Volunteer Spotlight

This year is the third year that volunteer Ed Wiehe has been mowing our ASM property during the summers! Our AdventureServe campground sits on 9 acres of lush property complete with rolling hills and a variety of trees. In 2018, Ed volunteered to mow our grounds and he has been doing it ever since! Ed knew Andy from their previous work at Asbury University and when the need for mowing our property was identified, Ed offered to be of service to AdventureServe. Depending on the season and weather patterns, he cuts the grass up to 3 times every 2 weeks, but Ed checks on the campgrounds regularly to see when it needs to be mowed. “I just love AdventureServe and the work you all do.” We are so blessed by Ed’s service and thankful for his generosity! His contribution aligns with the heart of AdventureServe’s mission: service. What resources and energies do we have that might be a blessing to others?

Home Repair Project Covered by the Jessamine Journal

A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to build a ramp and new set of stairs for a local homeowner in Wilmore in partnership with Great Commission Fellowship, a vineyard church in Wilmore. On July 13th-16th, AdventureServe worked on this project with the help of a few local volunteers from GCF. Homeowners Phil and Marilyn Estes have lived in Wilmore for several years. Due to respiratory health concerns, Marilyn is considered very high risk to that point that her husband, Phil, has had to live elsewhere for the time being to avoid the spread of COVID. The stairs on their back deck were unstable and a hazard to Marilyn so we were eager to partner with GCF in order to fund this project.  

Randy Patrick of the Jessamine Journal came out to our work site on Wednesday, July 15th to do an article on our service project. Randy met with our director Andy Bathje, Jason Duncan (Great Commision Fellowship Pastor), and Lee Ann Williams (Great Commission Fellowship Outreach Pastor). As Randy asked questions about the project, Andy, Jason, and Lee Ann reflected on the partnerships that have resulted from COVID-19. Despite the chaos of the pandemic, some positive things have resulted and brought people together. Many communities and organizations have pooled their resources and energies together to assist one another and those around them! For instance, we are grateful for a partnership with GCF which allowed us to repair the Estes’ home. In addition, we are also grateful for the partnership with FEMA which has allowed us to donate thousands of masks! 

Our staff and apprentices along with some local volunteers worked Monday through Thursday to repair the deck, and build a ramp and a new set of stairs! Phill Estes expressed his gratitude, detailing the relief of not having to worry about safety on their back deck. “Thank you for the work that you all do, it’s amazing,” Phil said. We were so excited for the opportunity to serve the Estes! You can read the Jessamine Journal article on the project below!

Mask Donations

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) donated a truck load of masks to AdventureServe at the beginning of the summer. We were also given 2 drums of hand sanitizer earlier this week! This has been a great blessing to us as we have the resources to supply staff and volunteers with masks and plenty of sanitizer for all of our projects. In addition to this, we have also been able to share these resources with other local organizations. To date, we have given away 15,000 masks to surrounding organizations and partner agencies and we plan to share hand sanitizer with other organizations as well! 

2-Day Deck Project in McCreary

On July 22nd and 23rd, 9 of our staff went down to McCreary county to build a deck in just 2 days! The deck was for a young couple, Robert and Courtney Perry and their three sons. The effects of COVID had hit them hard. Robert supported the family with his full time job, but due to COVID restrictions, he was cut down to only working about 10-15 hours a week. Because this project was conducted solely by our AdventureServe staff, we were able to work quickly and efficiently. Home Repair Regional Manager Cameron Curran recounted, “No one was ever standing around or waiting to do something, we worked quickly! This was my first project working with only adult staff. At times, it was a bit of a struggle to pace ourselves within the 2 days because it was a bit of a physical strain. So we had to be intentional about pacing ourselves and knowing when to stop and take a break.” 

Cameron explained that, “We all have different experiences and areas of expertise but I was reminded that there is always more to be learned and improved upon. It was valuable to check in with skills that we haven’t used as much (because of COVID) and we had to be very precise with our lumber supply. We had to make sure that we didn’t make a wrong cut or measurement because we didn’t have a lot of extra lumber, so we held each other accountable constantly. Everyone was open to double-checking things or asking to confirm measurements, no one was offended about checking the blue-prints or getting another set of eyes on something.” Mystery Trip Manager Stephanie Echeverry also said, “I learned a lot more about construction on this trip. Because my role is different, I don’t have as much experience and knowledge with home repair projects, so I was hesitant to make decisions or adjustments with some of the tasks because there wasn’t a lot of margin for error. However, they encouraged me to be confident, and as I practiced the skills more, I was able to learn a lot and contribute.” 

Cameron said of the work atmosphere, “I noticed that when we were focused on serving, in spite of the high humidity and temperatures, we were able to get through the work with high spirits. It didn’t feel like a chore or just another job. It felt literally like we were serving a family. What we did was out of service, not out of obligation.” Stephanie pointed out, “The heat did make things difficult and we were tired. However, the fact that weather and fatigue were the hardest parts of the project means that it went really well.”

Stephanie talked about the Perrys and how they interacted with them while they worked. “The family we served was so amazing. Their kids were absolutely hilarious, and the youngest, a 3-year old, was so attentive to what we were doing and wanted to help us. It was precious to see a small child walk around and grab things for us like hammers or screws and just watch us as we worked. You could tell that the Perrys really valued helping people. They expressed that they were usually the helpers reaching out to other people and it was a blessing to be on the receiving end of service.”  

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