Reunited (And It Feels So Good)

(OK, how many of saw the title of this post, and are now singing with Peaches & Herb in your head? Or out loud? You’re welcome.)

Last month I was having lunch in the local elementary school, and I was sitting with a school staff member and with a mom who helped lead this year’s spring break camp. The mom was telling the other person about when she volunteered at the camp in 2013.

She explained,

“I was touched by the spirit of love that was in that place. Those volunteers from Greenville, they showed so much love that it filled the air. I know that all Christians should love others, but I’ve never seen it like that.”

Did you catch what she said, or what she didn’t say? Not once did she mention how much better the campers got at soccer, or how great of a job I did leading the camp. (That’s OK. Really. Sniff.)

What encouraged and inspired her was the love shown by the families and teenagers from Grace Church (Greenville, SC).

Beyond the Camp  

We have loved being a part of the Spring Break Camps, but it’s not because we really care about teaching kids soccer, or doing arts and crafts, or playing games. Those were fun bonuses, but not the goal.

What we’ve loved seeing are the relationships that form. The relationships between two moms. The relationships between young boys. And the relationships between teenage guys.

Kings and Queens

Yesterday, in our Tuesday morning chess club, I saw something I had never seen before in 30 years of playing and teaching chess. One child’s king was put in check (= attacked, for you non-chess folks). Instead of moving her king, she placed her elbow in between her king and the attacking piece, in order to block the attack. “Sweetie, chess is not a physical sport.”

In case you missed it, we had a small chess tournament a few weeks ago, for the students who were a part of the Chess Club at Allendale Elementary School. The students played three rounds, and we gave prizes for the top three places. Pictured above (from left to right) are:

• Darnell Chen, 2nd place, winner of a $10 gift card to Hardee’s.
• Andy Chen, 1st place, winner of a chess set with travel bag, and a $5 gift card to Hardee’s (where else?).
• La’Nease Roberts, 3rd place, winner of a $5 gift card to . . . Hardee’s.

Did the children play perfectly? No. In fact, they still make illegal moves (an elbow!), and they still make silly mistakes (don’t trade that queen for a pawn!). But I am proud of how much they learned in just 7 months of lessons.

I’m proud of all the students who faithfully showed up at 7 AM every Tuesday morning for the school year! I hope they keep playing and keep working hard to get better. When they grow up, they can teach and inspire other children!

You can see more photos from the year on the Elevate Facebook page album: Allendale Chess Club 2013-14.

Why Summer Camps Are Important

Last fall, I was talking to someone who works for Allendale County Schools. We got on the topic of camps that we’ve done, and how we kids from other places come here to make new friends. (The relationships formed are the biggest reasons why we consider the Elevate Spring Break Camp a success.)

Then she asked me, “But have kids from Allendale gotten to go there?” Thanks to the support of many others, I was able to answer, “Yes!”

You may remember that more than $2000 was donated last summer to support students from Allendale going to a variety of camps. You may have even donated to that cause. If so, thank you for being a part of a life-changing opportunity.

Why Summer Camps?

Although we will be moving this summer, we will be involved with a few local camps. Local summer camps are an easy and effective way to engage children when school is out. However, there is a huge value in children attending out-of-town camps.

6 Reasons We Went to the Cooter Fest

We could come up with lots of great reasons to go to the Cooter Fest:

1.  Fun rides. Only Elijah rode one — the crazy flipping, twisting, spinning gyroscope thing.

2.  Fun games. We didn’t spend waste too much money on them.

3.  Yummy food. Mostly, we ate the BEST tacos, just like last year. To be honest, we ate them 5 times in 3 days.

4.  Parade. Longer than normal. Kids got lots of candy.

5.  Cooter Race. Thankfully, the kids decided to not enter this year. (It turns into an all-day event, in the blazing heat.) Although I have to wonder if this was the year we could have won $1100. However, we did watch the Cooter Fashion show. No pictures — you’ll just have to see it for yourself one day.

All of the Above, and Beyond

The truth is, we went for all of these reasons, and more. In a weekend when I could have participated in Kairos Prison Ministry, or we as a family could have taken part in HOG Day, we chose the Cooter Fest, and not just for the 5 reasons listed above.

We saw this event (including having to make it back from our DC trip) as a way to connect deeper with families that we know — adults, teenagers, and children. I counted at least thirty-two families that we had conversations with on Friday and/or Saturday, during the Cooter (or Spring) Festival.

That’s why we go — to connect with and be a part of our community.

