Operation Tristan

Mission Trip

The first MSN trip to Allendale was a smashing success! Not only did we get the siding removed on Thursday but Fire Chief, Rodney Stanley, arranged to have a backhoe from DOT and members of the Allendale County Detention Center arrive on Friday to take the house down. God was obviously at work as we never expected to have the old structure completely demolished within 26 hours of our arrival. We thought we would be lucky to get the siding off. But, what do we know about His timing?

The willing servants were Gene Claypool and Mark Springer from Zion UMC in Anderson, Billy Robinson from North UMC, Rev. Jack Bailey from Hampton UMC and Ed Goodson from Buncombe Street UMC.  This small but mighty team of men slaved away in the hot June sun to remove the top layer of lap siding before removing and placing the asbestos siding in plastic bags to be taken to a special site at the Three Rivers Landfill. Once the siding was off it cleared the way for the demolition on Friday. We would like to offer a special word of thanks to Mandy and Tommy Thompson of Trinity UMC in Aiken, SC. They were very gracious in delivering a wonderful lunch to us on Thursday. I am sure that is why we got so much done that afternoon!

Our accommodations were wonderful as well at the FRANDYSAL Hunt Club outside of Allendale. We thank Rev. Jack for setting that up.

We were blessed to have homeowners Bob and Christine Fields with us both days. It was an emotional time for them, especially when the backhoe began ripping apart their home of 15 years. What began as a day of tears for them ended up all smiles as they realized that this not only represented the end of their old home but the beginning of the new one. We very much enjoyed working and praying with them.

From here we will begin working on getting the foundation and slab poured for the new home. It will be an 1100 sq. ft., three bedroom, two bath. The plans and framing package are from Square Foot Ministry in Fayetteville, Ga. The budget for materials for this home is $35,000. To date, we have received approximately $9,000. If you are able to participate through volunteering or donating building materials or money it would be greatly appreciated. Our goal is to have them back into their home by Thanksgiving. With your help we can do it.

Mission Trip

The home is in the dry which is significant as we had plenty of rain to deal with during the construction. God had His umbrella of protection over us as it didn’t start raining continuously until we got the felt on the roof. This is, once again, an example of the Body of Christ coming together to accomplish great things as this team of 14 men poured their heart and soul into getting the home in the dry in a little over three days. We have to thank Rodney Stanley, Loraine Williams, Rev. Jack Bailey and a team of volunteers from DOT for unloading the wall units from the flatbed on Monday. They also brought the OSB over from the warehouse on Tuesday, the same day the trusses were delivered. Thanks to them we had plenty of materials to work with.

David & Sandy Busby were a huge hit Friday when they served us their special BBQ chicken for lunch. That gave us plenty of fuel to go back out and work hard that afternoon.

Bob and Christine are really excited about their new home. Now that the walls are up and the windows and doors are in Christine says she is ready to move in! Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done. At this point Hopewell UMC has scheduled a roofing team to come down on Sep 6th and we are working on getting a team to come down the middle of September to do the siding and porch work. With the Lord’s blessing and your help Bob, Christine and little Tristan will be eating Thanksgiving dinner in their new home.

Mission Trips

God is showering his blessings on Bob, Christine and Tristan! Since the last update the Hopewell UMC team led by Bill McNatt ventured down to Allendale with a load of shingles donated by Cannon Supply here in Greenville. They did this as Hurricane Hanna was staring them in the face. Not only were they successful in getting the shingles on the roof but they also prayed the hurricane away to the point that it didn’t even rain on them! That takes some strong faith!

This past week Marvin Horton’s team from Cornerstone UMC in Rock Hill, SC came down and worked their magic on the siding and porches. It is amazing that in less than a month we have gone from a slab to having the outside completely finished. The plumbing rough-in has been completed and by the end of this week the electrical and HVAC rough-ins will be done. The HVAC equipment was donated by Southern Mechanical in Piedmont and will be installed by Stanley Heating and Air in Allendale.

Mission Trips

First, we would like to thank Chief Rodney Stanley, Rev. Jack Bailey and others who gave up their weekend to finish out the electrical and HVAC rough in. Without their inspired efforts we would not have been able to work this week.

