Hi Y'All!
We're back in Canada, hopefully all back in our warm homes. We were excited to have such a warm welcome at the school. Even with all the snow we're happy to be home.
Rod and I are picking up the boys tomorrow morning, so I thought I would take this moment to wrap up the trip. Unfortunately the internet didn`t work our last night there and we got in SO late Friday night we didn`t have a chance to give updates so I`ll do my best to remember.
I finished writing before Wednesday night. That evening we went to the CRWRC Disaster Relief Building and had dessert with a group of volunteers and staff there. It was neat to see some of the people that Reuben had been spending his time with since September. They were a `more experienced` crowd who were delighted to see young people give up their break to serve. We had a really neat worship time together.
Thursday was by far the most exciting day of our week. The youth worked really hard and we started to see all the loose ends get tied up. It wasn`t easy as we had several surprises along the way. One led to Reuben swimming under the house (pretty literally) and one led to Bob saving the day by patching up a buckled wall. The most incredible part was singing with Mrs. Henrietta and giving her gifts from the group. Some of the youth had a great idea to buy Mrs. Henrietta some gifts and so a donation was taken and we were able to give her gardening stuff, lawn chairs, a picture frame with a picture of her grandsons and a photo album with pictures of the week complete with Bible verses and messages from the youth. Anna did a great job putting the album together! We could all see how overwhelmed with gratitude Mrs. Henrietta and her boys were and we were all so thankful that we could be a part of blessing her after such a hard time! You need to ask one of the youth to desribe this amazing experience!
Our last evening we had a fantastic worship time with lots of songs. Everyone had the chance to share their favourite experiences. It was neat to see how different parts of the week touched people in different ways. I encourage you to talk to them and ask them about these! Alan from Rita Recovery also dropped by to talk with us and it was a really neat message about God`s protection and doing His work in this world.
We woke up EARLY (5:30) the next morning to get rolling by 6. It was our longest day of driving by far as we reached our hotel at 2:30 am (mind you we did have an hour time change in there). There was far too much fast food and lots of games, talking and sleeping!
This morning we were off by 8:30 and arrived at CCS around 9:00. Of course as soon as we were in Canada the weather was bad! We were excited to see our welcoming committee!
It feels strange to be home. It is amazing all the things we packed into one week. It went by so fast, but it felt much longer than one week. We were so blessed with everything falling into place! Everyone who came added to the team and we would have been missing out if even one wasn`t there. It is my hope that we all can move forward from this experience with gratitude, a richer relationship with Christ and a desire to continue to do His work in this broken world! Over time these memories will fade, but I hope that we manage to move forward changed.
I wondered if this trip would be worth all the driving, and there is no question in my mind that it was. Praise God! Julie
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
No more scraping!
Hi Y'all!
It is hard to believe that tomorrow will be our last day of working. Although some jobs seem to take forever to accomplish, at the end of the day you seem to forget.
Today was a beautiful day full of sunshine. I did lots of rounds with the sunscreen and water and some still managed to get a little burnt. A problem we don't mind having (especially hearing about the snow at home ;)
We finally finished the scraping! Cam was the last one going for awhile, taking it for the team, but we were all glad to put those scrapers away. Painting was very rewarding as we could see the progress immediately. Some of the youth actually went back from break time early to get things done!
Yesterday's competition winners were Ryan, Dan, Samantha and Natasha. They got break time with Craig and Eddy, Mrs. Henrietta's grandsons. Ryan and Dan flew a kite with them and the girls coloured some Spider Man art with them. It was neat to see their interactions!
The girls spent the morning painting inside the house. I think that they should advertise this summer as the "Singing Painters". Mrs. Henrietta enjoyed hearing their music.
Last night we spent some time thinking about gratitude and what we are thankful for. This experience has reminded how blessed we are! For large group talk I used a couple videos from Godtube. One of them was http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=170a05f1e3e95de3ea26 about Hurricane Katrina. It brought up some really neat discussion. Unfortunately in searching I wasn`t able to find a specific video on Hurricane Rita, but we know that Katrina was only 4 hours away from where we are, so it hits home. Rita is truly the forgotten storm, except for those still living with tarps on their homes.