And for the food and fun.

Related Links:

• 10 Pictures from Elevate Camp
• [Pictures] Operation We Care Allendale

What Do We Know? Not Much.

Monday morning . . .

I don’t listen to the radio much, especially on the weekends. But whenever we travel on Saturday mornings, my wife and I like to listen to two shows, Car Talk and Whad’ya Know? Both of them mix humor with random (and occasionally helpful) pieces of information.

In the latter show, the announcer asks, “What do you know?” and the audience responds in unison, “Not much.”

And if you were to ask me (three years ago or today) what we know about running after school programs or day camps, I would simply and truthfully say, “Not much.”

10 Pictures from Elevate Camp

As you may know, we had our 3rd annual Elevate Spring Break Camp last week. I’ll write more in the future, but I at least wanted to give you 10 representative photos from the week.

Besides a little bit of bad weather (rainy 1 day, and cold for 1.5 days) and a bit of illness (including an apparent stomach virus in our family), it was a great week. We averaged about 55 kids per day, plus a dozen teenagers, plus another dozen adults. It was a great week of physical activity, fun games, arts, team-building, and more!

We are thankful for the adults, teens, and children who participated in this camp, and for the financial and other resources that were donated.

Enjoying the great weather on day 1

The 5th-8th grade girls group had perfect attendance!

[Pictures] Operation We Care Allendale

We are in the middle of our Elevate Spring Break Camp, so I’m not going to write too much. I figured this was a good time to share my thoughts from Operation We Care Allendale, and a few photos from the day.

Some other leaders and I talked during and after this day, and we agreed that this was a great event! I truly believe it had a better “feel” than I had experienced in other years, for 2 reasons:

1. There was a great number of local volunteers. By my count there were almost 90 volunteers from Allendale County, and about that many from outside of the county.
2. Many of the out-of-town volunteers seemed to have a mindset that they wanted build and continue relationships, as opposed to a one-and-done experience.

I am thankful for everyone who took part, and worked so hard to make Allendale a better place!

A large group from Laurens Baptist Church helped clean up multiple yards.

 

Cleaning up the lot of a home destroyed by a fire.

 

Families from Allendale working alongside friends from Grace Church (Greenville, SC)

Youth group and leaders from Allendale First Baptist Church

 

Resting during a delicious lunch provided by the local Masonic Lodge.

 

Ms. Lottie Lewis thanking the hard-working crew.

 

Related Links:

• 10 Pictures from Elevate Camp
• A Capital Trip

Why You Should Be a Part of Operation We Care Allendale, and Why You Shouldn’t

All skill levels are needed!

If you are from Greenville (SC), you are probably familiar with HOG Day, the largest single volunteer day in all of South Carolina. But did you know that Allendale has its own version of HOG Day?

From what I understand (but please correct me if I’m wrong), Operation We Care Allendale (OWCA) was launched by my friend Lottie Lewis, whose passion you can learn more about in this video and this lamentation. She yearns to see a greater Allendale, and for that change to come from the hearts and efforts of our own local citizenry.

What I Loved About the Cooter Fest

There is a lot to love about Allendale’s Cooter Fest (or Spring Festival, if you prefer). You’ve got lots of food options (though few of which are healthy). You’ve got rides (most of which are wobbly or rickety). You’ve got a parade (though not much shade to protect you from the scorching heat).

And, of course, you’ve got the famous cooter (turtle) race. We won our first race with our rented turtle (“Lighting McTurtle”), but failed to qualify for the division finals. I was partly disappointed, and yet mostly happy. We waited 3 hours for less than 5 minutes of racing. Not nearly as exciting as last year.

The food, rides, parade, and cooter race are what makes this festival so popular. However, what made this year’s event special for us were some relationships. In particular, we were blessed by four groups of people: interns from last summer, a brother and sister, parade hosts, and a family that provided us with lunch.

Summer Plans 2013, and How You Can Help

He’s excited. Are you?

A lot of people (in Allendale and from out-of-town) have been asking us about Our Summer Plans. For the past couple of months, we have mostly told people:

1. We WILL be doing something.
2. We don’t know exactly what we will be doing.

Within past couple of weeks, our schedule has been shaping up. And we want to take this time to remind you that since we have no interns, we have space available for students, adults, and families to spend some time with us. If you (or someone you know) want to spend time in Allendale this summer, please leave a comment or contact us.

Ready to hear what we have going on? Ready to learn how you can be involved? Hold on to your hats!