Dressed for Dinner!

We were pretty bedraggled and dirty at the end of every work day, but for a special dinner out together, we pulled out our best jeans! (We're missing Tom and Gail Haverdill who had already left for home)

As you can see from the picture, we are all ages. What you can't see are the different skills we bring to the jobsite. As someone wise said to us on another mission trip: 'there's no such thing as an unskilled worker.' And, as I've learned on four such trips myself, our success is measured not just in our skills, but in the willingness to learn and the depth of heart invested in each other. This group had it all.

Abe and Amy Cohn join us on Thursday

We welcomed Abe and Amy Cohn to the Phillips house project, after they drove through the night to join us bright and early on Thursday morning. They were a capable addition to our crew.

We spent about an hour tonight getting perspectives on the flooding from Brian Odean, a colleague of Mark Ritchey who lives in Cedar Rapids. From downtown we saw the depths and breadth of the floodwaters and heard stories of the rapidity and force of the flood's arrival. Described as a "700 year flood," it devastated the downtown area and neighboring residential areas where we are working. The photos above show downtown as it was at the height of the flood, and downtown today, with the quiet Cedar River as it appears now.

David Eggert

New Friends among Disciples

One of the joys of these trips is getting to meet the owners of the homes where we're doing our work. On the top right are homeowners Lisa and Don Phillips with the crew: David Burton, Pastor Kris, Gail Haverdill, Doug from Virginia, Abe and Amy Cohn, and Gail Ritchey. On the bottom right: Ron and Judy Anderson from Minnesota, David Eggert, homeowner Roy Morford, Kelly and J.R. Detamore from Indiana, Elaine Harkless, Gail Haverdill, Ed Kidd, Bill Laurenson, Tom Haverdill, Site Leader Neil Miller, and Bob from Indiana.

People are so grateful for the help and are always so surprised that people would travel so far and give up a week to come and help them. It is emotional for them -- and for us -- together we are Christ's disciples.

We worked hard today. It was a chilly morning in the 30's and warmed to only the 50's, but we were dressed in layers and enjoyed working outdoors. At the Morford home, the crew did the siding trim on the house corners and the windows and doors, and they're ready to start siding the house in the morning. At the Phillips house, we were framing, putting up doors, leveling floors to prepare the house for sheetrock, heating and electrical, and flooring.

Blessings,

Pastor Kris

A rainy afternoon in Cedar Rapids

Flexibility has been the word today since it's been raining most of the day. So, the pictures I have to share with you at this point are coming from Noelridge Christian Church, where I'm writing to you while drying out from my morning work. Others are scattered at a couple of locations doing what they can on what's left of a wet day.

Noelridge Christian folks are a hospitable bunch. I continue to be impressed by how a church can host a different group of relief workers -- like us -- each week, sleeping in their preschool rooms, fixing meals in their kitchen, etc. On Weds evenings, a group of women (pictured) fix dinner for their membership and a few folks from the neighborhood around the church. They call it "Food Court" night -- and of course, those of us from Disciples Christian are eager to see what that's like to bring back some ideas. After 5:30 dinner, there's a full complement of ministry opportunities -- youth group, choir rehearsal, women's bible study, as well as a transient group from Cleveland Heights! We're looking forward to meeting more people from the church.

Later we hope to find a location somewhere close to watch the debate. We miss you back home, but we're doing our best to make you proud!

Blessings,

Pastor Kris

Turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, .....

And pie! Thanks to our friends at Geist Christian Church in Indianapolis (Jerry Stuff? Courtney Richards?) for the pies sent to Noelridge Christian Church in time for our Tuesday night dinner.

I"m not sure we worked hard enough to be treated so well, but we enjoyed every sweet, delicious bite. And, remembered fondly when a team from GCC and Disciples Christian worked together in Slidell, LA this time last year.

Many thanks and God's blessings -
Kris

Cedar Christian Church and surrounding neighborhood devastated by flood

The houses we're working on are in various stages of clean-up and rebuild. But there are many houses that have not been touched since the moment that flood hit on June 11, 2008. There's really no way to describe what it looks like when a flood hits and 'time stops' in a home, but these pictures will give you some idea. David and I experienced this on our first mission to New Orleans in January 2006 -- the smell of mold, food caked on in pans left on the stove, muddy toys, blackened family photographs, water lines above your head, etc. Most in our group today had not seen this, and the impact was felt.

Cedar Christian Church's building is closed for now, but when these mission trips to Cedar Rapids resume next spring, they will begin work. Disciples coming to the rescue of disciples. We are so glad to be here doing what we can, and we are so fortunate to be part of a congregation that supports us so we can be here doing this work.

More tomorrow -- after all that fresh air and hard work today, even an air mattress on a church preschool room sounds good. We'll be up for breakfast and with lunches packed, ready to arrive at the worksite by 8:00 am.

Goodnight,

Pastor Kris