An update from CFC member John Boettner

Surgery went well, I am recovering.

Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts for John.

An update from Jason, it's a boy!

Graham Joseph Cannon was born on Wednesday the 16th!!! He was a healthy 7lbs9ozs & 21" long , Momma is doing just great ! We prayed for a healthy , quick labor and God answered our prayers ! We feel beyond blessed !  hope you all are doing well and look forward to seeing you soon . 

An update from John Boettner

I am scheduled for open heart surgery on August 6th at Brookwood to repair a dime sized hole between the atria. I'll be in the hospital 4-5 days and then a roughly 3-4 month recovery time. Hopefully by mid fall I will be back to my normal level of fitness and be able to participate in CFC activities again. Keep the updates coming !
thanks,
John

Our Workday Report for Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Well, I should never have said our work had concluded for the time being!  Less than one week after I made that declaration we were back in Bessemer to tackle the job that the City of Bessemer had asked us to consider on Cumberland Road. As my distribution list is the same for both our Cutters for Christ ("CFC") Disaster Response Ministry ("DRM") and our Riverchase UMC ("RUMC") DRM, this report will incorporate information about our morning CFC DRM job and our afternoon RUMC DRM work.

Our CFC team today consisted of 7 members, plus the Asbury UMC skid steer "Abel" - (standing from left to right) Bob Thompson, Henry Averyt, Ray Miller, homeowner Sandra Camp, Eric Bradley, Boyd Martin, Jason Cannon, (squatting down in front) Buddy Williams and (in the background) "Abel."  You'll notice in our team picture that today we wore the t-shirts of our respective church disaster response ministry teams, emphasizing the faith-based coalition ministry that we are.  Our CFC DRM is comprised of Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran and Catholic church volunteers at the present time.

Mrs. Camp had previously had her downed trees limbed and the limb debris removed to her curb, but the trees themselves - one of them, the pine, was massive at approximately 50 feet long, 9.5 feet in circumference and 40 inches in diameter(!!) and had fallen on the smaller tree when it was uprooted - remained in her yard.  Our job was to remove them (which, of course, we did), leaving her only stubby tree stumps and their root balls as souvenirs of the tornado that toppled them over.  Mrs. Camp watched the entire operation from her observation seat located under her carport and she very generously offered us fresh strawberries and cookies which we certainly appreciated during our half-time hydration break.

We were also blessed by team member Jason Cannon bringing his drone, equipped with a GoPro camera, with him today (he uses the aerial tool to fly over and monitor his crops and farm property; it's the modern alternative to hiring a helicopter or airplane service to do that for him or fly him up personally for a bird's eye view).  He sent it up to take several images of our work in process during the morning.  Here's one that will give you a perspective of how small we are compared to how big the tree was on which we were working.

After saying our good-byes to Mrs. Camp and sharing a circle of prayer with her before our departure, the team dispersed to go their separate ways to pursue different afternoon obligations. On behalf of our RUMC DRM Ray Miller and I went on to the House of Restoration Church, a United Methodist mission located in Birmingham's West End, where we had been asked to follow-up on a job we undertook several weeks back.  The debris we had cut and Canterbury UMC's skid steer "Samson" had moved to the curb had been picked up by the City of Birmingham - that is, all but one piece.  Apparently the root ball was just too large and heavy for the City's grapple trucks to pick up!  So we were asked to return and cut the trunk into smaller, more manageable and lighter pieces so the City could return and remove them. Ray and I were back to the old days, without a skid steer to support our efforts, cutting the root ball into smaller pieces that we could move ultimately move ourselves with the help of cant hooks, iron bars and strong backs.  The temperature was high - in the middle 90's - so we took several rest breaks and drank plenty of water and Gatorade.  This was another big circumference, big diameter piece of lumber, but after 2.5 hours we felt we had completed the job sufficiently for the City to return and complete theirs.

So maybe this really was our final deployment in connection with the April 28 tornado, but who really knows?! In conclusion today our CFC DRM would like to especially acknowledge and thank Asbury and Riverchase UMCs which have committed ongoing support to our coalition ministry through their  contributions of equipment and money: for "Abel" and the diesel fuel and maintenance to keep him operating; for the purchase of both short- and long-bar chainsaws and a pole saw plus the pre-mixed 50:1 fuel and bar oil for them; and for many arbor hand tools, as well.  And we'd also like to thank the United Methodist Church North Alabama Conference which generously offered us reimbursement for several expenses that were incurred by both individual volunteers and our church DRMs during the course of our work following this most recent severe storm.  And finally, we thank you, once again - for your prayers and continued interest in our services provided in Jesus' name and for the Glory of God.

In His Service, Bob

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 _____________________________________________________________