someone else's property, but there was so much satisfaction in it, it really brings peace to one's soul. While we were working on it we watched the camp counselors doing their own challenge: they had to build a raft and use it to cross the lake. They got about 1/2 way across before the raft came apart and they had to swim the rest of the way.

Sunset

Shannon and Me

We have become very close with our friends up in the Methow Valley. Here's a a shout out to Shannon, Dylan, Tim, Hannah. We miss you guys already.

Zam and Me

Campfires were like a party every night. Much more so than last year. Tyler and Zam, the new management, ran a tight ship this year and it really showed. It was basically all high-schoolers this year at camp, so the level of maturity was way up. Much less baby-sitting, much more interesting discussions and serious work.

Super China Buffet II

Again, we were so sad to leave! Everyone napped on the way home, but of course we had to stop at Super China Buffet II and chow down! At some point I realized that this was the best week I had had all year, and probably would remain that way until next year when we decide to go again.