Last Wednesday, ASP’s summer 2021 staffers descended the stairs from the parking lot to headquarters amid cheers of welcome.
Load-Up day looked a bit different this summer than in the past, but the same excitement surrounded the event. Staffers arrived in waves rather than all at once and got to meet their team in person for the first time after a week of online training. Check-In took place outside before staffers were ushered indoors to meet more of the ASP team and fill out the necessary paperwork for the summer. Then, it was off to the fleet and the warehouse to pick up their trucks and tools. With their trucks loaded with equipment, staffers said their goodbyes and set off for their counties.
As I watched the last truck pull out of the driveway, I was reminded of ASP’s “Onward” theme this summer, based on Galatians 6:9: “Let’s not get tired, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up”. This verse calls us not to grow weary in doing good even when the work is hard and the results are different than we expect. Through the challenges we face, God will give us the strength to move onward.
Load-Up day marked the start of a lot of hard work to be done at ASP this summer. Staffers have already been busy this week completing Initial Home Visits and setting up their centers for volunteers. The first groups of volunteers will be arriving Sunday and they will be off to work at their sites the next day. Throughout it all, staff back at headquarters are hard at work keeping up with Covid safety procedures and making sure everything runs smoothly.
With all the work to be done, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. God does not expect us, however, to bring about the harvest on our own. God will strengthen us through the support of fellow staffers and friends, with a popsicle on a hot day, or the encouraging “thank you” of a homeowner.
With this in mind, ASP moves onward with joy to the work God has set for us to do this summer.
Sarah Allen
Story Gathering Intern
