Discouragement

Another house that will need to be demolished. The furniture has been sucked outside and the entire thing twisted and torn beyond repair.

The other photo is what is left of a car that went through the storm. These are all over the place but getting cleaned up by the insurance companies. Of course, if your vehicle was older and you only carried liability (insurance to cover the other guy in an accident) you are out, no coverage, no money to try and replace the car. One of the teachers at the school here lost 4 vehicles!

I titled this day as it is for a reason. There are those days when you really feel like what you have done has made a positive difference, and then there are those "other" days. Today was one of those. We had planned on taking 3 of our volunteers to the home of the 93 year old lady I had written about a few days ago. Her home was filled with black mold that had supposedly come in from storm damage to her roof. She said the house was cement block with paneling on all the walls and ceilings. When we arrived we were more than shocked! The damage to the house was from leaking that had gone on for who knows how long! The termite damage is so extensive and will require major reconstruction. One floor is ready to fall through to the ground and the others aren't in much better shape. I don't know that I have seen such a mess since we have been here. On went the masks and gloves! It was one of those that you just don't know where to start and the only thing that makes any sense is to shove the entire thing over. But....this is her home. She has lived here for nearly 50 years and she doesn't want to live someplace else. Our job is to do what we can do to the best of our ability with the resources we have and get her back home! We did get all of the walls and ceilings torn out. There is still a room of ceiling insulation that will need to come out. We need to wait for the family to remove everything from the kitchen cabinets and bathroom before we can go any further. She had no insurance of any kind and also has no money. We will get it torn out, hopefully bring in a portion of one of our larger teams coming the first of April to put on a new roof, take down the tree that is in the roof, fix the floors and walls, redo the electrical throughout, get her some heat as there are small heaters in a couple of rooms, put up new sheetrock and take this house to completion and give her a home that is something she has not had for who knows how many years. All of this can be overwhelming and also discouraging. We want to get in and get the work done but in order to do that we have to have the volunteers and the materials. It cannot get done in the time frame we would like. She understands and is fine with everything. She is just so thankful to have someone to come in and do anything that time isn't a factor. And she is 93!!!!!! Please pray for her, for us, for volunteers to come who know how to do these things, and for the materials we need to be provided. THIS is what this work is all about! I have taken a personal interest in this particular home. My neighbor lady is 94 and I miss her with all my heart (and her daughter). They are family to me and I couldn't imagine something like this happening to them and they not have someone to come in and care, to take care of them and assure them that we will get this done!

That is what we spent our entire day on. We did stop a bit earlier than normal because we wanted to get to church this evening. It was the church where we did the free clothing give away last Wednesday and we promised them we would come back this week for their usual Wednesday evening worship. God sure had a message in the minister's message sent directly for us! It was an awesome service and just what we needed. Just like so many times, God reaches out and touches us and speaks to us just when we need it most! We love the people and they were so warm and welcoming to us. We will definitely go back! And Lee mentioned that we could probably use a home cooked meal---this evening she was fixing snow crab legs with garlic butter----you bet we could use a home cooked meal! :)

I read something today that I want to pass on to all who read this.

"Out of the worst has come the best! God's love is clearly seen as so many new ways of diverse people working together for a common cause, to see the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus grow! God has used Katrina to cause us to talk to each other like never before. We all have different backgrounds, we are from differenct churches, but we are all trying to communicate, collaborate and create a better Mississippi and a better world. We must all continue to pull together to help one another. We're doing the best we can with what we have".

With that I close and say that if you are interested in supporting us in the work you can send your tax deductible gift to:

Vineyard Community Church

PO Box 3277

Bloomington, IN 47402

We thank you for helping us keep this vision alive and continue to do God's work!

Until tomorrow....God bless you all! Susan and Monty