RVing With a Purpose

Monday April 12, 2021

Friday morning we said goodbye to Sharon and Gary as they headed back to Alabama and we assumed leadership of the team here in Tatum, SC for the next week. Last week we were not sure Stel and Jodi would be here as they were in Red Bay getting some work done on their RV but Tiffin did a great job of taking care of everything and they arrived Friday afternoon before the rain.  It was great to see them again.  We even got hugs because we are all vaccinated.  Such a blessing!  Saturday Mary and Randy arrived before the predicted rain.  So thankful to have everyone parked before everything was muddy again.  We haven’t worked with Mary and Randy for a couple years so great to see them again too. Stel and Jodi and Mary and Randy have two puppy dogs each traveling with them so we are getting our puppy fix too.  Most of the rain went around Tatum but what we got did bring down a lot of the azalea blooms.  This morning at Leo’s it was like a blanket of blossoms on the ground.

This morning, Steve our construction coordinator joined us for our morning devotion and meeting.  He shared some of the history of this little town and some funny tales of small town South Carolina.  After the meeting, Mary, Randy, Sara and Anne returned to Leo’s to finish up the ceiling.  The lath strips were installed, the storage building cleaned out, the kitchen cleaned and everything returned to its place.

We then returned to the RVs for a late lunch and then joined Elaine, Lou, Stel, Jodie and Max in Wallace, SC to work on our two newly assigned homes.  They had been working in the bathroom of the trailer to begin repairs on the flooring, and shower.  They also worked on some “soft flooring” in the kitchen.  The trailer is located in the back yard of the house and the homeowners are related.  Both residences had roof damage and water damage from the intense rain from Hurricane Florence.  We made very good progress today but have a lot more work to do this week.

Our two new houses in Wallace

Thursday, April 8, 2021

The weather this week has been delightful.  The pink dogwoods, white dogwoods, azaleas and wisteria are all in full bloom.  Horrible pollen and dirty vehicles, but beautiful landscapes.  We have worked at the 100 year old home all week.  Leo is the sweet homeowner and he is very happy with his rebuilt back porch.  Tuesday we installed the drywall, exterior lath strips and built the exterior porch.  Wednesday there was painting inside.  We also built the steps and installed a hand railing and enclosed the space above the siding between the exposed rafters.  Today we installed the kitchen ceiling drywall and painted it.  The lath strips are painted and will be installed on the ceiling next week. A lot has been accomplished for Mr. Leo this week and we should probably finish up one more day unless other tasks are added.  We will be moving on to other houses next week.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Monday, April 5, 2021

Yesterday was a beautiful, spring day in Tatum.  We went to Bennettsville (five miles south of Tatum) to First UMC for their sunrise service.  It was a rather cool, outdoor service, with coffee and snacks afterwards. We always try to attend outside services Easter morning and it was a good service.   Everyone was friendly and we met several people and were able to share the NOMADS story with them. When we got back to Fred, we watched our home church live stream Easter service and then attended the 11:00 service with the team at Main Street UMC, 5 miles north in McColl, SC.  Love Easter Sunday!! For us it’s the most important and meaningful day of the year.

Today we had devotion at 8:00 across the street in an old church building that is now owned by the town.  They allow NOMADS to use the building while we are here.  Since we didn’t have a team meeting yesterday, this morning also served as our orientation meeting.  All the team members already new each other and had worked together previously.  This week we have a seven member team in 4 RVs.  We are working on a small house that is about 100 years old and back in the day was a “mill” house. It is in McColl, close enough to Tatum for us to return to the RVs for lunch.  Last week the team did some inside work and removed the back porch and began the rebuild.  Today we began by installing OSB flooring (to have flooring installed later) and installed the last three studs.  Then we installed the siding and insulated the exterior walls.  The door and lock and ceiling light were installed.  It was another beautiful day.

Saturday, April 3, 2021

First, we should let you know that our house was fine during last week’s storms.  Max repaired our driveway a day or two before we left and there was not time for it to get packed so it is badly washed.  More work to do when we get back home.

The storm gave us two extra days at the Gulf so we enjoyed those days.  We did some extensive walking on trails and the beach.  The storms had the Gulf very rough with double red flags flying but the beach was still great.  Sunday was our day for our second vaccine.  Walmart had a great system in place and it was again quick and easy.  Thanks, Walmart in Atmore.  We celebrated our second vaccine with Royal Red Shrimp.  Monday was mostly a rest day.  Max visited the eagles again.  We also did a short beach walk.  Tuesday was a travel day as we began our way to Tatum, SC.  We stopped at Anne’s brother’s for the evening.  He took us out on the golf cart/multi-purpose trails that are everywhere in Peachtree City.  We saw beautiful homes with wonderful landscaping/trees in full bloom.  We went to one of the lakes for sunset but unfortunately the clouds moved in and there wasn’t much to see.  It didn’t matter because the visit was what we really wanted.  We shared a wonderful dinner and breakfast, timing our departure to avoid Atlanta rush hour.  It was an uneventful travel day and we arrived at Randy and Debra’s mid- afternoon.  We then had couple of days to spend with them.  Debra and Anne visited while Randy and Max did a few RV maintenance items.  We also got to celebrate David’s birthday – glad we were there for that.

Today we arrived in Tatum, where we will be for the next few weeks, working to repair homes damaged in one of the many hurricanes.  We don’t know much about this area but look forward to making new friends and helping the residents of the area.  Thank you Lord for safe travel.  Please be in prayer for all the services tomorrow as we celebrate the most holy day of Easter.