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

Finished in Fairfield

We asked if we were still needed in Fairfield and told "yes."  So on Wednesday morning, July 12, at 8:15 am, an 11-man Cutters for Christ team (Alan Weeks, Bob Nabors, Bob Thompson, Boyd Martin, David Moser, Henry Averyt, John Calhoun, John Fillebaum, Pink Folmar, Tim Smith and Wes Savage) and Asbury UMC's skid steer "Abel" convened at our Fairfield staging site (the Flintridge Shopping Center parking lot) ready to deploy to the addresses that the city had pre-qualified and for which they had received signed Right of Entry authorization forms from the property owners occupying the properties still in need.  Perhaps we should have known this deployment would be a bit different when there was no one at the Wright Center (where the job assignments are distributed) when this writer arrived just before 8 am to pick up our assignments, nor did the person who was going to give us our assignments arrive until 8:45 am.  (Admittedly and respectfully, she had had her own set of problems this morning that kept her from arriving until that time.) I was given a list of 55 jobs and was told all had ROEs on file, but no one was able to tell me which of the jobs might be clustered together so we could break up and work two teams closely enough together so Abel could run between the two teams moving cut-up debris.  John Calhoun and I took the list and began locating addresses that were at least listed as being on the same streets while the rest of the team moved on to the corner of Court G and 56th Street - where we had worked last week just east of Miles College - and prepared to deploy to the addresses which John and I would identify as needing our help. An hour later we returned to the team - which now had been waiting around for assignments for almost 2 hours! - and told them that we had scoped out 16 addresses and determined that 15 of them had already been completed!  The one that remained was a small job on a corner that maybe would take two cutters less than 30 minutes to complete. David, Henry and Tim volunteered to head to that address and complete the work.  With no other work that we could find for ourselves, the rest of the team headed home while Boyd, John and I went to the Wright Center to report our findings to the administrative folks there and to state that based upon all the addresses we scoped out having already been completed, we did not foresee our teams returning to Fairfield after completing the one job our team was undertaking at the corner of 66th Street and Myron Massey Boulevard. Before departing ourselves we were told in a telephone conversation at the Wright Center by a city public works official that there was still a desperate need for tree cutting debris removal in the alleys behind Court F, so the three of us went back to Court F only to find that both of the alleys - the one to the east and the one to the west behind Court F - were clear and passable throughout their entire lengths! We reported that to the staff at the Wright Center and with that Boyd headed home.  John and I thought we'd drive past the Myron Massey assignment just to see how the team had fared there and we were quite surprised to find them still working there one hour after they started!  As it turned out this property was actually 3 lots side-by-side, owned by the same property owner, and trees were down on all three of her lots, not just the one that could be seen from the street when we made our drive-by assessment! So John and I stopped to help pull the debris that resulted from the trees they had cut and stayed with them until the job was finished.

The crew that handled the one job we actually completed today consisted of (l. to r.): John Calhoun, Henry Averyt, Tim Smith and David Moser. (Other than pulling a few limbs, my job at this site was simply taking this picture!)

As we usually try to share with our readers, here are a few before and after photos of the work on this property which, as previously reported, was more than we originally anticipated.

Before: After:

Before: After:

Before: After:

While we were disappointed that we were only able to serve one property owner today, especially when we had anticipated working for so many others and a first-time participant (Pink) and second time participants (John F. and Wes) enthusiastically came out to work with us today, we know that at least that one property owner will smile when she returns from work tonight.  And although she may not know that a Cutters for Christ team stopped by to assist her, perhaps the Holy Spirit will fill her with peace and thanksgiving and she will praise the name of Jesus when she sees what was accomplished for her today. Because we were so close to one of the most famous barbecue restaurants in Alabama four of us decided to stop for lunch - it was just noontime when we finished up our work - at Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q before we returned to our homes.  Yum - as always!

Unfortunately everyone dispersed - both from Fairfield and from Bessemer - before we could partake of team member Nancy Miller's notoriously famous and delicious chocolate brownies which she had specifically baked and then sent with me for the team's lunchtime dessert.  We'll freeze them and then take them with us on our next deployment, wherever and whenever that will be.  We know there definitely will be a next time, sometime.

Thanks for your ongoing prayers and your continuing support of our mission activities.  And thanks for keeping up with us through these workday reports!

Don't forget to follow us from time to time and leave us feedback on our blog page at http://cuttersforchrist.blogspot.com/.

In His Service, Bob

Two Days in Fairfield...  So Far!

An EF-1 tornado made its way through Fairfield, Alabama - approximately running parallel to I-20/59 and then crossing the Interstate at the north end of its 8.29 mile track - on Thursday, June 22, along a very narrow (255 yards maximum width) pathway.  This map, prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service, shows the course taken by the storm.

