UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
It was good to get home for a good night of rest in our own beds. Even though the combined two-week Williamsport-Altoona Katrina VIM Journey was successful and rewarding to all who participated, it is always great to get home.
The return trip was made in good weather. The overnight stop at 1st Farragut UMC in Knoxville was a welcome break in a very nice church. (It's big enough they have street signs to help you find your way.) It did seem as though the Highway Patrol set up a welcome committee on I-81 for us. I don't remember ever seeing that many on any trip I've ever taken.
For those interested in getting more details and photos of our journey, please join us at our Greensburg & Katrina VIM reunion "pot luck" lunch in Altoona at the Greenwood UMC fellowship hall on Saturday, November 8th. We plan to eat at noon, so bring a dish to share and get there a few minutes early. We'll have table ware and drinks.
Hi,
Well, Friday arrived and we tried to finish as much as possible before noon for the families we are supporting. That included laying the rest of the laminated flooring and hardiback preparation for tile in Wanda Labat's house, finishing touches on Althea VonTre's house, doing an adjustment on Yvonne Anderson's front door plus as much additional work on the Smith's and Kepfer houses.
The electrician crew of Bob and Jordan were heros this week in the eyes of the Camp Gospel coordinators because they made great progress on several houses that most volunteers are not qualified to do.
At mid-day we packed tools in our tool trailer and gave team members the opportunity to tour project sites that were not currently occupied and to drive by the rest of the sites and tour the local area. Being good Methodist, they also chose to eat lunch at local establishment rather than pack another PB&J.
After the local area tour, it has become tradition to take the families we are supporting out to eat at Sicily's Italian Buffet. Everyone had good fellowship, more than we needed to eat, and photo opportunities with our guests.
In the evening we had devotions, tried to restore some semblance of order to the church, pack our containers in preparation for our trip home. We have done this with mixed emotions of course because members of our host church dropped by to wish us well and make sure we did not need anything. What hospitality angels they are!
Now it's time to hit the sack. We'll be traveling to Knoxville for our overnight stop at the 1st Farragut UMC. It is doubtful that I will be able to send a daily report until we arrive at home Sunday evening.
Thursday we made good progress on our projects. Two were completed. A portion of the flooring task was delayed most of the day while the coordination office arranged for material delivery, but out team accomplished other tasks at the same site.
Our big flexibility test came with the execution of our planned evening program. We did have a meal with 12 guests invited from our host church and families supported on previous mission journeys. Then if you recall we had asked Rev Barnes from St Rock UMC to join to lead a communion service, she had medical problems, but our dynamic trio of John Best, Sandy Detwiler and Barbara (Reba) Stapleton did a fantastic job of leading the communion service. The food, communion service and fellowship were enjoyed by all.
Tomorrow we will work until noon, load the tool trailer, grab a seafood lunch and give team members a chance to see the other projects and local area. In the evening we will take the families that we have supported this week out to eat at an Italian Buffet. I know that it sounds like all we do is work and eat, but we usually get in a couple of hours of sleep, too.
Thanks to all of you back home. We appreciate your prayers and support.
Today the crews at all of our work sites had very productive days. It looks like we will accomplish most of the tasks on our project lists by Friday. Several of the work crews decided that today would be a good day to try lunch at a local establishment. Those on the "Smith" project ate at the Cuevas Bistro which turns out to be the oldest business establishment in the area. It began as a trading post in 1851.
People on the "Kepfer" and "VonTre" projects ate at Kimble's and Pirate's Cove while those working at Cindy and Tommy Cuevas's home were treated to homemade seafood gumbo. Delicious was the feedback in all cases.
This evening after a busy day we enjoyed a meal prepared from all the food provided by our host church. All members of the team who planned on losing weight on this mission journey have given up on that goal. Diets will no doubt begin on Monday after our return home.
Tomorrow we will finish more project tasks, and we have invited as many families supported on previous missions as we could contact. Since we have no pastors on the team this week, we had asked Rev Barnes from St Rock UMC to join us tomorrow evening to lead a communion service. Unfortunately, we received a call today that she has some medical issues that will not permit her to join us. We asked that you also keep her in your prayers.
Thanks again for all your support including shoveling all that snow that fell in PA. We want you to know that it was not exactly beach weather here the last couple of days either. In fact, when we checked temperatures this morning, Altoona was 1 degree warmer than Gulfport, but it was a beautiful day with temperatures climbing into the 70's this afternoon.
That's about it for today. Stay tuned for another update tomorrow evening.
The VIM team is running like a 'well oiled machine' now on all of our seven projects shown on the attached picture. The team is roofing, siding, building outside stairs and putting insulation under the floors of elevated houses, installing doors & windows, laying ceramic & laminated flooring as well as sorting out the electrical mysteries mentioned yesterday.
The local folks really appreciate that VIM teams are still coming from Pennsylvania to assist Katrina victims with recovery because the number of volunteers has dropped tremendously. Team members have been approached several times by local residents who have expressed their gratitude.
We are also hearing far too many stories of frustration with insurance settlements, contractor rip-offs, and difficulty finding qualified people to take on residential projects. The economic down turn that everyone is dealing with is particularly severe in this area where people are trying to start up businesses to replace family run enterprises that were destroyed by Katrina. Meanwhile, home owner insurance rates have typically doubled to make it even tougher on struggling families.
Team members are feeling tired in a good way this evening. Things went well on the projects, and our host church provided another meal (red beans & rice) tonight. So now we are tired and full. The gals hardly had enough energy to stay up until 'Dancing with the Stars' was over. The halls of the church are getting very quiet so I'll say, "Good Night". Thanks for all the support.
Our first morning of our first workday had a few wrinkles to smooth, but by afternoon everyone on the team had found a way to apply their efforts on one of our projects.
We also added two more projects to the five that we had on our tasks list. (Sorry, no vacation this week, folks!) One project agencies was particularly happy that we have two electricians on our team, and all of their electrical puzzles have been pulled out and laid on the table for Jordan Barefoot and Bob Bauder.
It was also quite chilly this morning, so I anticipate heavier sweatshirts and jackets tomorrow. I don't think anyone thought to include long johns in their baggage, or they would break them out.
Today was a very good day, and we are shooting for great tomorrow.
Greetings to all of our supporters!
The Altoona VIM team members (who came down for the last week in October) safely arrived today in Long Beach, MS to join those already here with the Williamsport team last week.
Saturday night they spent the night at the Jones Memorial UMC in Chattanooga. When they got there, the bride and groom were just coming out of the church from their wedding ceremony. They set up cots, air mattresses, sleeping bags before going out for a meal with plans to come back to the church to watch the Penn State game since the church had several TVs. Unfortunately, initially they could get any reception but a helpful member of the JM UMC had hooked up the big screen TV while they were out to eat, and they cheered Penn State on to victory.
Sunday, the team reached Christ UMC in Long Beach in plenty of time to unpack and relax a while before having a meal prepared by our host church. Team members are getting acquainted and are anxious to begin (or continue) the work projects.
I should also mention that members of the Williamsburg team who were returning home over the weekend arrived. In short, the long distance traveling of the weekend is over, and all is well.
