Grace and peace!

I am still having trouble posting pictures, bit I hope to have some up to see tomorrow. I just need to hit a good, free wifi spot!

Preston is a work horse and pace setter for our group. I've heard great things about each youth in our group. They have been great hard workers. Anne Narie Powell has been a great worker as well. Each and every one of our group has been dynamic. The are working well and safely.

I am going to make time for some pic posting tomorrow. The problem has been that we loose wifibat the church after a certain time.

Keep us in your prayers.

Blessings
dorian

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Hey there folks!

Unfortunately, we've had some technical difficulties with the Internet availability, so no pictures this time...sorry! We'll have some asap.

Today was our first full work day. Everyone got dirty, and everyone worked hard. A couple sites did some major roof work. At least one site was hauling out old clutter. My site (I was joined by Preston Busbee) is in the midst of a variety of jobs...cool seal the roof, replace kitchen subfloor, work on plumbing, and other odd jobs.

The jobsites are spread around Johns Is. and the surrounding islands. My jobsite is 30 miles from the church we are staying at! Tomorrow I will have more info about each site, and I hope to have pictures too. Sorry, I wasted time trying to get pictures up. We'll chat tomorrow.

Blessings
Dorian

ps....cliff and brandon want me to post a picture of a funny mural at a homeowner's house. It is very strange and somewhat questional...should we post it?

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July 26 8:30am - Help load up Home Works trailer
Directions from church: Holly towards Rosewood,
Right on Rosewood, Left on S. Edisto,
Left on Commerce, Right on WH Tuller Dr: 2821 William H. Tuller Dr.
Map
July 26 (Sat) 6-8pm -- we will be hosting a group of 8 from TN
who will also be going to John's Island
we will provide dinner for them and hang out some
we will NOT spend the night with them
All Home Works youth going to John’s Is. need to try to join us.
We will be debriefing for our trip.
You may also bring your stuff to the church at this time.

July 27 (Sun) arrive at church by 7am -- drop of stuff in the gym
and have breakfast with our friends from TN
7:45am we will attend the Rite I service as a group.
The Rev. Mary Moore will commission us during the service
after church we will pack up the bus and cars and head to John's Island
Aug. 3 (Sun) Return to St. John’s for 10:30 service.

Click here for the Packing List.

Okay, I don't know about you, but I think Alex may have been trying to avoid the camera!

What an incredible amount of cool stuff they have been doing! Yesterday (Wed.), they put the shingles on Mary Margaret's house, and they almost finished painting Catherine's house. Katie Dubose and one the St. David's kids (from Lexington) sealed the trailer roof while Thomas and Dana ripped out some rotten flooring. Thomas also moonlighted as an electrician's assistant.

Then when they get back to the church, the gang has partaken in some hard fought water balloon wars!

Today, the group headed to New Orleans. I mistook that for a possible sight-seeing day, but it was still work. Here's their day in Dana's words:

"Today we help re-organize a disaster recovery warehouse and loaded and unloaded sheetrock for two homeowners. One of the homeowners, Mr. Charles, has been living in a FEMA trailer and has to get out soon. A church group from Phoenix was working on Mr. Charles' home. It was a long day - we left the church at 7:00 a.m. Peace, Dana"

These youth are working hard and making a difference down there. It is awesome! Keep them in your prayers!

blessings
dorian

Catherine, working hard!















Isaac and Paul getting ready to load some sheetrock.















Thomas watching intently and prepping to load some sheetrock.

Before

















After
















The crew is in Louisiana! Here's our group: Dana Turner, Margaret Ann Dubose, Paul Palmer, Katie Dubose, Catherine Collins, Mary Margaret Collins, Dendy Steddenbenz, Alex Bowers, Thomas Weatherwax, and Isaac Viard. They battled some heavy rain to get to their destination, but made it safely on Sunday.

The above pictures show one of the work groups before the rain and after the rain from a storm on Monday! I'm not sure how many people there are total, but there are three work groups. Margaret Ann, Dana, Thomas and Katie are in one group. They have been working diligently to clean out the home of an elderly woman. She lives with no electricity and no running water. Her home is full of stuff, making it hard to move around in. Their group is trying to clear her home out to help make it more livable.

Catherine Collins is the team leader for one of the sites. Alex is with her and they are scraping and painting their home. Mary Margaret is also a team leader, and she's got Issac and Dendy on her team. They are doing a roof, and apparently it is quite steep. They finished the ridge today and hope to get most of the roof done tomorrow. They are also cutting back shrubbery and doing some cleaning.

They are staying at a really large Baptist church that has been a great host. The have the run of some really cool facilities. They are working really hard and having a good time while they do it. We'll have some more updates for you later on. Keep them in your prayers, that they work safely with joy and enthusiasm.

blessings,
dorian

Here's a few more pics (thanks to Dana for the mobile pics):

The home where Dana, Margaret Ann, Katie, and Thomas are working.


















Thomas working hard.



















Alex and Isaac chilling during lunch.