I got a chance to meet many people who came by asking how they could get help. One elderly lady down the road told me how she has been living in her home with a hole in the roof since the storm and how she can only stay in one room of her house. It is heartbreaking to hear their stories.
We also had a lady come by and bring us cold water bottles with ice just because she saw what we were doing and wanted to help us like people helped her during the storm. Everyone is amazed when we tell them we`re from Canada. One lady said its nice to know that people from another part of the world care for them.
The most grateful is Mrs. Henrietta! She made us gumbo for lunch to thank us. She made a HUGE pot for everyone to have some. It was delicious.
Tomorrow is our last day. We hope to accomplish all of our goals. Tonight we have dessert at the CRC Disaster Relief headquarters.
Thanks for reading! Julie
It is hard to believe that tomorrow will be our last day of working. Although some jobs seem to take forever to accomplish, at the end of the day you seem to forget.
Today was a beautiful day full of sunshine. I did lots of rounds with the sunscreen and water and some still managed to get a little burnt. A problem we don't mind having (especially hearing about the snow at home ;)
We finally finished the scraping! Cam was the last one going for awhile, taking it for the team, but we were all glad to put those scrapers away. Painting was very rewarding as we could see the progress immediately. Some of the youth actually went back from break time early to get things done!
Yesterday's competition winners were Ryan, Dan, Samantha and Natasha. They got break time with Craig and Eddy, Mrs. Henrietta's grandsons. Ryan and Dan flew a kite with them and the girls coloured some Spider Man art with them. It was neat to see their interactions!
The girls spent the morning painting inside the house. I think that they should advertise this summer as the "Singing Painters". Mrs. Henrietta enjoyed hearing their music.
Last night we spent some time thinking about gratitude and what we are thankful for. This experience has reminded how blessed we are! For large group talk I used a couple videos from Godtube. One of them was http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=170a05f1e3e95de3ea26 about Hurricane Katrina. It brought up some really neat discussion. Unfortunately in searching I wasn`t able to find a specific video on Hurricane Rita, but we know that Katrina was only 4 hours away from where we are, so it hits home. Rita is truly the forgotten storm, except for those still living with tarps on their homes.
I got a chance to meet many people who came by asking how they could get help. One elderly lady down the road told me how she has been living in her home with a hole in the roof since the storm and how she can only stay in one room of her house. It is heartbreaking to hear their stories.
We also had a lady come by and bring us cold water bottles with ice just because she saw what we were doing and wanted to help us like people helped her during the storm. Everyone is amazed when we tell them we`re from Canada. One lady said its nice to know that people from another part of the world care for them.
The most grateful is Mrs. Henrietta! She made us gumbo for lunch to thank us. She made a HUGE pot for everyone to have some. It was delicious.
Tomorrow is our last day. We hope to accomplish all of our goals. Tonight we have dessert at the CRC Disaster Relief headquarters.
Thanks for reading! Julie
Day 3 of Working!
Hey Y'all!!!
Today we all gathered up in the mini-vans and head over to Mrs. Henrietta's house for our third day of working! We just had to finish up scraping the paint of the exterior and we started one layer of prime following the first layer of paint! We were pretty excited to start painting after two whole days of scraping the old stuff off!! It was the sunniest and the hottest day here so far! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining bright. The temperature hit up to around 25 degrees in the afternoon and although we put on sunscreen some of us still are starting to look like a tomato! We are starting to take a lot of satisfaction in our work as the house is becoming complete and starting to look a lot better. Mrs. Henrietta is also extremely happy and is constantly commenting on how good the house looks! We only have one day left of work before we head out north towards the cold weather and snow! We are enjoying ourselves a lot and like working in the nice hot weather!!
Scott
Today we all gathered up in the mini-vans and head over to Mrs. Henrietta's house for our third day of working! We just had to finish up scraping the paint of the exterior and we started one layer of prime following the first layer of paint! We were pretty excited to start painting after two whole days of scraping the old stuff off!! It was the sunniest and the hottest day here so far! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining bright. The temperature hit up to around 25 degrees in the afternoon and although we put on sunscreen some of us still are starting to look like a tomato! We are starting to take a lot of satisfaction in our work as the house is becoming complete and starting to look a lot better. Mrs. Henrietta is also extremely happy and is constantly commenting on how good the house looks! We only have one day left of work before we head out north towards the cold weather and snow! We are enjoying ourselves a lot and like working in the nice hot weather!!
