Missions Blog

Day 4 - Wow! If we thought we were sore yesterday, today was a doozy! But our team fueled up with breakfast and a beautiful devotion about God's faithfulness using the story of Elijah. Paul brought the message, and Tyler read the scriptures. Because of an issue with the normal devotional room, we got to start the morning on the massive back deck, complete with many rocking chairs, overlooking the most gorgeous mountain scene. Since we didn't have our sound system and screen, Linda was asked to lead worship with Amazing Grace. It was fun to have a whole TBC morning as our team led the whole group.

Boyd, Paul, and George finished the kitchen ceiling at their rebuild. Those previous days felt backbreaking, and they spent most of the day lifting the wood over their heads, so it was a blessing to be finished with that task. They also worked on cutting and installing the living room crown moulding. Unfortunately, there were no pictures with the turkey today. 😂 

Tyler and company finally finished ripping up the glued-down wood flooring after 4 days of work! Then Tyler, Linda U, and Karen finished the insulation, hung drywall, worked on drywall mud, and did truck inventory again. A very productive day with much more variety!

Regina and Stevie put the finishing touches on Miss Katherine's house. There was still more (heavy!) furniture to move into her home, so they spent most of the day doing that.

Jonna and Linda went into the day knowing the plan was to install ceramic tile in the bathroom, and thought they would be gophers for tools and supplies. To their surprise, Tim and Jack taught them to use a wet saw, a jigsaw, and a grinder. It was really special - knowing that these skilled craftsmen could have finished the job quickly, but took the time to teach them how to use the tools and trusted them to do almost all of the cutting. It really was a blessing all the way around.

Although we are all exhausted physically and, to be honest, mentally and emotionally, it's bittersweet that tomorrow morning is the last trip to the work sites.  We will go to three sites, work until noon and head out for the long 8 hour drive home. It's guaranteed that if you ask any one of the team, they would say they would come back again and would encourage anyone with a heart to serve the hurting to sign up to partner with Samaritan's Purse.

Day 3 found our team a little sore and slower to start today, but once we got our bodies moving and coffee in our systems, we were ready to get to our sites and start the day! A special moment from the morning that touched all of us was a devotion/testimony given by a man named Lynn from Alabama. He shared how he served in Nigeria at a hospital build with one doctor, no electricity except for a generator, and it was quite the tale of faith, persecution, and fear of possible kidnapping. It changed his life, and if you'd like to hear more about it, ask one of our 10 team members, and we'd be happy to share!

Regina and Stevie got to be present at a House Dedication for Miss Katherine. Stevie shared that Miss Katherine's house was a total rebuild. The water had been 4 feet high in her living room. Firefighters rescued her on a boat. The second photo is the group of family, friends, and neighbors that joined the SP staff and volunteers for the dedication. They prayed, presented Miss Katherine with a Bible and a journal that all the workers had left a message in. What a blessing to participate in. 

 Tyler was still working on the floors! The goal is to have them done prior to lunch tomorrow. Linda U and Karen finished the insulation in the master bedroom. All the insulation should be complete by lunch tomorrow. Karen and Linda also took inventory of the SP tool trailer.

Boyd, Paul, and George completed the ceiling in the living room, the back end of the hallway, and started the ceiling in the kitchen. They are working at a rebuild with a lot of animals on the property, and Paul was "talking turkey" with a new friend. Gobble Gobble. 🦃

Linda J and Jonna had an interesting start to the day that turned out to be God working to bring about a huge blessing. Their team split up today, so three of the men took the trailer to one house, and Linda, Jonna & Tim (the foreman) went back to the single mom's home. It was a late start because they had to pack Tim's truck with supplies from the tool trailer and grab more supplies for ripping out the tile floor in a small bathroom.  

Through a stressful series of events, Linda & Jonna ended up not getting to the rebuild until 10:30 am. They painted the whole bathroom, painted trim, chiseled up the tile floor, and then poured leveler onto the floor to harden for the tile installation. But the beautiful blessing was that the homeowner came and shared her heart and her struggles with them. After some deep discussions, Linda asked if they could pray with her, and she said yes! The foreman said that she has continued to warm up to everyone and come out of her shell. He says she is like a whole different person from their first day at the rebuild. And another blessing, the 8-year-old daughter had been at a camp that day, and because they had to work later than usual, Linda and Jonna got to see her, spend time with her, and write her little notes about how much Jesus loves her. God is working in miraculous ways!

After a precious time of sharing about each team's experiences, we are ready to sleep, rest our aching bodies, and start fresh tomorrow. We can't wait! Thank you for praying!

North Carolina Hurricane Relief - Day 2

Our second day, we were off and running at 7:15 am for devotional, worship, and breakfast. We all then went with our designated teams to our work sites. Before we left, we grabbed a picture with our whole group. It's been amazing to come together with people from all over the country to serve these NC residents!

Boyd, Paul, and George continued to work on the ceiling. Today was removing the ceiling fan in the living room, installing almost half the tongue and groove ceiling, and reinstalling and cleaning the ceiling fan. They also installed an edging piece around the entire living space ceiling to aid in the installation of the ceiling panels.

