Nothing Keeps The Team From Its Urban Ministry Workday Commitment

Ever wonder what it might feel like if you were struck by something weighing 6 tons?  Team member Tim Smith found out the answer to that question this morning at about 8:30 am while en route to our workday assignment at the Urban Ministry campus in Midfield. When they transport the workhorse Asbury UMC skid steer, know as Abel, between its storage location and a work site, the Asbury team caravans with a lead vehicle blazing the trail, then the skid steer on its trailer pulled by a truck, and finally a third vehicle brings up the rear to watch and make sure nothing untoward happens to the tow vehicle and its cargo.  A very fine, safety-conscious system.  This morning Tim Smith was in the lead, Boyd Martin was in his pick-up truck hauling the skid steer trailer and Henry Averyt brought up the rear. A car traveling in front of Tim had been riding its brakes off and on for a while but then suddenly slammed on its brakes for no apparent reason and in order to avoid colliding with that car, Tim was compelled to do the same.  As he veered a bit left to avoid that braking car - but he couldn't go too far left or he'd be heading into oncoming traffic - the braking car in front of him just as surprisingly as it had braked, now quickly accelerated and sped off.  Tim's vehicle never touched that first-braking-then-accelerating car, but the chain of events that ensued was already set in motion and the sound of Boyd's truck's screeching brakes behind him (and his quick peek in his rear-view mirror) confirmed for Tim that the 12,000-pound load behind him would quickly be upon him.  And even though Boyd attempted to swerve to the right to avoid Tim there just wasn't enough room to avoid the inevitable.  Boyd's left front bumper connected with Tim's right rear bumper, and that was that.

Fortunately, no one was injured and both vehicles were still able to be driven (after pulling Boyd's bumper out a bit so it wouldn't cut his left front tire).  Equally fortunate, as the accident occurred near the construction occurring on Highway 150 in Hoover just northwest of South Shades Crest Road, Henry in his chase vehicle - which was not involved in the accident in any way - drove ahead just a bit and found a state trooper there and brought him back to the accident site to write up a report so an insurance claim could be filed. And you know, the Lord really does work in mysterious ways because after doing whatever state troopers do when surveying an accident site and then driving off, the officer - State Trooper Elkins - came back to Tim, Boyd and Henry and (1.) told them that he'd email his report to them so they wouldn't have to wait for it or pay a fee to obtain it; and then (2.) he took two $20 bills from his wallet and gave it to them saying he had been "led to give this gift to Cutters for Christ."  What a blessing out of tragedy! After composing themselves - and calling ahead to the rest of us who by now had gathered at our work site at our 9 am start time in Midfield and were wondering about their whereabouts - they then proceeded on their way and met the rest of us at the Urban Ministry campus in Midfield about 30 minutes later.

The team members participating in our workday assignment today were (standing, left to right) John Boettner, Tim Smith, Bob Nabors, Buddy Williams, Bob Suellentrop, Rev. Sam Williamson, Urban Ministry representative Danny Jones, (kneeling, left to right) Bob Thompson, Henry Averyt, Jim Pressler and Boyd Martin. Not pictured: John Calhoun and Abel!

Our assignment was to cut up and remove the tree that had been blown over during the June 22 "Fairfield Tornado."  None of us could actually identify what type of tree it was (!??!) but it was big - both in length and girth - and a relatively soft wood.  At its base, its diameter was 33".  It had a multi-branches canopy and was probably 50' tall when it was standing, but now way lying across the back corner of the Urban Ministry property attached to a root ball half in and half out of the ground.

Before During

Here's a short (30-second) video of several of our team members in action.  See the sights and listen to the sounds we see and hear as we work!

After (and yes, those buildings were always behind the debris but unseen in the "Before" image above)

But as is typical in our work when we undertake a Neighbor-In-Need project like this one, there is always some incidental, incremental debris clean-up to undertake, as well.  And this deployment was no different.

Before After

Before After

Our work was completed around 11:30 am.  We celebrated the conclusion of our work by eating brownies baked by Peggy Thompson (to replace the brownies made by Nancy Miller the last time we deployed but finished so early that most participants went home before lunchtime and, therefore, didn't get a chance to partake of this always appreciated team treat).  Thank you, Peggy and Nancy, for tantalizing our sweet teeth and for once again contributing unneeded but really great-tasting calories to our bodies!  (Keep them coming!!!) And as if the brownies weren't enough, for just a bit more camaraderie together before heading home today several participants once again elected to stop off at Bob Sykes Bar-B-Que in Bessemer for lunch.  Well, it was on our way home, after all.  (Any excuse to stop in and dine at Boyd's favorite restaurant in the world!)

All in all we enjoyed great weather (middle 80's with a slight breeze and sunny skies), performing a task we enjoyed and of which we made relatively quick work (with Jim able to use his pole saw and Buddy even able to break out and use the Stihl 461 28" bar chainsaw at the base of that big tree), and the fellowship of our mission colleagues.

While our physical safety record remains at 100% since our inception in 2013 - 1,638 days without a work site injury or accident thus far - our days of vehicle safety will reset tomorrow once again for the second time.  (Bob Thompson and Ken Clements experienced an inadvertent fender-bender - the same right rear (Ken) and left front (Bob) damage as Tim's and Boyd's - while deployed together and working on tornado debris clean-up in Sheffield, Alabama on September 1, 2015, 724 days ago.) As of this writing, both Tim and Boyd report that they - and Abel - made it home safely and that they will begin the process of securing repair estimates first thing tomorrow!  They both probably could use your prayers.  We hope they'll be siting down when those estimates come in and that their insurance companies will take pity on them, treat them kindly and quickly restore their vehicles.

Remember to check our blog occasionally at http://cuttersforchrist.blogspot.com/.  And feel free to leave us a note or two there from time to time.

In His Service, Bob Bob Thompson Cutters for Christ Disaster Response Ministry Deployment/Team Coordinator