Saturday, February, 17, 2024
This week we were blessed to have the exact same team as last week. They are such a cohesive, hardworking team. It seems that we have had a number of NOMADS return to Grand Isle this year. This community is so welcoming and so appreciative of everything we do. The people are just so precious. Neighbors around where we work come over and thank us for working on their friend or family members home. We meet people at church, the store or the beach and they seem to know we are here to assist with the recovery and they stop us and say, “thank you so much for coming all the way here to help our island.” Especially fun has been the chance meetups with people we worked for last year. The women of the church are still after all this time still bringing us fantastic meals two days a week and leaving us notes of thanks.
The team did an amazing amount of work last week. We completed the siding on Ms. Olga’s home and got to present her Bible on Thursday. (For those that might not remember, NOMADS traditionally have all the team members sign a Bible and include a note or bible verse for the homeowner and we present it to the home owner when we complete our work at their home.) Richard, a representative of the Bayou Foundation and Dean, our construction supervisor, joined the team for the celebration. It’s always such a joy to finish a home. Ms. Olga was so appreciative of all the work all the NOMADS did for her.
Peanut’s home is very close to completion. All that remains on the interior is the transition strip for the new flooring. It was due to arrive on Wednesday but sadly we are still awaiting its arrival. (Materials are sometimes in short supply way out on this island.) Hopefully next week. The outside looks so nice with the new coat of paint on the railings.
Bozo’s home is really coming along. As soon as we completed Olga’s home, we moved the scaffolding and lift across the street to Bozo’s and began to tackle the repairs to the soffit and fascia, replacing all the vents, scraping, priming, and painting of the siding and trim on the upper level. The front and east side are completed except for some minor touchups. The back has all the repairs completed and about 2/3’s of the painting complete. Work has begun on the west side but it still needs a lot of love.
We also began work on Jay’s house on Thursday. There we need to replace/repair ceiling tiles in five rooms and the hall. The first step required removal of many, many staples in the ceiling that were left after the old tiles were removed. There was also a lot of glue on the ceilings that had to be removed. Virgie, Dan and Michelle volunteered to tackle that project and completed the ceiling preparations by the end of the day Thursday!
It’s been another wonderful week, of devotions, prayer, hard work and growing friendships. We are so blessed by God to be able to do his work here on Grand Isle. Please pray for our safety and for us to be able to share God’s love, light, and hope as we repair these homes.
RVing With a Purpose 