Friday and Wrapping it up!

Well we are all safely back home now. I will try and wrap up the last work day, traveling home and some finale thoughts about the mission trip.

Friday morning was another early rise. We wanted to get as much done as we could before we finished our time on the Eastern Shore. We got to the jobsite before 7:30 again. Everyone was in good spirits and ready to go. The former roofers were now working on getting the metal on the facia boards as well as touching up a few spots on the edge of the roof. Colleen, Becky, Bland and I headed under the house to put up insulation in the crawl space. Now it was interesting for two guys with 6 foot 3 inch frames under a house putting up fiberglass insulation. Fortunately (a God moment?) there was plenty of room under the house. Actually Bland and I could sit up (if we were careful) without cracking our heads. Now when Glenn (one of the construction site leaders) explained how to do the insulation he said that on a previous house a bunch of high school kids had done it in about 45 minutes. Those kids must have been magicians because it took us about 3 hours. Of course it was much cooler under there than outside so we really didn’t mind it. I didn’t feel itchy either when it was done. That came later after our showers!

While under the house the pop-up shelter that we had was a victim of a gust of wind. You see one of the legs was bent already and cracked so it didn’t take much to finish the job of breaking it. During a break from the insulation we were able to piece it back together with a piece of wood and Duck Tape! We still had shade for a little while longer.

At lunch time Habitat provided us with a cookout of hamburgers and hot dogs. Glenn did the cooking. We all ate more than our fair share. After lunch there wasn’t a whole lot left to do. We polished off our jobs and then cleaned up, got our team picture and said our good byes. In the time we were there we were able to: finish shingling the roof which included drip edge and ridge vents, insulated under the entire house, finished the siding on both ends of the house (after we put up the Tyvex paper), pulled wire for all of the electrical outlets and switches, nailed up metal covers to protect the wire when the sheetrock is installed, tacked up the loose wires, installed rafter vents, nailed nailers for the sheetrock, dug out for the front porch concrete pad, mixed concrete for the pad, built the concrete forms, poured the concrete, installed the front porch steps (after repairing what the previous crew had messed up), installed the soffit vents on the porch and under the roof overhang, put metal over the facia boards, used a swing blade to cut the brush by the road along with picking up trash around the lot. However I believe our most important thing we did was to show God’s love for a family that we had never met.

We also built strong relationships with each other and the Habitat construction crew of Glenn and Walt. Now these two guys were with us on site all week long. They were absolutely the most patient and easy to get along with Habitat people I have ever met. They were extremely knowledgeable of what they were doing and took time when asked (several times in some cases) about how to do something. We praised them several times to the board members and executive director of Habitat.

We got back to Franktown to recover and cleanup for our last evening meal. We were going out and as usual the hardest decision we have is where to eat. We finally decide on a local place called Big. I kid you not that is its name. If you have followed any of my emails in the past you may remember me talking about a restaurant in Mississippi called “The Shed”. Well Big is the Shed of the Eastern Shore. We passed it and I never saw it. Well Big must get its name from the servings you get because they were huge. After we had all eaten as much as we could we headed back to get ready to head home.

Rich and Colleen had the final devotion. Afterwards we sat around discussing the week. We talked about heading home and what time we’d be leaving. We cleaned up around the kitchen and fellowship hall and did some packing. Some went to bed and some stayed up and talked. Our conversations cover a wide spectrum of topics from the silly to the most serious. There are times when I imagine the disciples sitting around and doing the same thing. A lot of time we talk about community and what that is to us. We saw a very tight knit and isolated (by our standards) community on Tangier. The mission team became a stronger community of believers by stepping out and putting their faith in action by the sweat and toil of laboring for another family. We never discussed if Danielle’s family goes to church or not but that really doesn’t matter. For we are all God’s children regardless.

Saturday morning comes. Lying on the air mattress for the last time listening to the snores in the room and watching first light come through the window. It’s been a fast week. A fun week. I know my aches and pains will come later after I get home and the adrenalin rush is over. Thank goodness for vitamin “I”. I pray that it won’t be too long before Danielle and her family have their home. Everyone deserves a safe home. I know that with God’s help we did our best to get them closer to theirs.

We start getting up and heading for the coffee. Thanks to Pat and Bland the keepers of the coffee pot. We sit around drinking a cup or two then we quickly clean up, load up and go outside for our final prayer. There are hugs all around and a tear or two. Yes we will see each other in church but it won’t be the same. What a great team this has been to serve with. I will never be able to give them enough praise. I hope and pray that I will be blessed to serve with each again.

Eastern Shore Mission Benediction

by team member Holly Johnston

“Just as God calls us to step out of the boat, God calls us to go forth and make disciples. Just as God calls us to serve the least and the little among us, God calls us to be in community with fellow believers. Know that as you go forth and live as the hands and feet of Christ that you are not alone, that you united through Christ's love to carry out God's call for ourselves, for those that came before us and for those that will come after us.”

Amen!