Jonna and Linda J's team went to 2 houses today. One was way up in the mountains, and they weren't sure the huge truck and SP trailer would be able to get up the windy dirt roads. But Tim, the team lead was a master at maneuvering it and they greeted the homeowner who needed them to start by removing soffit/fascia and scrape some peeling paint that would later be repainted. 

After lunch, they returned to the house from Day One and helped in cleaning, vacuuming, painting, helping to rearrange furniture, and tearing up a bathroom tile floor. It was hot and hard work, but there was joy abounding as the team really bonded.

Stevie and Regina are putting the finishing touches on a house that they are excited to dedicate this week with their entire team. What a blessing! Stevie painted trim, moulding, and baseboards, while Regina helped with cleaning, moving, and setting up furniture. Their homeowner is in her 90s and has beautiful antique furniture that was a joy to put back into its rightful place.

Linda U, Karen, and Tyler went back to the home from yesterday, where Tyler continued to help rip up the hardwood floors. It's slow, hard, tedious work, but it will be such a blessing for the homeowner!  Linda and Karen installed an entire room of insulation and did a fantastic job! Not something they probably ever imagined they would do!

Some other great news of the day is that Paul was able to get a room at The Cove with the rest of the TBC team, and that was one hurdle that God worked out in a beautiful way. We're excited to hear Paul share the devotion on Thursday morning!

Thank you all for your prayers and for keeping up with the hard work by the TBC team with Samaritan's Purse. People's lives are being transformed by Jesus!

North Carolina Hurricane Relief - Travel and Day 1

Our fun, brightly colored missions team, who is partnering with Samaritan's Purse (SP) left TBC on Sunday morning for "The Cove", Billy Graham's retreat center near Asheville. We had a great trip down, with lots of laughing and sharing in our 15-passenger van. We arrived at The Cove at 5 PM and got checked into our rooms. Only one small hiccup...they did not have Paul B. on their list of participants for Samaritan's Purse, so he didn't have a room. It was a little hectic trying to figure out how it happened and what to do, but he ended up staying at a local Holiday Inn, hopefully only for a day or two.

We saw that we had a VERY tight schedule and had to be at the training center at 7:15 AM for devotions/worship, breakfast at 7:45 and ready to board our trucks/trailers at 8:30. We honestly had no idea what to expect, so when we met with the leaders, contractors, SP staff and about 20 other volunteers from all over the country to pray, they divided our group into 4 teams and we headed out. 

Linda U, Karen S, Tyler U, headed to a house where most of the day, they spent sledgehammering a tile floor and shoveling the remnants to be taken to the dumpsters. It was intense, loud work and maybe a little more than they initially expected, but they are ready to head back on Day 2 to see what project is next.

Boyd B, Paul B, and George went to a house that was just getting started with rebuild and renovation. They worked in the house removing moulding and then went outside to build a wooden retaining wall. The homeowner's driveway is over a small creek, and every time it rains, the driveway floods. They are working to stop that flooding and keep the driveway safe. They are going back on day 2 to add some gravel and make it stronger.

Stevie K and Regina S went to a house that will be dedicated this week, meaning that there will be a small ceremony and time praying for the homeowner as well as gifting them with a Bible and a journal. Their day was spent cleaning floors, baseboards, and appliances.  It will be exciting to see it all come together for the dedication day!

Linda J and Jonna M went to a house that is also nearing dedication, so there were just a few things to wrap up. Men from another team finished building a railing on a deck and on a set of stairs. It looks beautiful! The team lead told Linda and Jonna that the biggest help to him would be to inventory the SP tool trailer and organize it. It had been a bit of a mess, and he couldn't buy the new tools that were needed until everything was accounted for. So while they didn't have the physical work of some others, there was a lot of organizing, learning all about tools, and filling out the inventory sheet. The team lead was so thankful, as this will make it easier for the volunteers and contractors to find what they need in a quicker amount of time. 

Everyone got back to "base camp" around 5 PM for a quick shower and dinner at 5:45. After dinner, there was a time of sharing until 7 PM among all of the 5 teams that were sent out, and it was great to hear what the others accomplished during their first day. Everyone heads back to the same locations tomorrow to begin the next projects. Lights out is between 9 & 10 PM.  And everyone is totally ready to get some rest!

For our last day in Spain, Ken and Carolyn Muckle took our team to the historic city of Segovia, Spain.

There, we were able to visit the ancient Roman aqueduct, the former royal Alcazar castle and the cathedral  - the last Gothic cathedral built in Europe. We learned much about the history of Spain, the political and religious history as well. Ken and Carolyn shared a wealth of their knowledge from living and serving in this country.

We had a lovely lunch together and were able to debrief and discuss our week together. We praise God for our safety in construction demolition work, wall repair and painting, and safety in our teaching and playing flag football (futbol Americana) with the youth.

We are so grateful we could help with their youth camp, snacks, and clean up, and how God used our sharing of our testimonies, how Jesus transformed our own lives in the past. Our own faith continues to grow deeper through this experience.

We are thankful we could come encourage our partners with our presence. We pray they are strengthened for many days to come because of our visit.

As we head to bed late, we hope and pray for a smooth and safe trip home tomorrow.