Abadata Crew Member Jim, is on a two week Mission to
Louisianna in conjunction with his church and the
Bayou Woman Ministry
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For the next two weeks you can follow Jim and the Trinity team's progress as they work on various housing projects in the Mississippi Delta Area. |
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| Day one: Monday 15th |
| Checked out several projects today, Ron split the group, with me, Jerry, and Pat going to a place to put in a deck and steps in front of a utility building. The womans other shed was washed away by the hurricane. We spent the day there with them feeding us lunch. Finished up late afternoon. The house we were originally going to work on was not ready for us yet. The other group worked on shingle removal on a home, they got one side done. We will probably be working on the house with roofing work tomorrow. Temp never got above 45 degrees. Pretty cold for Louisiana. Jim |
| Picture below shows the "King Cake" that was made for Jim's team ! |
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| Day Two: Tuesday 16th |
| Went to Miss Margaret's home to do some work on a building she was given when another house was torn down. She needed steps up to the building, because it was now on pillars, about 3.5 feet tall. She takes care of a brother that had an accident and is now a vegetable. She is overwhelmed by having been in this house only 2 years out of the last 5. She was hit by a hurricane then rebuilt, hit by another, raised the house and then months later hit by another. She says she doesn't know if she can take another hit. Worked in the mud in the morning, moving a cement slab to set the steps on. Rebuilt steps she had and now able to get to the door. She fed us jambalaya and cake. Finished the day building shelves for her. She has some trim work in the house that needs to be done to finish that area and then I think we will be done at that home. Hearing the stories while eating lunch reminds me how blessed I am. Jim |
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| Day Three: Wednesday 17th |
| Last night we went to another camp church group that was staying in plastic fold up tents. They had kerosene heaters like the one you (TJ) used in your garage last winter that you borrowed from me. I am glad we are in the building that we are in instead of that setup. Kevin, the guy that we spent time with Monday fixing his mother steps, cooked gumbo. Good stuff. He is working on a cook book. Today finished the shelves in the shed. Miss Margaret had to take her brother to the dr. office so we went and helped the crew that was roofing. I put on about 8 square of shingles before we quit. Back a little sore. Went to church to get my ashes before supper. Looking foward to bed tonight. Jim |
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Improved House..... |
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| Day Four: Thursday 18th |
| Finished what we could do with the molding on Miss Margaret's house. Have to wait for more material. Went and met with builder on Wendy's home. Was raised and is ready for inside walls to be built. We will start building them tomorrow if the material arrives. Red beans and rice for supper and Miss Margaret fed us shrimp boulette and a rice dish. Been walking with some of the guys in the morning before going on the job so I hope that burns some of the food I have been eating off. The other crew finished the roofing job, but they are planning to replace the cook top, the peoples old one has only 2 burners working out of the 4. Also planning some work in their bathroom, it is falling apart in there. I will probably be in Wendy's house, (bayou woman), as the team that was doing the roofing is familiar with the bathroom. Back felt much better today. Jim |
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| Day Five: Friday 19th |
| Worked today at Wendys home. Met her husband and 2 children. Her husband has Alshiemers and her youngest son is downs syndrome. Ran skylift today to move tools and lumber up to the deck in back of the home. It was fun, been a while since I ran a payloader. We got 5 walls up inside today. Heading out to dinner tonight to someplace with cajun music and food. The reason for flooding is due to diverting the Mississippi river. When a storm surge comes in the costal areas that held it back are eroding because the Mississippi is no longer flooding on the end and depositing silt to maintain the marsh area's. Enough of a lesson in ecology of this area! Jim |
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| Day 6 Saturday 20th |
| Went to dinner last night to place with cajun cooking and dancing. Some of the group danced and some played the washboards. I was very tired and wanted a bed but hung in there and enjoyed the music. A fellow named aligator gave us all certificates certifing us as cajuns. Slept well at night and got up at 5:30. Made coffee for group and ate breakfast. We met with Dianne and went to a town about an hour drive to help with building breakwalls out of old Christmas trees. Spent about 4 hours there. The lady heading the program fed us fried chicken and gave us t-shirts. The work was separating the trees from junk, taking off the bases if they had them, removing any ornaments, leaving any trees that had been sprayed with aritfical snow. We loaded them on trailers and hauled them about 2.5 miles down a levee. Then we unloaded and made a bridge of the trees to a crib that was made parallel to the shore. The crib was made with 2x4's stuck in 2 rows with a few board across. It was about 6 foot wide and 70 foot long. A guy was in the crib moving them down and we passed the trees standing on the make shift bridge in the water. We moved approximatly 300 trees. We took a drive to Grand Island which was decimated recently in a hurricane and checked out the work they were doing on a levee there. Then went back to the center and showered, headed to a fellows house that invited us to dinner. Ate red fish he caught in his back yard and red beans and rice. Bread pudding to complete the meal. I am pretty beat from the day and want to go to bed early tonight. Hopefully tomorrow will be a laid back day to recharge. miss all, Jim |
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| Day 8 Monday 22nd |
I was very tired saturday, sorry if the mail made no sense. I don't think the spelling was that good either. Sunday after church I just kinda lounged around, took naps, watched some olympics. Monday we went back and moved two shower enclosures in to the bathrooms so that we could finish the walls. One short wall and some studs need to go around the perimeter and then plates and ceiling joists. I expect we will finish around Wednesday at her home. Can't do anything else there until plumbing, electrical, etc...
