Click the picture to see my web albumsMany of you probably remember or heard about my trip to Pass Christian, MS last October with my sister. That trip as well as my other trips to Florida and MS in April '06 with the Mennonite Disaster Service were so fulfilling and enjoyable. The Mennonite Disaster Service is an organization that provides free labor in the construction of homes for those who can't afford to rebuild after a major catastrophe. Many of those we build houses for are elderly or low-income single parents. You can see those pictures and from my
trip last week online at PicasaWeb.
After my trip in October I wanted to start planning for another trip in which my Dad and brother could come along. We had never done something like this before and I wanted to share with them the great experiences that I had had in the past with MDS. At first I thought this trip was going to happen in February when Ron and Elaine Enns were the directors in New Orleans. They were the directors for a time when I was in Florida. I wanted to meet up with them again but it didn't work out. Finally, I made plans for the week of April 15th in Mississippi where I had been twice before. I was excited to find out that Dave and Anna Weibe were there as directors. They also were directors that I had worked with in Florida.
On Sunday, April 15th my dad, brother and I flew out of Baltimore and arrived at Gulfport International Airport at 1pm. It was nice to have some time sunday to catch up with old friends and see the area. We had a short orientation in the evening where I found out that I was to be leading the framing crew. I wasn't expecting that but hey God knew I could handle it. On Monday my crew of 5 built the two large exterior walls but didn't stand them up because they were too heavy for the five of us to lift. Tuesday morning we had some help from another crew to lift them. By the end of the day Tuesday we had all four walls framed and standing. That was exciting. We took a tour of some of the devastation tuesday afternoon. It is incredible to see how much work still needs to be done. They are saying that it will be like 5-10 years until it is back to normal, or seemingly so to outsiders. Seeing these things really makes me feel blessed for what I have. How would I react if I had lost everything like these people had? When we met the man we were building the home for, David Deadoux, we found out that this will be the 4th house on that property in his life-time. We can only assume that the previous houses were destroyed as well. Would I be able to cope with losing my "things" this many times? Challenging.
Anyway Tuesday evening we had some Cajun crawfish and chili. The crawfish taste like shrimp, not bad really. Wednesday morning it rained a little so we started out at another house. That set us back on the framing of the Deadoux house. When we got to the Deadoux house I realized that I had left the house plans in the other truck. We worked on some odd jobs at the house to prepare it for trusses the next day. We could have started on the interior walls had I been better prepared. In the evening we went to an elderly woman's home, that MDS built, and we had a hymn-sing. It was a blessing to her I could tell.
On thursday we set the trusses. That is always fun. With the house being on piers it was pretty high. I remember carrying the trusses up ladders in Florida. The use of the high-lift was a great asset and much more safe as well. I had only men on my crew all week until Thursday. Heidi helped us by nailing the joist-hangers and hurricane straps/ties. That was a great help but I felt bad for the number of nails she had to drive. The palm-nailer made it a little easier. Good Job Heidi! Thursday evening we played volleyball after dinner. Those of you who know me well enough know that I can get pretty excited about this. I hit Lyndee in the head and felt like a jerk.
Friday was the final chance we had to complete the goal we had set out to do. At the beginning of the week I wanted to get the roof dried-in by friday. I knew it was possible without too many setbacks. On Friday Lyndee was on my crew with all of the other guys. She requested to be on the roof and was up on the roof all day. By lunch-time we had all of the roof sheeted and had the felt paper on by 3. We put drip edge on as well to prepare for shingles. The porch was started by some of the others. It will take a while to build the front porch rear deck and porch roof. At the end of the day we took a group picture with David Deadoux. He wanted us to stay because he thought we did a great job and wasn't sure who would be there the following week.
