Today was our second work day. Most of us are up around 6am. Breakfast is at 7 and we have to make our lunches before that. After a short devotional, Bert (the man in charge who's been with MDS for 23 years) gives us a run down of what each group would be doing and we set out for our different destinations. The groups change a little every day depending on where there is work. I'll let you know a little of what each group has been doing the past couple days.
Neil's group (Neil is one of the group leaders and he's from Grunthal, Manitoba!) has been doing a lot of clean-up. The yard they were at yesterday and some of today was completely covered in fallen trees when they got there. They could barely describe how big of a pile it was. The trees here are a LOT bigger then any we have in Manitoba. Using chain saws, a couple skid-steers and whole lot of muscle they uncovered the backyard, a deck and an above ground pool. For the rest of today they were at a different house doing pretty much the same thing.
The pile of cleaned up trees...and a couple weird dudes in front of it.
The backyard after it was all cleared away. (Unfortunately we didn't get a picture before)
The pool and deck and was discovered under the ruble.
Bert's group spent Monday at a house belonging to a lovely lady named Sylvia. She was in her house alone when the tornado ripped the room she was in off her house. She was really sweet. The group spent the day painting her porch, some of the brick on her house and the back room. Today they finished painting, headed to another house to estimate how many shingles would be needed and tore down a wall in a church.
Shin doing her thing.
Tearing down a wall.
Karen's Group (Karen is a group leader from Pennsylvania) went to a Police Office/Community Centre where they were working on renovations/rebuilding after tornado damage. On Monday some worked on clean-up, some on the drop ceiling, some painting and some spent many dirty hours sanding drywall. Today they were supposed to start painting the walls that they had sanded but the paint never showed up so they joined Ren's group for the rest of the day.
Luke working on the drop ceiling.
Sanding Exhibit A
Sanding Exhibit B
Ren's group (Ren is another group leader from Pennsylvania. He has been volunteering every march for the past 7 years) spends their days at a job site building a brand new home for a couple who lost theirs when a tornado completely destroyed it. When our group arrived the house had walls up and rafters on. The biggest task for Monday was sheeting the roof, some worked on the front porch floor, some attaching the roof to the house in hopes that the next time a tornado comes by...the roof will stay attached to the house. Today the roof was covered in tar paper and the shingles arrived at lunch providing work for the afternoon and most of tomorrow. The people working on the ground (the majority since Karen's group was also there) installed windows, build a porch onto the back of the house, started on the railings for the front porch and some just sat around since there were too many people for the work.
The front of the house.
Some of Karen's group talking to Linda. She is one of the recipients of this lovely new home.
Linda showing some pictures of her home after the tornado.
Ren and Josh working on the back porch.
Adam, Dan, Derek, Gina and Mike working on the roof.
Tanis, Karen, Kendra and Alayna. Not enough work so the picture-taking commenced.
Cory and Mike installing the windows!
Mark working on the railings for the front patio.
Karen and Ren's groups combined for the day. Some worked, some supervised...everyone is happy!!
We all return exhausted around 5 to shower up and eat a delicious supper at 6pm. The evenings are spent debriefing and relaxing/recuperating.
Everyone we meet is super friendly and all the people benefiting from our work are so very grateful and happy to have us there. They love to chat and tell us all about their stories and how excited they are about what MDS is doing for them. But we have to save some stories for when we get home! Despite some blisters, very sore muscles and the occasional farmer burn, we're doing swell! God is definitely giving us some extra strength this week.
Thanks for all your prayers!! We can sure feel them!
