Reflections

Just got back to good 'ol Eastern University. Already have a load of clothes in the washer and getting a chance to relax. It was a good ride and the van I was in had some really fun and interesting conversations. All in all it was a great trip! I wish we could have stayed longer. But now that you have all been reading my reflections during the week I thought it would be cool to hear from everyone else! So here are reflections from the rest of the crew! (the parentheses are the nicknames that Beth came up with for everyone)

This week has been quite an experience.  I love that I got to know all of the people on our crew; everyone is pretty cool and pretty hilarious.  It was so awesome that we built part of a house that someone is going to live in.  Matt, Merritt, and Karen were all patient with my lack of skill with construction, but we made it!  Everyone in the community was incredibly welcoming, especially with the food!  I don’t even mind the sunburn ;) –Gerry not Gary. (Spearmint)

The crew was great to work with; building relationships with everyone was a great part of the trip. At the end of week seeing how much we had done was amazing. It go from not having wall to working on the walls on the second story was awesome. In the community everyone was so welcoming! I determine that by the quality of the food over the week. But in all seriousness, the week was great and I cannot wait for next year. –Allison (Sparrow)

I didn’t exactly know what to expect when I applied to go on this trip, but it has definitely exceeded whatever expectations I did have. Everyone on our team got a long very well and worked together great even though most of didn’t know each other before the long ride down to North Carolina. The crew we worked with were fun and extremely patient with our mistakes and questions. We made more progress on the house than I thought was possible for a group of unskilled and inexperienced builders. Every meal we eat was delicious and we never went hungry and every person we met was so friendly. The best part of the week was meeting the homeowner and hearing her talk about her children and grandchild that will be living in the home we were a part of building, eating food from the kitchen that we helped frame the walls for, and spending time together in the rooms that we helped put together. It was all well worth the sunburn, sweat, blisters, and bruises. –Heather (Monster)

This week was probably the most amazing service week that I have experienced. I learned so much and I also learned that there is so much more I can learn. Before the trip my experience with a hammer and nails would be equivalent to those Playschool sets in preschool. I had experienced hard work in my life, but I had never experienced such physical work before this. My appreciation for those who do this kind of service has grown and I have developed a deeper understanding of having a servant’s heart. I am so grateful for my team, the work crew, and the staff that made all of this past week possible. Not to mention those who provided housing and meals for us; we thoroughly enjoyed both the food and housing arrangement. I pray that all the staff of Habitat for Humanity in Greensboro North Carolina, and the future owner of the Three Sisters house will be blessed. –Christin Suetterlein (Riddles)

I’ve been on several service trips, but this one will probably stand out as one of the most memorable, simply because all of the volunteers gave up their Spring Break. Normally, Spring Break is a time to celebrate or simply rest; for this group, it was a time to serve a community far from home. It was such an honor and privilege to serve with this group, and I feel blessed that they welcomed me into their circle. It was amazing to feel the Spirit working through them, and in some ways, the building of the house represented the formation of faith. In the beginning, the house was an empty platform, but in time, it was framed and built up, and will eventually be groomed and designed to house new lives. For us, as we are built up in faith through our life experiences, our bodies become transformed and strengthened to be temples for God. As I reflect on that, I am thankful for each of the 12 members of Eastern’s finest and I pray that this experience will serve as another building block in their Christian foundation.  – Christian Hicks (Papa Smurf)

Being able to come back another spring break has been more then a blessing. To be completely honest, I wasn’t going to come back, but once Raechel told me that she was leading and we were going back to NC, I had to come. It was honestly great to be able to work with Matt again and be able to work with Kat for at least one day!! Merritt, Karen, and Amanda were such a pleasure to work with and I am so grateful to have met them. I absolutely love Greensboro Habitat and this week was more then I could have ever imagined… I have to say, I felt privileged to have drive the bobcat on the last day. Going to Greensboro last year helped me decide to join the board at my university but going to Greensboro this year helped me realize I want to open habitat to our university more and to show people how amazing it is, especially the incoming freshmen next year. The story of the house that we helped build is just an incredible story itself. I feel beyond privileged to have help. I don’t look at this week as giving up having fun and freedom for our spring break to build houses. I look at this week as having freedom to have fun building houses for those who need it the most. This was not only a learning experience but was the most fun, exhilarating, irreplaceable experience and I cant think of any other way to spend my spring break. I am going to miss everyone!