After dinner (jumblya) we sent the Gehmans Mennonite Church, group of 12, on their way home. They live about 30 minutes from us in Lancaster but we had no idea they would be there. How Ironic. They had a 20-22 hour drive. I could have sold my plane ticket several times throughout the week. In the evening Lyndee and I had the chance to take a bike ride to the beach. I never thought I would be doing that down there, but hey, it was fun. Later in the evening some of us introduced Maureen (Canadian) to "America's Drive-In" (Sonic) in Gulfport. We tried Krispy Kreme too but they wouldn't give us free doughnuts. How disappointing! What a great day. It was fun to be able to hang out and get to know the others better. This made it tough to leave.
On Saturday we wished Lyndee and her family a safe trip. They were driving back to Kentucky. I don't know anyone else in Kentucky but now I believe I would have a place to stay if I were to pass through some day. They were great to get to know. When going into these weeks with MDS I never know who I might meet. Each time I come out of the week with new friends and become a member of a larger family. It is such a blessing. Our flight went out at 12 noon. The long-termers dropped us off at the airport. I will miss these great people. I want to continue to stay in touch. God has been good!
A week later I can't help but reflect on God's goodness. He has blessed me with knowledge and skill so that I can be a blessing to others and share his love. The pleasure I get from this is incredible. There is nothing better then walking in God's will and worshiping him in it. I feel renewed and revived. Prior to leaving for this trip, Jenny, one of my good friends shared the verse in Ephesians 2:21-22, "In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." This was my inspiration for the week. I meditated on this and tried to maintain the perspective of building this Holy Temple to the Lord. I too want to be a place where the Spirit can fellowship. This past Tuesday I was at a class I am taking called "Discovery". It is taught by numerous ministers in the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Tuesday's class was focused on discovering our passions. After thinking about it I believe that one of my passions is being able to use my craftsmanship gifts to do exactly what I was doing last week. I am so thankful to Dave the director down there in Pass Christian for again trusting me to lead the crew last week. It was a blessing to be able to use the gifts God has given me. I enjoyed working with my dad and brother this past as well. We tend to get pretty busy here at home and it was good to spend some quality time with them. I hope and pray that we can continue to be open with each other. I certainly intend to do an MDS trip again. Maybe some others would like to join me. They are in need of both long-term and some short-term volunteers. Oh! Don't forget to check out my PICTURES. They will tell the rest of the story. Blessings and Thank You for your Prayers!
trip last week online at PicasaWeb.
After my trip in October I wanted to start planning for another trip in which my Dad and brother could come along. We had never done something like this before and I wanted to share with them the great experiences that I had had in the past with MDS. At first I thought this trip was going to happen in February when Ron and Elaine Enns were the directors in New Orleans. They were the directors for a time when I was in Florida. I wanted to meet up with them again but it didn't work out. Finally, I made plans for the week of April 15th in Mississippi where I had been twice before. I was excited to find out that Dave and Anna Weibe were there as directors. They also were directors that I had worked with in Florida.
On Sunday, April 15th my dad, brother and I flew out of Baltimore and arrived at Gulfport International Airport at 1pm. It was nice to have some time sunday to catch up with old friends and see the area. We had a short orientation in the evening where I found out that I was to be leading the framing crew. I wasn't expecting that but hey God knew I could handle it. On Monday my crew of 5 built the two large exterior walls but didn't stand them up because they were too heavy for the five of us to lift. Tuesday morning we had some help from another crew to lift them. By the end of the day Tuesday we had all four walls framed and standing. That was exciting. We took a tour of some of the devastation tuesday afternoon. It is incredible to see how much work still needs to be done. They are saying that it will be like 5-10 years until it is back to normal, or seemingly so to outsiders. Seeing these things really makes me feel blessed for what I have. How would I react if I had lost everything like these people had? When we met the man we were building the home for, David Deadoux, we found out that this will be the 4th house on that property in his life-time. We can only assume that the previous houses were destroyed as well. Would I be able to cope with losing my "things" this many times? Challenging.
