More Pictures of Day 3 & 4

These are some pictures that Micah took in our adventures in Beaumont....

Picture #1 - Carl, our head honcho, and leader of Vision Builders for Disciples of Christ
Picture #2 - Our three Disciples Homeland Missions interns, posing on Fiesta day!










Picture #3 - The work continuing at Temple of Praise! We have replaced their roof, given a room a new ceiling, begun siding, and hope to finish a new handicap ramp by the end of tomorrow.

Picture #4 - The statement at the front of the sanctuary at Temple of Praise... it says "Look how far we have come with the Lord!"






Picture #5 - A FEMA trailer, they all seem to be the same size...the family we visited with has four people living in this small trailer.

Picture #6 - Some of the hurricane damage we have seen in our visit....







Picture #7 - Inside the damaged church we visited....amazing to see what withstood the winds...
Picture #8 - The attendance roll in the damaged church...still standing...wall it is on is 95% gone.









Picture # 9 - Micah climbs up on the scaffolding to put trim on the siding - it is HOT up there!

Day Three and Four

Wednesday Hannah, Micah and Celine worked on the dry wall in the Temple of Praise computer lab. The put mud on the sheet rock. Now when you get ready to do dry wall in your home you know who to call. Roof work also continued as well as the new entry way on the church. Some of our members went to a local children's home to work some projects there.

All of the groups quit work about 12:30 to have the afternoon for some touring of the damage caused by Hurricane Rita. Our group went to see the Ramseys. This is the group that the first mission team helped in early May. They were very glad to see us and invited us into their home for a tour of the work that has been done. Progress is being made on their house, but sadly this is the last week that work will be going on in their house. This is due to the fact that their money has run out and they are having to fight with the insurance company for payment.

We also went by this Seventh Day Adventist Church. Notice that the steeple is still standing. While at the church we were attacked by a very mean group of mosquitos. We could hear them discussing if they were going to eat us there at the church or take us off and eat us later. When we tried to get in the van they followed us in the van. We spent the first five minutes trying to get them all swatted so we could drive home.


We ended our day with a trip to Whataburger for dinner and a trip to the mall for some fun.

Today (Day Four) has been a wide variety of activities for all of us. Micah and Hannah did more mudding work. They also did some siding work on Temple of Praise. Kent worked on the roof and that job has been completed.

Ben, Erin,, Beverly Celine, and Mariann went to Port Arthur to work on several projects. We first cleaned out a couples attic. Their roof has been fixed twice and is still leaking. So 42 years worth of stuff had to be brought down to the garage.

Next, this same group went to Victory Christian Church to start removing nails and a ceiling from the parsonage. It was hot itchy work.

John worked on the front porch of Temple of praise and then went cut brush away from a house that is going to be torn down.

Tonight we had a meal prepared for us by Temple of Praise. Micah was trying to figure out how to box us the left over to bring back to Kentucky. She says we don't know how to fix BBQ in Kentucky. We had brisket, chicken, and sausage, dirty rice, baked beans, potato salad, homemade rolls, and every kind of dessert that you can image. Are you hungry yet? Do you wish you had come?

Then the best came last. Our group was in charge of worship. And tonight we went to Church. The ministry team from Temple of Praise and F.C.C. of Paducah combined for spirit filled worship service. The neat thing about it was that it really just came together in a very God lead way. Temple of Praise started our music and began our worship. It was wonderful. We then came together as a group, with FCC leading the group in communion. Like I said we went to church tonight. Amen!!!!!

Tomorrow is our last day of work. We will be leaving tomorrow afternoon and driving to Little Rock and then in to Paducah on Saturday. It has been a week of very hard work, but we have come away with a whole lot a blessings. Even though we will be glad to get home on Saturday it will be sad to leave all the new people that we have met.

Thank you to everyone who has supported our mission effort to Texas. Start praying about Mission Trip Three because there is still much work to be done.

