Hurricane Matthew Lumberton Rebuild July 23-29, 2017

1-Beech Glen Baptist Church, Mars Hill; 2- Wesley Memorial UMC, Wilmington;3- Episcopal Diocese of NC - Province IV Youth Ministries & South Africa; 4-First of Week-Region 6 Feeding Team; 5-End of Week- Region 6 Feeding Plus Others. Lllwellyen also helped Ann in the office and Joyce did a variety of jobs.

We put out an emergency call for crew chiefs and boy did we get them.  We could not have made it without them. 6-Ray; 7-Sid, Michael, Paul L., Paul M. & Walt; 8-Sid; 9-Chris, Roger & Rodney; 10-Paul L; 11-Robert with Cookie, the youth group leader.

The Beech Glen group came with a servants heart willing to try anything.  They insulated two homes, finished a tear out on another.  After all that fun they laid laminate floors in one home while installing floor joist in another.  Wesley Memorial also joined us for the week. They work on three different homes doing vinyl siding, tile floors, trim work and painting.

The youth group was very large and split into several teams.  They hung dry wall, laid shingles, installed a metal roof, installed crawlspace insulation,  Cleaned out a crawl pace and rest of floor joist on a home.  One of the teams finished painting a lot of molding which had been donated.  A special THANK YOU to all the men and ladies who stepped up to help lead these youth.  It turns out they were not only talented construction workers but they were also great teachers. The youth commented that they first learned why we are in Lumberton and then they learned about a skill they can now use to help others in sharing the gospel.

Hurricane Matthew Lumberton Rebuild–July 16-22, 2017

1-Region 7 Feeding Team-First of Week; 2-Region 7 Feeding Team-End of Week; 3-College Park Baptist Church (lodged at Godwin Heights BC); 4-Crew Chiefs Monty & Beth Rogers; 5-CMT team from FBC Simpsonville, SC (lodged with us); Not Pictured-Crew Chiefs JE & Betsy Skinner & CMT teams from Wendell BC, Edenton BC, Zion BC & FBC Mauldin, SC (stayed at Hyde Park).

It was a very hot and busy week in Lumberton. This was Carolina Mission Team week. They brought 210 volunteers from five churches. We had teams in most every direction and did multiple jobs. Teams installed metal and shingle roofs, painted, installed flooring, cabinets, trim work, floor decking, insulation, wired and plumbed homes and lots more. Best of all the volunteers spent time with several of the home owners and shared why they came to help a total stranger. Some volunteers did ministry work throughout the town. Each night they had a worship time over at Hyde Park. Thanks to the extra cook and support staff which came to help us out.

Hurricane Matthew Rebuild July 9-15, 2017

1-Grace Baptist Church, New Bethlehem, PA; 2-Kathy Evans, FBC Maysville worked with Life Community Church, Greensboro; 3- Region 8 Feeding; 4- Biltmore Church, Asheville; 5- Mt Zion Wesleyan, Thomasville.6-Daystar Church, Greensboro; 7-Purchase the lastest in Disaster Rebuild fashion when you volunteer at one of the five rebuild sites; 8-Florence Baptist Association; 9-Princeton Church, Football coaches and players; 10-Mission Discovery group from Bloomfield, NJ; Not pictured-Bill Martin, Billy Carter, Paul Staph, Michael Locklear; Shane & Isaiah, see below.This week has been filled with lots of ministry and labor of love. I (Billy) apologize to start off for not getting building pictures. But this operation is so big and busy at this time I had trouble getting away from the rebuild center to even look at what’s happening in the field. However, I do know that we had many volunteers this week who have done an awesome job. Three homes were completed so families could return home, painting, flooring laid, door and windows installed, sheetrock hung and finished, electrical and plumbing done both rough in and completions, roofing, insulation and even more tear out jobs completed. Let’s just say much work was done this week by volunteers with a servant’s heart that came to Lumberton to serve as GOD needs them to and it was a big success.Now for the most exciting news. On Friday we had a first for Lumberton Rebuild Center.  We had a young lady with a team from PA who gave her testimony during our devotion time on Wednesday night.  She shared with us what her life had been like with an alcoholic father and divorced non Christian parents. She told us she had recently accepted Jesus into her life and what a difference it had made. The next night she told her group leader that she wanted him to baptize her while they were still here.  Even though he was not a pastor he agreed to do it if we could provide the vessel for the water.

We set out to find what we needed to make it happen.  Billy went over to the construction company to see if they had anything we could use.  They had a bathtub sitting in their yard. He brought it over we got it cleaned up and filled with water.

Billy had talked to a man that worked over at the construction company that told him his 8 year old granddaughter had accepted Jesus two weeks ago.  She didn't want to be baptized in the ocean or the river so they talked about bringing her over to get  baptized in the tub. He wanted to bring about 10 family members so we invited them to join us for dinner.

So on Friday night after dinner and a short devotion we all went out to the prayer garden and two young girls were baptized. Then we all sang Amazing Grace.   It was a glorious evening that we will never forget.

PS-Don’t think that because so much got done this week that the operation is anywhere near complete. Today we have 30 homes on the working list which still leaves 120 on the waiting list to get started on and new requests coming in almost every day. Call, text or e-mail us or NCBM office to get your group on the schedule to help rebuild the Lumberton area. We need many skilled teams so the teams who are not so skilled can fill in and help when they respond.

Hurricane Matthew Lumberton Rebuild–June 25-July 1

1- FBC Knightdale; 2- Shannon Baptist Church; 3- Shiloh Bible Church, Danville, PA; 4- Freedom Baptist Church, Forest, VA; 5- FBC Salisbury.  6- Region 10 Feeding; 7- The guys that keep everything going; 8- Mission Discovery; 9- Crew Chiefs-Billy & Walt; 10- Visit from Gov. Roy Cooper to announce recipients of Governor’s Fund Grant.June has been a very busy month in Lumberton. This past week was no exception. We had several volunteer teams working on multiple projects. Teams replaced 4 roofs, painted homes and trim work, cleaned up, did tear outs, replaced insulation, electrical, plumbing, hung sheetrock , installed subfloor and lots more. We now have several homes almost complete and ready for the homeowners to return home. Thanks to all the adults and youth that have been GOD’s hand and feet over the past 6 months. HIS word is spreading due to so many volunteers hearing the call to go and responding.

The LORD has blessed us with many young volunteers for July. If you have any spare time and willing to help us out please give one of us a call. Looks like July will be hot as normal so I ask you to pray for the volunteers to stay safe and hydrated.

Oh yeah, Grandson Matthew got his first Harley ride.