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| Katrina 2009 05 02-Last day of work |
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| Katrina 2009 05 02-Debrief and regroup at antioch |
We’re done! We’re coming home! And personally, I couldn’t be more proud of my team.
Although the sore muscles would make you think otherwise,if you look at a calendar, we were only able to work five days.
But let me say that each and every day, everyone gave their all in every aspect of this mission.
These men left their homes, families and jobs with the goal of aiding some people in dire need, and to do so in a way that honored God both by giving Him credit for their strength and motivation, but also in more subtle ways by being His ambassadors.
Together as 21 men, we built a house. Truthfully, because of the size of our group, and the needs that were present, we worked on three houses. One where we finished the paint and insulation, one where we put a roof entirely on, and one where we started from nothing and put up everything except for the roof.
I saw our men not bat an eye when their was a need to crawl underneath a house to attach insulation.
Each of our site managers made comments that they had never seen a group with this much camaraderie and mutual support. We received a note from the kitchen staff at the site we stayed at (SUMA) thanking us for continually cleaning the dining area.
I bring this up not to sound boastful about our accomplishments, but as several of the guys said, we were just being ourselves, doing what we do at home. “This is who we are,” one of the guys humbly said.
I write these things because even more important than building a home, was how we did it. And I honestly think these guys did it well and for the right reasons.
Team Mo (Chris and Keith’s team) put up all of the walls, inner and outer. The outer walls had sheeting attached for stability, and besides, it makes it look even more than a house. All the framing was in place, it just needed a roof.
The Other Team (Craig and Tommy’s team) (aka the imperfect 10) entirely finished up the roof. All the trusses were secured and strapped in preparation for any storm; and the second side of the roof was papered, shingled and capped; Cabinet backings were ready to receive the interior of the kitchen, and the porch and deck received their ceiling.
After we finished our work, we walked our sites to make sure they was clean and safe, as well as nice looking. The last thing we’d want is for someone to get injured with a capped nail we had left behind.
Prayer Walk
As every other year, but this time 21 men strong, we did a prayer walk. We walked around our houses and blessed each room.
Then we split into groups of 3 or 4 and walked around the adjoining houses and spent quite a bit of time blessing their homes and the neighborhood. We want the houses to stand, but we want the families to be stronger.
As we appreciated the various designs of each of the houses, and blessed the unique families that would come to inhabit them soon.
It’s been a tiring week, but as Brad one of the site managers, said, dirty hands often lead to clean minds. We were so focused on the task of building homes that we could only stay on what was important.
We only pray the same can be said of our faith.
Antioch
This year, as last, we didn’t have housing available via Habitat, but we were truly blessed to have a home in Antioch. We came to the same center and had double occupancy rooms with a nice clean bathroom shared between two rooms.
A home cooked meal and a time of relaxation and praise to follow our dessert. This was truly a fantastic reward for the week’s work.
Each man shared impressions of our journey and task, and well, hopefully we’ll have some of the guys share for themselves on here, so we’ll leave it at that.
It was just good to end as we started, as one big group, trying to stay focused on the task at hand, to let God be known, and to be part of his blessing to those in need, and we grew as men in the process.