Work Day #2

We got off to a slow start on Monday but today we really hit our stride today. The interns declared today make a new friend day. One part of our group returned to Temple Christian Church to work on the roof and part of our group stayed behind to work on our very hospitable host church, Northwood Christian Church. Kent, Erin and John worked hard on the roof and new front entry of the church! Way to go! In the time we have been here, the roof of the church has been transformed to new! Mariann, Micah, Hannah, Beverly, Ben, & Celine scraped their little hearts out ripping out the water damaged 40-year old carpet and scrapping out the floor glue. Awesome job! When we started it was a mess - when we left it was all gone! Check out the pictures of the progress.

Today we took a break from our hard work for some group bonding at Casa Ole - on Micah's recommendation - good dip! Queso, hot sauce, and green sauce - yummy! We have really gotten to know each other in just the two short days we have been here!

On our way to our group break, we met our new friend Connie. She was walking through the church parking lot as we were leaving for our break. She asked if we would give her a ride, because her normal walk to work would take her 45 minutes. It was at least 95 degrees and we told her to jump on in at shot gun. We gave her a ride to Waffle House, and she was surprised when we offered to come back in pick her up. We came back around 9pm - Ben, Hannah, Erin & Micah enjoyed a coke while we waited for our new friend Connie. She was so happy that someone was excited to see her. We joked and laughed while we talked about birthdays, anniversaries, and jobs. Ben met a co-worker of Connie's that had the same birthday as him - January 7 - so we had a mini-celebration for them. We took Connie home, and while we were driving to Krystal Burger to use the free internet, we all agreed that we had been blessed by Connie even if it was just for a ride. She reminded us not to take ourselves so seriously, and to remember that things are not always as bad as they seem. Connie is our new friend!

Today we felt that our gifts and talents were used to their best ability! We are hopeful and excited about what tomorrow has in store. As John would say, Uff Dah! As Hannah would say, Hoo Haw! As Micah would say, Yee Haw!

Work Day 1 - Pictures!

Here are some pictures of us in action....

Aren't we cute!

Hard at Work!

Way to go!

Fabulous in Red!

The Mission Begins, HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!!!!!

Our mission work has begun. We are apart of a 42 person mission team from Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.

We left for the work site about 7:30 this morning. We are currently working on a small Disciple church that was damaged by Hurricane Rita. Temple of Praise Christian Church has about 50 members. We are putting on a new roof over the fellowship hall, tearing out a damaged ceiling in their computer lab, adding siding to the outside of the building, and replacing a handicap accessible entrance. We also have a crew back at Northwood tearing out carpet in their sanctuary.

It has been a very hot day here. The heat index is to reach 10P4 by the end of the week. We are drinking lots of water. Needless to say this entry is hot off the press.

Yes, this is Micah and she is doing the dishes. I know that is hard to believe for some folks, but I was an eye-witness to the event.

The van pulled away this morning from the church parking lot at 5:00 A.M. Today we rode and we rode and then we rode some more. Along the way we saw the landscape of Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas. Along the way we snacked on cookies made by the McHaney family , snacks furnished by the C.W.F. and Sandwiches made by Nettie Ruth Bingham and Alama Fritts. Everything was delicious.

It has been an eventful day. We crossed the Texas border twice. Yes Twice. Someone missed the turn and we went through Texarkana two times. Texarkana is twice as nice.

We arrived at Northwood Christian Church at about 6:50 P.M. This is where we will be staying for the next 6 nights.

We haven't heard what our job will be tomorrow. They will tell us in the morning. We will be working with a group from Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Blessings and Peace,

Texas Mission Group #2

On the Road Again

It is time to hit the road again. The second mission group will be leaving Sunday at 5:00 A.M. for Texas. Mariann Lankton, Micah James, Hannah James, Kent Price, John and Celine Dickson, Ben Morehead, Erin Lyles, and Beverly Craig will be spending July 9th-July 15th in Texas helping with Hurricane Rita relief. Please keep the mission team in your prayers.