#sspstweek4

Stockton Tuesday, Week 4

Joshua, Ashlin, Cole, Maddie—The Farm Animals

Lets get one thing clear. There is nothing I hate more than waking up early. The morning dew, the chill windy breeze, and the sunrise, although beautiful, are just not my things. But apparently there are exceptions to all rules, including self-made rules. Today the farm animals had to harvest fruits and vegetables from the community garden to package and give away. Garden was breathtaking in the morning, and it was topped by sunrise above the trees. The “almost perfect, but not quite” fruit had to be eaten by us since it wasn’t good enough to give away, so it’s a always a bonus to take one for the team.

  Ashlynn, Kyle, Lars, Courtney, Noah, and Robert- The Benchwarmers

Today was a very productive day, we built two tables and a bench, along with cutting, measuring, and sorting wood. We had fun all the while and grew together as a team through our teamwork. Later we had quite the inspirational speech from someone who has risen up from the worst way of life to being a very inspiring man.

  Brennan, Sierra, Mitchell, Will, Zach, Amy—stain

A man named Jay spoke to us this evening. Jay is a Stockton native and therefore I expected his talk to display the struggles Stockton is going through. Instead, he shared his life story. A life filled with rebellion, mistakes, recognition, thought, and then change. Change that was only sparked by passion, which we learned is anger channeled into ambition. Certainly, Jay developed a passion for Stockton and has since shifted from a gang member to a community leader and activist. Jay taught me to dig deep and bring out my inner passion to spark change in my own community.

  Bryan, Priscilla, Blake, Maeve - Gardeneers

Our group and another group, the farm animals, woke up really early to harvest some vegetables and some fruits to be distributed around the community. After all that we worked on a mud wall and almost finished it! Today a guest speaker came to talk to us about who you are. He went through a lot and did a lot and even went to prison. But now he is such a cool person. He is getting his reputation up and is helping the community of Stockton

  Jacob, Hil, Marco, Audrey, John, and Linda- The Green Machine

Stockton Monday, Week 4

Bryan, Blake, Wyatt, Priscilla, Maeve-Gardeneers

Today was a really fun day to kick start the week. In our garden we shared with the Farm Animals. There were plots that some families can buy so that was cool. My group spread wood chips to make a road on the farm. Another thing we did was start making places to plant plants. We put down cardboard and put soil on it

  Joshua, Ashlin, Maddie, Cole—Farm Animals

Day one at the farm. There is nothing like spending a day on a farm. With nothing but our bare hands (and maybe a few rakes), we animals leveled small mountains of mulch mixture in the heat of the scorching sun. In the baking sun, we created-like cement mixtures to create a wall of mud, separating different parts of the farm. Day one was a success. We made mountains bow, and we made walls to protect. All in the name of love, community, and God.

  Ashlynn, Kyle, Noah, Lars, Courtney- The Benchwarmers

The Benchwarmers started the day by sanding down premade benches from previous SSP groups and organized the lumber yard. We then left the church to gather more wood from the community farm, but it turned into a huge project of reorganizing the front part of it. This consisted of organizing lumber, moving crates and stakes, and much more. We ended early so we helped the Gardeneers with their project. Afterward we gave water to chickens and helped the farmer with a few things that needed to be moved, and ended the day on a fantastic note.

  Brennan, Sierra, Will, Mitchell, Zach

It’s hard to look out upon a backyard filled with a dozen old, rotten cars and piles of trash and hold your judgment.  Images like these stir disgust and indifference to the lifestyle of a person who might keep a backyard like this. It just so happened, that on the first day my group and I arrived at this tattered work site that our daily theme focused around fair and proper judgment. We are taught in Proverbs 31:4 to speak up and judge fairly and my group was able to apply this knowledge to our work site today.

  Coco, Grace, Kevin, Ben, Nate, Quinn- The Kaleidoscope of Color and Sound