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The 2005 basketball season ended with both the boys and girls teams advancing to the Western Maine Class D playoff games in Augusta. The boys team, led by Coach Wayne Goodall (’82), beat Hyde School in the semifinals, 59-53, and proceeded to the final game against Valley where they lost 64-45. The boys team has made the trip to the Augusta quarter finals five times before in ‘92, ‘98, ‘99, ‘02, and ‘04, and twice to the semifinals in ’92 and ’04, but the 2005 trip to the final game is a first in Pine Tree history.
The girls team won their preliminary game against Wayneflete and then lost to Rangeley High School in the quarter finals. The girls team was chosen for the Good Sportsmanship Award—another Pine Tree first.
Coach Patty Ruprecht stands with the lady Breakers
after receiving the Sportsmanship Award at the
Augusta Civic Center.
Many alumni made an appearance at the Augusta Civic Center on February 26 to show their support and cheer on the boys in their final game against Valley. Among those alumni spotted in the stands were Jessie Brodis ‘99, Julie Cushing ‘86, Doug McCallister ‘91, Dick Merrill, Wayne Harlow, Roger Wilday ‘80, Ben Yeaton ‘89, Chris Gepford ‘04, Randy, Luana ’78, Nathan ‘02, and Bethany Kittle ‘04, Amanda Emery ‘04, and Jeremy Boone ‘04. Also seen at the game were Pine Tree attendees Jeff Davis, Gary Sabol, and Patrick Ranalla. Thanks for coming, everyone! |
PTA Alumni Association Officers:
• SEAN PARKER ‘87, PRESIDENT
• SHARON CRANDALL-HINCKLEY ‘89,
VICE PRESIDENT
• MARIA BOWERS-LIGHT ‘88,
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
• BECKY SPEAR ‘89,
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY
Delegates-at-Large:
• BRENDAN KRUEGER ‘82, PRINCIPAL
• ROBERTA MERROW ‘82, REGISTRAR
• JANICA PEPPARD ‘94, DEVELOPMENT
• JENNY HARLOW ‘99, NEWSLETTER
In This Issue
1987 MISSION TRIP
STUDENTS LEAD IN BLOOD DRIVE
ALUMNI NEWS
IN MEMORIAM
PTA CELEBRATES HERITAGE
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
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The class of 2005 just returned from Puerto Rico where they worked on improving a youth camp near San Juan. The students came back with stories of pouring cement, painting walls, and building ramps—similar to what many seniors experienced before them. But Pine Tree Academy seniors didn’t always go on mission trips. It all started with the class of ‘87. Thanks to their decision, a missions-focused trip has been an ongoing tradition of nearly 20 years. Eric Henrickson recalls the decision to do a mission trip and the ensuing adventure. Here it is in his own words.
The Senior Class Trip; a fun filled, sleep deprived, junk food enhanced, minimally supervised, three day trip to an amusement park. Six Flags in Virginia was the standard destination. Each class raised money through various means to fund this tradition. More money somehow represented the ability to somehow get further south, closer to Florida. I watched the three classes before mine take part in this decadent endeavor. They returned with stories, which made the rest of us envy them and pledge to somehow one-up their antics. Several weeks after returning, the whole affair would be largely forgotten. To be honest, a couple of days spent skiing at Mt. Abram sounded like a lot more fun. Yet, I like those before me, was set on being part of the tradition.
I can't remember exactly when the prospect of a mission trip arose. It may be that we had heard of other Adventist academies taking part in trips. We had all heard of the Maranatha International projects. It seems to me that Randy Hutchins, our class president, stood up in Mrs. Merrow's classroom one day and mentioned that we should consider a mission trip as an alternative. There was some grumbling and statements about how this was "Our time". But the more we thought about it, the more the prospect of a team challenge in a foreign country sounded like a fantastic opportunity. When we put it to a vote, almost all voted for the mission trip. And as a bonus, we would be gone for two weeks instead of the standard three day trip.
The Class of ‘87 in Cuentepec, Mexico (photo courtesy Dan Tremper, '87) 
Things needed to happen, and quickly. The sum of $4000 is what I remember as our fund raising goal. Not only were we to fund our travel. We were to buy the materials to construct our project as well. This seemed insurmountable as the total of our previous three years' collections was a mere fraction of this amount. It is amazing how much easier it is to raise funds when there is a noble cause involved.
