We’ve been on the road now for about 18 months and traveled from Vermont to California and the Upper Penninsula of Michigan down to central Florida and so many points in between. Here’s a map showing where we’ve been.
We’ve been working along the way. We’ve been working in RV parks as hosts and workampers. Generally, this means that we put in 15-20 hours per week in exchange for our RV site and utilities. This saves us about $500 each month while at the same time giving us enough time off to immerse ourselves in the area and see the sights.
We’ve come to realize that although our experiences so far have been wonderful and rewarding, we want to move a little more often than once every 3-6 months. We seem to get “hitch-itch” at about a month in to our engagement. That’s why we’ve made arrangements to work at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in October and the Big Tent RV show at Quartzsite Arizona in January. And we’ll pick up other jobs in between.
In an effort to become a little more mobile and move on down the road a little more often while still being able to work in exchange for our site, we’ve discovered another opportunity. There’s a whole big movement out there that not only would accomplish OUR goal, but serves others and our Lord at the same time.
Enter Christian mobile work groups.
Along the way, we’ve met several folks that are part of one of these Christian based mobile work teams. We’ve found about a half dozen active groups (and there are probably more). Generally these volunteers work as teams in local churches, bible camps, orphanages, schools, and even some disaster stricken areas.
The host church (or agency) typically provides the RV site and utilities along with at least one hearty meal during the day. The 3 or 4 work days per week are usually about 6 hours long and the week is interspersed with sufficient group worship, prayer, and fellowship time around the campfire or on “day trips” away from camp.
The video below shows our trip this past week over to Piney Woods Baptist Encampment in Woodlake, Texas about 90 minutes northeast of Houston.
We found out that Piney Woods is one of 39 Baptist camps in Texas.
This is an awesome camp that is capable of hosting about 1000 campers at a time and boasts multiple buildings that include lodging, dining, worship, and recreation centers.
The camp has about 25 full-time staff to support the programming and the facilities and besides the “mobile” volunteers that I’m talking about in this blog post, they also hire 60-70 summer college aged camp counselors to work with the camp attendees.
I could go on and on, but I encourage you to visit http://www.pineywoodscamp.com/ to find out all about this wonderful camp for kids and adults alike.
In the meantime, take a look at the video below to come along with us on our tour! After the video, I’ve listed some links to the Christian based mobile volunteer work groups that we’ve discovered in case you’re interested in learning more about them.
- Volunteer Christian Builders
- SOWER (Servants On Wheels Ever Ready) Ministry
- Texas Baptist Men
- NOMADS (Nomads On a Mission Active in Divine Service)
- RVICS (Roving Volunteers In Christ’s Service)
Kathy and I have already joined Volunteer Christian Builders and have sent applications to join NOMADS and RVICS. We plan on being able to serve one or more of these groups 2 or 3 times each year in between our other gigs. Maybe we’ll even meet you at one of these worthwhile projects!
Until then, safe travels to you and yours
