Tillamook Pathfinder Prayer Bench Project

Last summer, the Tillamook Tidebearers Pathfinder Club got to work planting and maintaining a big portion of the Adventist Community Services garden. It was a great opportunity for the kids to give back to the community while earning several pathfinder honors at the same time.

One afternoon, while watering and harvesting vegetables in the garden, Janice Wolk, assistant pathfinder director, mentioned that it would be wonderful to have a place to sit down and rest or pray or to just enjoy the garden. That idea quickly took root, and was soon an approved project — the pathfinders could build and install a sturdy wood bench in ACS garden.

The pathfinders worked several weeks to build the bench, each one putting their hand to specific portions of the project — cutting, gluing, drilling. They worked with dowels, screws, bolts, and they stained the wood before assembling it.

Now, under the trees in the back corner of the ACS community garden, is a wide slatted bench. Not far from the public footpath through town, the bench welcomes anyone who wants to rest. It's a perfect place to rest tired feet, to pray and spend time with God, to read a good book, to chat with a friend or to simply enjoy the garden space.

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