Who: Ryan and Amy Hughes
Where: University of Washington Campus
Website: http://www.uw.ruf.org/
Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) is the campus ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). RUF is a ministry for students through students with the help of a campus minister. The ministry of RUF seeks to reach students for Christ and to equip them to serve. Ryan and Amy have been at the UW since 2006. (You can hear some of Ryan's preaching in the sermons section!)
2009/2010 Interns at RUF-UW: Alexander Schmidt & Abby Shackelford
Dear Friends,
Thank you all so very much for your support and prayers for our trip!! It was one of the best I that I have been a part of. God was very good to us that week. We were very blessed by your enthusiasm and generousity; and we relied on your prayers all week long. We cannot thank you enough!
The VIDEO of the week is on the RUF website! Go to the Service Projects page (where it will remain indefinitely) or to the RUF UW homepage where it lives temporarily.
Work site reverb
The main project for the week was to paint the outside of a 7,000 sq.ft., 100 year old home in Medicine Valley (the valley on the rez where, as you might have already guessed, many of the sacred roots, plants and herbs flourish). There is a multi-generational family that lives in the house, including the elderly matriarch who is nearly blind. The shingles used for siding on the house were all wood and many of them had to be replaced as well as painted. The house was red, it ended up being white and light green. We actually were unable to finish the entire house--just too much! A summer SRM team will complete it. This was the first time (in my history) that were unable to complete the main project. But it was probably the biggest project we have tackled. It was great, on the flipside, to work with some of the family who joined forces with us. "Jr.", in particular, was up in the cherry picker, scraping and painting. You'll see him (and hear him) in the video.
There were two other work sites in addition. A smaller group of UW students split off and went to chop wood at an elderly ladies' home and then to paint much of the interior of the dining space and bathrooms of the long house--the sacred building of the people. There was a major spring feast to take place the Sunday after we left, so we wanted to have it sparkle.
Another small group, headed up by Keith Goben (elder at Greenlake Pres. where Amy and I attend), replaced much of the old flooring of the Granberry's home with tile and wood. In contrast to us, that project was finished and we thank Keith for his selfless, often solo, renewal of that ministry's home.
Kids Club Reverb
We were so thankful that the weather held ALL WEEK long and we were able to go to the park EVERY day of the week!! This is a first for a spring trip. Every one of our team connected with the kids to some degree, and many of us connected with one kid in particular. We spent 2+ hours every day skipping rope (remember that? do you remember the rhymes and songs and games that go with that? yah, neither did we ;) ), playing four-square, giving piggy back rides, playing marbles, helping kids with the great crafts our team cooked up, telling them Bible stories, and teaching them songs. There are just too many stories for me to tell in this email, so I would encourage you to send an separate email to a person you know on the team or individually supported and ASK THEM TO TELL YOU their story.
But to put this park time in context--can you think of that one, maybe those two, really happy childhood memories? You know the ones I mean--the ones where there is nothing but joy, sunshine, love and hope for the future. When compared to the every-day lives of 90% of these kids, this week IS THAT ONE MEMORY for them. This is why we go.
Follow up
The staff and interns of SRM remain on the rez all year. So the seeds we sow, the conversations we start, the kids we meet, the projects we begin--they finish and harvest. And, of course, as we return year after year we get to see much of the renewal, growth of hope and commitment to Christ as well. One commitment I have made after this years' trip is to not let my children grow up with a blind eye toward Native America and it's people. Through God's grace and by his power, the fountain of redemption can spring up even on the reservation.
Thank you all so much!
Ryan Hughs
RUF UW Yakama Spring Team
