Missions Blog

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!