A Day on the River

On Sunday, August 17th, Sarah Lucas and I took some high schoolers out on the river for some summer fun. We put the boat in the water at George's Island Park in Montrose.  The wind was blowing down from the north and was kicking up some good-size waves.  But we found a sheltered cove just south of the park and we began to take turns on the big tube.

Sarah was the bravest.  She went first and showed how fun it was to skim around behind the boat on both sides of the wake.  In turn Alexa, Isaac, and Theo also got on the tube.  Each had a great ride, and I enjoyed taking lots of turns to send them swinging around behind us.  The real challenge was to make Theo tip over as he was going to try to go without holding on (look, mom, no hands!).  Well, he was no match for the river and my driving as I had him flipped off the tube in seconds.  I dumped him in a second time even after he was trying to hang on.

We came back and grilled some dogs in the park, overlooking the beautiful Hudson.  It was a perfect afternoon/evening until I went to put the trailer in the water to pick up the boat--I had a flat tire on the trailer.  To make a long story short, everyone got home safe, sound and a little tired.

I enjoy any time I get to spend with our youth.  It was especially nice to have one more outing with Akin Adebayo who left for college last week.  We will miss him and look forward to his return home at Christmas or sooner.

Speaking of Christmas, summer is slipping away and it will soon be fall.  I think I'm ready, but I need at least one more day on the water.  Anyone want to take the no-hands tubing challenge?

See you in church (or on the water)
Pastor Dale

A PCMK Summer

Girls in disguise at McDonalds

A Sunset Boat Ride on the Hudson

Our third summer here in Mount Kisco has been busy and relaxing at the same time.  In July we were able to get out of town and spend a week by the lake.  Morning and evening boat rides, along with afternoon naps were just what the doctor ordered.  I then travelled to Canada to share in the celebration of my sister's 40th wedding anniversary.

Back here at home we have had some excellent guest preachers.  The two women who were in the pulpit in July were excellent.  I encourage you to check out their messages on our PCMKNY Youtube channel.  One of them, Dorothy Muller is a chaplain at Bedford Hills Women's Prison.  She brought to our awareness the opportunities for ministry with a group of people Jesus seemed to care a lot about.  We are working on coordinating the many prison ministry possibilities and providing some focus as part of our social justice outreach.

Elisabeth and I have participated in one prison related ministry that has been just delightful.  For the second year in a row we have hosted two girls who are participating in a summer visitation program at Bedford Hills.  Their mothers are incarcerated and the Children's Center at the prison makes this week of mother-child interaction possible.  We pick up the girls on Sunday and have them each evening and overnight.  During the day  they are with the moms doing crafts and playing games.  It breaks your heart to see these families struggle with the separation, but this program offers at least a few hours of much needed family time.

Other PCMK families have participated in this program and they all report it is a rewarding experience.  I know I enjoyed having toys to step over at night and kids to rush out the door in the morning.  It was exhausting and fun at the same time.  That's what summers here at PCMK are all about.

See you in church (soon, I hope),
Pastor Dale

A Presbyterian Life

A Presbyterian Life
PCMK said goodbye to one of its saints on Saturday, July 12th.  A good size congregation gathered on a mid-summer weekend  because Mary Mace was one of our best.  She had been a member for over 40 years, having made the move from the village to our present location.  Over those decades it would be impossible to count the ways she contributed to the life of our church, and our outreach to the community.  The tributes that were spoken of her at the service were moving and even humorous at times.  Her son Andy gave a poignant eulogy that captured the essence of his mother, their relationship and her beloved role as "Grandma New York."

In my remarks I noted how thoroughly Presbyterian Mary was.  All these life-cycle events took place in a Presbyterian Church or organization: baptism, confirmation, college, marriage, adoption of Andrew, a lifetime of service, funeral, and final resting place in our Columbarium.  Hers was a truly Presbyterian and Christian life.  We will miss her, but as the Scripture says, "blessed are those who die in The Lord, they rest from their labors and their deeds follow them."  Mary Mace will have quite a following for a very long time.  Thanks be to God.

The Week is Almost Over

 Today is the last day on the trip!:( It's July 4th too, and so far we're helping set up the barbeque the community mission service is providing. We painted the tables yesterday so everything looks very nice! After this we're traveling to Canada to spend the rest of the day, and are going to go on the Maid of the Mist, which is a boat that takes you under the falls! I'm so exited, but also sad to leave everyone I met at the community mission, especially the children. I've become really close with Alexa, a little girl who is living here, and every day she runs in the room and hugs me, and begs me to have lunch with her, which I do.  She always  has so much to talk about. I will miss her a lot, and hope I was able to be a good role model and make an impact on her as well.
-Juliet:)

Parents and PCMK family, you would be so proud of your high schoolers.  These are some of the most amazing young people I have ever been around (and I've been around a lot of them in my time).  They work hard (most of the time) when there is work to be done, and they play hard when they have time to goof off.  They have survived living together in very close quarters for a week with no fist fights.  We have gotten on each other's nerves (an old person's expression), but they are quick to forgive.  They will be fighting one minute and having a blast the next.

