Most of you Cutters know about the heart trouble John Boettner has been having. Below is a report from his doctor visit last week. He will be meeting with his surgeon Tuesday to see what is next. John has asked that we all keep him and his family in our thoughts and prayers.

John Boettner  wrote:

Yesterdays test and ablation went well, however the test results were discouraging. Looks like I will need open heart surgery to repair a hole between the two upper chambers of my heart. Will know more after meeting with surgeon next week. Once my incisions from yesterday heal up in a few days I will be free to resume normal activity until the next round of tests and surgery which could be as early as next month.

Thanks again for your and the group's concern, is is very appreciated. 

John

Our Workday Report for Tuesday, June 24, 2014

For what we think will be our final day of service in Bessemer, a team of 10 CFC volunteers (assisted by the mechanical tools of Asbury UMC’s skid steer - Abel; Jason Cannon’s John Deere tractor - TJ2G; and Alan Weeks’ winch truck - Angel) again came together to clean debris left behind by the April 28 tornado that moved through that community.  The team consisted of (seated in the foreground) Buddy Williams, Boyd Martin, (standing left to right) Jason Cannon, Eric Bradley, Chris Williams, Alan Weeks (actually seated in Abel), Ray Miller, David Moser, Bob Thompson and Henry Averyt.

We had anticipated a work order list of 7 jobs but because of a variety of reasons - none the least was that we really needed a bucket truck to do the first job on our list but after struggling for an hour without one we had to admit our shortcomings and declare the job beyond the scope of our capabilities without the bucket truck to assist us - we ended up only being able to complete three of the ones on our list.

Another job was plagued by some confusing Right of Entry paperwork so we felt we could not go forward with it until others resolve that paperwork; the third job had already been completed by others before us (thank you to whoever that was!); and the last job - while being one we really want to do and probably WILL schedule a time someday to go back and complete - first requires a discussion with the homeowner before we start the job to assure that she understands and will accept the possible damage that might be caused to her well-manicured lawn by our tractors.  She, unfortunately, was not home when we stopped by to assess the job so we had to put that one aside for toady, as well. So after being defeated by that first attempted job and thwarted by the other three, we split into two teams to tackle what would be our two before-lunch jobs:

506 Oak Street before   506 Oak Street after

711 2nd Avenue North before 711 2nd Avenue North after

We shared fellowship and our sack lunches on the porch of the 711 2nd Avenue North property and appreciated the fact that the arrival of any inclement weather had continued to hold off for us.  We had feared that our workday might get rained out altogether based upon the weather forecast for the day, but the raindrops held off until we were just finishing up the third and final job on our list.  Special thanks once again go out to teammate Nancy Miller who could not be with us today but who, nevertheless, baked and sent homemade brownies along with her husband, Ray, to complete our meal.  Yum!!  Thank you so much, Nancy!

Everyone pitched in and worked together on our last job at 526 Alice Street:

before

during

after

Our disaster response ministry will take a little break now and work on our equipment maintenance and preparedness for the next severe storm. Remember that you can always follow our CFC blog at http://cuttersforchrist.blogspot.com/.  We do hope that you'll check it out from time to time. In conclusion today, we ask that you continue praying for the survivors of all severe storms in our area as well as for those all across the country who are working hard every day at rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of the devastation and destruction they and their families have suffered. We thank you, too, as always, for all the prayers you have lifted up in support of our Cutters for Christ volunteers during these past eight and one-half weeks.

In His Service, Bob

Our Workday Report for Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Today we were in Chelsea, Alabama at the request/referral of the Disaster Response Ministry Coordinator of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church.  Our client today, Mr. Bill Roberson, was awakened in the middle of the night a short while back by the sound of a huge limb that had broken off from a tree on his property in a high wind and came crashing down on - and in some places through - his metal roof.

This is Mr. Roberson.

Our team today consisted of (pictured from left to right): Jim Pressler, Ken Clements, Bob Suellentrop, Eric Bradley, Boyd Martin, Buddy Williams, Bob Thompson; plus (separately pictured below) Henry Averyt and Carey Baird. And of course we could not have completed this job without the special assistance of Asbury UMC’s skid steer, Abel!

We were especially blessed to have Carey working with us today.  He is our blade sharpening partner and teammate and he brought his mobile workshop to the job site today to sharpen our chainsaw chains, as well as other forestry, arbor and lawn equipment blades that have become dulled from our use these past many weeks.  Carey spent the entire morning in his workshop working on the items teammates brought to him for his evaluation and sharpening.  Certainly your work with us today, Carey, was especially timely and as always, we appreciate the service you offer to us and the special support you bring to the Cutters for Christ disaster response ministry.