Continue reading "Spirit of Missions" |
Have you ever heard the American Red Cross slogan, “Give blood, give life” or “Give blood. There’s still no substitute”? Many people have and consequently donated their time and blood to saving lives. The Pine Tree Academy Blood Drive Committee, however, has gone a step further: they have taken on the responsibility of organizing and hosting the Freeport community blood drives. This in itself is a large task, but what makes it truly impressive is the fact that this blood drive committee consists solely of Pine Tree Academy high school students.
It all began with a Pine Tree Academy student and her mother a few years ago. Mrs. Mutsuko Holiman, who had already been working with the Red Cross, joined with her daughter Stefanie (class of ’0?) and began organizing blood drives to be held in the school chapel as a form of community outreach. The drives gained interest, were well attended, and turned out to be a very helpful contribution to the Red Cross. When Stefanie Holiman graduated, her sister, junior Jennifer Holiman, took over the responsibility her freshman year, organizing a blood drive and a platelet drive. |
Since 2004, PTA has been holding three blood drives a school year, located in the Fellowship Hall of the Freeport Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The American Red Cross has come to depend on the Pine Tree Academy Blood Drive Committee. The school’s recruitment coordinator, Eric Lynes, has said that PTA students seem to be more mature, excited, and willing to help. Even though the students’ responsibility has increased due to the Casco Bay YMCA discontinuing their blood drives so that Pine Tree Academy now holds all community drives, they are still enthusiastic and driven to do what is right. When asked what she thought about being a part of the blood drives, sophomore Shaina Holiman simply replied, “It’s very fulfilling.” Anyone attending a PTA blood drive can see that the students are truly not in it for themselves. They are there to save lives, make a difference, and impact their community in a positive way.
Amanda Cossaboom (’05) kicks back while giving blood at a PTA blood drive. |
ALUMNI NEWS
Jessie Brodis ‘99 recently passed her NCLEX tests and is now a registered nurse. Congratulations, Jessie Brodis, R.N.!
Matt Harlow ‘99 also recently passed his nursing boards and is continuing his bachelor’s degree in nursing at Loma Linda University. His summer plans included a June 19 wedding to Jillian Hardesty of Redlands, California. 
The wedding took place at Mammoth Mtn., California. Their new address is:
11084 Willis Dr.
Loma Linda, CA 92354
Amy (Goodman) DeMartino ‘93 and husband Peter had their third baby girl on January 7, 2005. Mia Angelina (Italian for “my angel”) has two older sisters, Isabella, 3 1/2, and Emma Rose, 19 months.
Lakin Wecker ‘98 is currently working on his Masters in Computer Science at the University of Calgary, Canada. He was recently married to Anita-Rae Novlesky on February 20, 2005.
Matt Harris ‘90 probably won’t be able to make it to his 15th reunion in October because he is currently serving a 12-month tour in Iraq. |
Sergeant Harris joined the Army in the fall of 2001 and this is his second tour in the Middle East. Matt is a Chaplain’s Assistant, a paratrooper, and also spends a lot of his time building various structures on the US Army base in Baghdad.
Twelve months is the standard length of stay for the regular army, so Matt’s wife Kimberly, son Kyle (9), and daughter Rachel (8), hope to see him home for the holidays. Anyone wanting to send Matt letters or packages of goodies should send mail to this address:
Harris, Matthew
HHD 503rd MP BN (ABN)
APO AE 09342
Nate Goodman ‘92 was promoted to sergeant in the Freeport Police Department this past February. He has been with the Department since December 1997 when he started as a patrolman. Nate graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in 1998. Nate and Nicole ‘93 Have two children, Alexandra, 5, and Gabriel, 4.
Caleb LaClair ’99 graduated Cum Laude from Walla Walla College on June 13, 2004 with a B.S. in Engineering, concentration in Civil Engineering. He was hired a week after graduation by a former WWC graduate, Arminta Jensen, who is Vice President of the Land Development firm Ruggeri-Jensen-Azar & Associates (www.rja-gps.com). Caleb will be working in Gilroy, California. He says, “I never thought the day would come when this Vermonter would have to associate himself with Californians, but it did. In truth, it’s not that bad . . . having to live with sunshine and moderate temperatures
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year round. I’ll still consider myself a Vermonter ‘till the day I die, though.”
Camille Trubey ‘00 is planning a July 17 wedding to Shawn Brace. They will be moving to Michigan where Camille will continue her degree in History Education at Andrews and Shawn will go to Seminary.
