Mission Trip 17
Mannford/Tulsa, Oklahoma Area
Sunday, September 25th, 2016
All mission group members arrived safely from Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and New Mexico. We are settled into our weeks lodging at First United Methodist Church Family Life Center on the edge of Mannford, OK. It is a super nice facility with gracious hosts. We are thankful for the well-appointed kitchen and the six showers. We are also thankful for the six new members that have joined us for week: Dylan B, Dick B, Danette J, Bob K, Jean H-K and Dick N. We will be sharing meal prep responsibilities and several group members have brought yummy treats, fruits and vegetables to round out our meal plan. We attended Sunday services at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church and brunch at a local family restaurant. Gary and Rosy Asher, our leaders, provided a thorough orientation to the group at our evening meal provided by Watermark Mission at the Steer Inn Family Restaurant. We reflected on our early mission trips after Hurricane Katrina and that our mission is to be the hands and feet and heart of Jesus on earth to help people recover from devastation inflicted by a natural disaster.
Monday, September 26th, 2016
Mondays are always exciting and somewhat frustrating as we are anxious to begin work yet need to take time to organize into smaller teams to address the work at hand. We started the day with a good breakfast prepared by Dan K, Phyllis O and Tom L. We then participated in a prayer service led by Gary A. with accompaniment by Jenny G. Hall Wright from United Methodist Disaster Relief joined us at 8:30 AM to describe the project we will be working on related to a tornado that struck in 2015 - a home owned by a Veteran that had sustained significant damage. After a 30 miles to Tulsa ,we immediately began working on the home taking off storm windows and replacing window sills. Another team starting working on a total rebuild of a large front porch. And yet another group began working on replacing the garage door. The house was in desperate need of having the siding repaired and repainted. Another team began the big job of scraping window trim and siding. We had a safety meeting after work and ended the day with a delicious mean prepared by Jenny G and assistants Danette and Darlene A.
Tuesday, September 27th
We began our day with a hearty egg-bake by Danette J. Coming along on these mission trips for the meals alone is a real treat. Gary led us in prayer and Jenny provided the music for the hymns by popular request. Today a lot of energy was put into scraping the home for a total refresh. Rotted sections of siding were rebuilt. One entrance door was replaced and the new garage door rebuild was completed. The porch rebuild is coming along nicely. Dan and Phyllis prepared a pork tenderloin dinner complete with apple crisp and ice cream. Most of the group played card games, read or checked their email until it was time to retire. We have been blessed with pleasant weather…..conducive to the outside work we are doing.
Wednesday, September 28th
Big day in Okalahoma…a sunny breezy day and its is Tom and Irma’s 48th wedding anniversary and I am sure we will find a way to celebrate it! Gary led us in prayer after a casual breakfast. It is midweek and we are more intense on scraping the sides of the home and replacing more of the rotted siding. The framework on the large porch is complete including rafter’s and clear roof panels. A new screen door was painted and prepared for installation. Painting of the new porch began and the screen door mounted. We all got back in time to get cleaned up and left for the Hickory House in Cleveland, OK for a great evening meal and celebration of Tom and Irma’s 48 wedding anniversary. With Jenny in the lead we created lyrics that went along with their favorite song “Yesterday”. They were given cards we each made to honor this wonderful celebration of life and enduring love. A nice way to end a day of filled with labors of love and caring.
Thursday, September 29th
This morning George W and Dick N prepared us a hearty meal of pancakes, ham and eggs. We were excited to get to the house in Tulsa and to continue painting the house with getting second coats on all four sides of the house. The house is white and the new porch we built is also white but now the house has a vibrant red front door and also the new screen door to the house is a matching vibrant red. A plan is made to finish the remaining work on the house on Friday. A group of two Greg W and Dick B went to another home to hang sheetrock in a living room ceiling. We also hope to complete the finishing and then paint the ceiling before the end of the day on Friday. We were treated to homemade tacos prepared by Darlene A and Danette…complete with yummy ice cream cake for our evening meal. We ended the evening by playing card games and visiting.
Friday, September 30th
After breakfast and prayers, we headed to Tulsa for our last day of work. We finished everything we had hoped to at the Veteran's home. Missy & Dylan carved a wooden flower for the flower bed. We then presented the home owner with a solar light as a reminder of hope. It was pretty emotional and he was very appreciative. Jenny, Greg, Dick & Phyllis went to the "ceiling" home that was started on Thursday. They scrubbed down the living room walls and painted the whole room. A few more members came and helped after finishing at the Veteran's home. We were happy to be able to complete work for this 80 year old women and also presented her with a solar light. What made this even more special, it was the homeowners birthday and we sang to her. She said helping her was the best birthday present ever!
When we finish with jobs like these, it makes our hearts sing!!!
The evening meal was left-overs, then we packed, cleaned the facility and turned in for a good nights sleep.
Saturday, October 1st
Another Mission trip is over. We say good-bye to our friends and head home, back to Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota & New Mexico, with hopes of getting together for Mission #18 next Spring. Once again we praise God for blessing us with the opportunity to help others!