NORTH CAROLINA DISASTER TRIP

By Ben and Carl Moye

Day 1 - It was a beautiful morning, long before sunrise, ten guys were packing food, drinks, tools and suitcases into two vans preparing for the journey. Cedar Island, North Carolina was where we were headed to rebuild a parsonage at the United Methodist Church. Ten guys gathering as a team to serve others, not only brought us closer together, but also brought us closer to God. I’ve never seen anyone return from a disaster relief trip feeling sad or unfulfilled!

The twelve plus hour trip gave us lots of time to socialize and, believe me if you are not there for fishing, Cedar Island does not have a lot of distractions, other than mosquitoes! It was 20 miles to the nearest gas station, restaurant, or grocery store.

The accommodations were nice. We slept on mattresses on the floor of the church, but it was clean, air conditioned, and we had full use of the kitchen and showers. It seemed anything they had was available to us. Our first night ended with a movie and a card game of hearts.

Day 2 - First day on the job, everyone was excited and ready to check out the job site. We started with a good breakfast, chef Ron Bealer cooked excellent meals! Then we took a tour through the parsonage to see what stage of construction we would be starting. Dry wall was hung so we needed to start with spackling and cleaning overspray from the textured ceilings off the walls and windows. Before we could really get started we needed to wait for instruction on what kind of tools and supplies where available to us. We had supplies available and a very successful first day on the job. Each day ended with a shower, wonderful dinner, evening devotions, sometimes a card game of hearts and a movie.

Day 3 - The second day on the job our routine is set. Get up have breakfast, clean up and be at the work site by 7:00 AM. We had doors to hang, ceiling fans to put together and install and base coat paint. This was the day we learned there were all kinds of problems with the kitchen counters and cupboards. The units brought to the site did not fit the space or the print and Lowe’s was 40 miles away. Our job leader Paul Kobal did a lot of measuring, adjusting and phone calls to get something suitable that would work. Our day ended with the usual. We got invited to the Wednesday night prayer meeting. The church also invited us all to a seafood dinner on Thursday!

Day 4 - Chef Ron made breakfast to order! The proper cabinets arrived on site today. We finished trim work and base coat, installed door latches and locks, finished ceiling fans and started painting the finish coat.

We had another successful day. In the evening we all attended the 7:00 PM prayer meeting. We sang songs, read scripture and joined in prayer. We over heard people talking after the meeting saying if we had these guys 10 more days it would be ready to move into! Tomorrow night the congregation is preparing dinner for us. They asked if we like seafood! Our night ended with a movie compliments of Carl Gillikin.

Day 5 - After another good breakfast to start the day, we installed kitchen and bathroom vanities, finished trim and a lot of painting. We had dinner at the community center, provided by our Methodist hosts, all we could eat and more! Shrimp, clam fritters, crab casserole, fish, beans, salads, vegetables and a whole table full of delicious desserts. After the meal together we went all around the room introducing ourselves and each said a few words. I wish everyone could have heard their words, seen their faces and shared the meal, what gratitude! We will never forget them. They will never forget us either!

Day 6 - Friday’s breakfast was eat everything that was left. We stocked their fridge with the things we couldn’t eat. We did a lot of painting and cleaning up at the parsonage in the morning. After lunch we cleaned up, loaded and headed for the mid point of our journey home, the Rocky Mt. Quality Inn. Some took a dip in the pool when we got there. Others took a nap but all had a wonderful dinner together. We talked about the friends we left behind on Cedar Island. We are very grateful to Carl Gillikin, our tour guide, who had parents who lived there at one time and still has friends and relatives there in the area. We are grateful to Pastor Moore for organizing, accommodations and spiritual leadership. We all appreciated the patience, wealth of knowledge and leadership on the job. If you ever get a chance to work for Paul Kobal, do it!

We ate like kings all week thanks to Ron Bealer who spent a lot of extra hours in the kitchen! Thanks to all the team for their contributions large and small. We were all united to accomplish a common goal. As we grew closer together,r we grew closer to God. We also made wonderful new friends in the Baptist community of Cedar Island!

We thank the drivers Carl Gillikin and Pastor Moore for a safe trip and the use of their vans! We also thank all of you for your contributions to the Lutheran Disaster Relief Fund!

We arrived at Schnecksville around 3:00 PM Saturday. It was good to be home, but what an experience!

10/12/04