RVing With a Purpose

Monday, September 28, 2020

What a wonderful fall day we had today! There was a breeze most of the day. The sun was shining brightly. It was still a typical humid Alabama day so it was a little hot when we were working hard but such a wonderful day. This project will be different from all the others at Sumatanga. Don’t guess we should expect anything else since it’s 2020. This year we will not have a “major” project. We will be working around the camp trying to help catch up some of the routine work. Most of the staff has been furloughed due to COVID and no events taking place at the camp and only one person working in maintenance so there is much to be done. Today we worked in the day use area around the lake and campground cutting grass, picking up limbs, trimming trees and shrubs. That area of the campus already looks so much better. We all enjoyed working outside together. It’s going to be a fun week.

Sunday, September 27, 2020

This has been a busy week. Monday and Tuesday were spent with the surveyor. We have someone that wants to purchase Max’s grandmothers house and surrounding land. We will be keeping a portion out to have a place to park Fred if the need every arises. One thing 2020 has taught us is that life can certainly take strange turns. Of course, we also had all the mail to open and handle, bills to pay for the Aunts, etc. And laundry to do and Anne is still working on items that came up at the board meeting. Wednesday was shopping day, restocking the refrigerator and fresh produce. That took a while. We were getting pretty low on groceries. Thursday we cooked, preparing things for the freezer to be ready for our next project and Friday we prepared to move to Camp Sumatanga. We moved on Saturday and were excited to see our NOMADS friends. Gary and Sharon, our leaders, were there to greet us. Gene and Mary Ann arrived just before us and Stel and Jodi arrived later in the afternoon. We have worked with all these wonderful NOMADS on many projects and they are just the best. After so many months with no projects it’s great to be with our old friends.

We went back to Lester Memorial UMC for church today. We are very thankful for the live stream services when were are away from home but it’s so great to be able to attend in person with social distancing and masks. After lunch Phil and Mary and Carla joined us at Sumatanga. Phil and Mary are from PA and Karla from Birmingham by way of Sedona, AZ. All three are new NOMADS. This is their second project and they just happened to work their first project together a few weeks ago at Ten Sleep in WY. They didn’t know each other until that time and Phil and Mary were planning to stay out west but the smoke and fires pushed them this way. So glad to have them with us! We had our opening meeting tonight and we are now all old friends already. This should be a really fun three weeks.

Sunday, September 20, 2020

Yesterday morning we were up early getting ready to be “on the road again.” We always like to leave with empty tanks, except for water, clean inside and organized in the basement. The past two days were so busy that we planned a much later than normal departure so we had time to get ready. We left MMDC about 11:30 in route for Paducah, KY. We had checked last week for a Harvest Host along our route but didn’t find what we were looking for. However there was a Methodist church in Paducah less than a mile from the interstate. We emailed the pastor and told him we were NOMADS heading back to Alabama and he gladly agreed to let us overnight in the church parking lot. The pastor already new about NOMADS from us working at the church camp in his area. We pulled in, parked, walked for a while, went next door for barbeque take-out, and had a peaceful, quiet night. We were on the road again at 7:20 this morning. It was fortunately a very uneventful drive home. We will get a little rest and then try to catch up at home. Lots to do beginning with meeting the surveyor first thing in the morning. Hope everyone has a great week.

Friday, September 18, 2020

Yesterday there was more sanding and mudding. Max, Gary and Ray made a lot of progress. They worked very hard to leave the drywall as close to ready to paint as they could. Anne had an executive committee meeting for the NOMADS in preparation for today’s full Board meetings. Last night we drove over to Taylorville, about 30 minutes away, to get some ice cream for supper. It was very good. It was an interesting drive, on roads we had not previously seen. Today the guys were back to work on the drywall, sanding and marking any areas they feel needs a touch up with the mud. We will leave it for someone else to do the touch up, probably another day or two of work and then it will be ready for paint, probably late next week. Anne’s board meeting was all day. She reports they got a lot done.

We really enjoy working with the people here at MMDC. They are such a joy and inspiration. They do great work! Today they treated us to a great Mexican lunch with some great ice cream sundaes for dessert and then showered us with gifts of their 20th anniversary, T-shirts and a metal model of their 18 wheeler transport truck. Thanks so much MMDC for allowing us to be a part of your wonderful ministry of providing help and support to those in need. Tonight the low is predicted to be 43 degrees. We will have to turn the fireplace on tonight and head south tomorrow. Please remember us in your prayers for safe travel. Have a wonderful weekend.