It is a week later and I am finally getting caught up!! Last Friday, May 28, we found out we had a team from Marietta, Georgia wanting to come HERE for their mission team week. They, too, had planned to go to Mexico but changed their minds due to the violence. The catch? They had 85 people!! Yep. 72 teenagers and 13 adults. And we had 24 hours notice!!
Phone calls went out, prayers were answered, and within hours we had room for them to sleep and most importantly, a place for them to shower!
They arrived Sunday evening and the enthusiasm was just contagious. What a wonderful week we all had!
The teams were split into multiple groups. Total, they ended up working at 19 different homes during the week. What a blessing it was to those families! Many prayed with the teenagers and all of us were blessed. Lives were touched. God used these Georgia kids here!!
Some of our youth joined them in the work as well. Above Collin is with Livie, working on the Bullock's home. Her home is unlivable and a FEMA cottage is on the way. The kids were asked to dig up all the plants in hopes of replanting them around the new house. Also, to remove the porch and bricks, also hoping to reuse those as well.
The first day of work was also Memorial Day. The night before, John Murray and Amanda Greenlee volunteered their home to have ALL of us over for a cookout. There were well over 120 people there! We all ate, visited, met new people, made new friends, and enjoyed each others company.
The girls got to eat first!
Kaitlynn and Nettie Taylor
The next day, one of the projects was the delivery of a wheel chair ramp. This was lifted and delivered by the GA group and 2 of our own deacons, Fred Merrill and John Love.
This family had their home totally destroyed. And one of the nephews that usually stays with them had his back broken by a falling tree. The wheel chair ramp is for this child to use. He should be coming home from the hospital soon. Below is one of the Katrina cottages the ramp will be attached to.
Carrying the ramp from the trailer.
More will have to be built to get the ramp at the correct height and angle and a landing for safety at the end.
From their previous homes, 2x4 boards were salvaged to help construct the remaining part of the ramp.
Across town, Sam got certified to operate a donated Bobcat and had a great time lifting large trees out of this yard.
He really enjoyed himself!
The Georgia group at this house lifted the smaller limbs, did clean up in the yard and driveway, and the girls even spent time inside visiting and loving on the widow who lived there.
Sam's first pile of trees!
The second afternoon another church family volunteered their lake for a swim! So off we all went, with me leading the caravan to the Barnes home so the GA group could TRY and cool off in the water. It was a beautiful place and they had a great time.
Payton led us to the lake on his bike. Christopher enjoyed sitting on it!
All the girls and women slept upstairs in the Sunday School rooms and downstairs in the nursery. The men and boys all slept next door at the manse. Our normally tidy Sunday School Rooms were an array of colors and textures and STUFF! We loved it!
They brought their own food and their own cooks. Our kitchen was piled high with enough food for all those hungry hard working teenagers!
Later in the week, Sam flipped the Bobcat. A log that was a bit to heavy on a hill that was a bit to steep resulted in this picture that I love.
Right before the group drove away Friday afternoon, we gathered for a picture in front of the church. Click on any of these pictures and they will enlarge. We made true friends in this group. This town was blessed by them being here, and we at FPC were blessed to have them.
We will always have friends in Marietta, Georgia. Thank you all for coming here and working so hard for our precious town. We miss you already!
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