RVing With a Purpose

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Today we had a gorgeous sunrise and then a bright sunny morning. This evening clouds are starting to come in and storms will be here tomorrow. The river is already at 17 feet, 4 feet above flood stage and is expected to go to 19.3 by Sunday. Lumberton is now under a flood warning that has gone from moderate to major severity. Moderate flooding is currently occurring and major flooding is forecast. The flood warning now predicts that over 50 dwellings will be inundated or isolated due to flooding. We will be leaving early in the morning to avoid any risk of road closures along our route. Currently the flooding is not forecast to close I-95 again. However, with 2-3 more inches of rain predicted this weekend, we can understand the frustration and anxiety in Robeson County. This area just can’t seem to dry out. Everything is just so wet. Even though the NOMADS project is now over for 2018, we will carry this community in our hearts.

This morning’s devotion was by Gary and Nancy. Gary read us the “Fellowship of the Unashamed” prayer. This was a prayer of a martyred pastor in Zimbabwe over 100 years ago. It is a powerful prayer. Nancy then shared Isaiah 43:1 – “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you my name; you are mine.” This is one of her favorite scriptures. Then she showed us her bible. She has written verses on the front and back cover, and the sides. An impressive testament to her love of God’s Word. Thanks for the blessing of your devotion, Gary and Nancy.

Today after our time of worship and prayer there were no work assignments. All the work is done. Today was Bible presentation day. We headed out the Terry’s house first where the entire team was able to see the work that was completed there. Then Anne did the presentation and prayer for Terry and his children. We then went to Bruce and Elsie’s house and Nancy did the presentation there. It was great to see them again and the living room looked great with their Christmas decorations in place. Next we drove out in the country on the opposite side of town to Mary and Jim’s. We got to see the completed bathroom. Mary has already decorated it and it looks lovely. Next was Jackie’s house. She was there to meet us and is just so excited to get her home back. She hopes to move back in soon. Mary Ann made our presentation there and everyone got to see the final work done at Jackie’s. Unfortunately, Carolyn was not at home today so we had to leave her Bible on her front porch.

 

 

We all went to Cracker Barrel for lunch. It was another good time of visiting. It was so great to see our home owners one last time. There were hugs and tears. We are just so thankful that God brought these people into our lives. So thankful we were used to improve their living conditions. It’s been a great project.

The afternoon was spent packing up and readying for travel as we will all pull out of Lumberton tomorrow. We will try to get an early start to hopefully be hooked up and on the road before the rain begins. We know it will be a rainy drive and we will probably have to set up in the rain in Johnston but we pray for safe travel for all NOMADS on the road tomorrow.

Tonight Jeff and Ann cooked dinner for us at the church. We had some great chili, grilled hot dogs and all the fixings. Oh, and there were many wonderful desserts. It was such a good time to have to spend with Ann and Jeff and some of the others with the NC Conference. Thanks so much!! We have grown to love Ann and Jeff and will be carrying them in our hearts as well. They have been working so hard for so long, and the work on Florence is just underway. They need our prayers for strength and stamina.

Time to get some sleep. Another busy day tomorrow.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

It was another cold 28 degrees this morning. Several of our team members water was frozen today. It was not predicted to get below 30 so no one brought in their hoses. Oops. Fortunately Max did leave the light on in the water bay but he also left our hose and pressure valve out in the cold. We had water, so that was nice.

Carol shared the story of the origin of the birthday cake for Jesus at our devotion time. We discussed our various family traditions regarding Christmas and ways of reminding ourselves and others of the real meaning of Christmas. Thanks Carol for sharing.

After devotion we all got our work assignments. Phillip and Cindy went out to Mary and Jim’s and finished the threshold strip from the bath to the bedroom. We still need to get the debris removed but we think Jeff will have someone else do that. Now Mary and Jim’s work is complete.

Mary Ann, Carol and Dave went back to Jackie’s and worked on touching up the paint, spent lots more time removing masking tape and completed the final cleanup there. Jackie’s house is complete.

Max, Anne, Nancy, Gary and Bruce went back out to Terry’s house. Bruce, Gary, and Max headed on over to Elsie and Bruce’s house as soon as the sun had warmed things up a bit. They soon discovered, however, in the winter the sun never really reaches the roof of their house so Max and Gary were cold sitting on the roof to make repairs. They completed the installation of the new section of roof and then made some repairs to the older roof. Elsie and Bruce’s house is now complete.

Anne and Nancy completed the installation of the vinyl plank flooring. Each piece on the last row had to be cut with the jig saw which Nancy did like a pro. (She just learned to use the jig saw yesterday.) And it looks very good in our opinion. Next was the installation of the base boards. Gene arrived and helped us with this task since neither Nancy nor Anne had used his small miter saw. Today Nancy learned to used the miter saw. After cutting the baseboard we nailed it in place with Max’s new Dewalt nailer, another new skill for Nancy. After installing the baseboard there was caulking and painting. While the ladies worked inside, Gene worked on the completion of the deck railings. Soon Phillip and Cindy arrived and Cindy joined Gene on the deck while Phillip designed and installed another transition strip. He did a great job! By the end of the day Terry’s house was complete.

