New Friends From Maine and A Quick Trip to Ohio

Wayne and Hilda Corey-New Bern-Shower/Laundry

Danner and Steve-Blue Hill, Maine

Billy and Ann-On Site Coordinator and Cook

Dan & Steve worked on finishing sheet rock in four different homes.  Chris The HVAC guy (local) did some plumbing repairs for us and also sent two guys to help hang sheet rock on Tuesday.   In addition to their shower/laundry duties Wayne & Hilda spent a day at Union Church of Lavallette to help them clean up from the rebuild there, cleaned the bunk unit that we now will be using, cooked breakfast two days (so Ann didn’t have to) and helped Ann with dinner and the dishes.

We took off Friday and drove to Ohio to spend some time with our daughter and her husband and to meet the two nine year old boys they are adopting.  We drove back on Sunday.  It was a long ride for a short visit but well worth it.

During June and July we have several youth teams coming to Jersey.  We need some help from people willing to come up and help guide these groups.  Also Ann and I would like to spend the week of June 17th in North Carolina so we are in need a coordinator for that week.  Please contact us or Bill Martin if you can help.

Spring Has Arrived in New Jersey

Teams this week:  Providence Baptist, Raleigh; Wayne and Hilda Corey-Shower and Laundry; Region 1 Feeding (Kay, Phil, Ray and Kim)

The Providence team is getting ready to start work.  It’s always good to start with prayer.  We had nice weather this week so the team enjoyed lunch on the front porch.

The Providence team started the week doing tear out and fogging.

Insulation and sheetrock was installed.  The feeding team and the shower/laundry team joined in the fun.  It’s great to have flexible volunteers.

Even though the feeding team worked on houses they still managed to prepare great meals every day.

The weather has been nice several days this week.  On Sunday we went to the Sea Girt Lighthouse and for a walk on the beach.  Ann has enjoyed the signs of spring on her daily walks.

Cookies and a Thank You Card

Tony and Mike watched the site so we could spend a few days away in Momeyer.  They came in last week and were the only volunteers we had this week. They were able to catch us up on mold treatment and assessment jobs.  They stayed over on Friday so we could install flooring in a Seaside Heights house so the plumber and electrician could get started on rebuilding the utilities of the house.  Ann was our cook this week and Mike and Tony were nice enough to wash the dishes each night after super. Tony had a boo boo while washing dishes so Mike came to the rescue. 

Everybody was gone on Saturday which left Ann & I alone.  Ann choose to go with me to check on a few jobs and clean up some in Lavallette.  We had left to go get lunch and do another assessment when Pat called to say they were at the house and her granddaughter had made cookies for us.  So after we ate we went back to meet Claire who also made us a thank you card.  Thanks to all the volunteers who have worked on this house.  I’ll eat your cookie rewards.  Chris the plumber was there so we went over several issues with Pat while Ann visited with the daughter and granddaughter while also watching the swan swimming behind the house.  As many have heard the board walk is being built back and we took time to walk on the Lavallette part while viewing the Atlantic on this beautiful day.

We have chosen to answer the call to go to New Jersey, to serve GOD by helping people rebuild their homes.  However it is a very slow process when we don’t have any volunteers.  We have very few signed up to respond during April and May.  We would like to have 40 plus volunteers each week. That way we could get lots more work done which would bring more glory to GOD.  Even if just two or three more will volunteer it will make a big difference in getting these homes repaired and the residents moved back home.  Please contact us if you can find some time to come and help.

Easter and a Trip Home

Sid Pittman’s team from Spruce Pine sprayed and fogged several homes for mold.  They also continued doing sheet rock work in one of our rebuild projects.  Linda was our nurse for the week.

The Kentucky team split up and did several jobs.  The ladies cleaned and painted at Devarone’s house as well as painting at Union Church of Lavallette.  The guys installed insulation in three crawl spaces along with doing sheet rock finishing on three homes.

On Easter Sunday we were invited to join Gail‘s family for an Easter lunch.  She had a beautiful Easter table set with great food.  We left early Friday morning and drove to Momeyer to drop off Cookie (the cat) and eat some world famous Momeyer Ruritan BBQ chicken.  Then we drove to Winston Salem to attend the North Carolina Mission Conference.  The Christian singer Meredith Andrews who grew up in Wilson was the worship leader.  Back in her high school days she was a friend of our son Matthew.  We both spoke briefly on Saturday morning at the volunteer breakfast about what we were doing in New Jersey.  Billy also spoke during the Baptist Builders break out sessions in hope of encouraging others to come to New Jersey to help clean up and rebuild while we also share GOD’s love.  We will be headed back to NJ on Wednesday.