Hands on working

We have been here for nearly 9 months now and today was the first day I have had the pleasure of working "hands on" out in the field! It was awesome! I am a trim carpenter by trade and have missed using the power tools and such.

I also found some muscles that had been hiding for a few years and am sure they will make themselves known even more tomorrow!

Diane and I worked in Salvador's home installing flooring. It took us awhile to get it all lined out but when we did it went very well. We will be returning tomorrow to finish it up. We were also blessed when Salvador's neighbor, Anita, provided us with lunch! Things like that are such a wonderful surprise!

Monty was busy in the warehouse once again. Thanks to Convoy and their supplies we were able to be a blessing to one of the area churches and their parsonage. They are still in the rebuilding phase and hopefully with the appliances, sheetrock and paint they received today they will be able to complete both in a short amount of time.

This evening we worked some on our relief tent located outside next to our trailer. We keep a minimum of tools under it and with some of the winds we've had it needed a bit of repair. There are some storms forecast over the next couple of days and getting the top tightened up should help in case we get any more wind.

We also are excited to say that part of our New Jersey team will be returning in a couple of weeks! It's always so nice to have teams return and we look forward to seeing them again. They will be here with another team and have the added blessing of working together with them (they are coming from Indiana).

One of the things we keep ongoing is the list of people who are still in need of help. This afternoon I was able to make some calls and check on some of those we have in our waiting list. It just amazes me how many are still there and how many still need help in all sorts of ways. I spoke with one woman who already purchased the fencing she needs to repair her but since she had no way to haul it home it is still sitting at Lowes. She purchased it back in July!!!!! Monty and I will be making a visit to her home this week to check things out and see how quickly we can get her taken care of.

You might wonder why someone like that is still on our waiting list. We can only get through our list using the skills of the volunteers that come this way. We cannot take someone whose skill is doing flooring and have them do roofing. With the slowing of the teams over the summer months there are alot of people still waiting. We are pleased to say that the teams of volunteers are picking up again, the skills are coming, and we hope to get to these people and supply them with the help they need. Like I have always!!!!!! said, this relief effort cannot be done without volunteers! They are critical, they are the keys! If you have a skill in some area of construction I would beg you, if I could, to come and help. And even if you think you don't have any construction skills, you can be taught, you can work along side of someone who does, you can learn and you can be a blessing! NO ONE is unskilled! NO ONE! Give it some thought. We are entering the most beautiful time of the year down here. The temps are still in the 80's and the flowers are still blooming. Anywhere north of here will be colder than us so think about taking some time and coming to bless others! You WILL be blessed in return! THAT we promise!!!!

Until tomorrow .... blessings....Susan and Monty