Elizabeth Morgan ‘00 will be marrying Roy Ferguson on August 28. After the wedding they will be traveling to Tobermore, Ireland for a reception with Roy’s family.
Amie Wiggin ‘01 was one of the 27 students selected from AUC to be included in the 2005 Who’s Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges.
Dr. Breyette Lorntz ‘90 welcomed her first child, David Lorntz, into this world on January 15, 2005. They live near Charlottesville, Virginia. |
Emma Paul Lee 1906-2004
Born in Falmouth, Maine, Emma Iverson enjoyed growing up in the Northeast. She attended Pine Tree Academy, then located in Auburn. Emma was a member of the first graduating class of 1923. She went on to get a degree in nursing in 1928 at Washington Missionary College (Columbia Union College). When she moved to Southern California to be close to family, Emma met her husband, Elder Fredrick Lee, a retired missionary minister. They spent 18 happy years together in Loma Linda, California. Fred died at the age of 100 in 1988. Many family and friends will miss Emma’s great Christian witness and joy. |
Artie Henderson 1965-2005
Arthur S. Henderson was born December 6, 1965 in Haverhill, Massachusetts to Stanley Arthur Henderson and Virginia Garneau Henderson. As a child, Artie lived in Haverhill, then Portland and Freeport, Maine. In Freeport, he was welcomed into the loving home of Linda Wiggins as a foster child. He was enrolled at Pine Tree Academy in Freeport for his elementary education. In 1981 at the age of 15, Artie moved to Tennessee to spend time with Leclair and Shelley Litchfield who also welcomed Artie into their home. The most important part of his life was spending time with family and friends. Wherever he was living, Artie’s favorite teams remained the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox and he enjoyed watching them win their recent championships. Artie passed away January 8, 2005 in Atlanta, Georgia after a courageous battle. He was laid to rest in Atlanta, Georgia. |
Dorothy Waters 1919-2005
(selections reprinted from the March, 2005 Communique, submitted by Carol Whitehurst)
Dorothy E. Waters, 85, was born in Boston, Massachusetts May 21, 1919, the eldest of five daughters to Gordon and Evelyn Dodd Musick, raised in New Hampshire and South Lancaster, Mass. After graduation from Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster, “Dot” started her 35 year long elementary teaching career in Rochester, NY. Later she taught at Browning Memorial in South Lancaster and finally retired from many wonderful years at Pine Tree Academy. Even after retirement, she and husband Calvin Waters have been hardworking, faithful supporters of the Brunswick Seventh-day Adventist Church, Pine Tree Academy, and Parkview Hospital, giving of their time and experience for many more years. Memorial gifts can be given to the newly established Dorothy Waters Scholarship Fund. |
Master Plan for Pine Tree’s Campus
Steps have been made toward creating a master plan for Pine Tree Academy’s 81-acre campus. Principal Brendan Krueger reports that the school is collaborating with Smith Reuter Lull Architects of Lewiston and Bethel to form a multi-stage plan that provides for the development and expansion of the school over the next 25-30 years. The land has already been surveyed, and administration has met with the architects to discuss a footprint of the campus. We are very excited to see these plans moving forward, and we will keep alumni informed of progress!
On October 1-3, 2004, Pine Tree Academy (PTA) hosted its annual Alumni Homecoming Weekend, honoring the class of 1974, the first graduating class in Freeport. Alumni, former faculty and friends came from states all over the country eager to see their school again and reunite with old classmates. All were blessed by the inspiring messages of Pastor Dennis Farley and Celesté perrino Walker both alumni of PTA. “Together in Heaven,” which was the motto for the Class of 1974, will be long remembered as the theme for this unforgettable alumni weekend.