  - May “Jersey” Youngworth (B.I.D. #1)

This was actually my first mission trip, and it was most definitely a good one. This week has been full of learning, mess-ups, fix-ups, laughs, and team bonding. For me, starting off building at the worksite was a bit rough, because I have never really done construction work like that before, it was cold and windy, and it was hard feeling motivated to keep working. Then I got to meet and talk to the owner of the home we were building. Meeting her made the whole experience more real, and it gave me the motivation to do my very best throughout the day. We were not just building the house for a random person, we were building it for her, so I needed to do my best work. As the week continued the weather improved, as did my hammering skills, so it got easier to keep going for the whole day. Overall this trip was quite amazing. I have gotten the pleasure of getting to know each person on my team and the leaders on the site on a personal level. We all had such a good time and accomplished a lot in that week. I would not trade this experience for anything, and I would tell anyone not sure what to do with their spring break to help out with Habitat.

- Emily Palmer (Special Agent)

I was so excited to have the opportunity to return to North Carolina to work with Habitat for a second spring break trip.  Both this year and last were full of laughter and hard work.  If given the opportunity, I would love to return for a third year!  I feel honored to have met and worked with the Habitat staff members who were mentoring us and following us around fixing all of our bent nails and mishaps.  I have always found great joy in a hard days work. There are few things that are more rewarding than being able to go home at the end of the day knowing that you were able to honor God with your hands and feet.  It was also an honor to have met and worked with the homeowner of the house.  I pray that God blesses her and her family as they begin their lives in their new home.  - Beth Storm (Mom)

Having the chance to lead my first spring break strip to Greensboro last year was an experience I will never forget. But the fact I was able to lead another trip to Greensboro again this year was a blessing in disguise. I knew after last year that seeing the joy in my team members faces each and everyday made all of the stress that came with preparing for the trip well worth it for me. I was expecting that to be the case again this year, although much to my surprise the excitement of my team members impacted me on a whole other level. Seeing everyone keep a smile on their faces no matter what the days activities brought, was incredibly powerful to witness. I was excited to know that everyone was genuinely having a great time. Each one of us complimented each other’s personalities in ways I found to be beautiful. The friendships that have been formed and strengthened are only a small token of what this trip has given to us. My memories of this trip will last for the rest of my life. They are going to be cherished and thought about often, each time bringing the same smile to my face as the one that was there when the memory was made. My hope is that the people we had the chance to work with and every other collegiate challenge can walk away from their days on the site with as much satisfaction as we had did. 

Raechel Jones (Dad)

First of all I really enjoyed the group that I was with. It was great to learn everyone’s story. The facility that we stayed was better than all of our expectations. The gymnasium that Mr. Miller had was better than Eastern’s. I got a lot better at basketball, football and pool while being at the facility. It was a perfect place to stargaze when the sky was clear. At the work site, all the Habitat workers were very understanding of everyone’s abilities and experience in the work site. I went in to the break with a little construction experience with a class in high school. The amount that I learned in a week was more than a week in that class. It was so great to see the Three Sisters’ House go from a brick/concrete foundation to what we ended with. All the work we did as a group went into changing the life of the homeowner. This was a great chance to learn, serve, and have fun on spring break.

Cameron Tough (twin #1)

Overall it was great. Ken Miller’s place was sublime to say the least. It was a dream come true to see the outdoor court like we had. The cabins that we had were way better than I expected. The mattress was long enough for me. At the site, all of the leaders taught us a lot and were patient with us. On Tuesday night, we served homeless ate Hot Meals and Hope in down town Greensboro. This was a great experience because we served them, instead of just preparing the food and them waiting in line for food. I look forward going again next year, if possible.

Kyle Engelbart (twin #2)


This was my 2nd year coming to Greensboro to work with Habitat. There were four of us on the team that came here last year. I wasn't going to come this year, but Raechel said that she was leading the group and we were coming back to the same place, so I had to!! I couldn't say no because last year was such a fun time! I was planning on going to Florida for spring break but once I started talking with May, Raechel and Beth about our trip last year I remembered how much fun it was and what a great time we had! This past week was a blast! I loved meeting new staff members and working with ones we had been with last year. The team that we had this year was such a great group of students! And we were so blessed to be able to stay at Ken Miller's place, we loved being able to stay there! We all had such a great time working every day with the Habitat staff members! We joked around a lot and even danced but were still able to get a lot of work done! It was amazing to watch the building process; to look at pictures from Day 1 compared to our last day. I loved spending this past week here! Being able to make new friends within the group and strengthening current friendships was great! :) It was such a wonderful way to spend Spring Break! 
Meredith Donker (B.I.D. #2)

So there ya have it! I hope you all enjoyed reading about our experience down in Greensboro during our spring break. It was such a rewarding experience and I wish I could do it again next year (unfortunately I am a senior and graduating soon) but I know in the future I would love to be able to work again with Habitat in some way. Thanks so much to everyone who made this week possible!