A woman brought us pizza for supper tonight. The lady's are fixing a few cracks in her drywall. To much food coming our way. Walked over to a lady's home after supper with Ted to check out a little plumbing issue. He will take care of it in the morning. A few more minutes of watching the olympics and I will be ready for bed. By the way Crawfish Etouffee is wonderful. Had it for supper Sunday night. Jim |
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| Day 9 Tuesday 23rd |
| Worked at Wendy's today, just about finished the ceiling joists. Have a few rooms to finish and then nailers for the drywall. That will complete what we are going to do for her. A lady we met at the elks club a week ago invited us for dinner tonight. A quick shower and on our way for jambalaya and gumbo. Wendy fed us shrimp stew for lunch. Moved the sky lift around to day to move lumber and almost buried it in the mud. A little rain here and it has to evaporate to go away. Can't soak in because we are at sea level. Hands, shoulders, and arms sore. Got alot of slivers today. Jim. |
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| Day 10 Wednesday |
| On Tuesday we installed the last of the ceiling joists and installed a pull down stairs for the attic. Wendy fed us speckled trout that she had caught earlier this year. Finished all we could do at Wendy's home. The Mildand Trinty Lutheran group gave her some quilts that the church ladys made for their family. We also gave an electric heater as they have been using the kitchen oven to warm up the house in the morning. Russel and Wendy shed a few tears saying goodbye. I think the feeling was mutual. Check out her blog at http://bayouwoman.wordpress.com/. Group is deciding on whether or not we will be able to leave for home on Thursday. |
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| Day 10 Thursday 25th |
| I got up and Eldon and I were the only ones moving at 5:30 am. Drank coffee and started seeing a few people moving in the halls. Went to our community bedroom and saw most had started packing to leave. We had a little work to finish at Miss Margarets and the woman had a drywall job to finish. Pat, Jerry, Ted, and I went to Miss Margarets and installed the rest of her molding, moved some items to the shelves we built in her shed from under her porch, and built some shelves in a closet in the house. Miss Margaret wanted to prepare lunch for us but we had to be back at the center to leave for home. She had tears as she hugged us goodbye. Nice to leave a few days early and get home by friday late. Dianne, the person we coordinated the jobs through hugged us goodbye as we packed up and left by 1pm. We were able to take care of the few needs of some of the people down here. All around you see the devastation left by the storm surges over the past years. The people only know fishing, this is their home, their life. Many of the people have been here for generations. Hopefully some of the work that is being done to save the marshes will one day keep the surges at bay. |
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Mission Report 2/25/10 Time to head for home! Today the teams finished up work at Miss Walterine’s and Miss Margaret’s and started the long ride home. The women did a great job finishing up at Miss Walterine’s today. The house now looks like it did when we left it a year ago, only now it is about ten feet off the ground. The last of the drywall sanding was done today and all of the patches received both primer and final paint. The team was pushing against drying time the whole way and was very fortunate to be able to finish up by the end of the week. Meanwhile, Jim, Pat, Ted and Jerry were back at Miss Margaret’s to finish up the crown molding. Three rooms were finished today. In addition, an air conditioner and hospital bed were carried out to the shed where steps and shelves were built last week. The final bit of work was building shelves in the bedroom closet. Miss Margaret was thrilled that the work was done and was very disappointed that we had to leave before she could cook lunch for us. Everyone was back at the community center for lunch and about ready to hit the road by 1 PM. With good weather, the trailer should arrive back in Midland Friday. The team has had many nice things written and said to us during our visit. For an idea of how we have impacted lives I strongly suggest you check out Wendy’s blog at bayouwoman.wordpress.com There are many pictures of our work at her house that I’m sure you will enjoy. In addition, you will get to see the three quilts that were presented from the women of Trinity. I’m sure you will be impressed and you will get to see the hot pink studs! It’s been another great trip. We look forward to seeing all of our family and friends back in Midland. Thank you for all of your prayers. We are thankful that we have had a safe trip. Jerry |
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Missions! 
