Day 3: We're Tired

Ok, not all of us are tired. But I think the general sentiment is that we have all worked pretty hard and are beat.

I've taken many pictures and video and will share more at church, but I wanted to share some now. Barry has also been good enough to record another moblog entry. If you are already subscribed to our podcast (see directions here: http://parkvalleychurch.com/pvc_podcast.htm), you will get this automatically. But if you haven't, its as simple as clicking here:



Here is one of the converted shipping containers that the women on the team are sleeping in. From what I here they are quite comfortable, but the air conditioners are loud. Loud enough to keep some of the ladies up for a good portion of the night. But although that sound suspiciously like a complaint, don't take it that way. We are very grateful for our accommodations! We are well taken care of and the hot showers at the end of the day are very nice.


I've been spending a lot of time (with many other hard working folks) in the kitchen. Aside from burning a large quantity of rice everything went off without a hitch and the burritos we put together for lunch were (at least we are told) quite edible. The kitchen facilities are more than adequate, but probably have led us to attempt more elaborate meals than we would have otherwise.

We were relatively well organized for todays meals, so I was able to see some of the worksites and chat with some of the folks for whom we've been doing the work. But before those pictures, we went to the "Warehouse" that Lakeshore Baptist Church has been running from the inside of an elementary school gym.



They use this to organize donations that come in daily, then when its organized, bring it over to the "store". Nothing in the store is for sale. It operates strictly on a take-what-you-need basis. But given what human nature is, volunteers have to oversee the whole process. A rotating cast from our team has been pitching in and lending a hand to make sure the operations procede efficiently.

We finished our first job today - the roofing of a carport. Pastor Barry, Danny, Chad, David and Jon were all part of the team to make it happen - and safely. As long as we don't count David Saul's head-to-head encounter with a scaffolding beam. He's OK, though, we promise. Tomorrow, the same crew will be tackling a siding job, which they probably won't have time to finish. But they will at the very least make some good headway.



A large part of the team spent time today drywalling and mudding a house of a very friendly older couple. They left when the storm hit (but had considered staying), and they consider the fact that their sailboat survived as miraculous. It is moored right behind their house and held on by only one of the mooring cables - the 25 foot rise in the water level shocked everybody. The best part about this job was that they had their air conditioning functioning. So, there was a lot of work to do, but it was in relative comfort. From what I could tell, the working environment was very easy going and productive. These guys (and gals - Sue'llen and Kerry were there) were having a good time getting the drywall up and on right.


After dinner, we got together to discuss the stories we've heard recounted by the folks living every day in the midst of rebuilding. Lots of mistrust of the government. Lots of disappointment, anger and resignation at the insurance companies. And a lot of gratitude for the help that they've gotten from normal people. If, when talking to somebody, even the cashier at Wal-Mart, they find out that you're here to help people rebuild, they are grateful. "We really appreciate you guys coming and helping!" But, they also seem to appreciate telling their story to somebody who can empathize and just listen. They want somebody else to know what they've been through. The miraculous near misses. The struggle. The crook down the street (that applied for a FEMA trailor even though he hadn't ever lived in the house as a first home). They open up in a big way. And then they inevitably ask why we came.

We also spent some time talking about how this trip will impact us. I hope that God will use this trip to help us as a church see our way forward to how He wants us to tackle missions as a church. I firmly believe that the support of full-time missionaries will continue to be something that we should and will do. But, the sending of teams to areas of need in this country and in others should be something that we seek out opportunities for.

When the question was posed "Who here has never done a missions trip or anything like this trip before, raise their hand." About half of us raised our hands. When a follow-on question was asked, "Who here would do a trip like this again," not a single hand was unraised.