A Hard Working Group and Some Smart Kids

On Sunday evening our arriving team for the week  from Colonial Baptist Church in Cary took us out to eat at their favorite restaurant in NJ, the Brick Diner. They have worked with us several times before and we can always count on them to work hard and go the extra mile.  Two days they even worked past dinner time to get the job done.  Ann did the cooking this week and did some painting too. One day she had a little help in the kitchen from one of the home school kids.  On Tuesday night the home school Lego Robotics Team interviewed us and showed us their presentation on their idea for a tracking device they were taking to a state competition.Two days the team worked on homes but the other three were spent working on the Seaside Heights church that we will be moving into soon.  They put up sheetrock, installed a vent for our stove hood, installed doors and ceiling tiles and got some of our donated kitchen equipment in place.  We are in desperate need of volunteers to help complete this project and to help us move in after Thanksgiving.  We also have plenty of home rebuilding work to do also.

We are home now for Thanksgiving.

Getting Closer to a Move

We had a great group of volunteers this week.  1-Cool Spring Baptist, Sanford; 2-Oak Grove Baptist, Boone; 3-Region 5 Feeding Team; 4-Biltmore Baptist, Asheville; 5-James with the Cool Spring group showing us some clogging; 6-James and two of the ladies from Biltmore showing some of the handmade wooden toys he made and donated.  You may notice that James is in the feeding team picture too.  I think he liked having his picture taken with the ladies.So much work done this past week.  Teams hung sheet rock and installed parts of the ceiling at our soon to be new location in Seaside Heights.  Rudy & Robin brought up some kitchen equipment and several ladies cleaned it before installation.  The Oak Grove group and Paul finished removing the sand from Joanie’s pool and porch area.  The teams worked on 10 different homes and the church.  GREAT WEEK  Thank you LORD

Although the teams were able to complete several work request we received just as many new ones.  The work requests are starting to come in on a regular basis again.  However our list of volunteers signed up to come to New Jersey to help is very small.  We need help NOW and next year.  As for now – this week with the few volunteers we have we are hoping to get the new church building to a point so we can get a C.O. by Friday.  Then when we return after Thanksgiving (December 1) we will need volunteers to help us move everything from Grace Tabernacle to Grace Evangelical in Seaside Heights and setup our operation there.  Once we move most of our jobs will be with in 5 minutes of the church which will make things better for all.

Blessed to Work With Good Friends

This week all but two of our volunteers were good friends of ours.  Of course now the other two are now friends also. 1-Region 4 Feeding Team-Joanne, Judy and Randy; 2-Ike, Jamie, Eddie & Iva-Momeyer Baptist Church; 3-Sid and BettyAnne Shearin-Littleton BC; 4-Chris the HVAC Guy-Grace Tabernacle Bible Church; 5-Paul-Union Church of Lavalette ; 6-Tim and Vickie Etheridge-Greenville.

Tim, Betty Anne and Sid worked on flooring in Bob’s house two days.  It’s good to see volunteers and homeowners praying together.Our main focus this week has been working on the church building for our new location.  We are working hard to get it ready for our volunteers.  It will be so nice to be closer to our work sites.  With all the sanding, painting, cleaning, insulation hanging, staple pulling, door hanging and bed building this place is really changing.

A Little Time Off

No volunteers for last week or this week so we took a little time off.  On Wedneday of last week we left NJ and traveled to Momeyer. It was nice to visit with friends and family.  Ann worked two days at Yellow Dog Bread and went with Matt and Tanya to the NC State Fair.  Billy visited with his buddies at Rebuilding Hope in Henderson and helped to cut down two trees with the Momeyer Baptist Men.  On Monday we headed to Ohio to visit with Kim, Brandon and Matthew.  He is officially our grandson since the ceremony on October 30th.We got back to NJ on Thursday in time to enjoy Grace Tabernacle’s Fall Festival Trunk or Treat and Paul’s 3rd Missionary Journey.  The fall colors are spectacular here this week.  On Saturday we went to our friend, Pastor Todd’s 50th birthday party which had a 50’s theme. It was a lot of fun. Before leaving for vacation (and since coming back) Billy only had Ann to help him work.  We are ready for some volunteers.

Getting Ready for a Move and Moving More Sand

Although the guys from Burlington Assembly of God were only here for three days they got a lot done.  They cut out and started assembling our bunk beds for our soon to be new location in Seaside Heights.  Then they moved up to Margaret’s home where they added height to the ceiling rafters so we could insulate it properly and put in a floor for her.  They also hung insulation and some sheet rock. On Sunday we visited Union Church in Lavallette and then stayed in Seaside Heights for lunch at 3 Guys Pizza & Subs on the boardwalk followed by the Columbus Day Parade.  Billy shared that meal with Ann.  Ann has gotten back into running and finding some great scenery provided by GOD.  On Saturday Todd,  Billy, and two ladies from Todd’s church moved more sand at Joanie’s.  A group of students were cleaning the beach and when they finished one of the ladies asked if they would help us, so several came over and helped until their rides arrived.  THANK YOU GOD for the extra help.  Ann also came to help although we were about ready to call it a day when she arrived.  Unfortunately there is still a lot of sand in the pool but we are making progress.

