Author: rvingwithapurpose

April 7, 2024

Monday morning of week two after devotion, we went to Cabin 3 to work on the leaking roof. It’s a tin roof and several of the screws were either missing or were not tight.  We replaced all the missing and loose screws with larger screws and put roof sealant where needed.  The rest of the week we had a little rain and there were no leaks but it is predicted we will have heavy rain several days this next week so hopefully the cabin will remain dry.

After finishing up at Cabin 3, we rejoined the rest of the team back at cabin 6.  We completed that work Tuesday before lunch and then moved to the Administration building to reinstall exterior ceiling panels that were removed when there was a leak in the fire suppression system.  Some painting is still needed at the Admin building and we will probably have enough rainy days this week to get that work done.

Wednesday and Thursday we worked on the small building where the high ropes course gear is stored and the playground.  We removed the shingles and decking from the gear building and then redecked and put on a tin roof.  The playground was installed after the 1994 Palm Sunday tornado hit Goshen United Methodist Church in Piedmont, AL.  Twenty church members lost their life in that storm including Pastor Kelly Clem’s young daughter, Hannah.  The playground is a memorial to Hannah placed by Kelly and her husband.  We’ve been working to replace some of the broken pieces of the playground equipment.  It’s been a difficult job as we try to match new and older pieces of the playground, but it is also a work of love and brings back many memories of all the tornadoes we worked over the 22 years Max worked as Emergency Management Director.  Hopefully we will get enough good weather this week to complete this work.

Today we were again blessed to attend our home church and Sunday School then hike about 4 miles at the new nature preserve with Barry and Donna.

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Happy Easter everyone!  It was a beautiful spring day in Alabama, perfect for Sunrise Service, church and family gatherings and we enjoyed it all.  As is customary for Alabama Easters, our Dogwood trees are in full bloom as well as the Red Buds, and Native Azaleas.  This past week you could almost sit and watch the colors change.  The mountain above the camp is a multitude of shades of green. Beautiful.

We began our NOMADS work at Sumatanga Camp and Conference Center last Sunday afternoon with our usual get acquainted meeting.  We are a small group of six, Sharon and Gary leading, and new to us NOMADS Pam and Dennis, and the two of us.  We always enjoy working with Sharon and Gary and it’s been fun getting to know Pam and Dennis. We all work together well so it should be three weeks of fun work.   Our highest priority work was the demolition of the bathrooms in three of the Pool Camp cabins, getting them ready for another group to come in and expand and remodel them.  This was some heavy-duty demo requiring jack hammers, sledgehammers and strong backs.  We completed two of the cabins and have probably completed half the work on the third.  We are pleased with the amount of work accomplished last week, because we had thought it would probably take two to three weeks to demo them all.  We hope to be finished sometime Tuesday, but a lot will depend on how hard it is to get the last furnace out of the cabin. The furnaces are very old and very heavy.

Each workday, the camp spoils us with a great lunch.  One day this week, we had a new to some of us, delightful turnip green soup and now we all have a copy of the recipe.   The entire team worshiped together at Lester Memorial for Good Friday.  It was, of course, a somber, but very meaningful service.  It’s been a great Holy Week ending in wonderful worship on this beautiful Easter.  Today, we attended Sunrise Service, worship service and Sunday School at our church followed by a delicious lunch with our cousins on Pine Mountain.  The rest of the team stayed for Sunrise Service at the camp.  Hope you all enjoyed your day and kept the true meaning of the day in your hearts.  Thank you, Jesus, for your suffering, death, and resurrection.  May we live our lives for You.

Sunday, March 24, 2024

After spending a month in Grand Isle, we have taken a month off from working mission projects, but it doesn’t mean we haven’t been very busy. While spending a couple of days at Randy’s and Debra’s and catching up with them, Max and Randy worked on Dave and Jennifer’s deck railing.  After transitioning into BB, we headed to Ocala, FL to help with a Class B rally and RV show.  We had about 75 Class B RVs at the rally and had such a great time renewing friendships and making new friends. We then returned to South Carolina for some additional work on the deck plus some fun times going to the Senior Follies, (a very well done musical at Anderson University).  We also went to a Wild Game dinner and fund raiser at a Baptist church near Johnston.  Debra and Anne enjoyed their time cooking together and catching up at home.  We took BB on a quick trip back to Cullman for a doctor visit and then returned to Johnston and readied Fred for another trip.

We are now back a Sumatanga for a three week NOMADS project, but we aren’t leading this one. We were able to do some hiking yesterday and be at our church for Palm Sunday today and look forward to being here for Easter.  As we celebrate Easter, we hope we will all remember it’s real meaning, and the sacrifice Jesus made for each one of us.

Monday, February, 26, 2024

This was our last week on Grand Isle. It was a busy and productive week.  On Saturday morning we said goodbye and a big thank you to Ken and Michelle.  They worked on the fall and spring project here on Grand Isle.  The joke has been that they have been here long enough to vote in the upcoming municipal elections.  All kidding aside, they have been tremendous servants to the people on the island and they will be missed.  Cliff and Ann joined us a few hours later and we were so excited to have them join the team. We served with them here last year.

This week we continued to work on the exterior of Bozo’s home. There was lots of high ladder work painting the soffit and fascia, but our team was up for the challenge and completed the job on Tuesday.

We also continued the work on Jay’s house with the entire team working there Wednesday and Thursday.  The team completed the installation of the ceiling tile in four of the five rooms and the hall.  Next week’s team will just have to complete about ½ of the kitchen and that project will be completed.

Thursday morning we had Bozo’s Bible presentation at the start of our morning meeting.   Bozo also stayed with us for our morning devotion.  It was a great start to the day and a great way to end our week.

This was Anne and Max’s last week in Grand Isle.  We want to thank all our team members over the past month for their hard work and servants’ heart’s.  It’s been a great month working with the people of the island and Dean, our construction coordinator.  It’s truly been a blessing to be a part of the disaster rebuild team.

We departed the island early Friday morning and arrived back in Oneonta, AL about 5PM.  It was a long drive day but it sure was good to back.  Saturday was spent visiting with friends and we were able to attend our home church, Lester Memorial, Sunday.  So good to worship at our home church again.  We are now back in South Carolina visiting with Randy and Debra and getting a little rest.

Max and Anne