Posts

Posted on

OKC 2016 – Day 2, at the Greenwood’s

First day at the Greenwood’s


Morning Devotional
Morning started with Patrick’s devotional on how our ways are not necessarily God’s ways.. and even in God’s economy, the last shall be first and the first shall be last…


Good thing to keep in mind as we head out to do the second (and possibly last) project of our trip, a Critical Home Repair project at the home of the Greenwoods., just South East of downtown OKC.


Rehab/Critical Home Repair
We were converting a garage into another space for the family, and upgrading doors.



We got to work with Chris, a friend and site supervisor from previous years, and he put us to work.



Two teams worked on the front and rear door, respectively, the rest of the team did demo(lition) work in the garage to take off some decorative beams that had rotted and gotten moldy, and to make room for the new walls






After the walls had been demo’d, insulation was laid in, and the walls were prepared for an inspection hopefully tomorrow.




In the meantime, on the front of the house, these enormous “beams” were removed due to rot, but also to give a more updated look.


A hole was enlarged in the ceiling to allow for an attic ladder. Unfortunately, in her efforts, Lorin had some things fall through the ceiling, including insulation and glass items. She wasn’t injured, and Patrick helped her clean up.






The majority of the team constructed the new wall (where the garage door once stood) and prepped it for tomorrow’s work.







First Baptist Church
We love Hilltop Baptist Church, where we’ve been staying for the last 3 years.


But we feel it’s our responsibility to make sure that we’re choosing the best option that is available to us.


So today, we toured and dined at First Baptist Church of OKC. It’s a beautiful church with a large gym atop the 4 story building. The church has decreased in size over the years and has a large facility that it’s trying to utilize. Since the OKC bombing, and later tornado tragedies, 

JFK sat in this pew!

The gym is enormous

We got to meet some nice folks there and appreciated the facilities. We’ll see what the future holds. It’s hard to say because, we love Pastor Matt and Hilltop.


While the group was getting our tour, whenever there was an opportunity to sit, most of them did. They’re hard working, and they’re tired 🙂




Posted on

OKC 2016 – Familiarization Day Video

Thanks Gary for putting together another great video!

What Gary said about being able to edit our videos while he’s in L.A.
“I feel so included in the team and still sleep in my comfy bed at night”


🙂



Posted on

OKC 2016 Day 2-First day on site



Hope you’re able to see our photo updates on http://instagram.com/sgvbuild
we’ll try to put up a couple while we’re working.



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!

Posted on

OKC 2016 Day 2-Video Update

Gary’s been home, but working hard at some of our videos. Thanks to his efforts, and the internet, we’re able to give you some sneak peaks at what’s been going on with our team.


















Posted on

OKC 2016-Day 1

After our visit to RRR Ranch,


the majority of the team sorted out all the clothes and items for the church’s sale.

(sorry, will have more photos later)

Hilltop Baptist is trying to raise enough funds to build a playground with equipment on the church property, but open to the public.

Evening meeting
Afterwards, there was a time singing/worship and teaching. 

Singing was led by John, and teaching David. His teaching regarded trying to serve others, especially, in areas where are often uncomfortable for us. 
David’s strengths and comfort zones are typically teaching people, but chose to serve the kids’ Vacation Bible Camp by cleaning their bathrooms. Because it was a practical way to serve the kids, but and he wanted to grow in areas that would cause him to stretch.



John leading worship and Lorin

David sharing



Afterwards, we jumped in the vans for an annual tradition, Frozen Custard with Uncle Roy. But we forgot that it usually means it’s Frozen Custard courtesy of Uncle Roy… 


His generosity might outweigh his steadfast commitment to treat us to dessert. Either way, he won and treated us all.



Thanks Uncle Roy!


Posted on

OKC 2016-Courtney, Amy, & Will Brackin

Courtney, Amy, & Will Brackin

 A Note from our leader, Craig
Chris and Craig thanking the Brackins for their generosity
Less than two hours after our arrival in Oklahoma City, the Lord demonstrated his goodness to our team.  Who knew that a team dinner at a fast-food fried chicken dinner restaurant in Moore, OK would lead to the first God moment of our trip.
 
As I entered the door to Chicken Express, I heard the voice of a man at a nearby table.  Since I was the last one to enter, he had seen our entire team invading the small ordering area and he quickly asked “Are you guys a team?”  I politely responded “Yes, we are from a church in Los Angeles here to work with Habitat for Humanity.”
 
“Well, that’s nice of you folks.  So, are you taking a week of vacation to come here and help?”
 
“Yes.  It’s something we’ve been doing for a couple of years now.  We first came two years ago after the large tornado hit this area.”
 
“Are you a church group?”
 
“Yes.”
 
Courtney introduced himself, his wife, Amy, and their son, Will and immediately I knew this was not an accidental meeting.  I noticed that Courtney got up from the table but didn’t think anything of it.  I made small talk with Amy about tornadoes and how their family was been affected by the most recent storms.  Courtney returned and stated that he had attended conferences for a few years at a prominent church in southern california, and shared that his family attended a small church in Norman, OK called Wildwood Church.
 
I said “It’s nice to meet you folks” and thanked them well.  “God bless you, Courtney, Amy, and Will.”  Before I left, other team members made their way to their table.  “Thank you so much” was the repeated phrase.  I had no idea why but I soon discovered that Courtney had paid for our team dinner.  What a wonderful blessing it was to receive this gift as a blessing from brother to brother.  More importantly, it was God’s way of telling us that He was present and taking care of us.  I am grateful to God for this moment.
Thank you, Courtney, Amy, and Will for you generosity and thoughtful welcome to OKC.
Courtney, killing us with kindness, with Jeff
Posted on

OKC Day 1-Teamwork makes the … team work…

This is a personal note from the editor.


Originally schedule to be on this trip, Gary is staying at home, to tend to some family matters. As much as he’s pretty important to us, we can always have another team member pick up his responsibilities, but there’s only one husband/father/etc. for a family. He made the difficult and correct choice.


However.. Gary’s also a computer guy. So am I. 


I’m a private computer consultant, and when I’m away on mission or other travel, need to have people cover for me when I’m gone.


Gary’s got us covered
It’s worked out that Gary’s been covering and participating with our team even from home!


We’re uploading videos that we’re shooting, and he’ll try to edit them from home.


But also, I’ve had some clients that needed someone on site today, and Gary drove out to take care of them.


His participation on the team, even from LA, is much appreciated. It helps me be at ease knowing someone’s got my back, and being a team member is even better.


Thanks guy!

Gary on left