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