Today was pretty simple for us. We started gutting a new house in a poorer neighborhood and continued working on the local coordinator's house. The house we started on was not in too bad of shape except for one room as far as mold was concerned.
It was likely the largest and nicest house in the neighborhood. We got almost everything done today with just 5 of us except for taking up the floors. We met the neighbor across the street who had weathered out the storm. He said when the water reached his knees, he rebuked the water in the name of Jesus. When it reached his waist,he rebuked the water in the name of Jesus again. We it reached his neck, he said, "Lawd, I ain't joking!" Then he saw a turtle on a log float by his window so he flipped his sofa over and floated on it for 5 hours before a neighbor came by in a boat.
The team is showing signs of wear pretty clearly now. This is very intense labor in intense conditions. Even though we take frequent breaks and keep hydrated, there is no escaping the strain of the work. We've been giving one another backrubs, and some are pretty punch-drunk now. I've been at it a few days longer than this current team so I can really feel it. Here is a picture of the current team, which will leave for the most part Saturday morning (I'm bottom right).
Despite the pain, our leader still expects us to meet our quota and can get pretty nasty with those who slack off.
She and an UMCOR rep did make it to the relief center in Waveland as well as many other places to work on trying to network and build a better system to help meet the needs of the locals in the future. Lack of communication is still a major issue over a month later both inside and among major organizations. We'll be helping erect a tent for a church in Clermont Harbor tomorrow and the next team coming in Saturday will be helping serve some meals at that church and then in Bay Saint Louis on Sunday.
Tonight the owners of the house we finished 2 days ago made dinner for everyone at the church. Some great homemade gumbo and bread pudding with rum sauce. :)
It was likely the largest and nicest house in the neighborhood. We got almost everything done today with just 5 of us except for taking up the floors. We met the neighbor across the street who had weathered out the storm. He said when the water reached his knees, he rebuked the water in the name of Jesus. When it reached his waist,he rebuked the water in the name of Jesus again. We it reached his neck, he said, "Lawd, I ain't joking!" Then he saw a turtle on a log float by his window so he flipped his sofa over and floated on it for 5 hours before a neighbor came by in a boat.
The team is showing signs of wear pretty clearly now. This is very intense labor in intense conditions. Even though we take frequent breaks and keep hydrated, there is no escaping the strain of the work. We've been giving one another backrubs, and some are pretty punch-drunk now. I've been at it a few days longer than this current team so I can really feel it. Here is a picture of the current team, which will leave for the most part Saturday morning (I'm bottom right).
Despite the pain, our leader still expects us to meet our quota and can get pretty nasty with those who slack off.
She and an UMCOR rep did make it to the relief center in Waveland as well as many other places to work on trying to network and build a better system to help meet the needs of the locals in the future. Lack of communication is still a major issue over a month later both inside and among major organizations. We'll be helping erect a tent for a church in Clermont Harbor tomorrow and the next team coming in Saturday will be helping serve some meals at that church and then in Bay Saint Louis on Sunday.
Tonight the owners of the house we finished 2 days ago made dinner for everyone at the church. Some great homemade gumbo and bread pudding with rum sauce. :)
posted by Michael Ray at 11:25 PM
2 Comments:
Michael, what an incredible act of service by you and the team. I pray God will refresh each of you and give you strength to continue His work. Thank you for sharing your days with us!
I can well imagine you're getting pretty fried. I hope you plan to take a little time to rest.
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