Scott
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Sun shines again!
Hi Everyone,
We just got back from a hard day of work and while I wait for my chance at the shower I thought I'd let everyone know about our day. We have a hard working crew. The goal was to finish scraping paint today, and we came pretty close. Natasha and Samantha finished painting the kitchen completely and Mrs. Henrietta was so excited! It is nice to have at least one room ready to go for her. Our hope is to get the outside primed and perhaps a first coat as well. Today was more upbeat as we started to make progress! Nate, our supervisor from Ohio was very excited about the amount of work we were able to get done.
A great thing that happened today was interacting with the family. When yesterday got discouraging we instituted competitions to keep people motivated. Aaron and Cam as the winners won the chance to pick a toy for the boys and a chance to play with them for a nice break in their day. Aaron and Cam chose rockets. Craig and Eddy absolutely loved this! During lunch break they played 500 up as well. It was really nice spending time with them.
Yesterday evening we had a great large group and small group time! We thought about God's plan for each of us and how God calls us to seek him and pray to Him. It was neat to hear the youth's responses.
Last night we also had Ben and Tracy join us. Ben is Reuben's brother and Tracy is his sister-in-law and they are going to drive back with Reuben Friday to help him bring his car back. The nice thing for me is that Tracy is my sister so it means that I get to experience this week with her as well. It is neat to see how that worked out! We definitely appreciate some extra hands when it comes to getting things done.
Well, I better run as I don't have much time before supper. Tonight's menu is chili... Graham is on top of it and doing a great job!
Have a great night, Julie
We just got back from a hard day of work and while I wait for my chance at the shower I thought I'd let everyone know about our day. We have a hard working crew. The goal was to finish scraping paint today, and we came pretty close. Natasha and Samantha finished painting the kitchen completely and Mrs. Henrietta was so excited! It is nice to have at least one room ready to go for her. Our hope is to get the outside primed and perhaps a first coat as well. Today was more upbeat as we started to make progress! Nate, our supervisor from Ohio was very excited about the amount of work we were able to get done.
A great thing that happened today was interacting with the family. When yesterday got discouraging we instituted competitions to keep people motivated. Aaron and Cam as the winners won the chance to pick a toy for the boys and a chance to play with them for a nice break in their day. Aaron and Cam chose rockets. Craig and Eddy absolutely loved this! During lunch break they played 500 up as well. It was really nice spending time with them.
Yesterday evening we had a great large group and small group time! We thought about God's plan for each of us and how God calls us to seek him and pray to Him. It was neat to hear the youth's responses.
Last night we also had Ben and Tracy join us. Ben is Reuben's brother and Tracy is his sister-in-law and they are going to drive back with Reuben Friday to help him bring his car back. The nice thing for me is that Tracy is my sister so it means that I get to experience this week with her as well. It is neat to see how that worked out! We definitely appreciate some extra hands when it comes to getting things done.
Well, I better run as I don't have much time before supper. Tonight's menu is chili... Graham is on top of it and doing a great job!
Have a great night, Julie
Monday, March 10, 2008
So Much to Do!
Hi Y'All!
Today was our first work day. We met Mrs. Henrietta Smith and her family. She is an older lady who cares for her 85 year old brother who is deaf, blind and unable to speak. She also cares for her 2 grandsons who are in kindergarten and grade 2. Her house has already had a lot of work, but there is still so much to do.
The biggest job will be stripping the paint for the house's exterior. It is a tiring job over time as many of the youth could tell you! The other jobs included mudding and sanding the back room and living room. We put primer on the kitchen, living room and back room as well. The living room even got its first coat of paint. There was also framing and repairs to be done to the house's exterior. It is hard to imagine this family has been staying in this house like this since 2005.
Mrs. Henrietta spent the day in the back rooms with her boys and a friend while we literally took over her home. She was very gracious and thankful.