 Of special mention, was the presence of Dorothy Wood Turk, an alumnus from the original Pine Tree Academy. Dorothy attended PTA for 9th and 10th grade and sadly had to finish high school elsewhere when PTA closed its doors in 1933. During the candle lighting service, Mrs. Turk fondly remembered her former teachers and classmates as she lit candles for the years PTA operated in Auburn, Maine. The highlight of the weekend for Mrs. Turk was a Sabbath afternoon field trip to the 100+ acre “old PTA” farm. Although many changes had been made to the property since the 1930’s, Dorothy |
was happily surprised by how much had been preserved and actually remained the same. Remarkably the chalkboard was still present in what used to be an assembly room. How exciting it was for Mrs. Turk to find in the original print shop building, a 1932 yearbook, still intact after seventy years! What a treasure for her to bring home! Mrs. Turk shared experiences of times spent working on the farm, learning in the classroom, and life in the girls dormitory where she states the best memories of her life were made. Thank you, Mrs. Turk, for sharing your memories with us and inspiring us to keep our light at PTA shining. Pine Tree Academy is updating the information for this important group of alumni. If you attended from 1923- 1933 please contact Principal Brendan Krueger at Pine Tree Academy at 207-865-4747. Any yearbooks, photos or other memorabilia would be greatly appreciated for the PTA Alumni archives. |
We’d like to welcome the Class of 2005 to the Pine Tree Academy Alumni Association! Our newest members, from left to right are, standing: Rachael Houtman, Anthony Caiazzo, Andrew Harlow, Jereme Holiman, Gatthak Deng, Jerod Verrill, Greg West, Frank Glover, sitting: Jessica Hume, Gordon Dezotell, Amanda Cossaboom, Brittany Lounder, Hannah Kuntz, Savannah Wilson, Megan Souza. |
1975
Ellen Nelton Brown
Kathy Buchholz
Gerald Cheney
Arthur Conrad
Martha Dannenburger
Roland Joy
†Dale Richardson
Amelia Hall Spaar
Danny Timmon
Lowell Trecartin
Donna Young Williamson
Scott Williamson
1980
Nancy Johnson Broderick
Cheryl Weeks Cardenas
*Joline Carkin-Mejia
Phillip Craig
Andy Evans
Tammy Gray Frisbie
*Dale Hadley
James Henderson
†Tom Jackson
†Danny Joy
†Valerie Mahnke
Denise Zorilla Mitch
Michael Paolini
†Heidi Loring Tyler
Roger Wilday
Elizabeth Bragdon Wilson |
1985
Scott Amos
Cindy Huston Bragg
Leonard Bridges
†Amy Wright Britt
Rocky Cuva
Alyssa McMahon Delverrhio
David DePalma
Geoff Ganter
Brad Krueger
Holly Babich Leslie
Greg Martin
Daniel McCormick
Robert Mills
Dawna Quittmeyer
†Michael Rotler-Gurley
James Sweet
Theresa Wright Sweet
Brad Tanguay
†Tina Martin Thomas
Renate Wiggin Thompson
Fredrick VanArsdale |
1990
Rachel Berger
Mike Cushing
Amber Towle Daggett
Michael Dunn, Jr.
Bill Dustin
Hannah Curtis Dickerson
Tim Farley
Alden Forrester
Julie Gowell
Audrey Greene
Matt Harris
Frank Hodson III
Allison Jones
*Kathy Leonard Lavertue
Breyette Lorntz
Deborah Pike Loss
Sara McIntyre MacFarland
RaeAnne Falvo Marden
†Tina Merrow Merritt
†April Rich
†Melissa DiPietrantonio- Ronneburg
†Cindy Suckow Saxton
†Jim Schmehl
Rob Slocum
Joel Sommers
†Julia Sprague
Chris Stong
†Lisa Evans Tarbox
Maryann Wilson Waterman
* Darcy Stong Whisenant
Diane White
Keith Woods
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1995
Kimberly Cobb Baumbach
Chris Campbell
Melanie Cargill
Daniel Cheney
†Kerrie Clapp Carolan
Michael Cuva
Eric Ford
Maria Wheelden Ford
Michael Gauthier
Leora Johnson
William Kenny
Seth Knight
Beth LaClair
†Deanna Lehmann Moovers
Kim Frazee Owen
Michele Parisi
Sarah Farley Reese
Renita Nelson Saliba
Erin Smead
Carrie Goodman Thibaudeau
Janel Sabnani Tyson
Aaron Wiggin
2000
Heather Blakeney
Ben Bradford
Devin Copsey
Charlie Cutler
Jeff Gimbel
Wesley James
Elizabeth Morgan
Marcus Ranalla
Allison Merrill Romeo
Phillip Schmehl
Samantha Smith
Camille Trubey
Lisa Umbro |
* attendees
† lost alumni
Your alumni officers appreciate any leads to lost alumni. Contact us at alumni@pinetreeacademy.org if you’re in touch with any of the lost alumni listed here!
Prayer Requests & Praises
• Our prayers are with Sally DePalma Greenleaf (‘93) as she recovers from her successful back surgery.
