2022 Madisonville Kentucky Work Day 2

 Mission trip day 2, 6/28/2022 Madisonville Kentucky


    We woke up to another beautiful, cool morning, with cloud cover that lasted for most of the day, helping it stay moderately cool throughout the day along with a slight breeze. Most of us wore sunscreen, which was still needed for everyone. I know a lot of what happened on team Bob, because that's what group I was transfered to today. We started out by putting down the sub flooring on top of the cement block foundation today. And once again we were joined by a very energetic work crew of 5 people that came from North Carolina. Instead of having a host church, that were staying in a camper for the week. Mary Rae and I met 3 different members of the North Carolina crew while working on the toolshed outside of the First Christian Church yesterday.   I could not be helped but be impressed by Bob's skill at reading the blue print of the house we were building, and then telling us what we had to do next.  Now Bob is a retired shop teacher in high school, where he taught carpentry.  God must have led him down this path just so he could help us on these mission trips.

    I was surprised at the amount of devistation from the tornado that was still visible from the house we were working at. There was once a beautiful forest behind the house, but all that remains are tree trunks with a few leaves. There was another nearby home which appeared to have taken heavy damage but wasn't fixed up yet.   As the North Carolina mission team kept laying the plywood flooring , Team Bob  started working on the outside wall framing. We were able to get up three 16 foot sections of the wall before it was quitting time. But just then, the home owner Debbie and her older daughter came by to say hello, and we were more than happy to sit down and talk with them. Like Rev. Peter said, our most important job is to relate to the victims and talk to them and let them know how important they are to us, and minister to the. We found out that they had many pets at their former place. For instance: two bearded dragon lizards which were lost after the storm for a while, but miraculously showed up in their driveway a few hours later. And they also had two dogs, a rooster, two hen chickens, and two goats, many of which did survive the tornado. The beloved family cat was lost for 3 months, then someone else found and returned it.  And one additional sad note is that the house they had been living in was only built in 2014, so it was still fairly new, and Debbie had watched the former house being built from the very beginning. Hence she was heartbroken when it was decided that it had to be demolished, and she was crying as the Amish team was tearing down the house.  And Debbie said that for a while the family has been living in a nearby state park that was partially turned into a sort of refugee camp. And that is what happened to our work crew today.



    Carmen's team, which included Rick, whom we forgot to mention yesterday, was cutting and laying down bricks. The outer wall for the foundation is almost complete, with just a few layers remaining on one of the walls. Tori was walking around taking pictures, and saw a whole field of trees that had been knocked down, but among them were hundreds of maple sapplings growing, another example of our motto, out of chaos: hope. Kyle and Tori were responsible for keeping the morter wet, which meant that some of the team used their own water bottles to keep it moist.  So in case there is a strawberry smell in the basement, thank Tori.  And remember that rose bush I was telling you about yesterday?  The homeowner said that the rose bush had been cut down, but had grown back.  Almost like the house itself



    Team Elvis was finishing the foundation, and then laying down the subfloor. All of the houses we are working on are in about the same early phase of building.  Hence there is no roof yet to keep the teams cool inside, as on past mission trips that I have experienced. This is the last day that Mary Rae will be with us, she will be starting the long journey home tomorrow morning.  Thank you for all your help and inspiration.  After devotions we were posed for the team photo since now everyone was there.



   More Useful Information

    Heather at breakfast said that monkeys peel bananas from the bottom to avoid the strings that nobody likes. From my snapple bottle, I learned that dalmation puppies are pure white when they are born. Also, dont leave your lunch or water bottle outside on the ground, because ants will get to it. Yes, I also mentioned this in the blog from North Carolina in 2019.  You think I would learn from my mistake. 

    Mel, our kitchen queen, was part of the last team to arrive back at the church because they were with Scott getting supplies. While she was out, other people chipped in and helped her with dinner, which tonight was a taco bar. They chopped up the lettace and tomatoes. When Mel came back, she just had to cook the meat and prepare a few other things, then it was ready to eat. Thanks to Mel and all of her helpers that made the delicious meal.
    And after I got back and had my shower and change of clothing, Bob and Kyle informed me that it was time to do my laundry (maybe it was starting to smell up our room too much?!)  I shared the washing machine with Peter and Carmen to save time. Thank you Heather for showing me which buttons to push. See mom, I can do laundry all by myself (well almost.)
    Due to the expected increase in the tempuratures in the coming days, our water breaks will be at least every 30 minutes in order to keep us hydrated. On day one at the initial orientation, Scott, the Fuller guy in the red truck,  told us a time when he was about to leave for a mission trip for two weeks.  Initially his son was upset that Daddy would be gone for so long, and then he told his 7 year old son that he was going to go down to help build a house for another little boy. On his trip down there, he was finishing the cabinets in a house when a mother and her little son walked in, and he realized that this was the little boy he told his son he was going to help. 
   During devotions on day one, it was said that God did not abandon us, so we shouldn't abandon other people.  We should never think of ourselves as orphans.  Today during devotions, Carmen talked about the story where Jesus released a legion of demons from a man, who then possesed a herd of pigs and made them jump off a cliff and drown. We have an opportunity to witness to others who were spooked, for example by a tornado. He then mentioned that we all have a spiritual nature, good and bad, inside of us, and whichever one we feed will grow.
   Once again I feel my eyes growing tired (a long work day will do that to you,) so see y'all tomorrow and goodnight and God Bless!!   Bloggers Clark t and Kyle m

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