RVing With a Purpose

Week One, Day Three

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Today was an early day for all of us. Up at 4:30, depart home 5:30 and begin work at 6:00. Debra and Anne had to be at church at 6:00 this morning because it was their day to prepare breakfast for everyone. The other days they have been able leave home 8:00 or 8:30. It’s the early wakeups and long days that make Constructors so much harder than NOMADS. But, most people work Constructors for only one week so we can work those hours for one week. Don’t think we could do it for five consecutive weeks like a few people do each year.

The project is really moving forward. Today the fire-break drywall installation and mudding was completed. Both bathrooms in the vestibule framing was completed and some of the headers installed. The major accomplishment of the day was the moving of the truss beams that will support the balcony in the rear of the sanctuary inside the building and carefully placing them upon the walls. It took careful orchestration of people and lifts to accomplish the task. The work on installing the fire blocks in the walls is continuing as well.

Max and Keith, a volunteer from the church in Lebanon, MO where we did our first Constructors for Christ project, installed and mudded the last of the firewall drywall. 36′ high is the highest Max can remember installing drywall

This is how we carried the truss beam sections across the parking lot to the building. Five of these sections will be sandwiched together to form a beam to support the balcony area at the back of the sanctuary.

Preparing a truss beam section for lifting

We used a forklift to lift the truss beam sections onto the walls where they were placed in a temporary holding position.

Many of the door headers were installed today

Using a laser level to make sure the walls are plumb

After Anne and Debra cooked and served breakfast and cleaned the kitchen, they returned home and painted the hall and master bath at our house. We are pleased with the results and it checked two more items off our to-do list. Slowly making progress.

It was another good day!

Week One, Day Two

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

A work day for Constructors for Christ begins at 6:00 am. Breakfast is around 7:30, lunch around 12:30 and we stop work at 6:00 pm. All three meals are provided each day. They are prepared by team members who choose to work in the kitchen instead of on the construction site. Those members are divided into three teams and each team prepares one meal a day. Today Anne and Debra’s team prepared lunch. Every meal is always delicious. Usually the team members prepare desserts but the members of the congregation at Pine Grove are providing those this year

Out on the constructions site today was much like yesterday. Some worked on installing fire blocks in the walls, some worked hanging and mudding drywall and some built corner posts and t-posts for the interior walls. Today we started building and erecting the interior walls. Another productive day in God’s service.

Some spent most of the day installing fire stop blocks in the tall walls

At times today three lifts were being used to hang and mud drywall

This afternoon we started building the interior walls.

The crew raised all the first floor walls on the ladies restroom side of the building.

One of our young volunteers learning to drive nails. He wanted to build something for his mother, so one of the ladies on the team helped him get started with this necklace holder.

Week One Starts

Monday, June 22, 2020

Sunrise on the way to the job site this morning. we haven’t seen many sunrises since we have be off work.

Our 2020 Constructors for Christ officially started last night with a dinner provided by the congregation of Pine Grove Missionary Baptist Church and our initial meeting. We have about 42 volunteers this year for week one. Most years we have closer to 60 volunteers.

Week one is normally “framing week” but this year Max and Randy worked all day on hanging drywall. The wall between the new construction and the older building has to have two layers of 5/8 inch drywall as a firewall. Otherwise the older structure would also have to have a fire suppression sprinkler system installed –at great cost.

We got about half of the drywall up today.

Randy and Terry taught two of our youth volunteers how to cut drywall.

Even though once the interior walls are finished the fire walls will be completely hidden, they still have to be taped and mudded to make them more effective at preventing fire spread.

At dinner tonight the church member who is overseeing the work (and worked with us all day) remarked how he never imagined how much would be accomplished in just one day.

Finally RVing With a Purpose Again

Saturday, June 20, 2020

After what seems like a really long time it is great to finally be RVing With a Purpose again. Although we are parked at home we are still living in our RV.

This year’s Constructors for Christ project just happens to be only about 20 minutes from our home so instead of moving to a campground somewhere we just stayed hooked up here.

Anyway, our project is at Pine Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Rosa, Alabama. We were originally scheduled to be at a church in Warrior, Alabama but that church had to postpone their build. Around the same time another volunteer group had to cancel their project at Pine Grove so we just stepped in. Lots of God things. The project is for us to build out the inside of the 9,000 sqft metal frame building which will include the sanctuary, stage with baptistry, balcony and foyer with bathrooms.

The project work week doesn’t officially start until Monday, but we, along with Max’s brother Randy and his wife Debra, usually go the Saturday to help lay out the floors and set up the kitchen. And that is what we did today.