Our SOWER projects are three weeks long. What can you do in that much time? Well first off we are there to serve. But we also build friendships, both with the SOWERs we work with and with the Host. This month excelled in both areas at Shepherds College. What a joy we had working again with Kent and Debbie. It will be hard to say, see ya later and go our separate ways. And it was a pleasure working for the Dave, Jason, Dawn and other Shepherds College Staff.
This month there was a extra bonus, the Students. We always greeted them when we saw them and would receive a cheerful greetings back. We also went to the all staff Chapel. It was good to hear the interactive devotion and watch them sing and dance while singing praises to the LORD. One special time, we were working outside and the clouds were building, you could see the storm coming. The first year Horticulture students were heading inside because of nearby lighting and threat of severe weather. A couple of the students stopped to tell us to get inside because of the threat of rain and storm that was heading our way. We worked a little longer before the rain started. Then we ended up hurrying in for lunch just as the clouds opened up and it poured. Those boys were laughing and said “we told you so!” Then they asked us to have lunch with them and saved a couple spots at their table, so Ann and I joined them. As we were visiting, it is raining hard, I showed them my weather app on my phone, they really liked seeing it. It was a special time having lunch with them. That was the day we ended up getting two inches of rain!
You might ask, what kind of projects did you get done. Below you will find the pictures of a Lattice Backdrop. This was a big project and will be used as a backdrop for pictures after graduation, this year and for years to come.
This project we started and then finished, with some help in between. Lots of pavers, 45 pound decorative blocks and river rock. It looks so much better.
And yes the Ann and Debbie did all kinds of projects too. They did lots of deep deep cleaning, painting, window cleaning, and got some books ready for 14 of the graduating students to take on a mission trip to Brazil. they had a blast working together.
We did lots of other projects, including digging a trench and installing a French drain, we installed some small retaining walls, finished a room inside the shop for tool storage, built a small paint booth, and trimmed out the tops of 8 planter boxes. If you check out our Shepherds College photo album you will see pictures of these projects. Below is a picture of Dave Slye ( Shepherds College Facilities Director) and is wife along with Kent and Debbie and Ann and I. They graciously took us out to a nice dinner last night. It will be hard to pull out tomorrow, but praying it works to come back in the future.
