Monday, July 10, 2006

Monday....Monday

Our team of 3 were quite busy today! Mondays are always the day when everyone is busy "getting their feet wet" and adjusting to the new job they are beginning.

Today they were working in John and Brenda's home. Their son, Steven, joined us for devotions this morning and will be working with us not only in his parents home but for the entire summer, until it is time to return to college. We hear he carries a 4.0 grade average so it looks like we have a smart one along for the summer!

As I said the other day, John and Brenda only had to tear out their sheetrock 48" up and today was filled with recutting new sheetrock, installing the insulation and trying as best as possible to match the new sheetrock with the old. This can be a really tough job because you are leaving a seam nearly at eye level and the margin for error becomes much smaller. Monty worked with them all day and everyone was adjusting to what needed to be done and how it was going to get done. They did get started with the taping and mudding in one of the bedrooms and are working at a good pace. Both John and Brenda are right in there helping and that makes a world of difference having the homeowner on site helping.

Steven was telling us this morning that in one of the homes in their subdivision 5 people died in the flooding. They are next to a bayou and thus the reason they flooded so far from the bay waters. There are still homes in this neighborhood with the FEMA blue tarps on the roofs awaiting insurance claims!

The news this evening had a special report on the insurance here in this area. These people were not in a flood plain prior to the storm. The insurance companies have covered the damages to their roofs but say the rest is due to flood waters and they have no coverage for that. The flooding was caused by the hurricane but the adjusters don't seem to look at it that way so there are thousands of people who are just plain out of luck, not to mention out of money! The news had no resolution, just stated the facts and interviewed an insurance adjuster who held fast to the original ruling. He said to change things at this stage in the game would be a nightmare. Wonder what he thinks the people are living through right now!??

We received a surprise in the mail today. Some of our worship team at our home church got together and wrote songs and made a CD. They decided to do this for us and for a couple who are doing missions in Guatamala. The proceeds from the sales will be divided between us and them! We are so humbled that they would do this for us and are so thankful that they did! We received a copy in the mail today and it is AWESOME!!!! We want to say thank you to all of those involved and ask God to send special blessings to them for their unselfish service. We love you guys!!

I want to also offer a very special thank you to 3 women from North Carolina. One of them came here to volunteer with the group a couple of weeks ago. Andrea C. went home and stirred the hearts of some of her friends and I just want to send a heartfelt thank you to each of you, Andrea, Pamela and Brooke----your gift was awesome and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come see us sometime!

Today I talked with yet another couple requesting help. She just had surgery for cancer and he is completely disabled. They only received insurance funds for the damage to their roof but are reapplying hoping something will change. In the meantime they have both been so sick they can't even get the furniture and small belongings out of their home in order to make room for us to come in and start the rebuilding. Monty and I will be going to look at their home later this week and see if we can get some volunteers there to help them pack and move some things. THIS is where the women volunteers are such a blessing. For all of you women who think you can't do construction so there is no need for you to come, think again! This kind of need is all around us and women are wonderful for just this kind of need! Not to mention ministering to both of these people in such a time of need!

We thank all of you for reading our journal and keeping up with what is happening here on the coast. YOU are the ones who realize this relief effort is NOT over and these people still need our help in a desperate way! Please keep them in your prayers!

Until tomorrow...which begins with a Convoy of Hope delivery first thing in the morning...stay tuned to see what is in the delivery....we love you all.....Susan and Monty

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey!

I sent ya'll an e-mail about our
upcoming visit to your neck of the woods (mine and my husband's)....
Hope we get to see you!

Let me know if the e-mail didn't come through! We're arriving in Gulfport on the 29th!

Blessings to all of you!

Andrea C.