Our assignment today was to remove the tree that had fallen and impaled itself on Mr. Roberson’s roof and then tarp the roof so that no rain could enter through the holes that were exposed once the tree was removed.  (Someone will be coming to Mr. Roberson’s house by the end of the week to make permanent repairs to his damaged roof.)  Here are before, during and after photos of our work today.

While we were at work we were visited by Fox6-TV news reporter Erika Gonzalez who, after gathering videotape and interviews with us and with Mr. Roberson, departed to return to her station to compose a story about Cutters for Christ for the evening newscasts.  Her report has been posted on the Fox6 website at http://www.myfoxal.com/story/25802528/cutter-for-christ-provide-free-storm-debris-clean-up-in-jefferson-county.

We had estimated that we would finish our work at Mr. Roberson’s home before lunchtime today and we finished right AT lunchtime as it turned out.  We were pleasantly surprised by the very kind invitation of our team safety officer, Henry Averyt, to enjoy lunch at his residence located just a few miles away from where we were working today before heading to our respective homes.  Here we all are, along with Henry’s lovely wife, Sharon, relaxing and enjoying the view from the their back porch just before devouring the Jim ’N Nicks barbecue sandwiches, coleslaw, baked beans and lemonade spread our hosts had laid out for us!  Thank you, Henry and Sharon, for this very special, unexpected but most welcomed invitation to dine with you.

All in all, although the weather was hot, the sun was shining brightly and the humidity was high, we got the job done for Mr. Roberson and in so doing we were able to once again share the joy of Christ with another storm victim.  He was so appreciative of the work we were able to complete for him that he insisted we allow him to donate his fiberglass extension ladder to our ministry!

Call for Volunteers on Tuesday, June 24, 2014 We will be headed back to Bessemer next Tuesday, June 24, for what will probably be our final deployment related to the April 28 tornadoes.  If you’re able to participate, please drop me a note letting me know so we can be sure to send you the particulars as we get closer to that date.

Thank you, once again, to everyone who volunteered to work on our CFC team today.  As always it was a great day of Christian fellowship, doing what we enjoy doing together in the service of our Lord. In His Service, Bob Bob Thompson Cutters for Christ Disaster Response Ministry Deployment/Team Coordinator _____________________________________________________________

See what the local TV stations report about Cutters For Christ

Our 3 network interviews - 2 from Saturday and 1 from today - as they were made into TV news segments. 

http://wiat.com/2014/06/09/cleanup-from-april-storms-continues-in-bessemer/

http://www.alabamas13.com/story/25751305/cutters-for-christ-helping-bessemer-bounce-back-from-tornado

http://www.abc3340.com/clip/10244753/clean-up-day-in-bessemer

Our Workday Report for Wednesday, June 11, 2014

A little different report this time.  As it was a weekday today, not every homeowner was at home when we stopped by to follow up on the Right of Entry ("ROE") authorizations we received from the Mayor's assistant, Toraine Norris, or Bessemer Baptist Association's director, Dr. Barry Cosper, to help clear debris from their properties.  So we don't have pictures to show you in this report of the actual persons we served.  We realize that makes this report a little more distant and impersonal, but even though we may not have had the chance to meet every homeowner face to face today, that didn't dampen our enthusiasm for serving them in the name of Jesus as we've been called to do.

We had an outstanding team of volunteers working with us today.  From left to right they were Bob Suellentrop, Dean Charles, Jason Cannon, Ken Clements, Buddy Williams, Jim Pressler, Eric Bradley, Boyd Martin, Ray Miller, Madison Kimbrough and Bob Thompson.  All in all these volunteers provided 99 hours of service in Bessemer today.

We were aided today by Abel, Asbury UMC's Case skid steer, and The Jolly Green Giant ("TJGG"), Jason Cannon's H260 100 horsepower John Deere tractor.  Both were invaluable assets to have with us.

We almost canceled our workday today because the forecast for rain or thunderstorms throughout the day hovered around 50% at our evaluation time of 6:00 AM, as we were needed we decided to go anyway.  Even though the storms of last night made our work sloshy and soggy we were blessed, nevertheless - the rain held off all day and allowed us to clear 7 different properties today in three separate geographic sections of Bessemer. Even though we may not have pictures of the property owners, we do, of course, have some before and after photos to share with you. We started the day back at Mr. Moore's house on 1st Avenue North.  The assignment here was to take down the remaining limbs and trunk of the pecan tree we began sectioning last Saturday.  Half of our chainsaw cutters and Abel made relatively short work of the job.

