Our final days

May 8, 2009

The blog is really having difficulty today so I am just going to identify all the pictures as they appear.

Ken painting Pastor David's facia.








Bob 'peeking' through the door checking to see how much more there is to be done.

Joel, Pastor David & Chuck (resting?)

A railing needed to be finished.

Joel seems to be caught 'sitting' a lot of the time.

Our final days have been filled with some really innovative building of condos and high rises. It is amazing how long it took to build!

Chuck studying the color of the paint.

Pastor Billy and Pastor Jeff wanted to do a mass baptism in their baptismal...some of the men had to step into it.




Bob enjoying his work.

Yesterday, we celebrated Ken's birthday with dinner the previous night at Pastor Billy's house...topping it off with cake last night.

Our last supper tonight consisted of pork roast, mashed potatoes, carrots and green beans. A feast to send everyone home...with a few extra pounds.

As you can see - we left our name on Pastor David's house (they did cover it before they left).

Stay tuned for our presentation at church in July for more pictures!

We are a tired bunch of volunteers!

Julie, Ken, Rachel, Joel, Willis, Chuck, Bob

Hello from a group of tired workers!

12 gallons of white ceiling paint...17 gallons of champagne wall paint...and one bathroom and 2 closets left to do tomorrow...a total of 10 rooms...then the beginning of the outside painting!

The temperature was 89 with a heat index of 98! Plenty of water has been distributed for the thirsty bodies of the mission workers.


Ken painting one wall.









Joel taking a break from the heat.








Bob and his painting skills...cutting in is always a treat.








Joel painting.








This is why Rachel has so much paint in her hair...Willis cutting in.








Chuck standing next to his project.













Ken and Chuck put this door up in Pastor Billy's home as a divider...beautiful...and finished.














Here we are at Pastor Billy & Dawn's home. We BBQ'd angus burgers on his new grill.

Everyone had a great time...stories were BOUNTIFUL! We laughed until our tummies hurt.



The men are exhausted...they seem to be going to bed early each night. They also think they have gained weight...I have told them they are sweating it off.

More tomorrow.

julie & the team

Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo day to all,

We had a very productive day today. The group went to Pastor David's house to paint rooms...10 rooms! They finished the ceilings and 2 rooms. Bob & Willis came back first - exhausted! Their comment was that they were not used to painting for 8 hours a day.


As you can see, Rachel is really enjoying herself. She had quite a bit of paint on her hair. The guys are saying she is a good worker and like having another wo-"man" on the job.





This was one of the rooms that was a 'before' picture.






Willis and Rachel taking a 'lunch break' on Monday. Don't they look comfortable?

Of course, the heat is affecting all.

Ken and Chuck did some painting but spent most of the day at Pastor Billy's doing some fine-tuning of a door with waterfall glass...a very precise and delicate job.

And I am still working with Billy 'coordinating'.

And, today is Cinco de Mayo, (5th of May) so we celebrated by having a Mexican dinner of fajitas, rice and beans, guacamole, chips, tamales and brownies and ice cream for dessert.

Pastor Billy & his wife Dawn in the rear of the picture enjoying their Mexican dinner.

Pastor Tim and his wife, Jenn, also joined us for the celebration before heading off to a meeting. We had mentioned Tim and Jenn in our previous blog in February. See below.

AND - HERE WE ARE (minus Ken who was taking the picture)!

Asbury UMC Mission team!

Keep referring back for more nightly updates.

julie, ken and the rest of the team

Hello from the southern, tropical south (Texas).

Here is the group before they begin their day and assignments.

Bob, Willis, Joel & Rachel head off to do a day of gutting!

Chuck is on his way to Pastor Billy's house for a special project.

Ken and Pastor Billy went to another church to check out a plumbing project.

Here is Rachel - ready for gutting!

Doesn't she look like she is going into a war zone?

Or to attack bugs - "Ghostbuster Rachel"

Here is the group at Ms. Thompson's house - after a day of gutting - note how tired they all look!

And, of course, here I am at my post, with a pile of papers that Pastor Billy has saved up for me since we left in March.

I am NOT in an a/c office - the a/c is broken and it is HOT!

Tonight we had Rigatoni meatballs (thank you Asbury) for dinner.

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo Day and we will be having a Mexican dinner.

Tomorrow the group will be painting the inside and outside of a house near the church.

Will send more photos tomorrow.

Blessings and peace to all,

Julie, Ken, Willis, Bob, Chuck, Joel & Rachel

May 2, 2009

We have arrived in Galveston, TX...after 1500 miles and 2 1/2 days! The weather is in the mid 80's with a gentle breeze.

Pastor Billy was thrilled to see us and welcomed us with open arms.

The rest of our team has landed and are about an hour away. We have them set up in the dorm on bunk beds (all lower ones).

Ken has gotten our assignments for Monday and we will be busy. It is promising to be very hot this week...in the high 80's and 90's. Welcome to Texas.

Will keep you posted.

julie & ken

Day #2

Hello everyone!

The morning started out with a mess of rain and hail and just a nasty day.
But...the afternoon turned out quite lovely. We stopped at a rest stop and it was 86 degrees with a mild breeze. The Southern Magnolias are blooming out and are quite huge and fragrant. We are currently in Jennings, LA (near Lake Charles, LA) staying overnight.

We are almost to Galveston...we have about 250 miles tomorrow (Saturday). The rest of the group will be here in the evening and we will have things set up and ready to go for them.

More later.

julie & ken