What a trip...
It's day 10 but it seems like day 2. We're leaving for home. Thanks for DCHS for a program like JTerm, which provides us the opportunity to come to the gulfport area. The people of Gulfport, Mississippi have made a huge impact in our lives. We met the Ladner family, who rode out the hurricane in a 2 story apartment above the garage, behind their house. They watched out the window as water rose to 8'' level. Now they are waiting for their house to be dozed. What a joy it was to see their expressions today because of the book caes Mike Dukes built, and the painting Pastor Rob, Hannah, Megan, Kyle, and Brandon did.
Then there was Mrs. Verla Degges, an 86 year old widow whose home was damaged by water when her shingles blew off her roof. She was so excited to see our DCHS bus pull up and unload 30 plus people to do extensive yard work. Jon & Mr. Milton remodeled 3 rooms with the help of Kolby, Wendy, Bryan, and Mason. Tonight at our final get together, she told our group "There's no possible way I can ever pay you all back for what you've done for me, I'll never forget you all." she's the sweetest old lady and we wanted to bring her home on the bus with us.
My crew insulated, hung and finished sheetrock in the "Broomes" 2000 sq ft home. their home, is 1 1/2 blocks from the gulf, was flooded with over 6' of water. I promised our insulation crew if we finished this house in 1 day, milkshakes were on me. By 3:00 we were done and enjoyed those milk shakes.
It was so awesome to see our DCHS students as they branched out and started measure, cutting, and hanging sheet rock on their own. Justin D, Jordan, Yonnie, Luke, Cole, Chris, Kolby and others worked beyond my expectations. Jasmine & Kate under Wendy's direction, did a fantastic job with the mud coats. One afternoon, Chris Dancer, a neighbor cmae over, saw our guys and gals insulating and thought we were professionals. I shared with him that we were volunteers and about our J-TERM program. He started talking to me about how volunteers like us were such a blessing to this area and...he stopped in the middle of a sentence, tears streaming down his face, he walked away because his emotions had overwhelmed him. We told him we had an extra hour at the end of our day and would do yard work for him. What an awesome experience for 10 of us to serve and be a blessing to a total stranger. But he was only a stranger for a short time, we became friends that we will never forget.
The rest of our group worked at Don's house. Don recently injured his neck, and his wife is recovering from a car accident over a year ago. Don's family was planning on moving in by Summer, but because of the hard work of the mission team, he will be able to move in by February. Don was so very appreciative of all the work that was done, and didn't know how he could ever repay us. Of course, we weren't looking for anything.
I asked for a show of hands as to how many want to come back in February. It was unanimous. this trip has allowed God to stretch us. We have grown in our faith, and we have felt compassion for those in need.
This Gulfport trip has allowed us to have a servant heart and to share God's love through work.
-Rusty Dukes
It's day 10 but it seems like day 2. We're leaving for home. Thanks for DCHS for a program like JTerm, which provides us the opportunity to come to the gulfport area. The people of Gulfport, Mississippi have made a huge impact in our lives. We met the Ladner family, who rode out the hurricane in a 2 story apartment above the garage, behind their house. They watched out the window as water rose to 8'' level. Now they are waiting for their house to be dozed. What a joy it was to see their expressions today because of the book caes Mike Dukes built, and the painting Pastor Rob, Hannah, Megan, Kyle, and Brandon did.
Then there was Mrs. Verla Degges, an 86 year old widow whose home was damaged by water when her shingles blew off her roof. She was so excited to see our DCHS bus pull up and unload 30 plus people to do extensive yard work. Jon & Mr. Milton remodeled 3 rooms with the help of Kolby, Wendy, Bryan, and Mason. Tonight at our final get together, she told our group "There's no possible way I can ever pay you all back for what you've done for me, I'll never forget you all." she's the sweetest old lady and we wanted to bring her home on the bus with us.
My crew insulated, hung and finished sheetrock in the "Broomes" 2000 sq ft home. their home, is 1 1/2 blocks from the gulf, was flooded with over 6' of water. I promised our insulation crew if we finished this house in 1 day, milkshakes were on me. By 3:00 we were done and enjoyed those milk shakes.
It was so awesome to see our DCHS students as they branched out and started measure, cutting, and hanging sheet rock on their own. Justin D, Jordan, Yonnie, Luke, Cole, Chris, Kolby and others worked beyond my expectations. Jasmine & Kate under Wendy's direction, did a fantastic job with the mud coats. One afternoon, Chris Dancer, a neighbor cmae over, saw our guys and gals insulating and thought we were professionals. I shared with him that we were volunteers and about our J-TERM program. He started talking to me about how volunteers like us were such a blessing to this area and...he stopped in the middle of a sentence, tears streaming down his face, he walked away because his emotions had overwhelmed him. We told him we had an extra hour at the end of our day and would do yard work for him. What an awesome experience for 10 of us to serve and be a blessing to a total stranger. But he was only a stranger for a short time, we became friends that we will never forget.
The rest of our group worked at Don's house. Don recently injured his neck, and his wife is recovering from a car accident over a year ago. Don's family was planning on moving in by Summer, but because of the hard work of the mission team, he will be able to move in by February. Don was so very appreciative of all the work that was done, and didn't know how he could ever repay us. Of course, we weren't looking for anything.
I asked for a show of hands as to how many want to come back in February. It was unanimous. this trip has allowed God to stretch us. We have grown in our faith, and we have felt compassion for those in need.
This Gulfport trip has allowed us to have a servant heart and to share God's love through work.
-Rusty Dukes
posted by Kolby Dukes at
12:35 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home