Hurricane Matthew Lumberton Rebuild–April 23-29, 2017

     1-FBC Garner; 2-Region 7 Feeding; 3-FBC Matthews; 4-Memorial Baptist, Williamston; 5-FBC-Kernersville; 6- Westwood Baptist, Cary; 7-Holly Grove Baptist, Spring Hope;8- Cabarrus Baptist Association; Not pictured -New Hope Baptist, Monroe.  A lot has changed in Lumberton over the past several months.  Matthew came by and left a flood which yes damaged many homes but opened the door for the gospel to be spread. NCBM set up in Lumberton at Hyde Park Baptist and joined many other groups feeding the survivors and doing recovery work. On January 1 the Rebuild operation of NCBM officially started and has been going strong thanks to many devoted volunteers. On Thursday April 27 NCBM received permission to move into the almost completed NCBM Lumberton Rebuild Center. Again thanks to all the many volunteers who have made this move possible.  A special thanks to Bill Martin who long with David and Billy has lead the renovation process.  Over the next few weeks we will continue to renovate the site and clean up as we prepare for an Open House on May 17, 2017 from 11:00 till 1:00.  Hope you will join us as we give thanks to GOD for what he has supplied us with to help rebuild the Lumberton area.

Volunteers this week also worked on several homes bringing these families closer o being able to return home.  Teams did plumbing, electrical, replaced windows, hung and finished sheet rock, laid flooring, installed doors, did trim work, installed shingles and painted. Yes a little bit of everything needs to be done as we rebuild Lumberton and share the gospel.  Each week a team is able to sit and visit with a home owner listening to their story and sharing GOD’s love.

Please ask GOD where he wants you to serve him and follow His answer.  Sometimes he speaks directly to us and sometimes he sends a message to us through others.  Either way if you follow His call you can have the most fun ever and be filled with joy as you help others.  I am human and want you to choose to come to Lumberton to stay for a while and help rebuild here but again “Follow His call.“

We now offer bunk beds for those lodging with us. There is also 3 full hook up sites and 3 sites with water and electric only (we do have a dump site for when you leave).  There is also a large area for games and tent camping. In a few weeks we hope to construct a prayer garden. 

Come see us soon.

Hurricane Matthew Lumberton Rebuild April 16-22, 2017

     1-Hillside Church, Wrightwood, CA; 2-Region 6 Feeding; 3-Newbury Bible Church, Vermont; 4-Betsy & JE Skinner, Memorial Baptist, Williamston; 5-Jan & Robert Hobdy, Knightdale; 6-Fran Tetlak; 7-Lafayette Baptist Church, Fayetteville.     8-FBC Morganton; 9-Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Morganton; 10-
First Baptist Oak Island; 11-Holly Grove Baptist, Spring Hope; 12-CBF Student Fellowship, Raleigh; 13-Christ Community Church, Pinehurst.     Again this week we had lots of volunteers. Team from California returned to complete tear out on a home they started and then started the rebuild.  If you look close at the lower right picture you will see they enjoy a prank as much as the rest of us.   Billy has spent the week at the new facility so we don’t have many pictures of the home work sites.  However teams also worked on 14 different homes doing tarps, tear out, roofing, painting, flooring, trim work, plumbing and electric.  Two of our youth had birthdays this week.     Bill will admit he is getting older and some parts of the body get tired quick. So he found himself a great helper this week that could get up and down off the floor easily. Bill cut the trim and “that young boy” as Bill called him found the stud and nailed almost every piece. True meaning of team work. Lots was done at the soon to open Rebuild facility - painting, cleaning, putting shelving together, installing lights and receptacles, building bunk beds and putting up a fence. 

Hurricane Matthew Lumberton Rebuild April 9-15, 2017

     1-Community Bible Church, High Point; 2-Newfound Baptist Church; –Region 5 Feeding; 4-Jim & Al; 5-Bill Martin; 6-Durham Memorial Baptist Church; 7-Sharpe Road Baptist, Greensboro; Not pictured-Ephesus Baptist.     On Tuesday Governor Cooper and his staff visited Lumberton officials.  Afterwards they visited some businesses affected by the flood and the Griffin home where NCBM volunteers were working.  I was very pleased that Governor Cooper and the Emergency Management team listened to my opinion of what the residents need so NCBM can help them rebuild following Matthew.  It was very encouraging that they discussed my thoughts on the way to their vehicles as they were leaving.  The team shared with him that they were glad to be able to help home owners and learn new skills at the same time.  Lois came by and was also able to meet the Governor and thank the volunteers for working on her home.     While other volunteers hung sheet rock, replaced floor decking and did some additional tear outs some helped out at the soon to be rebuild facility. Most of the walls are painted and Bill is overseeing the trim work which is about caught up with the painters.  The cooking team was nice and came over to start cleaning the convection oven and the hood.

Hurricane Matthew Lumberton Rebuild April 2-8, 2017

     1-Colonial Baptist, Cary; 2-Westwood Baptist, Cary; 3-Region 4 Feeding Team; 4-Greystone Baptist, Raleigh; 5-Beach Road Baptist, Oak Island.     We did not have a large number of volunteers this week but the ones we had got a lot done. Teams hung sheet rock, installed windows, wired a house, built a tall set of steps.  Burnt Swamp Association sent some sheet rock finishing help. They have completed all the sheet rock work at our new housing site that can be done at this time.  Some of the volunteers have started painting.  Ed came down to install all the plumbing fixtures.  David and I have been installing tile board, reworking duct work wiring and a little bit of every thing else.

Anybody interested in helping to paint next week come on down.  Got lots to paint at the housing location as well as 3 homes.

Hurricane Matthew Lumberton Rebuild March 25-April 1, 2017

     1-Region 3 Feeding Team; 2-Westwood Baptist, Cary; 3-Staph Group; 4-Marion Baptist; 5-Florence Baptist, Forrest City; 6-Ephesus Baptist, Raleigh.     7-Oakdale Baptist, Statesville; 8-REVO Church, Winston-Salem; 9-Sandy Ridge Baptist, Monroe; Non Pictured, Region 6 Feeding.

     Work is progressing on the renovations at the soon to be Lumberton rebuild site. We are in need of some painters this coming week so we can finish and move soon.

On Friday Ann and I made a trip to Johnsonville to be there for the Love Loud gathering Biltmore Baptist had put together.  We were able to visit with old friends and make some new ones.  It was very encouraging to hear the home owners as they again shared their thanks for all the help the Baptist had provided to them.  Biltmore’s plan also included follow up visits to all the home owners. To do this they had brought about 30 additional volunteers.  They reported 31 salvations for the week.  This was made possible by seeds you, as previous volunteers, may have planted.

The city provided us with a new water line on Friday.  Even though most of the pictures are of work on the new site teams did do tarp jobs, tear outs, sand sheet rock, installed cabinets and laid flooring.