While the team worked Mr. Moore's job, another team worked down the street at Mr. Wilson's place.  This was TJGG's first job with a CFC team and having his muscle available helped dislodge the hanging limb that had impaled itself in the ground.  Cutters sliced it up into manageable lengths and TJGG hauled the pieces to the curb.

We then dispatched the "Abel" team to clean up a lot where limbs had fallen in the 700 block of 3rd Avenue North (I only have an "after" picture of this job because the team that went there was so eager to get right to work that they forgot to take a "before" picture).

Our 4th job was on 21st Street South and cutters from our TJGG team dispatched the tree that had been uprooted in this homeowner's backyard.  A grapple was needed to lift the sections out of the homeowner's backyard so when Abel arrived he carried the sections to the curb.

Out 5th job was right around the corner on Clarendon Avenue.  This was really our challenging job of the day.  Two huge trees had blown over and actually extended to the neighbor's property (our 6th job; again only an "after" photo to share with you).  TJGG helped to dislodge the hanging limb and our cutters then went to work sectioning the trees us into pieces.  Abel and TJGG worked in tandem pulling debris from the yards to the alley right of way and then TJGG even pulled one of the tree's root balls out of the ground (usually something that's outside the scope of our work, but with Jason's tractor we said we'd give it a try and TJGG responded!  While working this assignment we were filmed and interviewed by WVTM-TV NBC13.  The reporter's story, a video and several still pictures they shot can be viewed at http://www.alabamas13.com/story/25751305/cutters-for-christ-helping-bessemer-bounce-back-from-tornado.

The owner of the Clarendon Avenue properties recommended that we have lunch at his wife's restaurant, Mary's Kitchen and Catering, so that's where half of us went and enjoyed meatloaf, chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, veggies of many types, iced tea and some even indulged in the cornbread.  The restaurant certainly lived up to its "Classic Southern with a touch of Soul!" reputation. After lunch we joined the "Abel" team on Memorial Drive where we returned to David Rhodes' home which we had assessed almost two weeks ago.  A tree had been loosened by the tornado and it was leaning from his neighbor's vacant lot and looked like it might someday fall on his house; but at the time we didn't have a ROE executed by the vacant lot owner so there was nothing we could do.  Well, between then and now the tree fell down on its own, barely missing his house after all.  The property owner had been found and an ROE had been acquired, so our job today was to cut up the debris and haul the pieces out to the street.

Three tree trunks elsewhere on his property still need to come down but the power company was not scheduled to arrive to disconnect the power lines that meandered through them until tomorrow, so that job will actually will be completed by others.  An interesting side note concerning Mr. Rhodes: his parents were members of Riverchase UMC in the 1980's when the newly planted church was meeting in the BlueCross Blue Shield buildings off Riverchase Parkway.  And he was actually baptized there!  As we left David said he hoped to bring his mother to church at Riverchase UMC some Sunday so she could see how it has grown since the time they lived closer and attended regularly and to thank everyone for their help after the tornado.

Mr. Rhodes' job ended our assignments for the day in Bessemer but several of us headed from there to the House of Restoration Church in Birmingham's West End to see how Rev. Sam Williamson and Canterbury UMC's skid steer, Samson, were coming on finishing up moving the large log sections we had cut up on Monday after Sunday night's wind storm had brought down another large pecan tree.  When we got there Sam was just finishing moving the root ball of the tree, completely clearing the property, and workers were already there reinstalling the sections of the chain link fence that surrounds the basketball court that had been destroyed when the tree fell on it.

I would be remiss if I did not state here that for those of us living near the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover - and any others of our CFC teammates who simply wanted to drive to the Chick-fil-A restaurant at Highway 150 and Galleria Boulevard and wear their yellow CFC t-shirt - we have been treated to complementary breakfasts every day CFC has deployed since April 28.  The franchise owner, Morris Jackson, and his general manager, Lucy Czachowski, have been most gracious to display their support of our volunteers and our work in this way and we have been and are most appreciative of their generosity.  Thank you Morris and Lucy! And thank you to everyone who volunteered to work on our CFC team today.  It was a great day of fellowship; it was great to have Madison work with us once again (we last saw her on a Riverchase UMC Disaster Response Ministry team when we were working the Clay tornado in 2012) and it was great to have three new volunteers - Dean, Eric and Jason, plus Jason's TJGG tractor - join us.  All are invited to deploy with us again any time. Bob Thompson