OKC 2016 Day 2-First day on site

Morning Devotional
Denise taught on how she likes to be a planner, but as much as she appreciates being when God has slightly different plans for her day/life, it still requires adjustment. Part of her adjustment this trip was trying to be putting herself in situations where she would share her faith more.




First day on site

It was a new build. So new, that the neighborhood wasn’t fully on the map yet.

Jose welcomed us with a big smile, and really turned up his kidding. It’s fun that he’s so comfortable with us. His family is expecting again, and it was great to work and reconnect.

If there was any day we missed Kelly, it was today.

It was unusual not having “Sarge” with us, but this year, he stayed at home. Jose, our site manager asked about him, and we missed his organizational skills and more importantly, his encouragement.

A new build, it allowed for framing. We were a little stunted because two trusses hadn’t come in yet, and we couldn’t work on the roof, and that meant soffit work. But soon, we started working on the OSB on the roof. Serafin, Jose’s assistant was fast and a good worker, boards were flying up and getting nailed in.

Each of our newbies, made it up to the roof. David, John and Patrick each had their share of air time, and felt the cold OKC wind blowing. But within minutes, they all seemed comfortable. 


Christina was a fellow volunteer and had such a great attitude and energy. She gleefully admitted a lack of familiarity with things, but caught on fast.


Denise worked quite a bit with Christina, and all the women seemed to make a very busy and tight working group.


At the end of the day, we had put up a considerable amount of the OSB on the trusses, and Christina allowed the girls to pray for her.

Women praying with Christina

We were pretty beat at the end of the day. Most of the team slept on the ride back to the church.


But tonight was a “free night” and Pam and Art went to visit a local relative, and Peter, Tommy, Lorin, Patrick, Paul and Denise went to visit Peter’s childhood friend, Aron.

Art and Pam at dinner with Pam’s Aunt

At Ronit’s (Aron’s wife) request, Lorin and Tommy taught her how to make potstickers and an asian inspired salad. Paul and Denise ended up cooking and learning as well. In exchange, we learned and observed Kosher rules of food preparation, guided by Ronit. We learned a lot and talked about faith. The best part was, we found it was Ronit’s Birthday!

Lorin and Tommy cook their first Kosher meal

The rest of the team stayed at the church, to relax and enjoy a great meal of salad and stew provided by the church.


Late that evening, we got notice from Gary that some edited videos were available via Youtube... Thanks Gary!