MMAP, Nov. 2013, Shocco Springs Conference Center, Talladega, AL

November is usually a month we are home.  This year, we ended up at Shocco Springs in Talladega, Alabama!  

We are truly blessed to be able to continue to enjoy the changing colors of fall here at the camp.

We had three couples; the Leitings, the Hennings and us.  We have worked with Leitings once before, but first time with the Hennings.

Let me just say, what a great time of fellowship and encouragement we have had.  Not only with our fellow MMAPers, but also with other volunteers here.  There are several, representing Servants On Wheels Ever Ready (SOWERS), RVers In Christ’s Service (RVICS), and Campers on Mission (COM), along with us, Mobile Missions Assistance Program (MMAP).  It was a full campground!

Food is always the center of our fellowship I think!  

We celebrated the birthday of one of the COM volunteers.  We met in the building we worked painting and  replacing the floor last year.

Several times we have eaten with them and have taken our  breaks with some of them.  Although we have been assigned to different buildings and rooms, we have a  common bond, that is we are all here with the goal of serving our Lord.

Our first week the assignment was painting two meeting rooms,  approximately 25‘x40’,  inside Choctaw duplex dormitories.  The rooms were in the middle with dorm rooms on each end. Door trim needed caulking, and some was replaced.

Doors were replaced, and lots of painting done! 

It was a rough cedar paneling, so it was very porous.  Each room needed a coat of primer,

as well as the initial coat of color and a final touch up coat.  

We had a deadline of the following weekend since it was booked, and we made it!

The second week, we were assigned the Chikasaw cabins, 

which consisted of three good-sized cabins, and a fourth meeting cabin.

Each of them had two sets of stairs and a porch with railings that needed scraping, sanding and painting.  

The three ladies tackled the paint jobs, while the guys did plumbing, rebuilding and installing two new showers, replacing floor molding, and resetting two toilets, replacing trim and installing a new door to the bathroom in each of the three cabins.  They completed two of the cabins.

Sandi and Shirley stained the door going into the bathroom on the first cabin, while I finished up with the polyurethane on the trim on the second cabin.  The door also got a couple of coats of Polyurethane. We then moved to the next cabin to do the same thing.  

Sandi and I also caulked the windows previously replaced in three of the cabin, then the Leitings replaced the molding on the windows.  

The Leitings are an amazing couple.  They are in their 80’s and the rest of us, who are all in our 60’s, are having a hard time keeping up with them.

During the second week, there was a group of 450 college-aged young people attending the southeast conference for Youth With A Mission (YWAM).   What an encouragement it is for us to see these youth dedicated to serving the Lord. It makes all the sore muscles we have worth it, knowing we had a very small part in providing  upgraded facilities that will be used for encouraging service, spreading the gospel and seeing life-changing decisions being made.

The third week the guys finished the bathroom in the third cabin while we ladies finished up the doors and frames.

The three story Oakridge facility needed some minor repairs that the guys completed by break.  

So we were able to leave at noon on Thursday.  It was nice to get home before the rain!

On ladies day out we took the driving tour of the city of Talladega, and saw the historic “Silk Stocking District”,

the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind,

and the Helen Keller Institute

We managed to fit six around our small RV table,  after making an additional leaf.

and even used the new Pewter dish set we found at an antique store.

We ate together more with this group than a lot of the previous projects... even going to Jack’s at lunch~! 

After more than a dozen years, Julian, our volunteer liaison with the camp, planned on retiring when we left.  He had break with us, and even treated us to Jack’s cinnamon rolls... the best!!  Did I mention we ate a lot?  The camp will really miss him, but we know rather than retire, he will find another niche in which to serve.