Rockport mission trip #3
Monday, January 15
Sheetrock that took a bath complements of Harvey has nothing over steel. Trust us, it becomes impervious and mobile home, err… make that manufactured homes have lots of the stuff in corners and between rooms. Chipping the stuff out of the crevasses is not child’s play. But, you know what, doing it for the Lord made it all worthwhile.
Here is our living quarters for the week.
The Texas Baptist men have provided us with all the comforts of home. Well, at least hot showers. After a day of crawling under a trailer removing insulation, trying to figure out how to convert some salvaged chain link fencing into to a cat run for a lady with 23 cats (we failed on that one), and helping a thespian remove sheet rock from his dated home, the hot shower was a blessing directly from God. Having our laundry done is just icing on the Heavenly cake. Another group of our team had it easy – they got to install tarps on roofs. Luck bums! Their day will come, tomorrow in fact. The weather forecast is for 34 at 8 AM and not predicted to get any better with ice and rain. Those of us that will be inside hammering away at sheet rock will be the ones blessed.
Tuesday, January 16
Life is not fair – the roofing guys were granted a reprieve. They would have turned into icicles and blown away. Don’t tell them, but we really do like them and would miss them. Somebody has to do the job and who else would take our verbal abuse?
Actually, we all took the afternoon off because of predicted icing on the roadways. When that did not materialize we forced Gains Garder, our trip leader, to drive us around the local area. Rockport was his childhood home and he recently was a staff member of Rockport Baptist Church so we had an excellent tour guide. The pre-dominate roof color is blue, as in blue tarps. Based upon the damage we saw, there will be hours and hours of volunteer time required for the foreseeable future. Looking for a place to get outside the walls of First Baptist Church to share Jesus’ love? Sign up for the next trip to Rockport.
Wednesday, January 17
Yesterday might have been a slow day but we made up for it big time today. The nine of us plus Bob from Arizona were assigned to “demo” a manufactured home. Demo, not as in demonstrate but as in demolish which we are pretty good at doing. When we left the site, the structure was flat on the ground but not without a whole lot of excitement. While y’alls were experiencing a 12 degree morning, we were a balmy 26. At either temperature water becomes hard and that is not a reference to its calcium content. A side effect to hard water is that it is slippery. The day held 3 fun events.
Episode 1 – the combination of steps, a kitchen cabinet, ice, and gravity made for an ambulance ride to an emergency care facility 27 miles away for one of our men. The diagnosis was a bruised knee (which already contains titanium) and a badly sprained ankle. The exciting part was the passing out and glassy eyes for a short while. The prognosis is for survival, at least above the shin.
Episode 2 – Pointy things and a foot that drew blood. Stepping on nails that are not pointing up is acceptable. However, those that are pointing up make the point. Not counting the wounded sole, thankfully, the damage was just a pin prick and the tetanus shot is current. Prognosis is for complete survival.
Episode 3 – Gravity and one very fast thinking lady saved the day. The structure had been gutted of all interior furniture, cabinets, bathroom fixtures, and walls. After much dust and pounding (actually the pounding came first) the rear wall was removed. Just as soon as the front wall was freed from its attachment to the rest of the home, we heard “It’s coming down” and then whoosh! The remaining tunnel decided to make a dash for the ground. The only problem was that one of our team was working at a side door. Make that the left side which was the side the building fell towards trapping her under the rubble. Her platoon of guardian angels were on duty! So, after the mass of collapsed tin, studs, glass, and insulation was lifted up by a bunch of concerned team members, out crawled our intrepid demo member. She had the presence of mind to jump under the trailer and thus avoided becoming flattened fauna. God is good. Prognosis is that maybe one life was cashed in but there still are 8 left.
Thursday is our last day. We wonder what excitement awaits your mission team.