Day 5

This morning, both teams went to Miss Fanny's house, so that the team who hadn't been there could meet her and see all the projects. Since she lives on the way to Joe & Clara's house, we all spent a few minutes touring her home and talking to her. There are a few new pictures; http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8UaM2Lho4YuQ one is of her and her team in front of her house. The team got so much accomplished today, including jacking her house up and working on new steps on the outside. There are pictures of this, and it was quite needed. The other team then headed to Joe & Clara's. More work was done at their home finishing off the windows and putting in insulation in preparation for hanging drywall. (Just let me say, you haven't lived until you've installed fiberglass insulation while you're sweating in 95-degree MS weather!) All new Pella windows have now been installed in Joe & Clara's home. The windows are being trimmed on the outside and inside. Joe and Clara cooked a Cajun lunch, so the sack lunches remained in the cooler. We all sat down and shared a great meal together. In talking with Joe & Clara, we asked what they would want us to convey back to people back home. They both said their message was, a big THANK YOU, and to know how appreciative they are. They also wanted us to know that it has been the churches and students who have made a difference down here. We have learned so much while here about giving back to others and how extremely important that is. Part of our job here is to just listen and let the people tell their own story about what they went through (and are still going through). Another joy is meeting all the people here at camp from all over this country and Canada. JoEllen brought along two huge bags of stuffed animals. She plans to drop them off at a place they call Tent City. This is basically a homeless shelter (or at least where a homeless shelter used to sit), which serves breakfast and lunch to over 200 people each day. On a little lighter note, if you look at the photo album, one of the last photos is a picture of Rob, Bill and George's place. The other team arrived back to camp first and was on such a role fixing things up, that they made some time to fix up their place as well. They did not seem all that excited about it when they first arrived, but we thought maybe after a cool shower, they would seem happier about it??Tonight at devotions, the group from the Korean Presbyterian Church in Ontario, Canada, led us in singing Hymn No. 341 from the Presbyterian Hymnal. They sang vs. #1 to us in Korean, we all sang it together in Korean, then all sang vs. #1 in English. After the hymn, a gentleman from their church sang How Great Thou Art, as a solo. He sang it acapella, and it was beautiful. Tonight's dinner was served by Illinois, as we're called. Each team is usually referred to by their state. Miss Fanny and her daughter came to dinner tonight. We have had fun meeting and talking to all the others, and sharing about our lives back home. We've also learned many things the hard way. For example, ifyou don't get in to pack your lunch before "Iowa", they take all the good meat! (Important things like that.) Until tomorrow...
God Bless!
Your Faith Team