Mission Trip to Schoharie New York July 7 to 12, 2013

This mission trip idea was started by Marianne and, in planning, I felt it would benefit our ringers more to be going on the mission trip rather than of our usual Area Festival. I had figured that we would somehow incorporate or bring bells into it and then... a God Sighting! Barbara suggested that Marianne  contact Lutheran Disaster Relief and found SALT (Schoharie Area Long Term Disaster Recovery).

"Why was this a God sighting?" you might ask. Well, the year before at the Hudson Valley Handbell Festival the beneficiary was the United Presbyterian Church of Schoharie handbell ringers. Their church was flooded by Hurricane Irene and their bells were covered in mud and muck, their music library and all associated equipment destroyed (tables, pads, covering, books etc). The concert raised funds to help get some of their bells restored. 

Then Hurricane Sandy hit and the discussion came up - Should we change the destination of our trip? But we found out that SALT predicted that the area still needed 3 to 5 years (even a year and a half AFTER the storm) to fully recover. We did not want those affected and still being affected to be forgotten so we stayed on course to go to Schoharie. (Incidentally, the beneficiary committee of the Hudson Valley Handbell Festival was asked again to consider the Schoharie Handbell choir to be the beneficiary as it was difficult for those not directly affected by the hurricane to see that even now there is still a lot more to be done. 

It is finally July amongst the busy lives we all lead. Twenty-two of us have come together, varying in age and ability, for 5 days to experience all the God Sightings we can.