What has impressed me most is that they are really thinking about and processing what they are experiencing.  Last night at our group time one of the youth observed that she's always heard Westchester and especially Chappaqua was life in a bubble.  She never knew what that meant until spending a weeek in this community where everyone seems to be struggling so much.

Yesterday we had a tour with Pastor Mark, the chaplain of the Mission.  We saw the rooms that serve as emergency shelter, and HIV/Aids section and the respite rooms (for people stuggling with mental illness).  He observed for us that these would be the people Jesus cared about and would want to help.  So they were being Christ-like as they helped the MIssion help them. I agree.

We are looking forward to one more day in Niagara Falls, NY and Canada.  We'll see you soon.

Yet More Photos

More Thursday Blogging

Today, July 3rd, is a rainy day in Niagara Falls.  It doesn't really concern us because all of our work today is indoors.  I am currently writing this with about half of my body covered in paint.  My group's first job today was to finish painting the walls of the Community Mission building. (the place where we do most of our work/vacation bible school)  I have been having a great time so far and I feel like we are truly impacting others' lives in a positive way.  My favorite job so far was two days ago when we helped completely restructure a garden and plant edible plants at a home for young pregnant women. I must also admit that we haven't been making it easy on Dale, Elisabeth, and especially Sarah, but we are all having a great time.

-Theo Coutsouros



Today, was very playful and entertaining. I participated in kids' club and made new friends named Xavier and Anisean. We played games together, such as Pokemon and sang songs loudly while decorating and coloring multiple crosses. It was very cool to talk to some locals at the kitchen soup in the Community Mission building. I made an additional friend in the kitchen, Maurice, who decided to follow me on twitter after our discussions about whether Lebron James is the greatest of all time. This gave me the opportunity to not only help others by moving boxes that they don't desire or painting their walls certain colors, but actually interacting and creating relationships that can last, creating memories. Everyone is staying positive, as it continues to rain today. We are having a fun time, currently playing a game of cards during a break before heading back to work.

-River Elms

Thursday morning, July 3rd

Hey. After the 3rd day up here in Niagara I can't believe we still have a whole nother 3 to go. It's been a blast, well most of the time. We've been going to the same place every morning, the Community Mission Center, which is a center providing aid to hundreds of Niagrans in need. What used to be a Motel back in the day, the Community Mission Center has been fixed up with a great staff and both local and far reached support (Like us). There is another group of kids helping the same center from New Hampshire who serve lunch to all the folks under the Center's care and us too since we sit companying the folks. We on the other end wake up bright and early to make breakfast for a time with kids and family every morning.

Matt Brewster

Wednesday was another full day.  The second day of VBS was small in numbers, but big in the joy of new relationships.  It has been fun to watch these children bond with our youth.  Over lunch in the Center's dining room, two of the children insisted that Jenna sit with them and they kept the attention of other PCMK youth as well by tapping them on the shoulder and then running off.

Speaking of lunch, it was very gratifying to see our youth sitting with the clients who come to the center for a free lunch.  There were genuine conversations happening between people who otherwise would have very little in common.  The clients are sometimes slow to open up to conversation, but once they do we discover they are regular folks like us.  The gentleman across the table from me said this was "the best restaurant in town."  I'm not so sure, but it was a hearty lunch of roast chicken and instant potatoes (gravy would have been nice, but who's complaining?).  He mentioned he was looking forward to the 4th of July picnic barbecue.  It made me glad that we said we would help put it on this year, because otherwise they were planning to cancel it.

Pastor Dale

For a work project, part of our group cleaned up the picnic area where the 4th of July event happens.  We plan to paint the tables today.  In the afternoon they had us painting a busy hallway in the main building.
On Wednesday my group woke up early to make breakfast for the members of the Vacation Bible School (VBS). We made French toast, scrambled eggs, sausages, and fruit salad, and served it. Afterwards, some of the group went to do work around the shelter, and we stayed with the kids from VBS. We played games outside with them and then learned a bible story that said the world is a mustard seed. We did some arts and crafts, sang songs, then went to a lunch provided by the shelter. After that we painted the halls of the shelter which took a lot of work and was pretty difficult, but turned out looking really nice. Later we went to Fort Niagara Park with a kid from the shelter named Anthony, and went swimming in a pool and a lake. For dinner we had a cookout with hotdogs and s'mores at the park then went to Niagara Falls for our evening meeting and prayer. Overall, this was one of my favorite days of the trip so far because it was a perfect mix of work and play, and I got to meet more people that are being helped by our efforts on this trip.

-Gianina Bueti