MMAP Flovilla End Week 3

Our project here has officially ended, but since there were 10 more benches that had been sanded and had just the primer coat of paint on, we decided to stay a couple of days on our own and finish them up. We helped our contact couple, Ken and Judy, paint and on Friday we got the first coat on, then Saturday we got the second coat on. So that brought the total to 29 pews completed! There are one hundred more to go! Since our crew had the trial and error, they are figuring the next crews will be able to get even more finished. So three more MMAP projects!

On Sunday, we went with another couple to find a church they had seen online and were interested in attending. We could not find it, and stopped at another church to see if they had heard of it; and they had not, but invited us to their service. We did not find the other church, so went back to the church we had stopped at. Their service was starting in 15 minutes. What a joy, to be led to another great time of worship with black believers. Since February is Black History Month, which I have ignored in the past, the service had some special parts. The Zion Awesome Angels, a group of young girls, performed sign language to one of the old negro spirituals, then several successful black businessmen, including the first black woman to receive a Physical Therapy degree at GA University spoke, encouraging the young people to work hard, follow their dreams, and have confidence. Great advise for any young person of any race! Then the young people put on a skit about Rosa Parks, and how she was taken off the bus. It was cute...funny, well done and made the point. The guest pastor spoke on Daniel 6, then started to sing the old negro sermon on the passage. I followed the verses and was impressed and excited to hear this rendition of the story of Daniel. We have a small book of old negro sermons (this one is not included in our book) that are passed down through generations, and wondered if they were still used.....and they are! I am almost jealous of the great heritage these folks have, and after hearing the stories the speakers told, realized that yes, they do have something to rejoice in and celebrate.

Monday morning Paul and I were able to move the 10 benches back to the tabernacle, using a nifty "lift" that the resident manager had devised for that purpose.



Truthfully, Paul was having too much fun!!

Ken and Judy had showed us the original spring that fed the camp back a hundred years ago, so I went back Monday afternoon to take pictures,



and checked out rooms at the hotel here on the campground,

(loved the old linoleum in this room!)


This is the hotel lounge.

Then watched a bluebird, who has been obsessed with his reflection in our mirror for the last couple of days.



He would not let me get to close and the window was dirty, so it is a little blurry. He would start at the top, go to the bottom and then hit against the mirror as he traveled back up to the top of the mirror. He was doing this for a couple of days, and for about an hour a day!! Poor thing, bless his heart.

So now we are ready to leave Tuesday morning, heading back to French Camp in Mississippi. We may or may not stop along the way to rubberneck. We may just stop at a site and sit for the next few days and rest before reporting in to work on Friday.

Indian Springs Holiness Camp

Sometimes where we work, the history and usage of the site we are helping has been as interesting and intriguing as the sites that surround it. This camp is still known as the "Greatest Camp Meeting in the South". Its history began when, in 1889, five pastors found the property and knelt and prayed on the site. Methodism was spreading, especially in Georgia, and the revival meetings, with the tent and sawdust floors, were prevalent. The camp is evangelical, independent and nondenominational, proclaiming the Wesleyan doctrine of scriptural holiness.

I want to share a little bit of the flavor of the camp: During this time of year, it is like a ghost town with only the manager and assistant manager being on site. During the week of the camp meetings, it is entirely different, with more than 3,000 people present. There are 150 acres with a little over 200 buildings. We have learned there are several of these camps around the south that continue to be a spiritual inspiration and renewal for those who attend.

There is a variety of accommodations for the 10 days of revival meetings, including an eclectic collection of homes, dating back to the 1800's when the camp was formed. They are on land leases and must agree to be in residence during the camp session. Most are 4th and 5th generation owners!

Some are small, well kept, quaint cabins,


others small, in need of repair.


From a trailer court on the property,

to large two-story homes; this one was used in a Christian movie, "Lost and Found Family".


There are a couple of motels; this one the porch/railings were repaired/replaced by a previous MMAP crew.

And a Hotel, which has a bell that chimes every half hour, and music at noon. Makes a great atmosphere!

Then the campground, where we are parked, is available, and we have been told that besides the RV spots, it is surrounded by Tent City!

During the week we had our traditional game nights
and celebrated Rick's 65th birthday with a potluck and more games!


We are both fighting the crud, with Paul being on the downside, me on the upside. So neither of us felt well enough to go exploring in the area this weekend. It is such a beautiful day, with the temperature getting to 84! So we have enjoyed just sitting at the RV reading. We did take a walk to the 28 acre lake this afternoon, but that took all of our energy. The lake is beautiful and a very peaceful place.



It is hard to believe we are starting our third and last week here before we move back to French Camp, MS. We will continue to work on the benches, and most likely will leave some in unfinished condition for the next group of workers.

MMAP Flovilla, February Week 2

Last weekend, we explored a little and found some very interesting sights! Friday the whole group went to the little town of Juliette..... anybody hear of it? What about the movie made there twenty years ago, Fried Green Tomatoes?
This "wallpaper" made from a seed catalog was in the bathroom at one of the little shops.
We ate lunch at the cafe they used in the movie, the Whistle Stop, and of course had a fried green tomato sandwich.



The barbecue pit,


and homeless Smokey Lonesome's cabin still there,

and the train station, a gift store


The town buildings were covered with vines and were moved around to make the movie set.



The graveyard, has "honorary headstones" for the movie characters.



Just outside Juliette was Jarrell Plantation. Here the Jarrell family settled and lived for several generations, 140 years, until the property was given to the state of Georgia. It was very interesting to see how they lived in the 1800's. Not all plantations had big white antebellum homes. This was the house they lived in, built in 1847.

Although they had 39 slaves prior to the Civil War, they still lived very simply. They ran a forge, a cotton gin, a grist mill, and a saw mill, all run by the steam engine.



With multiple endeavors, they survived when the cotton weavil devastated the crops, along with other natural disasters.
Sherman's March to the Sea came right through this farm as well, burning the buildings, except for the house. After the war, the family rebounded, bought more acrage, bringing the total up to 1000 acres.

On Saturday, we visited Uncle Remus Museum. Eatonton was where Joel Chandler Harris, creator of Uncle Remus and various critters, was born and raised.

His museum was constructed from three slave cabins, that also survived Sherman's March, because they were originally located beside a Masonic Lodge. They were moved to the present site in 1963.



About an hour drive to the east of us, we visited two Indian mounds, Rock Eagle Effigy Mound, which is 120 feet from head to toe, and 102 feet from wingtip to wingtip. Notice the size compared to the people walking near the head!


The vertical height is 8 feet. The rocks in the foreground form the head.

The picture does not show the size adequately. It was amazing to walk around it and get a feel for the size of it!

In another park, a few miles away, a second mound, Rock Hawk Effigy Mound was similar, but smaller.


These mounds are somewhat of a mystery, and are thought to be thousands of years old.

Then, back to work on Monday!


It has gotten progressively warmer this week, with the temperature reaching 79 this afternoon. It was warmer outside than in the block building we are working in, even with the heat going full blast!
Some benches needed more repair work and new "feet" were added

We were relieved to get the benches covered with one coat of primer, plus two coats of the latex paint, completing 10, with 7 still needing the second coat of latex.

It really felt like we made a lot of progress this week!