Painting & Pulling Nails.

God knew we needed some fresh air for our lungs, so He provided that barn for us to paint today. The homeowners, John & DebLyn quickly became like family. Their neighbor Joe came over & helped with the project and Sonny & Larry left for about 2 hrs to unload a truck of food into a storage garage, but they returned just in time to sit down to a fantastic lunch that DebLyn made for all 7 of us.

About 2:00, Sonny & I went to Homeowner Steve's house (blue). We pulled nails out of the studs in the walls, ceiling & floor for almost 3 hrs . We only managed to do one room in that amount of time, but Steve was grateful to have whatever help we could give him. He hurt his back & couldn't work on his house like he wanted to. He was living in a small trailer beside his house for now.

Two of Steve's neighbors across the street had their foundation walls cave into the basements.

Here is a photo of one of them.

Ending our Day.

Joe, the next door neighbor that helped work on the barn, invited us to his house for dinner. He made us his special Iowa Pork Chops that are 1-1/2" thick & very tasty. His wife Mary Ann served us her homegrown raspberries w/ice cream & fudge sauce. We were overwhelmed by the great hospitality today...1st lunch then dinner, wow can't wait till tomorow.





When we got back to St. Paul's around 8pm, Larry & I replaced a bathroom faucet

Tomorrow we pack up after 1/2 a day's work...maybe, and head back to South Bend to get a good night's sleep for our long day home on Saturday.

What A Day !

Today we helped 3 homeowners, all in the Cedar Falls area. The 1st stop was a large basement that needed power washed & Cloroxed. See the photo of our homeowner Mary & some pics of us working. Larry & Charlotte started out by bagging up a mountain of clothing that the Mary was washing to be sold at a rummage sale.

We all were experiencing bad reactions to the gas fumes from the power washer today. Headaches, lightheaded, dizzy and even shaky. I thought we may even have to call it a day by lunchtime, but from the next photo you can see that despit our symptoms, we were all still able to enjoy some Mexican food for lunch. Check out Sonny's plate, then check out all 500 or so of the Marionettes (puppets) hanging from the ceiling.Next we did some odd jobs at Arlene's home. Here is her photo. The Lord knew we needed an easy job away from those fumes. Arlene had her basement under water & a few inches in her 1st floor. Another team from World Hope came to her rescue along with her family. Some paint, carpet & touch ups & she will be ready to move back in. From there we power washed a small barn that had a foot of water in the loft area. We will be there again tomorrow painting and repairing the sofit. We may also help unload a truck of food & other supplies at a local church.

Power Washing & Clorox

Today we finished up at Pat's house. She once again had lunch ready for us....we actually traded her our PB & Jelly for burgers & Pizza, what a deal. She said when she eats them, she would think of us.















I decided to go to Cedar Rapids to show the team the homes we mucked out when we were there in July. We went in the 2 homes of Mary's & nothing has been touched since. We drove up & down the streets to view the devastation. Here are a few pics.





























See those dirty stripes on the side of the home in the first picture, that is how high the water was.

From there we came back to Waterloo to power wash & Clorox Ida's home. Ida's husband is in a wheelchair & she is unable to go down the stairs due to bad knees. Her son already had the majority of the stuff out of the basement. They got about 4 foot of water in the basement.

Ida is bashful & didn't want her photo taken.

We are glad to have jobs here in Waterloo for the next few days. Less travel means we get to work longer, Yeah!

Larry & Sonny got to much gasoline fumes today so maybe Charlotte & I will do the Powerwashing tomorrow.



















Charlotte has been a real trooper, and does she ever know how to handle a shop vac.















Tomorrow we will give you some more info on what we get done. The guys are going to join a men's meeting here at St. Paul's, the women's group will also cook them all dinner. I guess I better get my apron ready.

Our first chance to bolg;

Saturday Night we arrived 9 pm at Broadway Christian Parish in South Bend Indiana. Pastor Nancy gave us a warm welcome. Here is Nancy (2nd from the left) and our team.


We had heavy rains for our 5 hour drive, which turned into 8 hours because the interstate was closed due to flooding. We finally got to St. Paul's in Waterloo, Iowa about 10:30 pm.

1at day of work was in Belle Plaine, Iowa an hour South of Waterloo. We mucked out a basement for Pat & Dick. They are both in their 80's and live so far out that we could see for miles & didn't see not even one other home. Here is a picture of Pat in her basement. She was so greatful that we came to help her.
It is a BIG basement, there are 4 rooms down there. Man was that floor slippery with the mud & water. It was funny to watch each other skate acrosss the floor but it was also very dangerous.
This is the back of Pat's house & that door leads down to the basement. Notice how high the water mark is on the door. There was 7-8 feet of water in her home.

That phone I'm using in that little dog box really works in case you wondered.

Here are a few pics from our day. We will finish up at Pat's by lunch time tomorrow & head back to a job that is waiting for us in Waterloo. Speak of lunch, Pat made us a great lunch today, Goulash.

Check out the video I've attached. It is some live footage of Sonny & Charlotte in the basement.

Charlotte, where did you get that lovely jumpsuit?

Stay tunned for tomorrows blog.

Leaving York

Three our of four team members got an early start today out of York. Chris, Larry and Charlotte met at Servants' office and hit the road to Iowa. along the way they were picking up Sonny to make four total. They were heading to South Bend to spend the night and plan to arrive in Iowa on Sunday.

TRIP #2 - SEPTEMBER 13-20, 2008

We are preparing for our 2nd trip to Waterloo, Iowa on September 13, 2008. Stay tuned for more posts!