Constructors for Christ 2023 – Back to Bremen, Kentucky

Wednesday, June 29, 2023

Wow, time flies.  It’s been over a month since we last wrote a blog entry and a lot has happened.  Thankfully all good!  When we last posted, we were on our last day of our REGI 2023 project.  We left Antigo on Saturday morning early and had an uneventful but long drive back to Camp Sumatanga arriving before dark on Sunday.  We actually returned to Sumatanga so that we could meet our dear friend Melody for dinner Monday evening.  Melody was in Birmingham doing some research at the Women’s Missionary Union library and we are so glad our paths finally crossed again.  So very good to meet up with old friends.  We have been trying to go to Nova Scotia to see Melody since before Covid closed the border but more about that in our next blog post.  Promise it will be soon. After spending as long as we could with Melody on Monday evening, we headed back to South Carolina on Tuesday.   Over the next two weeks, we visited with Randy and Debra, rested some, and made some modifications to our Beyond Blessed (BB) class B motor home.  Yes, we still love it but just haven’t made any trips in it lately.

On June 12, we headed out, again in Fred.  We made a side trip back to The Ridge Outdoor Resort in Sevierville, TN.  We won a $250 gift certificate from them on our last visit there for the TN Switch It Up Huddle. We spent 3 nights at the Ridge enjoying Cades Cove, Roaring Fork Nature Trail and a visit to the Bush’s Bean factory

After that we drove on to Bremen, KY where we spent a week helping to rebuild the Bethlehem Baptist Church’s sanctuary.  The church was destroyed by the December 2021 tornadoes that wiped out a wide swath across several states.  Some of you may recall that we worked at this same church last year but worked on building them a family life center.  We were excited to see that building completed this year.  Wow, it looked better than we could have dreamed since we only saw it roughed in.  The kitchen is one of the prettiest church kitchens we have seen.  We were blessed with below normal temperatures for the week we worked and we got the project off to a good start.  We will look forward to seeing pictures of the finished project.  It sure was great seeing friends we only see once a year.

As usual for Constructors for Christ projects the team members take the time to write scripture verses and words of encouragement on the framing – knowing it will be covered over when the building is finished.

We finished working at noon on Friday and that afternoon visited Christian Way Farm and Mini Golf with Randy and Debra.  It was a relaxing afternoon playing mini golf and visiting. We are now back in South Carolina, transitioning from Fred back to BB.  We will spend the next couple of days helping our nephew and his wife move into a new house and then we will be on the road again.  Until then … stay safe, hug your family, and thank God for all his blessings.