Day 3 of SP Deployment to Minot 8-17-11

We found out that the huge house from yesterday was most likely a scam. For one thing, it was in a more affluent neighborhood than we had previously been working in and while we were working, a man in a Jaguar pulled up and asked who was in charge. He then proceeded to tell Mike that he would like to save the windows and to only go up as far as we had to on the walls as they were planning to rebuild. Mike was already suspicious because it didn't look like any furniture had been on the carpet before the flood (there were no pressure marks) so he didn't think anyone was living there plus it is a HUGE house and why would a couple in their eighties build a home that big? When we got back to base, he went to the office and they did more research. It was discovered that the house was not owned by the elderly couple but by one of their adult children. It is suspected that they were hoping to use us as free labor so they could flip the house and sell it. Needless to say, we didn't go back today.

Instead, we went on to a home that was actually owned by an older couple; he built the house in 1964. His wife had wanted to move up the hill last year but he really didn't want to leave the beautiful spot where he had built their home all those years ago so instead they redid the bathroom and built an addition onto the house. The wife is so devastated by the flood damage that she can't come back to look at the house.

Today I got down on my hands and knees and pulled nails from the floor and then from the studs and ceiling as well. At one point, I almost toppled from the ladder where I was working but was able to grab a beam and steady myself. (I'm deathly afraid of heights but God is not letting that hinder me.) I also helped Helen and Bill pull up plywood flooring in the living room. Crew chief Mike left after lunch and was replaced by Becky. We got lost on our way to the job site this morning so didn't get started till after nine even though we discovered it's really only 15 minutes from the church.

Sheri shoveling debris in a house.

Jody pulling up plywood flooring.

Shoveling drywall chunks and dirt from a floor; pulling nails as well.

The deck-detached from the house and turned 180 degrees.

Here's what the inside of your house looks like

Keith taking out a wall.

The water lines on the houses never ceased to amaze and shock me.

When the "pope with the popsicles (and the popess)"  came by today for our afternoon break, they told us of a sad situation within the church where we are staying. A ten year-old boy named Joshua died in a four-wheeling accident last night in Canada where he and his four siblings were visiting their father before school starts. (The parents are divorced and the mother is a member of the church). On of his younger sisters found Joshua after the accident. Both parents feel guilty and each wants him buried in their country. There was to be a conference call today between Canadian and American judges and the magistrates from both countries to decide where the boy should be buried. (I never heard what the verdict was).

At supper, they told us that an SP worker in Haiti (driver and translator) hit and killed a 10 year-old Haitian boy today. The boy's name was Bailele. This is the first such accident that has happened for SP. After supper, we prayed for Joshua's family and for those involved in the Haitian accident. Everyone left the hall with heavy hearts. Some went to cry and pray and others left the church grounds to get away from it all for a while.

Day 2 of SP Deployment to Minot. 8-16-11

We were actually working by eight at the second job site from yesterday. I spent my morning tearing up tongue-and-groove flooring with a crowbar. Our crew chief Mike took a sledgehammer to the cast-iron bathtub on the main floor and broke it up so that it could be moved outside easier. The Salvation Army came by at noon with a hot lunch of sloppy joes for us so we'll just save the sandwiches that we made this morning for tomorrow. We finished with the job just after two and after the Bible presentation and prayer, moved on to the next job.

Bill and Mike tearing out wood flooring.

A pile of wood from two houses.

The men at the end of our lunch break.

Contents from houses.

Note the high water line on this house. And the poor people tried to sandbag it too.

Job site #2.

Once again, the water line on the house. And note how the front window is bowed in but not broken from the pressure of the water.

Fin`e!

Cathy and Sheri on the hot water heater at the end of the job.

It is a beautiful 5,000sq. ft. home that belongs to an elderly couple. It was obviously their dream home and now will have to be rebuilt. There is mold 6 feet up the walls on the main floor and the basement (finished) is full of mud and dead crawdads. The carpets still squish when you walk on them. We worked hard for about two hours cleaning out cupboards and closets of clothing and groceries that was left behind.

Mold and water damage in the fancy house.

Mold on the walls.

Mold on the carpet. It looked almost like mushrooms.

Tonight after we got back to the church and showered, I was talking to a woman whom I have seen every day since I've been here. I asked if she was here all day every day and she said 'almost.' She and her husband are pastors at this church and the parsonage they were living in has been condemned due to flood damage. So for the past two months she and her family have been living in a 10'x12' camp trailer in the church parking lot. She no longer has a home of her own and yet this woman spends nearly all of each day serving the SP team. Only God can give people hearts like that.

