Nauvoo - Part 3

In a previous report we told you that we'd eventually be returning to Nauvoo for a third job assignment there at the site of a mobile home disaster.  Two huge oak trees had fallen into, around and through the mobile home owned by Jan Hoadley and occupied by her godson, Conner Franklin.  The blessing in this tragedy was that no lives were lost or even injuries incurred - either to the humans or to the numerous animals that resided on the property.  Jan knew her mobile home was lost, but without some outside help, she also knew that she'd never be able to clear her property of the debris resulting from the downed trees.  And that's where we came in.  After finishing job #2 in Nauvoo and then our follow-up work commitment in Sheffield, we scheduled ourselves to start our Nauvoo #3 job on a Saturday (a rare workday for a CFC team but we hoped we might attract a faith-based youth group to work with us on that day to show them what we do and encourage their future participation, too), and then we committed to return again every Tuesday for as many Tuesdays as it took for us to clear Jan's property.  As it turned out, that would be 3 Tuesdays.  The work took us from September 19 through October 6 to complete, and entailed a commitment of 276 service hours.

Day 1 - Saturday, September 19

While the youth we had hoped would be working with us never made it to Nauvoo, we were blessed to have three youth leaders from Riverchase UMC join our work team this day.  Those participating included (from left to right, kneeling): Boyd Martin, Dean Charles, Ken Clements and Bob Thompson; (standing): property owner Jan Hoadley, Conner Franklin (obscured; standing immediately behind his godmother), David Moser, James Kern, Greg Warden, Henry Averyt and Ted Bentley.

You may remember several of the original pictures of the destruction we shared with you in a previous newsletter report:

Our objective today was to remove as much of the canopy and as many of the branches of the large oak that bisected the mobile home as we could so Jan and Conner could enter the building and retrieve as many of the possessions as they could from the structure; and remove all the branches that had fallen and remained on the roofs of the mobile home and the vehicles that were parked on the property.  And we did accomplish those objectives before departing for the day.

Before:

After:

Day 2 - Tuesday, September 22

We had a great team of cutters and pullers at work in Nauvoo today.  It was a warm day so we took several rest breaks and hydrated with water, electrolyte replacement and even pickle juice (to reduce cramping).  Out lawn chairs came in handy this day!  From left to right: Mark Martin, Boyd Martin, Buddy Williams, Sam Williamson, Jason Cannon, Ray Miller, Bob Thompson, property owner Jan Hoadley and her godson, Conner Franklin, and Jim Pressler.

Today's objective was to buck (cut up) as much of the big trees still lying horizontally on the property (the biggest one having a 36"+ diameter!), return the root balls of the two large oaks that had been uprooted by the straight line winds back into the ground as best as possible, stack as much of the cut up trunks as we could so that Jan could split it and use it for firewood at a later time (we ended up creating 4 different wood piles!), and establish a passageway through the remaining mobile home structure so that a skid steer tractor could move freely from the front of the home to the rear of the home and thereby move even more of the large tree trunk sections from the front to the back of the property when we returned the next Tuesday.  All went well until we discovered that there was a double I-beam frame under the mobile home supporting it, through which the skid steer would not be able to pass until they were removed!  That was a challenge that would not dissuade us, of course!  Special thanks this day to Nancy Miller who sent along homemade brownies with her husband, Ray, which reinvigorated the team following our brown-bag lunchtime break.

Day 3 - Tuesday, September 29

Between last Tuesday and this Tuesday we were able to speak with a Walker County welder - JR Deason - who we learned had mobile acetylene welding gear set up on his work truck.  Once JR understood our faith-based purpose and our service motivation of restoring hope in Jesus' name, he graciously offered to work with us at no charge to cut through the subject I-beams so we could finish our Nauvoo assignment.  Although we had anticipated finishing this job today, as the weatherman forecast a 90% chance of rain we decided to call off the skid steer team fearing that the ground would be too soft and muddy for the tractor to work effectively without further damaging Jan's property.  But JR said he'd work rain or shine; so a small team met him at the job site early in the morning and he made short work of removing the I-beams.  JR even used the hoist on his truck to help us remove the small porch at the front of the mobile home that we also needed to dismantle to allow the skid steer access through the structure.  We then cut through and capped the remaining PVC water pipes and the skid steer pathway was effectively readied for use.  Too bad the weatherman's forecast was so wrong.  The day was sunny, warm and not a drop of rain fell!  But we had no skid steer with us, so completion of the job would have to wait one more week.

The "I-beam removal team" consisted of Bob Thompson, Ray Miller, JR Deason, Boyd Martin, Buddy Williams, Mike Williams (JR's assistant), property owner Jan Hoadley and Henry Averyt.

Before/during the I-beam, PVC piping and porch removal:

Porch removal video (click on the image to view the video):

After:

Day 4 - Tuesday, October 6

Today would be our final day of working at Jan's property.  Unfortunately no team picture was taken, but team participants consisted of Boyd Martin, Buddy Williams, Dean Charles, Henry Averyt, property owner Jan Hoadley, Mark Martin, Ray Miller, Sam Williamson and Tim Smith.  And, of course, Abel, the Asbury UMC skid steer and power member of the team! Our work today consisted of moving the large sections of tree trunks from the front of Jan's property to the rear of the property and also the large sections from the rear of the property to where Jan wanted them all stacked, cutting the large sections once more into smaller sizes, if possible, and then tidying up the remaining grounds as best as possible before calling the job completed. Jan and Conner know that they still have much to do to continue salvaging what they want from the mobile home and then there will be all the wood splitting, but they were very appreciative of our services to them.

As much as Jan says she was blessed by our willingness and ability to serve her, we were just as much if not even more blessed to have been able to accept and complete this job assignment.  We were in the right place at the right time when we were originally asked to undertake the work; we were supported in our efforts to serve Jan by the City of Nauvoo and from Walker County; and we were generously assisted by a saint known to us as JR Deason who we did not know previously at all, but who demonstrated himself in every way to be a servant of the Lord and someone willing to work with us again should we ever return to his geographic area. The Lord continues to watch over us and protect us as we work.  Our 100% safety record remains intact even after tackling these large trees.  And we were able to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ to Jan and Conner by reflecting God's love of and for them throughout our four days of work with them.  Our departing and ongoing prayer for Jan and Conner was and will be that as they continue to recover from the property destruction that has befallen them, they will recognize, know and share with others their knowledge that the Lord has stood by them throughout the time of their ordeal and calamity; and that He continues to offer each of them hope.  Praise God.  We give Him all the glory!

In closing, and as always, please remember to follow us on our blog site from time to time at cuttersforchrist.bologspot.com.

In His Service, Bob