This will be a lot of hard work this week. We instituted scraping competitions to give motivation after awhile. Aaron and Cam pulled off an impressive win with some very hard work! We hope to figure out some good motivators along the way for when bodies start to get weak. It is our hope that we can finish our tasks this week, but it will take a strong will!
Last night we had our first large group and small group time. Our new friends from Church joined us as well! Natasha, Chris, Caitlin and Reuben led us with some amazing worship songs! I spoke about living with purpose,community and working as a team. We played some games to get to know eachother better which turned out to be a great time! We broke into small groups and prayed together. It was a great way to start our week together.
Unfortunately we had a rain storm today so our work day ended a little earlier than expected. Some people stayed until 4, but unfortunately there just isn't room for all of us in her house. We are really hoping that we can get some better weather this week as we have SO much work to do on the outside. Light rain is workable (perhaps with makeshift raincoats) but thunder and lightning is a whole other story.
Take care! Julie
Today was our first work day. We met Mrs. Henrietta Smith and her family. She is an older lady who cares for her 85 year old brother who is deaf, blind and unable to speak. She also cares for her 2 grandsons who are in kindergarten and grade 2. Her house has already had a lot of work, but there is still so much to do.
The biggest job will be stripping the paint for the house's exterior. It is a tiring job over time as many of the youth could tell you! The other jobs included mudding and sanding the back room and living room. We put primer on the kitchen, living room and back room as well. The living room even got its first coat of paint. There was also framing and repairs to be done to the house's exterior. It is hard to imagine this family has been staying in this house like this since 2005.
Mrs. Henrietta spent the day in the back rooms with her boys and a friend while we literally took over her home. She was very gracious and thankful.
This will be a lot of hard work this week. We instituted scraping competitions to give motivation after awhile. Aaron and Cam pulled off an impressive win with some very hard work! We hope to figure out some good motivators along the way for when bodies start to get weak. It is our hope that we can finish our tasks this week, but it will take a strong will!
Last night we had our first large group and small group time. Our new friends from Church joined us as well! Natasha, Chris, Caitlin and Reuben led us with some amazing worship songs! I spoke about living with purpose,community and working as a team. We played some games to get to know eachother better which turned out to be a great time! We broke into small groups and prayed together. It was a great way to start our week together.
Unfortunately we had a rain storm today so our work day ended a little earlier than expected. Some people stayed until 4, but unfortunately there just isn't room for all of us in her house. We are really hoping that we can get some better weather this week as we have SO much work to do on the outside. Light rain is workable (perhaps with makeshift raincoats) but thunder and lightning is a whole other story.
Take care! Julie
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Pictures
Here is a picture of the group (Rod was the photographer) at the water down town Port Arthur. We're amazed by the amount of abandoned buildlings. Beautiful schools and churches that are now falling apart. About half of the people moved away after the hurricane.
Pictures take a long time to down load... we'll try to get more for you in the future.
Enjoying the Sun!
Hi Everyone!
It is almost supper time so I have a few minutes to write before we eat. Our first day in Port Arthur, Texas has been wonderful. We are thankful to see the sunshine and to be able to walk outside in the warm weather. We have heard about the large amount of snow back home! We hope that everyone is managing okay.
Last night we arrived around 10:00. Miss Mary met us and helped us get set up in our rooms. We're staying in a converted home for the elderly. It is perfect for our stay. The basketball court outside has already been well used and the common areas even have couches. It is an organization that started to help families who have loved ones in one of the local prisons. They are able to stay here during their visits. Since Hurricane Rita they have started taking in groups like ours as well. We were excited to see Reuben van Gilst, a friend of many of the youth, who is joining us for the week. As many of you know he has been working with CRWRC Disaster Relief teams since September.
