Monday was our first day of work and we had people on two different sites. Emily, one of our new members had this to say:

Today was a great start to the week! Half of our group went to reshingle a house. We began by scraping off the old shingles and continued from there. I’ve never worked on a roof before, and I was shocked by how much I enjoyed it. I started systematically scraping away and establishing a rhythm. We all slid into comfortable roofing roles: some working to pry up nails, others raking shingles and picking them up. Regardless of the job, everyone in the group began (and continued) work with a smile and a good attitude. I felt blessed to be a part of the work and the group.

Thea, a returning member wrote this:

After breakfast and devotion with a UCC group from Wisconsin, we were debriefed in the morning by Deborah, the tornado relief overseer / manager. Today we worked at this job site cleaning, mopping, scraping paint off tiles, doing window care, and cabinet care. The house was a 1 level home. It was such a privilege to enter into their future house today knowing that helping them in any way possible would be valued and appreciated. Kristin Sroka says, “Even though  our day was filled with cleaning, it made a difference when  we saw the little boy and he said that him and his family were going to live in this house.” She goes on, “We worked a lot, but balanced it with taking breaks, playing music, dancing, and more.”
We also got to play with the puppy black lab during our downtime. The family’s kid was adorable riding his electrical 4 wheeler around the front. We didn’t stay for long because we were planning to meet the other group for lunch at their job site. The turkey and ham sandwiches tasted delicious with all the fruit and gatorade, chips and animal crackers. It was so important to rehydrate and apply sunscreen for weather was in the 80s and the sun was beating down on us. No complaints though with the nasty New England blizzards and storms we had this season!! After lunch, we moved on to support the roof team until shortly after we had to go back to our job site to get the job finished. Aaron one of the Harvest Church relief guides helped us stay on task today. I hopetomorrow will be filled with much more peace, joy, and brotherhood and sisterhood. I want to see how God moves through our group, job sites, and host people. Amen.

Colossians 3:17

We are so excited that the group will be going to Moore, Oklahoma tomorrow! They will be doing disaster relief from tornado that hit in May 20, 2013. Please keep their safety in your prayers as they travel, work, and sweat for the Lord. We hope the group has a ton of fun and is able to help and connect with the families in Oklahoma. During the trip, the group will be posting about their experiences. So please follow so you can read about our trip.

Best,

UCC UConn Team 🙂

The Storrs Congregational Church sent the group off that is going to Moore, Oklahoma this past Sunday March 8th. It is a tradition of the group to be sent off by the church the Sunday before the trip. Keep this group in your prayers this week as they embark on their Alternative Spring Break.

Best,

UCC UConn Team 🙂

UCC UConn hosted their annual Valentine’s Day Dinner. This dinner helped fund the trip to Moore, Oklahoma. There were many people that attended the event and the group ended up fundraising a good amount of money for this year’s trip.  Thanks to all who came and helped. UCC UConn is very grateful for the love and support from the community and Storrs Congregational Church. Thanks to all of that support, the event was a great success! Here are some photos of the event. 

Best,

UCC UConn Team 🙂

Welcome to a new school year!

UCC UConn is excited to start the school year with many new things. We have new officers, members, and ideas. The school year has already got us thinking about where we will be going this year. Though spring break is months away, our trip has a lot of planning involved. We have to coordinate many things to make it possible. We will be flying somewhere (still unsure where) to help with disaster relief. We are also actively fundraising for our trip through our odd jobs that not only get our members better acquainted but also gets our organization into the community and allows us to better know the surrounding members of our supporting church, Storrs Congregational Church, but also people within the Storrs and Mansfield community. Overall, our year thus far as an organization is going quite well!

Best,

UCC UConn Team 🙂