Mission Trip 2014

1. MISSION TRIP 2014
AMEN/St. Louis
July 7-11, 2014

2. Home, Sweet Home…
for one week

3. Bunk beds and air conditioning !

4. Our First Assignment –
Curby Presbyterian Church

5. We will help with VBS….. But first….

6. We help clean up neglected areas of
the building
Beginning with + 300 pounds of recyclable metal
from the “Dirt Room” underneath the sanctuary

7. Moldy books and supplies from the
“Dirt Room” go to the alley dumpster

8. We clean from bottom to top….
Including debris from the church tower

9. Meanwhile, Ralph helps replace burnt
out lights.

10. There are 9 children the first night…
over 15 by the third night of VBS

11. Tuesday’s Task – Paint the halls of
Isaiah 58 – a food pantry & service
center
We remove furniture and
bulletin boards as clients
come and go in the morning.

12. Next we tape the walls.

13. After the clients leave, we paint the walls.

14. And paint the walls…

15. And paint the walls.

16. Cooling Off After a Long Day of Work

17. Wednesday – Gateway Gardens
Gateway Gardens is a project across
urban St. Louis of planting gardens
in empty lots to assist people in
learning to grow food, to create
opportunities for people to connect
socially, and to encourage
biodiversity.

18. Abandoned Buildings around the
garden plot where we worked

20. We prepared new beds for planting

22. Installed a concrete base and post for
water hoses

23. We mowed around the raised beds
and fence

24. We weed whipped the edges of beds

25. After a long day in the heat and after
helping with VBS, we enjoyed some ice
cream

26. Thursday – Kingdom House

27. Established in 1902, it is near
downtown St. Louis

28. Roofing repairs to outdoor shelters

29. And more roofing repairs

30. Turning compost in their bins

31. They composted from their yard
waste, but also food scraps

33. After lunch, sorting in the Kingdom
House Thrift Shop

34. The Thrift Shop included clothing for men and
women

35. We even found a few items we
considered purchasing

36. Then back to Curby Memorial for another night
of VBS

37. Friday – Grace Hill Center
Abandoned
housing owned by
St. Louis City Land
Reclamation
Authority near
Grace Hill’s facility

38. Still more abandoned housing around where we worked

39. Head Start Children we accompanied to Grace Hill’s “Peace
Park.”

41. And, of course, they had a gardening project too

42. Grace Hill’s Head Start program used the gardens to teach
children about nutrition and food as well as gardening skills.

43. Before we started on one of the beds

44. The same bed….after we finished.

45. Grace Hill’s Fruit Orchard where they teach about foods,
nutrition, and gardening skills.

46. Bye, Bye…..Each group leaves a picture on
the wall at AMEN/St. Louis when they leave.

47. The gift of First Presbyterian Church to
the people and ministries of St. Louis
• Six people
• 35 Hours of service
TOTAL HOURS OF SERVICE – 210 hours or 5 ½ weeks
of one person working alone
TOTAL DOLLAR VALUE - $3,150
(@ $15/hour)