We have completed five houses in the last few days. Tomorrow we will do Bible presentations to all five homeowners. This is truly a unique situation. We have never completed this many houses all at the same time. Never made more than three presentations in a day. Another first for all of us on the team, is that we are leaving no unfinished homes that we started. Yes, there are more homes in Lumberton that need work, but none of those homes were assigned to us. We have completed all assigned duties. A really nice way to finish our time here in Lumberton.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

The sleet that started last night lasted quite a while. However, we stayed above freezing and it was just about all gone by this morning. However, we drove about 12 miles north to work on a different house this morning and there was a lot of ice there. Their back deck was extremely slick. We really enjoyed seeing the sun this afternoon.

Philip brought us devotion today. He began by asking us what we were afraid of in life. What to we worry about or what are we anxious about? Of course we all have internal and external sources of anxiety. A number of years ago Billy Graham said that we were living in the Age of Anxiety. Anxiety can be a crippling disease. God wants so much more for us. Read Philippians 4:8-9. Philip closed by reminding us we need to focus on God’s word. Thanks, Philip.

Then we received our work assignments. Max, Anne, Nancy, Gary and Bruce went to a new assignment at Terry’s house. First thing on the agenda when we arrived as to help Terry get his son’s truck out of the mud he was stuck in.  Everything is a muddy mess around here.  Gary hooked a chain to the truck and pulled it right out.  Anne, Nancy and Max began installing vinyl plank flooring in a bedroom. Max was also working with Bruce and Gary on the railing for the deck. Another group repaired the decking and also repaired the flooring in the bedroom and installed ¾ inch plywood which we then installed the vinyl plank over. The guys needed more materials and got a materials list to Gene so he could make another trip to Lowe’s.

 

Gene also picked up the metal roofing for Elsie and Bruce’s house. The guys went over there right after lunch and installed the metal. They got all roof panels installed and installed new flashing. They plan to go back tomorrow to install the ridge cap – have to do that before the rain returns on Thursday/Friday. Anne and Nancy continued on the vinyl installation. They have two rows left to install and then clean up to do. Don’t know if we are going to install the base board or if someone else will do that.

 

Mary Ann and Cindy went back to Carolyn’s house that they started yesterday and completed sanding the drywall, priming and painting the bathroom. That house is now complete!

Dave, Gene and Phillip were working at Jackie’s again but not sure what happened there today. We haven’t talked to anyone. Mary Ann said this afternoon we were going to try to finish everything up tomorrow because Thursday we have five Bible presentations to make. That will be the most we have done in one day. We also have dinner scheduled for Thursday night. Ann and Jeff are cooking for us. Busy time trying to get every home completed before we all pull out Friday morning.

Monday, December 10, 2018

The rain continued all night and was still coming down this morning. Water is everywhere. The river is moving swiftly and is out of its banks in the downtown area. Crossing the Lumber River on I-95 the river is way outside it’s banks and getting fairly close to I 95 again. Right now they say the river will continue to rise until tomorrow evening and then begin to fall. There are no roads that we need to travel affected by the water but there are some roads that are impassable.

Mary Ann shared devotion with us today using “Meeting God In The Ruins”, a devotional book for disaster volunteers. She offered the team encouragement to continue their good works/efforts assuring us that what we do does matter. It does make a difference in peoples lives in many small and large ways. Thanks, Mary Ann. We are down to crunch time now and we keep telling ourselves that we just need to get out of the way and let God accomplish what needs to be accomplished in the next three days.

Today we added a new house that Jeff wanted us to finish up before we leave if at all possible. Max, Cindy and Gary went there to paint the living room ceiling, repairing drywall in the bathroom, caulking the tub and then painting the bathroom. Today they completed the living room and repaired the drywall in the bathroom. It should be ready for sanding tomorrow, then primer to cover the water damage and then paint.

Mary Ann and Bruce went out to Mary and Jim’s house. There they completed the caulking and painting. Tomorrow the transition strip will need to be installed and one area of water damage to be painted. The debris we have been piling in the backyard also must be removed.

That left Anne, Dave and Nancy to start at Jackie’s with Carol and Phillip starting by painting the wood trim on the pump house roof for Mary and Jim’s house. They then joined us at Jackie’s before first break. At Jackie’s we worked on general cleaning, installing transition strips, installing mirrors and bathroom accessories, caulking, and painting some newly installed trim. We are also having to work very hard to remove masking tape that was placed on the floor by someone when covering the floor with heavy paper for protection. It has been down quite some time now and does not want to come off the floor. Painters tape would have been a better choice. Much easier to remove. We will have several more hours of work to do removing tape.

Gene joined Max’s group for lunch and then took Gary to help him deliver and install the pump house roof at Mary and Jim’s. Mary Ann said they were so pleased. They were going to wait for it to quit raining and dry up a little before they walked out to check it out up close.

The rain had finally stopped by late this afternoon. It is cold and we decided to stay in for a quiet night at home. Another good day.  It’s now 8:00pm, 34 degrees, and it is sleeting.  Time to head south!