We had a good day of work, but only were able to work half a day.
We finished up and said goodbye as we could to our homeowners, and then returned to church to pack up and have dinner.
We said a tearful goodbye to Chris H, who drove back to OKC by himself, a 9.5 hour drive. Thanks to Chris for all the leadership and fun we had with you over the last week. We also got reports from Paul and Denise that they were already home safely
Some of the guys got together to pray for Pastor Tim and his church.
and then we went to Holy Cow and got some of Frozen Custard. It’s customary on these trips to get frozen custard, one of (Uncle) Roy’s favorite treats. His birthday usually falls around the times of our trips, and he likes to treat us for his birthday. However, he lost the “treating” war to Lorin.
Today’s a significant day, but it went long, so we’ll post info on this, especially after we get back
Today’s schedule was
Work on our respective sites
Return to church and shower
Join Community Dinner at Grace Community Bible Church, where we dined with some of the home owners, and church members
Do our field team debrief
Say goodbye to Paul and Denise
Work on our respective sites
We had a team change… due to manpower needs, we moved two members from Team 2 (Nate and Patrick) over to team 1.
Team 1 got more supplies and was able to make significant headway on the metal roof
Team 2 was able to prepare the home completed the wood floors, installed bathroom kid (heater and light), cleaning up the house and making it homey and ready for them to use. Both Chris’ said they appreciated having the women on board, caring for the way it would be presented
Team 3 continued with paint, and removed all tile from the laundry room. But spent a lot of time getting to know Miss Susan, enjoying her poetry and a mini concert, and praying with her.
Community Dinner
Delicious Jambalaya (pronounced Johm-buh-lie-yah or Jam-buh-lie-yah depending on where you grew up) was served on behalf of the church, complete with desserts and Lorin’s famous Butter Mochi. Ryan had us share where we saw God moving over this last week of work, or even the previous week in preparation. Homeowners, guests and team members were encouraged to share. Pastor Tim even shared from his perspective. It was very moving as people talked about a sense of community, belonging, purpose and trust.
Debrief and goodbye
Normally we do a team debrief on the last day of our trip, but since Paul and Denise were leaving tonight (they stayed a little extra just to participate in the community dinner) and Chris H leaves tomorrow afternoon, we moved the meeting to tonight.
Each team member reflected on ways they had been blessed or grew closer to God this week. The responses were varied as much as there were members, but some people said that they feel this is akin to a retreat, where you grow closer in community, but the activity is working on a home. We all tried to show appreciation to Paul, Denise and Chris H for their skills, leadership and poise during the last few days as they had the rough job of helping manage the teams on each of the three sites.
Another member said that the site leaders were akin to worship leaders (musical singing group at our church) and each team were worship team members. So like a conductor and a band.
There is also time set aside for team members to deal with any conflicts or tensions, bringing them before the group, and hopefully resolving them, if not addressing them tonight.
We also said a goodbye to Paul and Denise and sent them home for their 2.5 hour drive home. They’re returning home for family commitments.
The teams are settling into our assignments, and now we’re realizing we only have 1.5 days left at the homes!
Paul and Denise will be returning home Thursday Night, and Chris H, on Friday.
The week has moved by too fast. All of the teams are making great headway on their respective homes, but also building relationships too.
And as much as Ryan has been administering all three sites well, it’s still a handful. We’re very thankful that Paul, Denise and Chris H have been here to run the sites
Tonight, at our team debrief, we’re getting in the habit of showing photos from the day for each site, then commenting on what the heck they’re about.
We opened with Roz’ Devotion from Psalm 16, where “You (God) will not abandon my soul”
Okay, a summary and some photos:
Team 3 (Miss Susan’s home), 1 and then 2
Team 3 (Miss Susan’s home)
Removed the washer and dryer from laundry room – primed and paint
Miss Susan shared songs and poems she had written. The team found them incredibly articulate and moving, one titled “Chasing Rainbows” was about her neighbor’s experience during the storm. It painted strong imagery while talking about the human aspect more than the flood’s destruction.
Team also went to lunch at a local Po’ Boy place and learned more about Miss Susan, and she came back to the church for a mini-tour and met Pastor Tim.
Miss Susan has been through a lot, but not broken, and has said in recent days, “The feelings are coming out,” and “a healing has begun.” We’re hoping that she would be a joy to her neighbors.
Sorry, we thought we had posted this one on Lorin, here it is again
It’s special this year to have Chris H Volunteering with us in Louisiana. After serving as COHFH staff and being our supervisor for our times volunteering in OKC, Chris has taken some time off his regular duties to volunteer with us for a week in Denham Springs, LA
He drove down and met us in Denham Springs, and is bunking up with us at the church.
It’s been great having Chris as a friend, but having him as a peer/leader has been incredibly resourceful as our work here has us working over three separate sites, and Chris is helping us with leadership and knowledge.
an early flight, and some early rising supporters met us/took us to LAX. Even Pastor Victor and Rocky joined us for prayer as we were sent off to Louisiana
Flight
On our flight, we met several folks that were curious about our cheerful and interactive group, and one flight attendant, Rayemanette, was very kind and generous with her time and cheer. We became fast friends with her and other passengers, and shared of our volunteering with Habitat and Samaritan’s purse.