• Please pray for Kay Kahkonen Goodall (‘82) as she continues treatments for her illness.
• Please pray for Matt Harris (‘90) as he continues to serve his country in Iraq.
• Sara Johnson Huston (’86) and her family are praising the Lord for His healing power. After being diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, Sara was anointed and has had surgery. She is recovering well and greatly appreciates everyone’s continued thoughts and prayers for her recovery. Cards and letters can be sent to 95 Pownal Rd., Freeport, ME 04032. Please continue to pray for Sara’s full recovery! |
Letter from the President
This may be the last newsletter that is published before Alumni weekend next fall. I would like to take this opportunity to invite each one of you to attend alumni weekend, October 28th and 29th. The alumni association has been working hard since last year, and I believe we have some great speakers lined up. You won’t want to miss it!
Pastor Mike Ortel, our NNE Conference President, will be presenting at the Friday night vespers, and Pastor Dennis Farley will be presenting at the Church Service on Sabbath. We are planning to have a mini music concert of alumni participants to close Sabbath at Vespers. We are hoping to get enough interest from Alumni who sang in the choir and/or jubilate when they attended Pine Tree. I urge anyone who is even a little bit interested to please email Sharon at slg03825@yahoo.com so we can plan accordingly.
The alumni association is working closely with Sandy Cheney to keep the Pine Tree Alumni section of the website as current as possible. Please visit the website for updates, www.pinetreeacademy.org then click on the alumni section. Thank you to Sandy for all her volunteer work on the alumni website!
God bless,
Sean Parker
Alumni President |
October 28-30
Alumni Homecoming Weekend:
- FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28
6:00 PM —REGISTRATION
7:00 PM—VESPERS, MIKE ORTEL
- SABBATH, OCTOBER 29
9:00 AM —SABBATH SCHOOL
11:00 AM—CHURCH, DENNIS FARLEY
7:00 PM —VESPERS, ALUMNI MUSIC
ALUMNI BUSINESS MEETING
BASKETBALL GAMES
- SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30
PANCAKE BREAKFAST
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"Spirit of Missions" continued..
Pine Tree Academy to Logan Airport, Logan to Houston, Houston to Mexico City. I can remember seeing the Mississippi river, endless housing developments and some fantastic mountains. We arrived not long before sunset. The Maranatha folks were there to bring us to our accommodations, which may have been an abandoned hospital. I can't remember. What I do remember is looking down on the walled lot across the street from us and realizing that each small section of tin roofing slanting down from the wall probably housed an entire family. There must have been fifteen families living in a space the size of a footprint of a modest single family home. They didn't even have walls.
Someone suggested that we go and see some native Aztec dances, which involved riding in taxis. Taxis in Mexico are much more thrilling than any of the rides at Six Flags. Imagine the joy of our driver when we turned onto a long and fairly empty avenue just as all of the traffic lights in sight turned green like the Christmas tree at a drag strip. I think I stayed awake for most of the first dance.
Our Maranatha bus took us through the town of Cuernavaca and into the desert to some ancient pyramid structures. It was explained that this was a sports arena involving an Aztec game in which the captain of the winning team was beheaded after the game. Modern wrestling pales in comparison to ancient brutality. As we left the pyramids our bus drove right off the backside of the paved parking lot. We pitched down onto a cobblestone road that I hadn't even noticed and jarred our way into the mountains to our final destination.
The town of Cuentepec was quite an introduction to third world culture. The land was brown and barren. It hadn't rained there in more than two years. Homes were mostly stucco, with some made of what looked like corn stalks. Drinking water was stored in open cisterns. Quite visible were organisms swimming around in them. Water was available most days for a couple of hours when a government official turned on a pipeline from a large cistern above the town. Electricity traveled in uninsulated wires suspended a few feet above the roofs of most buildings. To access this resource, most homes would bend a crook into the ends of a couple heavy gauge wires and drop them onto the live transmission lines. Sanitation facilities were a few open barrels of water and a privy not meant for a group our size. The citizens spoke an Aztec dialect. Spanish was their second language.
There had been a mission group to this town before us. They had built a church, which was to be our quarters. We were told that the townsfolk were divided with many being unfriendly toward the Adventist influence in their traditionally Catholic village. Our project was a school building adjacent to the church; 16'X32' evenly divided into two rooms. The footers were already in place.