This morning we attended Thomas Boulevard Church of Christ. The superintendant in charge of the construction sites for the umbrella group for Rita Recovery attends this church. It was an amazing experience. The people were very warm and welcoming and it was even a service focusing on the youth. There were no instruments, but one of the youth led our worship acapella. He had such a strong singing voice. There were many songs we didn't know, but we caught on quick. There were so many harmonies being belted out you couldn't help but sing loud! We were excited to sing "Were you there" and "When peace like a river" as they were familiar. Afterwards we were greeted so warmly by the congregation, being the only white people in attendance they knew we were visitors ;)
After that we headed back to homebase for a delicious lunch... Graham was definitely the right person for organizing and cooking the food! We woke up to French Toast for breakfast too! I'm not sure about the youth, but Rod and I will be eating better here than we do at home. We may just have to move i
nto the Johnson residence when we go home :)
We then did what every good Canadian would do. We went to the beach! It was very windy, making the 18 degrees feel a lot cooler, but this didn't stop many of us from jumping in. (By us I do not mean me. I have lost my wild side I've realized!) The waves crashed hard, the football was thrown around, and holes were dug (although I'm not sure why). We even had a couple girls from Church join us crazy Canucks. They were fascinated to hear our stories about snow (having never seen it!) and we were happy to have people answer our questions as well.
Tonight we meet Andy who will fill us in more on our work for the week. We also hope to have some devotion time and worship. I think our new friends Heather and Cherise from Church plan on staying as well.
One of the church ladies, a very proud grandmother, came around and high fived the group saying how excited she was to meet more of God's family. It was neat to see God's people worshipping in another part of the continent, knowing we can come from such different places and still belong to the same heavenly Father!
We appreciate your prayers and we pray for our families and friends at home as well. I'm going to do my best to post some pictures/videos...
Blessings! Julie
PS Mom and Dad give the boys big kisses for us!
It is almost supper time so I have a few minutes to write before we eat. Our first day in Port Arthur, Texas has been wonderful. We are thankful to see the sunshine and to be able to walk outside in the warm weather. We have heard about the large amount of snow back home! We hope that everyone is managing okay.
Last night we arrived around 10:00. Miss Mary met us and helped us get set up in our rooms. We're staying in a converted home for the elderly. It is perfect for our stay. The basketball court outside has already been well used and the common areas even have couches. It is an organization that started to help families who have loved ones in one of the local prisons. They are able to stay here during their visits. Since Hurricane Rita they have started taking in groups like ours as well. We were excited to see Reuben van Gilst, a friend of many of the youth, who is joining us for the week. As many of you know he has been working with CRWRC Disaster Relief teams since September.
This morning we attended Thomas Boulevard Church of Christ. The superintendant in charge of the construction sites for the umbrella group for Rita Recovery attends this church. It was an amazing experience. The people were very warm and welcoming and it was even a service focusing on the youth. There were no instruments, but one of the youth led our worship acapella. He had such a strong singing voice. There were many songs we didn't know, but we caught on quick. There were so many harmonies being belted out you couldn't help but sing loud! We were excited to sing "Were you there" and "When peace like a river" as they were familiar. Afterwards we were greeted so warmly by the congregation, being the only white people in attendance they knew we were visitors ;)
After that we headed back to homebase for a delicious lunch... Graham was definitely the right person for organizing and cooking the food! We woke up to French Toast for breakfast too! I'm not sure about the youth, but Rod and I will be eating better here than we do at home. We may just have to move i
nto the Johnson residence when we go home :)We then did what every good Canadian would do. We went to the beach! It was very windy, making the 18 degrees feel a lot cooler, but this didn't stop many of us from jumping in. (By us I do not mean me. I have lost my wild side I've realized!) The waves crashed hard, the football was thrown around, and holes were dug (although I'm not sure why). We even had a couple girls from Church join us crazy Canucks. They were fascinated to hear our stories about snow (having never seen it!) and we were happy to have people answer our questions as well.
Tonight we meet Andy who will fill us in more on our work for the week. We also hope to have some devotion time and worship. I think our new friends Heather and Cherise from Church plan on staying as well.
One of the church ladies, a very proud grandmother, came around and high fived the group saying how excited she was to meet more of God's family. It was neat to see God's people worshipping in another part of the continent, knowing we can come from such different places and still belong to the same heavenly Father!
We appreciate your prayers and we pray for our families and friends at home as well. I'm going to do my best to post some pictures/videos...
Blessings! Julie
PS Mom and Dad give the boys big kisses for us!
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