Part of our Ohio group at the beach yesterday for the baptisms and Monty with a few of them standing on the wall at the beach, praise Jesus for the saving of 2 more children!
This morning was unusually busy. With this many volunteers and at the end of a 2 week stretch of so many hearing your name called in every direction makes you feel as though you have put 200 miles on the soles of your shoes! You start in one direction, get derailed to another and forget your original destination! Sure does keep you on your toes!
Our tile crew finished up the halls and it looks great! For the first time in months and months we have flooring under our feet!
Another worked on getting the ceiling fans installed in the 2 nursery rooms, now there is light in each one!
Another worked on priming and painting one of the teachers' homes.
Still others worked with Monty on Gladys's house spraying the texture on the walls. It is now ready for primer and paint. Doors are on site and ready to be installed. The cabinets are ready to be rehung. It is coming together so quickly and looks fantastic. We plan to get updated photos tomorrow for you to see. (Callie----you just pass them by when you read so you can be surprised at the ribbon cutting) :)
The roofers repaired 2 more today. What a crew!
I worked a bit more on the grouting of the halls and this will be a job for the next incoming volunteers as one person will never get it done!
And for me, a great blessing came today----a washer and dryer installed in the building! This crew brought us both of them and got them hooked up this afternoon. I immediately started washing and it is wonderful to be able to once again wash as needed. The small things that we forget about until we don't have them. The things we take for granted! Thanks guys!
Us women gave Sue a break from cooking and took her to lunch this afternoon. She has cooked 2 meals each day and packed lunches for their entire group every single day. She deserved a day off. She wanted a shrimp po boy and so off to Bozo's we went. It's just a little bitty seafood market down the street with some places to sit on the side. The food is great and we all had a great time visiting and laughing and enjoying the food. A nice treat for all of us as sometimes not many women come to volunteer and with so many being in this group it was a nice change and I will really miss them.
Some of the group left early afternoon to get a head start on their 17 hour trip home. The rest will be pulling out very early in the morning. For their last night here they chose to go out to a seafood restaurant, Catfish Point. The food there is really good and there were 30 of us there. We all had such a good time and especially enjoyed the live bluegrass band that walks from table to table playing music. When we requested Amazing Grace and started singing with them there were alot of others who were eating that joined in. A great way to bring a great week to an end! We will miss all of them because once again they have become part of our family! They all want to come back and that is awesome! For some of them this was their second trip and they admit that they just can't stay away! Servant hearts, what a blessing!
We got word today that the famous missing drywall truck is supposed to arrive tomorrow----again! Time will tell! Monty will also be loading pallets of floor tile that are being donated to our neighboring Assembly church down the road that lost their entire building (the one that meets in the tent). They are building a metal building to use for church until they can get their permanent one built, and who knows how long that will take as their funds are just not coming as they should be! But Bethel is donating tile for that building and for the parsonage and what a blessing this is for them. When anyone has an abundance they are commanded to share, especially when the abundance you have was donated to you to begin with! God is surely smiling!
We are so thankful for all of the volunteers we have had over the past 2 weeks and it is amazing to see just how much has been accomplished. It's easy to see the "building" side of progress but what has happened on the spiritual and emotional side isn't something so visible. But the lives that have been touched, both here and with those who came to help, this isn't something that can be described, it must be experienced! Everyone has said the same thing I have said since the beginning of our mission, it is life-changing! No matter what the age, it changes your life!
If you would like to be a vital part of this mission and make it possible for this rebuilding of lives to continue, you can send your tax deductible donations to us through our home church, Vineyard Community Church at PO Box 3277 in Bloomington, Indiana 47402. Please be sure and note "Katrina" on your gift as the entire 100% will be used for our mission. Every little bit adds up to a bigger blessing for the victims, in so many ways. We thank you for your giving heart and pray God's blessing for each of you.
Until tomorrow, count your blessings! Susan and Monty
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