I am sure that no one would ever suspect that my memory moment is to talk about Mission Trips, but believe or not it is. Mission trips were not always a part of my thing, so to speak. I heard about people going to remote parts of the world and doing Missions work but I have never been one to venture far from home. But in 1994 two years after Hurricane Andrew struck south Florida, and only after a group from the church came back from Homestead Florida and talked about the experience they had, I decided to give it a try.
Dottie, Kathy Boardman and I partnered with a small band of retirees and the DCE from Bethel Presbyterian and went to Homestead for a week.
During that week we worked on a house that had been basically gutted by Hurricane Andrew. Kathy and I spent the entire week working on the roof, while Dottie learned the art of operating a Hammer Drill. Later we were able to have Dottie join us on the roof, but before we covered the roof with roofing paper we wrote a prayer for the family, “May those who dwell beneath this roof be blessed by Jesus Christ.” That has always stuck with me, because I wonder has that family continued to realize the blessings of Jesus Christ.
This little tab is also a grim reminder of the hurricane; the code changed and we had to place one of these under every roofing nail 6 inches apart on the outside edges of every roll of paper and 12 inches apart on all inside sections.
Later in the week we went to the Haitian Children’s Center to read and play games. Everywhere we went we saw devastation to property and lives.
This started a burn inside of me, but it really didn’t get going again until 2004.
On a very cold Friday night and Saturday in Oct 2004 a group from the church went to Richwood, WV for the first time. Within the first two hours of arrival Dottie stepped off of the curb, fell, and we went to the Richwood ER. We had excellent service though, because there was NOBODY else there. The administrator actually came from the front of the hospital to the ER to do the paperwork because she didn’t have anything else to do.
On Saturday we were broken into teams by our new found friend, Harry Drake. The temperature didn’t get over 35 degrees all day, it rained, sleeted, and snowed but in that day we managed to haul wood, replace a hot water heater, fix floors, roof a generator building, paint a manse porch, install railings and handrails in the shelter, and do some other plumbing work.
That night a short conversation about what the needs in area were prompted what I believe to have really been a miracle moment. We talked about the music and arts programs having no money to continue, so any donations of instruments would help to continue those programs.
We came back and started inquiries about how to meet the need. We were able to get a list of what instruments were needed, and with that information, this church overwhelmingly delivered. This article and thank you card from the community, and children affected is overwhelming evidence of what your generosity means to people through missions work. The instruments went to Troy Elementary School K-5. Some of the kids that worked very hard and were showing promise were allowed to carry the instruments forward as they moved through school and continued to play. Two of the kids that were 5th graders then, played the instruments in a concert on Memorial Day this year for the Governor of WV.
In 2005, we went back to Richwood, this time it was warmer, but there was much more work to be done. We worked on a bathroom remodeling; more floors needed repair, painting in the hospital, repairing windows, putting up molding and a host of other tasks. On this trip we met some fascinating people while working in their homes and I realized how so many needs still existed long after the media had left the flood areas and how much opportunity still remained for us to serve.
In 2006 after putting things together for the trip, I let the JOB get in the way and didn’t get to go to Colcorde, WV where the team completed all of the work necessary to allow a congregation to start worship in their church again after a long period of waiting. The church had been damaged by flooding and walls had to be rebuilt and major work had to be completed for this small group to get back into their church home.
In 2007 it was off to Gilbert, WV. There we met a family devastated by flooding, living by the Tug River. This family of a Mom, Dad and three small children touched all of our hearts. We worked very hard to virtually rebuild their mobile home so that it could be raised to a higher level, and hopefully out of harm’s way for another flood.
A lot of the work on the mobile home required relocation of sewer lines, Jerry Neal, Larry Ramsey and others spent many hours prepping everything for the cutover to the sewer system, but when Harry and I cut into the line and it sprayed us both from head down, it was not pretty. I couldn’t understand why everyone was hungry on the drive back to the shelter and I was not.
The youth that were on this trip, gave me one of the proudest moments of any Missions trip I have ever been on. Their diligence and hard work was awesome. They dug ditches, unloaded and poured concrete, whatever needed to be done they were ready and willing to get dirty and get working.
The last weekend of the trip, our kids had money for Pizza and a movie; instead they chose leftovers and Walmart to use their money to buy for the family we had worked for all week.
In 2008 we were off to Kopperston to work on the home of Maggie and Junior Gibson. This couple, both in bad health, had lost virtually everything to a house fire. Maggie and Junior not only kept us entertained with the funniest stories you ever heard, but boy did Maggie keep us fed on the job site. When we pulled in the drive every morning, Junior would say get the coffee on, they’re here and before we could start work he would have a hot cup of coffee in our hands. On this trip several of us got to experience putting on a tin roof, while others worked on siding, then we all moved inside to building walls and running electrical outlets.
We couldn’t finish it all, but a few weeks later I was able to get a little swat team together and we were able to go back for a day and get them into the dry for the winter.
In May of 2009 flooding hit the South West part of WV again. Maggie and Junior were two of the first responders to the Emergency Assistance Command Center to give help and give back. The family we had helped over by the Tug River was flooded again, so their tragedy of life started over again.
In August this year we went back to Kopperston. We were met with a new group of friends from Presbyterian Church of the Lakes out of Orlando, Florida. Several of us got to go visit Maggie and Junior in their completed home. It was beautiful, and the coffee was still good and hot.
This trip took us to two homes devastated by flooding. In one of the homes, the person who had been living there lost her life to illness while we were there working on her house. But a new baby only a few days old was brought by the house so the family could see the work being done to what would be their new home. Larry Ramsey and I had the pleasure of working with some of the Florida guys most of the week finishing a building for a Church that had been completely demolished by a land slide. The Minister and his wife that had built the Church with most of their own money and labor had built 75 feet up the mountain to avoid flood, but had no flood insurance. Insurance didn’t cover the loss because the slide was caused by a flash flood bringing the mountain down on top of the church.
During this week one thing I learned about Ken Lowrance is that he knows one line of probably every song written, but that’s all. He also is not real good with finding work sites, even when signs are posted “Ken Turn Here” But he sure can turn out some good work.
I can’t forget that no Mission trip is complete without Dottie’s meals and meal planning. You are guaranteed not to go hungry. I’ve even considered putting bunks in the house so that she thinks we are on a Missions trip just for the cooking.
The time you spend with other members of the church getting to know one another, the time you spend with the people we go to help, the feelings you get from what you witness and love you feel from everyone involved is so overwhelming that you just can’t put words to express the many emotions you feel from going on these trips. You also get into the stories of the lives of the people that you are there to help and in many ways inspired even more by what you hear from what they share with you.
I know these kinds of trips aren’t for everyone, but I certainly feel that I have received far more blessings than anything I can possibly have given through these Missions trips. Thank you.
