Destination STL was a huge success!! Our event was based on 2 passages of scripture: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16 AND “This service you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” 2 Corinthians 9:12 . Sunday night we started our week with a Devotion on serving and a special event of washing of feet. Monday, July 6, 2009, was 'Salem Day'. We helped Jackie Ehrhardt and Ruth Frazier trim bushes, pull weeds, and other general yardwork tasks. We had another crew of youth and adults that worked inside the Youth Room with direction from Kelly Rideout, Pam Tosie, and Bill Castiaux. This group helped "gut" the youth room by throwing away unused/damaged furniture and other miscellaneous supplies and then giving the youth room a much needed new coat of paint. We now have blue, yellow, and green walls. And to top that off, in the youth room we now have our official youth group logo (designed by Katie Siepman) painted on the wall by Colleen Carney (leader), Page Miller, Erin Laute, Dana Ruhl, Julie McDonald, Melissa Case, and some other girls, too. For the first time in about 15 years, we now have on one of the walls a "Painted Hands" Display of former and current youth that have spent 4 of their high school years in our youth program. On the hand, they will include their name, favorite bible verse, and the year they graduate(d). Also; in the near future, on the wall above the row of closets, we will add the words, 'Salem Youth Group' with our mission statement shown below that, too. Our third crew that day worked with Scott Akerson and Bill Castiaux cleaning out Diane Carney's closet/office space, other closets, and also re-organizing rooms. They also threw out some old desks and did some other miscellaneous tasks for the school. In addition, Sandy Siepman and Kay Ruhl spent Monday steam cleaning the carpeting of the fellowship hall. Monday was a very labor intensive day but definitely worth it!!!! Tuesday was "St. Louis Area Food Bank Day". We packed a 35 lbs. box that included 1 meal a day for 30 days for the elderly of St. Louis City and County. We ended up packing 1,089 boxes (24,000 meals, 29,000 lbs.)! And FOX 2 decided to make a surprise visit of the facility. That night, FOX 2 aired a story on the food bank and what do you know...there was Salem in the story! Praise God! To see the link click on this (
http://www.fox2now.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=2edd80f0-abb3-4393-8f71-4b850cf71419&src=front). Wednesday was our 'Fun Day' at Six Flags. All had fun that day. Thursday was supposed to be 'Shut-Ins' Day but ended up being a day where we finished some projects at the school and youth room and added some projects like thoroughly cleaning both bathrooms outside the youth room. We also sent crews to the homes of Homer and Leon McCracken and Charlie and Barbara Esenberg. At the McCracken's we painted the foundation of their home and garage and also painted the garage door. At the Esenbergs we completed yard work at their home and the lot next door that they also own. Friday was 'Nursing Home Day'. Our Youth and Adults started at Laclede Groves at 9:00 a.m. where we cleaned their buses in and out, played games (bowling, washers, crochet, bingo), prayed with them, and just simply visited with them to see how they were doing. We also made sure to visit members of Salem that are currently in the facility whether it be temporary or permanent. In the afternoon, part of our group stayed at Laclede Groves while the other part of our group went to the Nazarene Living Center in south county. Our group played patriotic bingo with the residents of the center. We also had time to visit with them one on one. All in all the week was a huge success! We had over 50 Youth and Adults that participated in the week of Service and Outreach! God was very present in our service and outreach to the people of St. Louis. All Glory and Honor are HIS! Your Friend in Christ, Jeffrey D. Kullmann
