Thurs Aug 27

On Tuesday we finished the construction of the ramp.  All that’s left is to put on an outdoor carpet runner so that the ramp won’t be  slippery when it’s wet.

Yesterday was food for families day. We distributed 630 boxes of food. It is really a social event for many of the people that come, because they get to see and visit witho friends that they haven’t seen in a while.  Several of the people who come to pick up food are members of the church we have been attending, so it’s more hugs and kisses from our friends from Asbury UMC.

There were more meetings going on this week, so there were no short term volunteers here. The folks meeting this time were from around the country. We even had a representative from the Pacific northwest conference here. Her name is Joan Hackett and is from Vancouver, WA.

Today I’ve been tying up some loose ends to leave things in order for the long term volunteer who will replace me.  This will be my last entry from Sager Brown, but I will update the blog as we head home.  We will be stopping at my brother’s in Casa Grande, AZ for a couple of  days, then on the the Grand Canyon, then Las Vegas and then home. We should be back in Issaquah on Sept 8th.

Mon Aug 24

Today we went to put in a ramp for a wheelchair at a house in Franklin, about 5 miles from Sager Brown.  The homeowner needs to use a wheelchair due to a weak heart and other medical conditions.  When we got their the family decided they wanted the ramp to be put in at the back of the house off a porch.  There was some plywood covering the actual floor of the porch. So we pulled up the plywood to inspect the condition of the structure.  What we found was not good. There were many places that were damp and rotting. So the first order of business was to repair the porch, which we finished by lunch time.

The floor of the porch is about 44″ above the ground, so we had to plan for a ramp that was about 24′ long in order to make a slope that wasn’t too steep.  After  discussion, measuring and some strings and mirrors we had marked out the location of the end of the ramp and went to work.  By quitting time we had finished about 1/2 of the ramp floor.  Tomorrow we will finish the floor and put up the railing.

Keith took some pictures and I will add them to the blog this weekend, when I am at my brother’s where it won’t take an hour to download one picture.  The internet connection here is really, really slow.  It’s hard to believe that I will be leaving here on Friday.  Time has really flown by.

Thursday Aug 20

As I write this, there  is a fabulous thunderstorm in progress.  This computer has shut down twice now due to lightning strikes close by. Being a weather nerd, I am really enjoying this.

The difference between short term volunteers (STV) and the pastors, bishops, consultants, etc. that are her this week is quite noticeable. The STV are so grateful they they are not sleeping on the floor of a church or in a tent, that they are having their meals prepared for them and that at the end of the day they can take a hot shower, that they ask for nothing.  The folks here this have differnt expectaions entirely: private rooms with baths, individual air conditioning units and meals that are served over the course of a couple of hours, such as breakfast is from 7-9, lunch  from 12-1:30, etc.  The meals here are served family style, everyone eats at te same time. But even this late in the week people wander in anywhere from the set time to an hour later and expect their meal to be waiting for them.  Another difference, is that the bishops from other countries, apparently have staff persons that do almost everything for them and are not used to having to make their own phone calls, go through a cafeteria line, etc.  It’s not only not wanting to do those things, but in a couple of cases its not knowing how to do it.

But, I have enjoyed, meeting all the people that are here this week. I am getting to practice speaking French and German with the representatives of the Methodist church from Germany and the Congo.  Also, I have enjoyed talking to the folks from the Methodist Church headqurters in NYC, since both my parents, my brother and my aunt worked in that same building at one time. My parent both worked for the National Council of Churches, my brother worked for the Methodists and my aunt worked for the Presbyterians.

Well, there’s a break in the rain, I’d better get back to work.

Mon Aug 17

Last Thursday we got the container loaded in 1 hour 15 minutes….a new Sager Brown record. Especially amazing since we had only 16 people working on it. Even more amazing..13 of the people were over 65.  Let’s hear it for the seniors!!!!!!!!!!  The shipment will go to the port of Houston and on to Armenia.  God is good!

On the weekends I have driven around different parts of the state and have made some discoveries.  Lousisana looks pretty much the same from one end to the other.  The only difference is that there are fewer swampy areas the further north you go.

Another thing is  the odd placement of developments.  You’ll be driving along in the middle of nowhere and suddenly there will be a development of 5-10 very large, new, probably expensive brick homes on fairly small lots.    There are no schools, shops, churches, etc. within 15 miles of the homes.  Why are they built there? Who lives there?   Who would want to live there?

this week there are no short term volunteers here. We are hosting some high level meetings.  Rev Sam Dixon the head of UMCOR is here,  also   Richard Shinhoster who works with the Advance. Representatives from several conferences, here and abroad.  It’s a strategic planning session for GBGM and UMCOR.  More meetings are scheduled for next week and I have no clue what they are about.  All I know is that Joan Hackett, vice president of the UMW for our conference will be here.

