Service: Would You Give Up $200 to Get Dirty?

Friday, 17 July 2009

Service: Would You Give Up $200 to Get Dirty?
Every summer since the summer I was 14 (7 years) I've paid $200 of my hard earned money to get dirty and serve. I've lived for a week in a high school chorus room, taken cold showers, eaten ham sandwiches for lunch (which by the way, I hate), and gotten so many bruises that I looked like someone beat me. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.

[Summer of '05]

Salkehatchie is something so undescribable! Sure, the hot summer sun is uncomfortable and the construction work is hard, but by the end of the week you don't want to leave. You make friends that last a lifetime, your relationship with God becomes stronger, and it's is just all around amazing to see what a bunch of teenagers can do in a week.

[We re-shingled and built the porch.]

I know that to many of you, this seems like something that is nothing but work and no play. But trust me, I've had more fun at Salkehatchie than I have at the beach with friends. In addition to the construction work, we swim, we play games, have cook outs, and heck, half the time we have paint and water wars while we're working.

It's things like this that make me so glad that I do this every summer.

Have you ever paid to go on a service trip?

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Comments (9)

Every service trip I've ever been on, save one, I had to pay for. That's the way it should be, IMO. The only one I didn't have to pay for was paid for completely by donations from the students at my university after hurricane Katrina.
- 7/17/2009 9:25 PM
- princess1505angel@xanga (message)
- reply
You probably don't like ham because Pork is not biblically food.
- 7/17/2009 10:48 PM
- TheGiantSlayer@xanga (message)
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You have so much heart!! It's great that you found just the thing that makes your heart sing!!
- 7/18/2009 12:55 AM
- LoBornlyte@xanga (message)
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i've gone to brethren work camps, which sound like basically the same thing as what you're doing, and they are seriously some of the best experiences of my life. you meet amazing people (people at camp with you and the people you're helping) and get to worship in new ways.
i always left feeling ten times closer to god, and going home was almost disappointing after a week of that.
- 7/18/2009 1:08 AM
- kleptos_get_it_free@xanga (message)
- reply
so here we call them mission trips.. and I have done a couple of them with YWAM. The best one ever was going to Tijuana and building houses. It was a fantastic experience, and my hubby and I will be going together in March. And yes, we get to fund raise to go... to me that has always been part of the "mission experience".
Once you get bitten by the mission bug, you've got it for life.
- 7/18/2009 6:20 AM
- JJPrint3rd@xanga (message)
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well put. yes, we often pay to serve~
- 7/19/2009 4:00 AM
- ANT_L@xanga (message)
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I'd rather spend my money on college books and internet service. That way, I can become a police officer to protect and help ALL people in my jurisdiction, not just those who are similar to myself. Being able to love people who don't necessarily share your opinions is just as important as your belief system.
- 7/19/2009 6:39 AM
- Aiyoku_Angel@xanga (message)
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@TheGiantSlayer@xanga - I don't like ham because it's gross. Nothing to do with the bible.
- 8/1/2009 2:12 AM
- X_Beautifully_Fragile_X@xanga (message)
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@X_Beautifully_Fragile_X@xanga - its gross because it isn't food.
- 8/1/2009 3:57 AM
- TheGiantSlayer@xanga (message)
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About the Author

From: X_Beautifully_Fragile_X@xanga
Name: Ashley
Location: Greenville, South Carolina, United States
About Me: I'm just a normal small town girl, with no intentions of leaving this small town. I like it well enough. I love cameras of any kind, music, and my violin. Oh, and I also love Shane, the boy i'm marrying in a year. I'm a middle child with a 30 year old and a 13 year old sister. We look nothing alike. I never know how to finish these, so i'll just say hello to everyone. =]
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