October 29th marks 1 year since Sandy hit the New Jersey Shore.  As one of the parents who came to pick up his son today said, “I didn’t realize it was still so much destruction left after a year and I had no idea so many people are still needing help”.  We have started to get calls from people in need of help to get the walls and floors of their homes insulated before the winter sets in.  These are seniors who don’t have funds to hire contractors and are not able to do it themselves.   Let us know if a small voice is telling you to go and help.

Playing & Praying In the Sand

Don Gallimore from Roxboro answered the call when he found out we need a sheetrock finisher.  Ginger and Paul from Blue Hill, Maine pulled electric wires along with Don for the electrician in the church we will be moving to.  They also went to Sea Bright to help Don hang and finish sheet rock.  Tim Etheridge came up to give Billy a hand this week.  Ann was the cook for the week.  Our friend Elaine came on Tuesday and cooked an Italian supper for us. It was delicious.Tim also helped The Summit Church group from Cullowee move sand out of a pool and sitting area.  Lets just say they hung out at the pool and on the beach for three days.  But seriously, it was hard back breaking work.  We’re glad a few of them were young but the older ones worked just as hard, including a eighty year old man and his wife.

We have started to rebuild The Grace Evangelical Church building in Seaside Heights and once it is complete we will move our operation there.  We feel this will make things a lot better for our volunteers and put our housing within minutes of the jobs we feel we will be working on next year.  At present time we only have a few teams signed up for November and only one for December (one for 2014).  Please consider New Jersey when you plan your next mission trip.

The Beginning of Fall

On Sunday Chris & Elaine invited us over for lunch.  It was a beautiful fall day so we ate outside on their deck and enjoyed the colorful leaves.  The Sweet Water Association of Tennessee brought us a trailer full of paper products on Sunday afternoon.  Since we had no volunteers we went to Seaside Park on Monday to paint primer on walls and sand floors.  The cute puppy dogs were not too sure about us being in their house. On Tuesday we carried tool trailer #3 to New York and then brought us a bunk unit back to New Jersey.  Billy would  have enjoyed the scenery more if there had not been so much traffic.  Four men from Hope Community Baptist Church in Carthage came and helped out on Friday and Saturday.  They rebuilt steps, hung a door and hung sheet rock.  They were a great help.

Two Good Teams = Lots of Work Done

The region 1 rebuild team spent most of their time working on Mary & Anna’s home getting it almost ready to move in.  They painted walls, installed floor covering, kitchen cabinets and molding.  Billy (not Layton) repaired her brick wall around the front of the house that boats had hit during Sandy’s visit.   Harlon and David helped the electrician with some wiring at Grace Evangelical Church.Woody Tucker led the Region 8 feeding team.  A different team member stayed back to help do the cooking each day while the others went out to help with rebuild work.  The last two days they all went out.  They repaired interior steps, build walls and rails, hung sheet rock and did some much needed ministering to homeowners.  Woody was found sleeping in the drive way so they chalked him out.

Prayer request: We could sure use a plumber and an electrician to work with the licensed contractor next week if you or somebody you know could come up.

Feeding Team Turns Into Recovery Team

Although we only had one volunteer sign up for this week, the Region 6 feeding team led by Jerry Barbee, still came to serve.  After breakfast they went out into the field, cleaning out a church and a home.  Then in the afternoon they would return to cook and serve supper.  Tony Treat came up to do mold treatments and accessing. Ann went home to attend her Uncle Elton’s funeral and stayed all week to help Matt and Tanya at Yellow Dog Bread Company.  She had fun but worked really hard.  Her main job was washing dishes but was also able to help make cinnamon buns and other breads.

We wonder if people will remember what we have done for them or what we say to them. I know for a fact that the residents of New Jersey that volunteers have called to check on since the Seaside fire will always remember the phone call to ask if they were OK and to let them know others were praying for them daily.

Another good testimony we hear often is a volunteer will be somewhere and a total stranger who lives in Jersey but their home was not affected by Sandy will say THANK YOU for coming to help the ones in need

Back to Work in NJ

1-Carl and Richard;  2-Garden City Baptist, SC; 3-Marion and Harry, VA;  5-Ann and Diane from Liberty Baptist, Yorktown, VA.

Ann & I had the pleasure of a date night this week compliments of the captain and owner of the River Lady.  We had a nice dinner cruise and a view of the terrible fire on the Seaside Park and Seaside Heights boardwalks.  So sad that this place that is trying to recover from Super Storm Sandy has been destroyed.We had four small teams this week but GOD's work still shined on. The SC group hung sheet rock and started finishing it in one home along with finishing the sheet rock in another and started painting.  Some of them also helped remove heating units and flooded wiring from the church we plan to move to soon. Carl and Richard joined us again and did lots of mold treatment.  The VA rebuild guys did tear out two days and then helped rebuild.  They installed flooring, repaired shingles and repaired exterior trim on some homes.  They also had a chance to visit the boardwalk the day before it burned. We also had two ladies from VA join us to do the cooking and cleaning.

Grace Tabernacle has very kind and allowed us to stay in their facility for almost 10 months now.  However they are growing quickly and need there space back so NCBM will be moving to Seaside Heights into Grace Evangelical Church.  This will locate us close to most of the proposed future work which will allow us to spend more time with the home owners instead of traveling.  The building was flooded (6 feet of water) so there is lots of work to be done before we move.  That, along with homeowners are waiting for their homes to be rebuilt so they can also move back home leaves us with a need for lots of volunteers.  Please listen to GOD's calling and wherever it is PLEASE go and serve so HIS plan can be forefilled.