Second, this team of sheetrock hangers consisted of eight members of the Anderson District Volunteers In Mission (ADVIM). ADVIM meets monthly and has taken on numerous remodeling and rebuilding projects in the upstate of South Carolina over the last two decades. We are fortunate that they agreed to come to Allendale to hang insulation and sheetrock for Tristan, a huge step in our effort to meet the goal of getting the family into the home by Thanksgiving. The trip was so productive that on the second day team leader, Allen Parker, exclaimed that he was “a one day sheetrock expert”. These men were all “seasoned” veterans. Ed Goodson is fond of saying that they are just trying to “escape the grim reaper”! Obviously, that is not true of anyone willing to take on the nasty job of insulating and sheetrocking. Alas, we did run out of energy and time before mudding and taping. Fortunately, we have a sovereign God who has provided us with a professional finisher who has promised to have the job done by Wednesday, just in time for the next team who will be priming and painting. There goes our just-in-time God again!

Thank you Allen, Danny, Paul, Ed, Phil, Bob, Jim and Jerry. Upon return from the trip I ran across an email that contained the following philosophy of life that we all should strive for. I suggest ADVIM adopt this as their own.

Life shouldn’t be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather, to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly shouting, ‘Wow! What a ride! Thank You, Lord!’

Trip

On Friday the third Lee McDonald showed up with her team ready to paint and do electrical work. Fortunately, by the grace of God, Brother James Evans and his helper had completed the sheetrock finishing on Thursday so the walls were ready. Lee and her team enthusiastically attacked the priming and painting and did an excellent job.

One of the special treats from the trip was getting to meet Tristan on Saturday. This was his first visit to see the home and he picked out his room right away. We could tell from his big smile that he is ready to move in. It was also obvious that he gets plenty of love from his Grandma and Grandpa.

I routinely talk about the small miracles that add up to a big miracle on these home rebuilds. Here is one for your consideration. On Friday, I handed James Evans an envelope with ten $100 bills in it for the sheetrock finishing. On Saturday, Lee handed me an envelope from an anonymous donor that had, you guessed it, ten $100 bills in it. Coincidence? I don’t think so. We have an awesome God!

And, there is more. There was a second team from Pond Branch UMC that came eager to work as well. They were led by Charlene Dunbar. The team included Sandra and Dave Hackley, our excellent chefs for the weekend, Sheri Freeman, Missy Harmon, Darrel Briggs, Eric Dunbar and daughters Michaela and Jordan. This team was joined by Geoff Gabriel from Lee’s team as the technical guy on rebuilding a porch and replacing siding for Charold Smith, a neighbor of the Fields.

This job was not without its challenges. However, the team persisted and got the roof and most of the siding on. Many thanks to Darrel and Missy for going above and beyond the call of duty by staying over and working on Sunday to get to a good stopping point. We will be able to finish this up on our next trip. Charold is thrilled to have her porch back.

Western NC Trip

We were blessed to have a total of thirty angels from Etowah UMC, Mills River UMC and 1st UMC of Hendersonville descend from the mountains of North Carolina to the Low Country to complete the project.

The first team led by Ken and Carol Weast of Mills River trimmed windows, put down laminate and ceramic flooring, worked on finish electrical, hung doors, installed base molding, caulked and painted all the above (except the floors)…and they were still looking for more to do!

The second team was led by Nelson “Superman” Chandler of Etowah UMC. He directed this team of seasoned mission veterans as they installed the kitchen cabinets and countertops, vanities, finish plumbing, finish electrical, finished the baseboard, installed appliances, installed shutters, hung a storm door, cleaned, filled a dumpster with trash and cleaned some more. You get the picture! The bottom line is they had everything in place and working before the dedication ceremony on Thursday. Absolutely amazing!

In addition, there was a smaller team led by Jeff Lauffer that went next door to finish the front porch and build a back deck for Charold Smith and her son Cameron.

As if that weren’t enough, on Thursday most of the team stayed back at Camp Jackson and completed seven projects there.

Christian Love In Action indeed!