Day 4 - Amy (even more pictures)

We are the last group that will work with Morning Star Presbyterian, the church we have been has been working with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance since Hurricane Sandy.   The evening program tonight included the retirement of the PDA sign which was presented to Emma and will return with us to Northville.

All of us with Michelle and Summer.

Day 4 - Amy (more pictures)

We put the crab hotels out today.  Michelle brought bait to put into the traps, bunker.  Once the bunker was in the trap down into the lagoon they went.  Periodically we would bring up the traps to see what we caught.  We were nicely surprised with 5 crabs and 1 eel!  The eel went back into the lagoon immediately, the crabs went back in at the end of the day.  Hopefully we have the opportunity to continue crabbing today!

Day 4 - Amy (pictures)

Our Seniors, off to college in the fall

Our juniors - seniors this fall

Our Sophomores - juniors this fall

Our Freshmen - sophomores this fall

For evening programing and chores we were split up this week into small groups.  On the day our chore was to blog we also wore our PDA (Presbyterian Disaster Assistance) shirts on the work site.  This is my group!  

 Rob giving a tutorial on mudding drywall

Emma painting the ceiling

Olivia cutting trim

Painting the utility room with Summer and Aerial.

 Washing painting supplies

Master bedroom

Day 4 - Tess Spindler

Today was one of the last days we had to work on Michelle’s house.  My group is working on the living room area, which mostly consists of painting, sanding and drywall.  This room is the biggest in the house so it has been a real struggle to complete it.  Bel’s kids came again today to help us work, which is always fun.  Michelle bough us pizza for lunch today and told us the story of how Hurricane Sandy impacted her and her family.  Not only did she share this story with us, but later at a dinner for all the volunteers and homeowners, she told us the story of her husband finding God.  This story was incredibly moving and inspiring to hear about how her life has changed from that experience.    It is very bittersweet that our time in New Jersey is almost up, but it has been an amazing journey and has brought so many fun memories with so many great people.

-Tess Spindler

Day 4 - Sam Byun

Day four, my group finally finished painting the office room of the house.  The celing and the walls are all finished.  I became good friends with Vinnnie, a son of one of the volunteers at the construction work site.  He wanted to catch some crabs with the Crab Hotel (crab trap), we were able to catch 5 crabs and enjoyed each others company.  I was able to hear Michelle’s testimony about what happened during Hurricane Sandy.  Sh lost just about everything, first her husband, next her brother, then her father and finally her home.  But thanks to God we were able to help them get the Certificate of Occupancy (CO).  It has been four years since they have been able to sleep in their house and hopefully by the end of this week we will be able to get them back into their home.

-Sam Byun

Day 4 - Sarah Poulos

I want to start off by saying that this week has been such a blessing.  Monday and Tuesday we worked at Michelle and Summer’s house, while on Wednesday we worked on Donna’s house. After moving 190,000 pounds of dirt, we took a day to go to the beach and the boardwalk. I ended up touring the Jersey Shore house, which was really cool.  When I woke up this morning I couldn’t believe it was already Thursday. We headed back to Michelle and Summer’s house and worked until Michelle told her Hurricane Sandy story at lunch. I couldn’t believe how much she had gone through and how much God had stuck by her side.  After we were done working we headed back to the church and got ready for our dinner. Michelle ended up telling the story of her husband, which impacted me in the biggest way possible. She told us that her husband stopped believing in God and that instead of God, he wanted to take credit for all the things he had accomplished.  She told us that he ended up getting cancer and that one day he ended up in a coma.  The doctors said it was time to pull the plug. He ended up waking up and telling everyone, “Jesus was here, it’s all real. Jesus is coming! He’s coming soon.” I have never been so moved in my entire life. Wow was all I could say. God is good. God is hope, and  God’s hope is what we need to have each and every day.

-Sarah Poulos

Day 4 - Olivia Collins

After spending a day moving dirt and hanging out at the beach and boardwalk we were headed back to Michelle and Summer’s house to continue our work.  We came ready to work with tasks to accomplish in each room. I spent most of the morning learning from Rob. Rob demonstrated and taught me to cut trim with the power saw and then nail it around the doors and windows. Bekah and I spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon measuring, cutting, and nailing up trim. It was rewarding to see the impact the trim had on the room, after struggling to make accurate measurements and having to cut pieces more than once to get the perfect fit. As satisfying as completing the trim was, the best part of the day was hearing Michelle’s story about the struggle Summer and her have had in their home. By the time Hurricane Sandy hit their house, they had to gut and rebuild it for the 3^rd time in 3 years. This was also amidst her loosing her husband, brother, and father. Seeing how much hope and positivity she had in her house, faith, and family during a time of despair in her life was extremely uplifting.  Hopefully our work on the house will continue to give her hope and allow her to move back in soon. 

-Olivia Collins