Anyway Tuesday evening we had some Cajun crawfish and chili. The crawfish taste like shrimp, not bad really. Wednesday morning it rained a little so we started out at another house. That set us back on the framing of the Deadoux house. When we got to the Deadoux house I realized that I had left the house plans in the other truck. We worked on some odd jobs at the house to prepare it for trusses the next day. We could have started on the interior walls had I been better prepared. In the evening we went to an elderly woman's home, that MDS built, and we had a hymn-sing. It was a blessing to her I could tell.
On thursday we set the trusses. That is always fun. With the house being on piers it was pretty high. I remember carrying the trusses up ladders in Florida. The use of the high-lift was a great asset and much more safe as well. I had only men on my crew all week until Thursday. Heidi helped us by nailing the joist-hangers and hurricane straps/ties. That was a great help but I felt bad for the number of nails she had to drive. The palm-nailer made it a little easier. Good Job Heidi! Thursday evening we played volleyball after dinner. Those of you who know me well enough know that I can get pretty excited about this. I hit Lyndee in the head and felt like a jerk.
Friday was the final chance we had to complete the goal we had set out to do. At the beginning of the week I wanted to get the roof dried-in by friday. I knew it was possible without too many setbacks. On Friday Lyndee was on my crew with all of the other guys. She requested to be on the roof and was up on the roof all day. By lunch-time we had all of the roof sheeted and had the felt paper on by 3. We put drip edge on as well to prepare for shingles. The porch was started by some of the others. It will take a while to build the front porch rear deck and porch roof. At the end of the day we took a group picture with David Deadoux. He wanted us to stay because he thought we did a great job and wasn't sure who would be there the following week.
After dinner (jumblya) we sent the Gehmans Mennonite Church, group of 12, on their way home. They live about 30 minutes from us in Lancaster but we had no idea they would be there. How Ironic. They had a 20-22 hour drive. I could have sold my plane ticket several times throughout the week. In the evening Lyndee and I had the chance to take a bike ride to the beach. I never thought I would be doing that down there, but hey, it was fun. Later in the evening some of us introduced Maureen (Canadian) to "America's Drive-In" (Sonic) in Gulfport. We tried Krispy Kreme too but they wouldn't give us free doughnuts. How disappointing! What a great day. It was fun to be able to hang out and get to know the others better. This made it tough to leave.
On Saturday we wished Lyndee and her family a safe trip. They were driving back to Kentucky. I don't know anyone else in Kentucky but now I believe I would have a place to stay if I were to pass through some day. They were great to get to know. When going into these weeks with MDS I never know who I might meet. Each time I come out of the week with new friends and become a member of a larger family. It is such a blessing. Our flight went out at 12 noon. The long-termers dropped us off at the airport. I will miss these great people. I want to continue to stay in touch. God has been good!
A week later I can't help but reflect on God's goodness. He has blessed me with knowledge and skill so that I can be a blessing to others and share his love. The pleasure I get from this is incredible. There is nothing better then walking in God's will and worshiping him in it. I feel renewed and revived. Prior to leaving for this trip, Jenny, one of my good friends shared the verse in Ephesians 2:21-22, "In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." This was my inspiration for the week. I meditated on this and tried to maintain the perspective of building this Holy Temple to the Lord. I too want to be a place where the Spirit can fellowship. This past Tuesday I was at a class I am taking called "Discovery". It is taught by numerous ministers in the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Tuesday's class was focused on discovering our passions. After thinking about it I believe that one of my passions is being able to use my craftsmanship gifts to do exactly what I was doing last week. I am so thankful to Dave the director down there in Pass Christian for again trusting me to lead the crew last week. It was a blessing to be able to use the gifts God has given me. I enjoyed working with my dad and brother this past as well. We tend to get pretty busy here at home and it was good to spend some quality time with them. I hope and pray that we can continue to be open with each other. I certainly intend to do an MDS trip again. Maybe some others would like to join me. They are in need of both long-term and some short-term volunteers. Oh! Don't forget to check out my PICTURES. They will tell the rest of the story. Blessings and Thank You for your Prayers!
