Bob Moore,
Stacy and I were recently asked by All Saints’ Youth
Director, Ann Marie Schott to accompany the All
Saints’ Senior High EYC on their mission trip to the
Mississippi Gulf Coast to perform hurricane recovery
work. We accepted, knowing the trip would entail
long hours of driving, longer days of hard work,
mosquitoes and sleeping bag nights on what was
billed as “camp beds.” We knew the kids would
behave, work hard and hopefully feel rewarded for
their efforts. We were pleased, however, to see that
they led the entire camp as true ambassadors of
faith, caring and community.
I
frequently tell my middle school students that
regardless which group they are associated with, be
it sports, band, cheer, or civic organization, when
they wear the group’s “uniform,” people see them as
direct representatives of that organization. Members
of All Saints’, under the superlative leadership,
care and example of Ann Marie Schott, the twelve
youth volunteers represented you extraordinarily
well. Katelyn Alford, Madeline Alvis, Madison
Atkins, Molly Gough, Isabel Gray, Heather Hart,
Hayden Hershfelt, Daniel King, Jace King, Joshua
Krusen, Mary Langford, and Nathan Oakes hoisted All
Saints’ banner high and wore their “uniform” with
pride. Though they were not the largest group in
camp, they were far and away the hardest working and
most intent on creating a camp community. One united
spirit, in the Spirit.
These kids
worked tirelessly and with compassion. They worked
with a wide variety of hand and power tools. They
worked in spite of scrapes, poison ivy, dense clouds
of biting flies seemingly immune to the strongest
bug repellents, no television or cell phones and
early morning hours that no high-schooler expects to
see during Thanksgiving break. They would pause and
listen attentively as homeowners told of their
experiences with “The Storm,” as Hurricane Katrina
is known by some, then with energized purpose
assault their assigned task.
Upon
finishing for the day, they then turned their
attention to the camp itself. Whether being the
first group to finish their clean-up chores, leading
a parking lot dance class late into the night, or
supplying the most entrants in the (nauseating)
pickled egg eating contest, these twelve young
disciples brought a culturally divided camp
together. Perhaps the greatest praise came when one
of the leaders of the 24-youth team from Maryland,
which had five members succumb to a stomach virus,
told me, “If your kids get sick, it’s their own
fault. I mean, we tried to be unsociable, but your
kids would not stand for it. They would not give up.
Especially that Jace kid.” All Saints’ members and
parents, you were represented well and should be
very proud. Bob Moore, Stacy and I feel privileged
to have been given the opportunity to take part.
Julian
Carroll