Day 1 with Samaritan's Purse: Deployment to Minot, ND 8-15-11

I arrived in Minot, North Dakota, yesterday around 6:00p.m. This is my first deployment with Samaritan's Purse and we are here to do flood relief aka gut houses following the flooding of the Mouse River in June of this year. Over 4,100 homes were damaged in the flood and 90% of those people do not have flood insurance. SP focuses on homeowners who are disabled, elderly, single parents, and uninsured. In other words, those who probably need our help the most. We do not work on outbuildings, garages that are not attached to the house, rental properties, or commercial properties. The house must also be the family's primary residence. For this deployment, our base camp is the First Assembly of God church on the southern edge of Minot. We have a cook who will make breakfast and supper for us and we will put together our own sack lunches before heading out for the day. There were porta-potties outside but thankfully we were able to use the bathrooms in the church instead. SP brought up two shower trailers from North Carolina for us to use which would prove to be a huge blessing. There was nothing better than a shower of the perfect temperature after a day of hard work.

I was lucky enough to get a Red Cross cot. They are a-mazing to sleep on!

                                                   

The big shower trailer. I believe it had 7 showers in it.

                                         

One of the nicer stalls in the shower trailer. Not all had sinks and chairs.

We started the day with breakfast at 6:30 followed by devotions, orientation, and a safety briefing. I was placed on Mike Brunelli's team and am the youngest by at least 30 years. Our first job was a rural property that they had worked on last week. The men ripped up the flooring in one room and the women pulled up nails in the floor and swept up debris.

The homeowner was very thankful that we were there to help his family and chatted with us a couple times between going about his daily business and meeting his wife at their storage locker in town. He said that if you have copper wiring or plumbing people come by and tear it out. Looting in general is a real problem since the flood but with copper going at such a high rate, if you don't take it out yourself someone else will. Someone even broke a beautiful two-pane window in the home we were working on. This house was built in 1880 and moved out to the countryside sometime in the 1940's. As I found to be the case with almost every house we went to, you could see the water line on the house.

When we had completed our work there, we presented the homeowner with a Bible signed by the team and prayed with him. It almost made me cry. This man and his family will have to practically rebuild their home and are currently living in a FEMA trailer.

After lunch, we went to a house that was supposed to be 80% done. It was NOT. The owner, Gary, was nearly ecstatic to see us. He came out of Satanism 30 years ago and has been a Christian since. He insisted on praying with and for us before we started work on the house (built in 1932). Most of his prayer concerned our safety, how thankful he was that we had come to help, and how thankful he was for Christian fellowship. It was very touching.

The women pulled nails out of the studs in the walls and removed cement board and some kind of awful wall board. It was black and almost tarry on the back and really stuck to the walls and nails. The men also helped pull nails and shoveled out the downstairs bathroom. The sewer had backed up during the flood and they said that it was pretty nasty downstairs. I heard them breaking up the shower too.

The chaplains came by with popsicles for us in the middle of the afternoon which was a nice break. The chaplains are part of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team and are somehow deployed with SP to every disaster that SP goes to. We have four chaplains (two married couples) every week who stay for two weeks and as they rotate on deployments, you get a new pair of chaplains every week.

Preparing for ND

I can't believe how fast the trip to Minot is coming up. With Samaritan's Purse, I have to arrange my own transport. I checked into plane tickets but they were too expensive so I will be driving. I will leave from Colorado sometime on the 13th (next Saturday) and arrive in Minot, God willing, on the 14th. I need to start packing and my sleeping bag is in the washer. I also have just a couple forms to fill out and as my tetanus vaccination is up-to-date, I don't have to worry about getting that before I leave. We will be staying in a Baptist church in Minot where there is no a/c but it is supposedly "not bad." Thankfully, they do have shower trailers; I was wondering if we would go a week without showers, something that is not unheard of in situations like this. Our food will also be provided for us; breakfast and supper are at the church and I believe we will have sack lunches at the site.
I will be taking my mom's car as it gets WAY better mileage than my pickup does. I plan to stay overnight somewhere on the way up so that I'm not exhausted when I get there and will just see how I feel driving back. And here is the part where I ask for financial help. As I don't have a job, I do need financial assistance to do these things, such as covering fuel both ways and a motel on the way up. I have been blessed with the opportunity to go before my church this coming Sunday night and present what I am doing. At this point, I do not know if the church will allow me to set up a fund to help offset trip costs and/or help support me. I'm definitely trusting God in this area of finances.
I will be out of touch the week I am in Minot but will try to post an account of the trip between the time I get back and the time I fly to MO for CVM Short-course.
As always, your prayers are coveted. Thank-you and God bless.