Sparta, Missouri 2016 MOSES Spring Break Trip Report

February 20, 2017

On Friday, April 1, thirteen of us left Hudsonville, Michigan to travel to Sparta, Missouri to serve on our one-week MOSES mission trip. There were ten students and three adults eagerly awaiting to see what God had in store for our upcoming week. Our trip down was a pleasant drive, with no mishaps – just the way we like to travel. On our arrival we were greeted by our host, Ed Hultgren. Ed introduced us to our home for the week, an ambulance station. We divided the ambulance wash bay into guys’ and girls’ sleeping quarters. (We sometimes played volleyball over the tarp that divided us.) There were a couple of bathrooms with showers; and also a kitchen where we could make our meals.

Our area of service that week was helping Sherry, a single lady, who suffered with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. Her house was a double wide, in serious need of siding. There were places in the old siding where there were holes right through. Also next to this house where she lived, was another double wide that needed cleaning. So while some worked on the siding, others worked on taking all the stuff out of the storage house. Then we reorganized, and helped Sherry sort and give away some things away and put it back together. We completed siding the house, then made her some front steps and also a small deck out the back. We also put a coat of paint on the storage house. Sherry was beyond excited to see the change in her place in one week. Our team work very hard and made an amazing transformation to her place.

While we were there, Sherry’s daughter and three small boys came and helped us and helped her mom decide about things. Ashley also made sure we had a couple of days of hot lunch, and kept us in supply of cold water and cold drinks. Ashley made our job a lot easier Our evenings consisted of having dinner together, getting ourselves cleaned up, some praise and worship, and maybe a card game or movie. One evening, Ed came and gave us a first aid course for three hours, and we all received our First Aid Certification.

On Sunday, we visited a local church for their worship service; then after our noon meal, we traveled to Branson, Missouri. Branson is a popular tourist attraction, only about 30 minutes away, so we figured we might as well visit. We visited The Landing, a place along the river with shops and cafes, and then we found a park to take a couple-mile hike.

On our way home from our week in Sparta, we stopped by the famous Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The arch grounds are under renovation. It will be beautiful when completed. After our visit there and some supper, we headed home. When we drove into Chicago, we were greeted with icy roads, we had to drive slow the rest of the way. But the Lord saw us through, with no mishaps in spite of the snow and ice. We arrived home about 7:45 a.m. We thank our Heavenly Father for a wonderful week of fellowship and wonderful week of fellowship and work.

Donna Rotman for the Sparta team

More News 👉