On Saturday morning, June 26, at 8:30 am, a 7-person Cutters for Christ team and Abel were on-site and accepted work assignments from the city of Fairfield to help clear debris from 6 different properties that day. The seven members who were able to deploy on such short notice were Bob Suellentrop, Boyd Martin, Buddy Williams, Chris Williams (Buddy's son who happened to be stateside at this particular time; Chris is an original member of our CFC team but has been "on leave" from the team while serving as a missionary - first training in Costa Rica and then appointed in Colombia, South America - with his wife and three children for the last three years), David Moser, John Boettner and Tim Smith. The team was assigned to work in an area in the vicinity of 60th Street and Court G.  While photos of the team working in Fairfield on Saturday are sparse, here is a look at what the team encountered.

This tornado aftermath has displayed a bit different-looking destruction pattern than we normally encounter - at least in the areas of work to which we have been assigned thus far.  While the images many of us saw on television showed a good deal of damage to businesses, we did not see such destruction in the residential areas where we have been assigned to work.  While, of course, if the damage left behind by the storm affected you personally as a property owner, the damage was absolutely significant.  But overall, we did not see trees snapped off 30' above the ground leaving totem poles behind.  We did not see homes blown apart or flattened by the winds.  We did not see a wide swath where we could clearly identify the edges of the path the tornado took as it traversed from southwest to northeast with everything within those borders looking like a bombed-out war zone.  Instead, trees were blown over in their totality, exposing root balls everywhere.  Tree limbs and leaves littered the ground forming dense "jungles" of debris to cut through.  And blessedly, only shingles blown off roof tops, some roofs penetrated by trees falling on them and collapsed carports appeared to be the most prevalent structural damage we saw.  The team reported that they started working on a sunny day, but by the time they finished working around 4 pm the skies had re-opened and they concluded their assignments in a downpour. A second team consisting of 7 participants deployed on Wednesday, June 28 and we do have a picture to share with you of them, taken immediately following their lunch break:

The June 28 team was comprised of (l. to r.) Ken Clements, John Calhoun, Buddy Williams, Tim Smith, Bob Thompson, Ray Miller and Boyd Martin. Not pictured: The super skidsteer, Abel!

The team was assigned to work the 56th Street block bordered by Myron Massey Boulevard and Court G - just to the east of the Miles College campus.

BEFORE: The alley behind the houses fronting on Court G and Myron Massey Boulevard as seen from 56th Street AFTER:

BEFORE: The carport behind 5600 Court G (note the tree that fell on and collapsed the carport rooftop and the tree branches to the right). AFTER:

Working on debris removal behind the carport and the Myron Massey house:

BEFORE: Debris behind 5601 Myron Massey Boulevard. AFTER:

NBC Channel 13 filmed many of the groups working in Fairfield last Saturday and this past Wednesday, and they interviewed several property owners, too, in order to put together a story for their local nightly newscasts on Wednesday.  We were filmed while working and a few seconds of our work on Wednesday did show up in the 4, 5 and 6 pm news broadcasts.  If you're viewing this communication on your PC or if you have Flash installed on your Mac, click on the image below to (hopefully, if the link works!) watch one of the versions of the news story the station aired.

Our Baptist DRM and Adventist DRM chainsaw team colleagues have been working in Fairfield, too, and we're aware that even some Habitat for Humanity home building teams were reassigned from their construction work sites to help out with debris clean-up in Fairfield last Saturday.  There's still work to do there but the rainy weather that is forecast to extend through at least the beginning of next week compromises our ability to get out there again - especially with the skid steer support we need. Between our first two days of work in Fairfield we've provided 120.5 hours of service with more anticipated to follow.  Our safety record remains at 100% for 5 years running. As always, we appreciate your continuing prayers for those who deploy with our CFC teams to share God's love and to restore hope in Jesus' name.  But most of all we ask you to please be in prayer for those who may have suffered any losses at all and of any sort in connection with this storm!

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

Sumatanga Scoop

May 2017

Moving Forward

ZIP LINE PROGRESS

American Adventure Parks Systems is continuing their work on our zip line.  Four of their construction crew recently began pulling the permanent zip cables into place.  This phase of the work was begun ahead of schedule thanks to the work of "Cutters for Christ" who came last month to cut out of the way 84 trees that AAPS had marked that had to be removed.  2 major grants are being submitted for the purpose of funding the remainder of this project.  One of the things that these foundations like to see is that there are other financial supporters for the project and thanks to churches, individual, and the Daniel Foundation, we can truly say that we have many.  While you may only be able to give a little toward this exciting new addition to our Outdoor Adventure Program, the fact that more people are giving goes a long way in the eyes of the Foundation Boards that are considering funding the majority of the project.  Your gift counts!  Donations are tax deductable and may be sent to Sumatanga marked "Zip Line".

Cutters for Christ