Giving and Receiving Blessings

Today we had the honor of splitting into two groups to work on different projects.  The first group went to Deacon Peter's home. The storm left four feet of water damage in his basement, which was partly used as a bedroom for his grandchildren. After the storm, the family did not have hot water or electricity for a month and a half. It took a while for aid to finally come, and the family went for four months before they got help.  Many memories were destroyed, like photo albums, books, pictures.  We gutted out his basement, fixed his fence, cleaned up and organized his property, and prepared sheet rock to hang tomorrow.  It was nice how Deacon Peter stayed with us throughout the whole project, talking with us and helping when he could, despite his physical limitations.  After six hours of work he gave us his blessing as we were leaving and clearly expressed how grateful he was: "God is doing amazing things through all of you."

The second group helped Dorothy Jones and her parents cut and put dry wall up through out her entire house.  After the storm, Dorothy's house had four inches of water in it, and most of the walls and floors were ruined.  Although Dorothy's parents were of old age they still made an effort to assist us.  Bill, the pastor's husband, came with us and helped a lot.  He taught us how to measure the sheet rock, cut it out, cut holes out for electrical sockets, and use the drill to screw it into the wall.  He was so patient and willing to teach us.  It was amazing how he trusted us to do the work on our own and was understanding when we couldn't perfect it.

After a long day we had the pleasure of sharing dinner with students from Kean University and
Montclair University.  We played Cranium Bible edition and then had small group discussions with them.  We really loved meeting new people and had some very meaningful conversations about our faith, our week of service, and our journey of faith as college students. It was a pleasure to have some of the people living and volunteering at Lacey United Methodist Church join us for our small group discussions.

As always, we concluded the evening with a recap of our day.  We talked about how we saw Christ in the people we have served.  We reflected on the trip and how it has impacted us so far.  This was our first full day of service and we are energized and looking forward to continuing being Christ to those we serve. Can't wait for tomorrow!

Peace,
Leah Keefe, Chris Masla, and the rest of the team