Blessing Redlands…

When the Church is unified good things happen!

So a couple of weeks ago many of us had the chance to participate in the Bless Redlands Project.  The project is a once a year collaboration between local churches to help organizations and people in the city.  There were many worksites and a variety of projects from cleaning schools, to building BBQs, laying sprinklers to serving the homeless a hot breakfast.

I happened to be involved with a project that went to Riverstones.  Riverstones is a place that provides a pseudo-family for teenage boys who are in the foster care system. Russ, the man who runs the place, gives them not only a place to live, but takes them on vacations all over the place, gets them through high school, into college, or into a job, and helps with any other needs they may have as they transition from being wards of the state to being out on their own.  I was really happy to hear him talk about what they do and how much he loves the kids that live there.

At the home there is a ton of property and a huge dirt field…

Our Goal was to Take out some trees, trench and lay sprinklers to get a lawn started, build a raised planter box 24′ X 4′ to get ready for planting a garden, trim the overgrown shrubs and trees all around the house, and pile all of the waste into two giant trash bins.

In about four hours…

I worked with Jason Starr, Rachel Bergman, and Jordan Ankenman from Restoration, and some people from the River Church to build the raised garden.  It was a blast!  Not only to see it come together for the boys that live there, but to learn how to build it as well.  It took us about two hours, Some redwood ties, four huge loads of dirt, two drills (the first one started overheating), and a lot of fertilizer.  In the end it came out great, and while it took some work, it went in rather quickly.

When we were done we were able to help cement the sprinkler pipes together giving us another opportunity to learn a new skill.

Later i got to attack a tree stump with a chainsaw, it was my first time using one (believe it or not) so I was a little nervous, but it was easy like slicing bread (well, almost).

We finished with everything about 12:15 and looking back over all we had done, I was a little surprised how quickly the place was transformed.  It was a good reminder of what 25 or so people can do if we all work towards a goal and put everything we have into it.  It helped me realize how much easier most things are to do in reality than I think they are going to be.  I would never have attempted to put in sprinklers before, but now i think i could give it a try.  It was also great to see how excited Russ was and nice to think about how many kids will enjoy the fruits of our labor over the years.

Also, Restoration is going back to Riverstones in a few weeks to help the boys plant the garden and teach them how to maintain it.

we will have the actual date and time up soon.

Here are two things i took away from this day:

1.  Both of our project leaders (one for the Garden) (one for the Sprinklers) had never done this exact type of work before.  One was a Physics professor at the University of Redlands who has built small raised planters before but nothing like what we did that day.  The other is a Door Hanger, who said he had never laid sprinklers before.  Both of these guys,  who obviously had some basic knowledge of engineering, were willing to take steps to do new things in order to benefit others.  I think we would all do well to have that mentality.  If we would be willing to take some time and learn how to do basic building, maintenance, and repair projects, there would be less people in need.  Like a chain reaction, one teaches the next by helping them and they teach the next when they need help and so the cycle goes on.  I know that I feel more empowered to try small projects on my own now, and ready to teach some basics to someone else if the chance ever arises.

2.  I loved the fact that we were able to partner with other Churches.  Too often we let our doctrinal differences stand in the way of helping those around us.  When we can come together on issues like serving the poor and oppressed, taking care of the orphan and the widow, and feeding the hungry, there is no room for petty disagreements.  All that we are left with is the truth of the Gospel, that we are here to serve others as Jesus served us.  I hope that as this event moves into the future we will see more and more churches taking part.  I hope that we can find ways to interact with each other, not just on one day but throughout the year, around topics that bind us to the central message of Jesus, that all people are worth caring about and being loved.

Thanks Bless Redlands Project… See you next year!

Ryan Minor