It’s been interesting because the normal ebb and flow of Sager Brown has been disturbed by these meetings.  Typically, a week here starts on Sunday afternoon when the short term volunteers arrive and ends on Friday when the leave. With these meetings, some people are arriving Sun, Mon Tue and Wed and they are all leaving on different days…the last one leaves on Saturday.  Some flew into New Orleans, some into Lafayette, some drove. Some told us when their flights arrives and/or departs some told us their expected ETA by car and some have told us nothing..so we don’t know if they are really coming or not.  Some of the staff, who have been here for a long time, are having a little trouble adapting to changeable nature of things.  Ah, such is life.

Finally, I have been given the job of monitoring the progress of the tropical storms that are developing in the Atlantic.  They need to make reservations at a hotel in Shreveport if any of the storms look like they’re headed this way and they need to call way befoer the storms get close in order to insure that rooms are available.

that’s all for today.  Hope your day is  blessed

Sunday Aug 9

This past week was very busy.  Two more trucks came in with donations. We had groups from Arkansas, North Carolina and Florida.  The Florida group was here for the 10th year in a row. They are all in their 80′s and one couple was celebrating theri 62nd anniversary.  One of the guys from NC was a bulding contractor so he was able to lead a third team in the community doing home repair.   The woman with the gun, now has a door that will lock and all the other repairs to her home are complete.

I went touring yesterday and it was “one of those days”. I went to Baton Rouge where they were having a hot air balloon festival. They was a launch of all the balloons scheduled for early morning. I got up at 4:30am drove fro 2 hours, got to Batorn Rouge and it poured rain so the launch was cancelled.  Then I took off top visit some airports (for my very part time job)  and every time I got to an aiport and needed to get out of my car, the skies would open up and pour rain.  Going from Slidell to New Orleans ( here’s your geography lesson..check your maps) it rained harder than I’ve ever seen.  I was on a bridge, one on those that”s right on the water, and all I could see was rain above and falling  around me and lots of water below me…of course the bridge was so narrow that it was impossible to pull over and stop.  At that point I decided just to come back to Baldwin.  And of course when I got to Sager Brown it started to pour so I got soaked once again.

So far on this adventure I have met people who have lived in Washington, been stationed at Ft Lewis, McChord, Whidbey or Fairchild, have relatives living in Washington and the local doctor who worked as a stable boy at Longacres when he was 14.  It really is a small world.

Blessings to you all.

Tue Aug 4

Yesterday one of the crews was out repairing the home of an elderly lady.  She’d already hired and paid a contractor to make the repairs, but the work he did was, well, to put it tactfully, sub-standard. (apparently, this has been quite common since Katrina). Her  front door wouldn’t open or close properly, making it impossible for her to lock the  door. She has been bothered by what she calls “kids” coming into her house at all hours of the day a night.  She told the volunteers that if another “kid” came into her house she was going to “shoot him dead”.

The volunteers were going back to her house today to finish the roof and fix the front door.  They decided to call first to announce their arrival….just in case she really had a gun.  We counted noses a lunch time  and they all had made it back without bullet wounds

Sunday Aug 2

I guess I have aclimated to the south….I actually said “Y’all” this morning to the guys that hang out and drink coffee at the place I buy the local newspaper.

I went touring around yesterday.  I took the main road/freeway north to Alexandria and the back roads back to Baldwin.  The areas of abject poverty far outnumber areas of middle and upper income neighborhoods.  So many homes are in disrepair because the owners can’t afford to maintain them.  It is such a blessing to see the home repairs being done in this area by he the volunteers from Sager Brown. 

One of the transitional homes at Chez Hope was completed on thursday  and a family moved in on Friday afternoon.  Now they will be safe and be able to get their lives moving forward.

Wed July 29

Yesterday we had another truckload of supplies arrive. We were thankful for the youth from Missouri and Tennessee who unloaded all the flood buckets and health kit supplies.  The truck driver is part owner of the trucking company and couple of  days after Katrina his company had three trucks  deliver supplies to Sager Brown. He’s been delivering goods ever since.  God is good..all the time

Monday, July 27

I played hooky this weekend.  Went to NY for our niece’s wedding.  Keith, Zack and Anna flew in from Seattle and we all met up at JFK airport and drove to Montauk,  (Get out your maps, its at the far eastern end on Long Island). The weather on Saturday was perfect, sunny 85 degrees and a nice breeze blowing in off the water.  It was nice to spend time with my brother, sisters-in-law, nieces, cousins, etc. Came back to Louisiana last night.

Once again I’m staying cool by being in Louisiana….it 10 degrees cooler here that in Seattle!

I’ve been here long enough that I’ve gotten used to the rumbling of thunder every evening.  Some times is rains and some times it doesn’t and some times it pours buckets

Have a great week.

Wed July 22

Today was “Food for Families day” .  We handed out 625 boxes of food to people in the community that are 60 and older that meet the HUD income requirements.  It was a blessing to be able to take part in this.  I understand it was hotter at home today than here in Louisiana.  Remember those of you that asked why I’d be going to Louisiana in the summer?  We’ll I guess it was to stay cool!

Hope you all had a blessed day