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Thanks First Presbyterian Church, Hartsville, GA…

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:57:42 +0000

for conducting a great week of Vacation Bible School for the children of Thornwell during the first week of August! This is the second year in a row that Youth Director Kelly Boone Sloan has brought her team to Thornwell’s campus to host VBS. The theme this year, Galactic Blast, took our cosmic adventurers on a journey through the creation story, and touched on several New Testament stories from the ministry of Christ.

Each day our cosmic adventurers boarded the starship Galactic Praise to see the great universe God has created. In addition, every galactic mission included a Bible story in the Good News Galaxy, along with science activities at the Orbital Observatory, music at Moons & Tunes, art projects at Cosmic Crafts, games at Rocket Rec., and a snack at the Cosmic Café.

The week ended with a delicious pizza party. Many thanks to Kelly, Jean, Amanda, Anna Grace and Sarah for all their hard work, and for providing a great week of fun and Christian nurture for Thornwell’s children. Thanks also to the young ladies of Brophy Cottage for volunteering to assist FPC Hartsville, GA with activities during VBS week.

Grace Youth Walk In the Footsteps of Dr. Jacobs

admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:22:50 +0000

Youth volunteers and their leaders from Grace Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida spent the week of July 26 on the Thornwell campus and in the local area offering their talents in service and learning about Thornwell’s beloved founder, Dr. William Plumer Jacobs. Equipped with a copy of Dr. Jacobs’ diary, edited by his son, Thornwell Jacobs, the youth discovered what it was like to be a young preacher in the post-Civil War South, and the sacrifices this brave and faithful man made to respond to God’s call.

The group visited the sites of Bethany Presbyterian Church and Shady Grove Presbyterian Church where Dr. Jacobs preached following his ordination in 1863, in addition to his forty-seven year ministry at First Presbyterian Church, Clinton, SC.

On the Thornwell campus, the youth stopped in to visit the Home of Peace and imagine what it might have been like that October 1875 when Dr. Jacobs, his wife Mary, their four children and the first 10 orphans moved into the house. The group saw Dr. Jacobs’ desk from which he wrote his diary entry on that first day in Thornwell’s first cottage, “Here I am in the Orphanage. My little household has grown considerably. The Orphanage is opened. My study is beautifully arranged. Mary’s sewing room is near by. Ten little orphans are here. Several more have applied…”

The group also had an opportunity to learn about Thornwell Jacobs who is considered the “father of the modern time capsule.” They heard about his peculiar Crypt of Civilization at Oglethorpe University where in 1940 he stocked the time capsule (actually an old swimming pool!) with the items he thought would show the accumulated knowledge of mankind up until his time. Thornwell Jacobs’ time capsule is to be opened May 28, 8113.

The Grace Church group got to “boldly go” where few visitors to the Thornwell campus get to venture– the historic Nellie Scott Museum. Though not open to the general public, the building holds many unusual artifacts. Among the treasures are fossils, minerals, preserved birds and animals donated by the Smithsonian Institution. A library room filled with thousands of Dr. Jacobs’ books felt like a doorway to another time and place. Rumors of ghost stories quickly began to circulate during this tour!

The youth put their hands and feet to work around the Thornwell campus, mulching and landscaping to beautify the area around the Hartness-Thornwell Memorial Presbyterian Church and around the front of the Home of Peace. All was not work, however, as the cooling Thornwell swimming pool offered the group members much needed respite from the summer heat, and from all of those history lessons!

Many thanks to the young people and their faithful adult leaders from Grace Community Church for learning and serving with us at Thornwell.

Into the Wild: Middle School Youth Conference at PC

admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 19:45:42 +0000

Twenty-three Thornwell youth had a wonderful time at the July 2010 Middle School Conference at Presbyterian College! The theme was Into the Wild, helping youth understand that no matter what wilderness we experience in life, we are never alone.

During the conference, the keynote and worship leader talked about the Creation story and God’s call on each of our lives (Is. 43:1-4). Through sharing experiences that seem like “wild places” in our lives, we learned that God is always with us, even when we feel abandoned.

We also learned that struggles can be a blessing. We heard about Jacob’s struggle with the angel and how he was blessed by the angel before daybreak. When we come through a struggle, we remember who we are, whose we are, and that we are not alone. (Gen. 32:22-32)

We were then reminded that when we think we have the answers and that we can help others; sometimes it turns out that they can help us more. It isn’t until we turn to GOD for help and listen and follow that we can learn to LIVE OUT LOUD—being true to who we really are and asking for help when we need it. (Luke 15:11-32)

Finally, our studies helped us realize that the only way out of the wild is through the wild. Our task is to follow the Way, Christ’s way, and let our light shine.

What a wonderful week of spiritual growth and fellowship!

In addition, the special mission project for the week called for each youth to bring a new or used pair of shoes to donate to Soles4Souls | A Shoe Charity Giving To Those In Need. Thornwell youth collected and donated 26 pairs of shoes!

We would like to offer a special thanks to all the adults who went with us each day and to those who prepared snacks for us in the evenings.