Let me say that we were gringos when it came to local construction techniques. Mixing mortar and concrete by hand in our small trough was quite a challenge. After watching us struggle with this task for a day or two, one of the locals let us in on the proper procedure for accomplishing this on an open patch of ground. Amazing! I don't know if a cement mixer could be as efficient. Equally as amazing were the construction skills of Al Stevens. If there is one person on earth with a gift of unconventional approaches to conventional problems, it is Elder Stevens. I think he set the local architectural community on its ear.
Every day there was rebar to bend, bricks to soak, mortar and concrete to mix, Forms to build, bricks to lay, food to prepare and floors to level. We also waterproofed the baptismal in the church with fiberglass. Local regulations stipulated that a wall must be built as a divider between properties. Local craftsmen were hired for the job. There wages were about $3 per day. Their product would have been welcomed in the finest of neighborhoods. We also employed one fellow to dig a pit for the new privy. No small feat considering the ground was no less hardened than concrete after the extended drought. This applied to our work of leveling the floors inside the building too.
Daily temperatures must have been around 110 degrees, much colder at night. Humidity might have been in the single digits. Moisture evaporated so rapidly that it was hard to determine if you were sweating. A white salty film mixed in with dust was proof enough. The value of a siesta became readily apparent during the heat of the day. At the end of the workday there was a cold running, clear creek in which to bathe. It was conveniently located at the bottom of a wicked deep (1800') gorge falling away from the edge of the village. I'm telling you, that water felt good.
In the evenings we would have meetings with folks from the village. A number of us had brought instruments including, flutes, clarinets, trumpets and an accordion. We'd sing songs and Pastor Lorntz would provide a sermon in Spanish. The meetings grew rapidly in attendance. One memorable night our meeting was interrupted by a deluge. Rain beat on the tin roof so hard it drown out our loudest voices. After two years without rain, this was a miracle. The local folks were so excited that they ran outside to celebrate. Alas, the shower was brief and within minutes the ground was as dusty as it had been before.
Each morning we awoke with the animals, who felt 4:30AM was a pretty good time to start making noise. Each night we'd collapse into our hammocks, pews or whatever else we had to sleep on. "Creepy Crawlies" were ever present in the minds of some who felt no shame in emitting blood curdling screams when encountering critters in the middle of the night.
If there is one thing Mexico excels at, it is food. We were blessed with fruits that looked like the same things we ate back home, but tasted out of this world. Corn tortillas warm from the oven. Refried beans, vegetables, breads and many other things that were just too good to convey in words.
It was rewarding to see our efforts turn into a respectable structure. Keeping building supplies on hand was a matter of begging and borrowing from the local village. Mexican timetables do not include overnight or same day delivery on anything. Same month delivery would be asking quite a bit. The local building supply was three hours away and didn't have much incentive to bring us the remainder of the materials we had ordered. Many IOU's were issued, and I think we probably used every bag of cement within miles. Our group really came together as a team and our project came to fruition a few days earlier than projected.
What to do with some free time in Mexico? How about a trip to Acapulco? That is how it came to be. Mostly because of the benevolence of our sponsors, and our proximity to the aforementioned location, a bus was chartered and we were off to see the Pacific. Cliff diving (by the professionals), waterskiing, scuba diving, sunbathing, sightseeing and shopping with obligatory price haggling were but a few of the adventures for us. We ate fresh coconuts picked right off the tree and served with tropical flowers. Six Flags in Virginia was of no comparison to Acapulco. Here we were, on the ultimate senior class trip. Three days in Acapulco instead of Virginia. What could be better?
The answer is Cuentepec. Yes, for all the glamour of an exotic destination, Acapulco did not hold a candle to our poor, arid mountain town. Somehow the luxury and excitement of a world class resort city seemed meaningless next to our hot, dusty work and the camaraderie we shared. It really felt good to get back to work.
Perhaps the true test of the value of such an experience is to ask yourself if you were able to give more than you received. Speaking for myself, I would have to say emphatically, NO! We set off on into the uncertainty of an opportunity for which we had no precedent and returned with one of the richest and most rewarding experiences of our lives. Whatever I contributed toward the mission of our trip has been dwarfed by the blessings I have received.
So many things had to come together for the trip to succeed in its mission. Several times we appeared to reach dead ends only to have new paths open at the last minute. And they did. What a lesson in faith. God certainly provided for all our needs and more.
One last word of advice: Remember the Maranatha bus that brought us to our work site? We do too. We certainly don't remember it coming back for us. But that is another story. |
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