Lunch and Old Friends
Upon landing in New Orleans, we thanked God for our good flight, and went to Parkway Bakery and Tavern, meeting up with Denise and Paul from Mississippi, and Chris H who drove down from OKC. Our old buddy Brad from our Mississippi days even popped in to say hi, before returning to his duties at the local Habitat affiliate here in NOLA.
We went to our temporary home away from home, Grace Community Bible Church in Denham Springs and settled in for a quick moment to settle in and meet with Ryan. We also stopped off at Fedex to print up some quickie business cards for the people we’ve been meeting.
Then off to a hamburger and hot dogs at Ryan’s home and a Craig’s devo before our maiden run to Walmart.
Driving to Shirley’s house for the last time, it felt bittersweet. There were a lot of thoughts that came into our minds- from whether or not we would be able to finish our goals, how we might balance the tasks we faced, and the relationships that could be harvested. We all prayed about it the night before, that we won’t forget that the most important aspect would be to minister to Shirley.
Paul reminded us of being okay with doing what we can in our morning prayer at the job site. From then on, we all seamlessly went back to our respective duties or to a new duty (for some, they needed a change of pace). We worked from 8:30 til noon and then we went down to eat at Chick-fil-A. We also invited Eric, Chris, and Shirley with us. Then we returned to work until 4 pm, which was an hour longer than our usual week. Frankly we didn’t want to leave; we really wanted to keep on working to finish the home. However, as Paul mentioned during group sharing, although our accomplishments are not 100% complete, God can still use what the was done faithfully to heal hearts.
After putting away all the tools and supplies into the Habitat trailer, we all toured the house to admire each individual’s handiwork. The ramp was 95% completed and fully functional. All eight windows, three doors, and coordinating trims were installed, pending for caulk. The front facing panel wall was fully painted with two coats.
It was four days of hard work at the Shirley house requiring 19 volunteers, 2 site supervisors, and one home owner. We were proud of all the progress we made as a team. It is tempting to compare which job was more important, but in reality, God blessed Shirley through each task. Craig, Kevin T, Chris C, and Eric provided Shirley with a new bathroom equipped with all new fixtures and a raised floor. The ramp team (Paul, Kevin L., Pam, Roz., Virginia, Patrick, Jimmy, Peter, and Randy) helped provide relief for Shirley’s bad knees. Now, she can walk comfortably up and down from her house rather than climbing stairs. The windows and doors team (Tommy, John, Art, Brandon, and Jeff) provided a whole new perspective of the world. She remarked to us, the beauty of seeing her front yard through her new double pane windows. Also, the scrape team (Jimmy, Virginia, Roz, Pam, Alice) were also blessed to know Shirley better as they worked side by side doing the same task.
We left the site with bittersweet prayer and blessing the house and Shirley. Site supervisor Chris H also prayed for our safe journey home. We also learned that Chris H, being touched by our Christ-like will join us on our next year trip (at another state) in high probability. If so, we hope that we get more volunteers so that Chris H, Paul, and Paul’s wife, Denise, can fully use their leadership skills as site supervisors to their potential.
After a hamburger and hot dog dinner, we had group worship and sharing. There were conflicts that got resolved, we encouraged one another to grow. and also reflected on how God used this experience to grow our own faith.
To celebrate our hard work and to have a last fellowship together, we all went out for late night cookies and ice cream in Bricktown, OK.
Tomorrow is our flight home. Please continue to pray for the continual relationship with Shirley and for a planted seed to grow.
Sunday, on our last Sunday before we leave for OKC, our team was commissioned during our church service.
At our church, every missionary or service team member selects a small group of friends or family to support them practically and spiritually for the trip. This allows people who are not physically going on the trip to be part of the effort.
In previous years, we flew out in the late morning, but this year, our flight is at 9AM next Sunday (4/30/2017) so we won’t be able to make it to service and get into the airport in time for check in.
Team leader, Craig experienced our church’s intimacy when we realized he didn’t have a microphone for himself, so Pastor Dan shared the one clipped to his own shirt.
Pastor Cory led us in a time of prayer, helping us to stay focused on the spiritual elements of the trip. Sometimes it’s hard with such a task-oriented trip to remember we’re trying to serve God and be open to His leading.
Please pray for our team’s preparation, and for Paul, our friend and previous site manager from Mississippi, who will be flying in to OKC a day before us. It’ll be great to reconnect with him and Chris H, our site manager in OKC.
It’s still a few weeks away, but with Easter and all the activities surrounding it, we had our last team meeting before we leave for OKC. We went over our itinerary, packing list, and had a round table discussion exchanging tips we’ve learned over the years.
Miss Shirley’s Gofundme
Chris C has been corresponding with our site supervisor from COHFH, Chris H. The tentative plan for our work week in OKC is 1 day on new construction (with Jose H) and 4 days on a Critical Home Repair project that Evergreen SGV will sponsor.
We will be sponsoring the home of Shirley S who lost her husband to cancer last year. COHFH has set up a GoFundMe page for her (https://www.gofundme.com/shirley-s-home-repair) if you want a little bit more information. The money raised here along with the funds from Evergreen SGV will go towards the much needed repair work on Shirley’s house.
Support Groups
Each team member has a small support group to support them materially and spiritually for the project. This has always been helpful to be a sounding board for the team member, plus making sure that logistical and spiritual needs for the individual are uniquely met.
Meet Kevin L
After the meeting, Jimmy was able to shoot video on our last newbie, Kevin L. We welcome Kevin aboard the team. Impressed that he was able to talk off the cuff without any warning.
