2024 Mission Trip - David, Kentucky - Day 3 - Monday

 Day 3 - Monday. 

First day of work 

We woke up for 6:30 a.m. devotions.  

Ryne was once again the first one up, though Eli was a close second. 

Jason getting that cup of coffee to get going. 

Harold has a new name.  

PAKE.   

Hmmmmm, not sure I've heard of that name before : ) 

Marika doing what she loves the most : )  Reading. 

Pastor Craig did morning devotions for us at 6:30 a.m. 

Then breakfast and time to make lunches for the day.  

Daniel, Yolandi and Mary are happy they have their coffee. 

Time to make lunch.  Lots to choose from. 

Jason once again volunteered to help out with the dishes. 

At 8 a.m. Erin and others from the Mission arrived to get us organized into three different sites.  

We did have to wait a weee bit to get tools sorted out, etc, so we gathered in a circle and waited.  And we prayed for the day.  And eventually, some of us went back inside because it was a brisk morning.  

Jason S is happy to be driving this pickup for the week.  

Frost on the windows this morning. 

 It's supposed to get warmer each day. 

Our group arrived at Melissa's home.  

This is the outside of her home.  

We needed to take out a wall in order to reinsulate and re-drywall.  

We set to work taking off the drywall.  

Her place is right beside the railway tracks.  The flooding in 2022 came up to the floor of Melissa's place and level with the train tracks.  

Melissa was a great helper to us as well.  A very handy person.  She let us borrow several tools that we needed during the day.  

The drywall is off, and the insulation was soaking wet so out it went as well.  

We didn't have lots to do, so we volunteered to empty her trailer full of gravel for the driveway.  

Work inside continues.  

As did the driveway work.  

Melissa helped out as well.  

They did a good job.  

We also had to take up flooring that was rotted due to the flood.  

1/2 not so great, the other half not that bad.  

During our down time, Melissa chatted it up with the group.  

A very friendly lady. 

The taking out of the rotted floor continues. 

In lieu of not having 2 x 4's we pulled apart a skid to help us out.  

Lunch time.  

Floor work continues.  

Cutting to shore up the floor.  

New flooring going back in. 

The crew figuring out the cuts needing to be made.  

We left a bit early today due to not having all the supplies needed.  Hopefully they come tomorrow so we can continue.  

The second group worked on another home indoors. 

I was not there so I'm having Mary comment on the pictures and home. 

This is the outside of the house that our group worked on.

Removing everything out of the cupboards so that the cupboards could be removed from the wall.  

We wore work gloves and masks due to the dust and we didn't want to touch all the bugs

Guys removing the cupboards from the wall.

Taking the rotted plywood out of the house.

Leah and Caley removing all the screws from the studs!

Mary doing her two cents worth!

Our supplies have been delivered!  Yay, we can put in new stuff!!!

Pastor Craig also worked very hard!

Jason and Luke removed part of the ceiling and the very dusty insulation!

The trailer on the left is the home we worked on.

The third group worked outside taking down a deck. 

I was not there so Marika will be commenting on these pictures. 

These two are from the beginning - we took everything from the first one down, and redid part of the stairs. 

Drilling and digging holes - the second one filled with muddy water and I may or may not have stepped in it.... not fun. 

Rohan spent lots of time taking out nails. The one above took the two of us about an hour and a half to get all of them out. Why do you need to put five nails in every joint?? 

Danik was complaining about his hair being in his face :) 

Taking off the floorboards for the deck - a 2x4 works surprisingly well to destroy them. Rohan may or may not have been hanging from a really sagging and wobbly beam... 

Claudia and Abby spent some time redoing the landing on the stairs.

Lunch!

Redoing the railing. Unfortunately, after they finished they discovered that the posts were in different places so the railings were on different angles. Guess they'll redo it tomorrow. As a note, for the flood the water came up to the bottom of the set of steps.   

The deck coming down completely. 

Ron back again. 

Things change on the sites as you have seen. From repairing the deck to taking it all down and rebuilding it this week. 

So our group was back a bit early, and the table was set with goodies : ) 

Once everyone was back by 5 p.m. and we had supper by 5:45 p.m.  

We had stir fry with Boston Butt Roast (beef) : )  

Yummie and healthy.  

Everyone partaking. 

Sorry Cadie : ) 

Dishes Crew.  It was supposed to be me in the group too, but I wanted to work on this blog.  

And yes, I got ribbed about that : )  

Jason S isn't doing dishes, but is still in the kitchen. 

The dishes crew hard at work.  

Every night we will take time to slow down and reflect on the day using a daily prayer journal of sorts. 

Then we talk about four questions together. 

1. What was your high today?

2. What was your low today?

3. How were you challenged today?

4. How did you see God at work today?

A good time for reflection and hearing each other's joys and struggles.  

Then we broke into 4 groups and answered some more reflection questions.  

Another of the small groups.  

After we were done, it was time to chill play games and socialize.  

Mary is working on the blog. 

It was a good first day. 

A bit frustrating because of material not being available and homes that seemed beyond repair, but this organization wanting to repair them, but we need to remember that we are here to serve, and give hope to those who at times feel hopeless.  

A good perspective to keep living out of for all of us. 

Until tomorrow.  

Pastor Ron