Last week, I had the privilege to be a part of a disaster relief mission team that traveled to northern Georgia (Trenton). It was a difficult trip for me because I had started feeling sick about 4 days before we left and battled my sickness the whole time! I went to the doctor afterwards to find out that I have Acute Bronchitis. Even so, the trip was well worth it. I definitely recommend going on a mission trip to anyone who has the opportunity - even if it isn't out of your own state.
We had a really fun group of people! Pictured above is our entire team plus Jim (on the left). Jim Boyd is the founder of Rebuilding Hope, a non-profit ministry. To learn more about this ministry, you can visit this link. We worked with him last October when took a group to Dalton.
The next few pictures show some of the devastation that took place when the tornadoes hit.
It's hard to believe it was almost a year ago - April 27, 2011.
One of the local churches, Trenton United Methodist, graciously offered to host our team while we were working there. We could see that they had a real heart for tornado victims. Look at this sign that was in their kitchen - they served meals to 13,763 people within 2 weeks of the tornadoes last year!
On the first day, Zack, Becca & I split up from the rest of the group to work on installing hardwood laminate flooring in a woman's Master Bedroom.
Zack was very skilled in this area and he did most of the work. Becca and I just tried to assist him in whatever way we could!
Becca and I got to know Charlene, the homeowner, while we were working. She told us that she had lost several shady trees plus five rooms of her house. She was underinsured so she was unable to afford fixing her house until she heard about Rebuilding Hope. We were so glad we had the opportunity to help her! She shared with us how it was nice to see young people serving the Lord.
When our task was complete, we traveled over to the job site where the rest of our team was working. I helped clean up tornado debris in someone's backyard. I even held a little frog in my hand!
Not only were frogs found, but also a snake! Chris was fearless enough to pick it up!
A local news crew came by and interviewed two of our team members.
The rest of the team worked on finishing the deck. Here's a before shot!
Here's the after! Wow! What a great job they did!
The next day, we spent our time leveling out the crawl space of a house that hadn't been built yet. There were lots of rocks and debris and it took a long time to finish this task!
Then, we had 3 small teams that nailed pieces of wood together. One of the teams was Lisa (right) and Jean (middle). Pictured above is one of the patterns that I worked on with Joan (on the left) and Robbin (not pictured). We helped make 28 of these C-shaped pieces!
Every day, we would take showers after working 9-10 hour days. This particular evening, April 13, was Becca's birthday! We made sure to celebrate with her throughout the day. Here we are having a drink at Pizza Hut!
Last day of work - Bobby (left) and Chris (right) continued making specific shapes with the wood for the door frames. You can see the progress of the house behind them. The floor joints were being completed.
Here's a better picture. We are creating the floor of the new house!
I was making marks so the boys knew where to align the next floor joints.
Lisa got to use the power tools as ply wood was laid on top of the floor joints.
Joan and I tried to make the ground more leveled so that there wouldn't be any accidents as people carried wood towards the house. Joan really knows how to use a Pick Ax!
All of our wooden shapes are now coming together to make the outside wall of the house.
It was a team effort to lift it up!
Nice poses! If you were wondering where I was though...
I was actually below them in the crawl space with Robbin.
Here's a picture of me, but it's kinda blurry. I thought I was slightly claustrophobic, but I guess it wasn't that bad considering how far away I was from the opening of the crawl space!
This is how far we got before we left. Those long pieces of wood are the ceiling!
We finished the evening with observing the beauty of God's nature. We went to Cloudland Canyon - it is the western rim of Lookout Mountain. It was gorgeous!
I wish we could have spent more time here!
Later in the evening, we went to downtown Chattanooga for a nice dinner at a restaurant called Public House. It was really good! Before we traveled back to Savannah, we worshiped at the United Methodist Church. I really enjoyed their service!
We traveled back in 2 cars. The car that I didn't travel in stopped in Dalton to see Mr. Arthur's finished house. Mr. Arthur was the man that we helped on our last mission trip - you can read more about it in this previous post that I wrote.
I just love that Mr. Arthur put this sign on his house. He gave all the glory to God! What a great feeling it is to be the hands and feet of Jesus and serve those that are in need!
