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Operation Inasmuch 2009
Many, many thanks
to all those who participated in the Operation Inasmuch project on
May 2! Once again, the members of Our Saviour rallied to the
cause and contributed time and donations of which we are truly
proud! About 200 people from the cluster churches of Faith, Mt.
Tabor, Transfiguration and Our Saviour participated in service to
members of our community on this day.
57
participants were
from OSLC!
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The day began with a beautiful worship
service where all four churches gathered together to give
dedicate this day of service. |
From the four churches we collected:
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32 box fans (12
from OSLC) delivered to Cayce & West Columbia Police
Stations
35 smoke alarms
(13 from OSLC) delivered to Cayce & West Columbia Fire
Stations
9 fire
extinguishers (4 from OSLC) delivered to Cayce & West
Columbia Fire Stations |
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60 bags for
Shut-ins (5 delivered to OSLC shut-ins)
SisterCare
-10-15 medium boxes of cell phones, chargers & batteries,
baby items (diapers, wipes, lotion), lotion, shampoo, soap,
note cards, pens, envelopes, clothes, a suitcase, medical
items, and books.
Ronald McDonald
House - lots of pop tabs and 3 boxes of books
Harvest Hope
- lots and lots of plastic bags and a large moving box of
egg cartons
SC Lions Club
- 2 small moving boxes of metal eyeglasses & cases |
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No count was taken of the number of cars
washed, but we have been told that both of the two bays were
being used constantly and at times the line was backed up to
the highway. $272
was given in donations! OSLC had
8 youth and a number
of adults working on this project. When asked how she felt
about her experience that day, Padget Satterwhite said “I
never knew there were so many dirty cars in West Columbia,
but I enjoyed helping clean them.” |
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18
children (4 from OSLC)
were involved in visiting the nursing homes, presenting a
musical presentation, and interacting with the residents
there. We also enjoyed their musical presentation at the
morning worship service. Evan Dawkins had this to say about
his experience that day: “I felt good about what we did. I
enjoyed meeting all the people because they don’t get
visitors that often. I liked the songs they picked out for
us to sing.” |
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200+
lunches were prepared in our kitchen and delivered to
the projects in the field. Frank Yonce, in his part of the
sermon on May 17, said, “What a welcome sight it was to see
Linda and Loleta drive up with our bag lunches. By that
time we were ready for some nourishment!” |
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Those working on the Dang-It Dolls
project completed over 100
dolls and had around 25 ready to have faces and hair
applied. In the words of Mae Wicker, “Making Dang-It Dolls
was a most rewarding day spent with fellow Christians
serving God and helping the men and women in the Armed
Forces who provide our freedom---I received more than I
gave!” |
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The Prayer Station at OSLC (lead by Julie Corbett
and Melanie Bouknight) had a constant flow of people stopping by to
pray for the on-going projects. Between stops at the nursing homes
and after eating lunch, the children also came in and kneeled around
the altar to pray. Julie Corbett commented that she was surprised
and pleased at the number of people who took time to come to the
sanctuary to pray for the projects.
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We also had 3 photographers from OSLC
(Linda Griffith, Dan Hanfland, and Wayne Lybrand) who took
pictures at most of the work sites. |
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Charles Nicholson, who worked at the
Mission of Hope Ministries, said on May 17, “We did a lot of
organizing and cleaning at the three facilities used by this
ministry and we realized that they need our help throughout
the year, not just for one day.” |
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Pastor Lance was the project manager for
the work done at the Stepping Stones Thrift Store, one of
three thrift stores owned and operated by the Elmwood Church
of God. The proceeds from these stores are used to help
recovering addicts get back on their feet. |
Minor and major repairs were done on homes at
four different sites. Bill Aull, Chris Boland, Bill Hill, and
Dwayne and Russell Dawkins worked on these projects.
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The project that Bill Hill worked on
involved major renovations. They replaced 3 interior doors
& door casings, built a wheelchair ramp to code, installed
several new windows, trimmed around the windows, painted the
wrought iron around the front porch, cleaned the carpet in
one room, and even planted some flowers in the front yard.
Bill said, “The experience was very exhilarating and
satisfying, but also very tiring. I worked harder than I
have worked in a long time. The fact that everything was
well planned in advance and we had the proper tools we
needed to complete the project made it much easier. We all
left feeling good about the fact that we had seen a valid
need and been able to help a most appreciative client of
God’s Helping Hands.”
Bill Aull worked on a project that
involved replacing a couple of light fixtures and installing
a ceiling fan in a bedroom. Bill’s expertise in this area
helped tremendously. His comment was, “It was very
satisfying to see people in need and be able to help them.”
Chris Boland worked on a project that
involved taking down storm windows, replacing 4 window
panes, re-glazing and caulking and putting the storm windows
back up. He said, “It was a great way to give back to the
community. I was glad to see so many young people and
children involved and I am looking forward to the next time
we do this!” |
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Dwayne and Russell Dawkins worked on an
all-day Home Works project that involved major renovations
to a deck and screened porch. They tore off the rotten
deck, rebuilt it, and re-screened the porch. They also
built a new set of stairs with handrails to the deck. About
this experience, Russell said, “I enjoyed it. I’m glad we
could help someone who really needed it.” Dwayne’s comment
was, “I feel good that we made someone’s home a little
better and a little safer.” |
These home repair projects were financed through
the following:
· Donations
from the four churches ($400 from
Yard Sale receipts from OSLC)
$100 from Thrivent Join Hands Day
$500 from Thrivent Care Abounds in Communities
$50 gift card from the White Knoll Wal-Mart
$1,000 grant from the West Columbia Wal-Mart
10% discount on all items purchased at the West Columbia Lowe’s
Several small in-kind contributions.
Still to be determined is the possibility of a
White Knoll Wal-Mart grant between $1000 and $2000. Unused funds
will be used for further home projects (perhaps one in the fall) and
outreach ministries, along with $1000 seed money to begin our
projects next year.
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Leaf and “jungle” removal was completed
at the site where Frank Yonce worked. This project proved
to be quite a challenge. Grass was cut and the yard cleaned
at another site. |
I think that we can say that this new venture was
a huge success and that we rendered a special service to God in
reaching out to our neighbors with helping hands! In the process we
were blessed by experiencing that
Joy which Pastor Lance talked about in his sermon several
Sundays ago! We know, as committee members, that we have felt that
Joy in seeing our members
embrace this project and commit their time and talents.
Thanks for a job well done!
Operation Inasmuch Committee
Synod-Wide Operation
Inasmuch
Inasmuch Brochure
http://www.sclutheran.org/inasmuch.htm
http://www.operationinasmuch.com
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