"If I your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other's feet. I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you must also do." John 13:14-15 CEB
Our Volunteers in Mission team of 11 departed church Sunday afternoon and caravaned down to Virginia Beach, VA to begin 4 and 1/2 days of reconstruction work after Hurricane Matthew struck the area in October last fall. Returning to this area is a bit of a homecoming for Norm and I. We lived here in the Hampton, VA when we were first married nearly 32 years ago and haven't visited since 2012. As we drove thru Hampton and Newport News, we both got a little nostalgic, recalling many happy memories and noting how things have changed over the years. The region is rich in history, with Yorktown, Wiiliamsburg and Jamestown forming the historic colonial triangle. The famous Battle of the Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack took place in Hampton Roads, not far from where we once lived and the Monitor is now being restored at the Mariner's Museum in Newport News after sinking off Cape Hatteras and being recovered from the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" about 15 years ago. We got to see 3 aircraft carriers in port at Norfolk Naval Base as we crossed the Roads via the bridge-tunnel from the Peninsula cities of Hampton, Newport News and Poquoson to the Southtowns of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk and Virginia Beach.
We met our 12th team member, Jim from Towson, once we arrived at St. Luke's UMC, our home away from home for the next few days. Jim is a friend of Pastor David and his wife, Robin and this is his 2nd trip to VA Beach on a VIM team. Michelle, our Virginia Annual Conference/UMCOR liaison and project coordinator was waiting for us and gave us a tour of the facilities and restaurant suggestions for dinner. So after quickly unpacking, we headed off to Cracker Barrel. Spirits were high as we shared laughter and hopes for the week ahead over a delicious dinner.
St. Luke's congregation was in the process of merging with another church nearby when Matthew struck. Afterwards the sanctuary, classrooms and community hall were turned into a dormitory to house the many VIM teams that have come to help the area recover. Matthew hit Forida as a hurricane but raked the Atlantic coastline as it came north and was only a tropical depression by the time it reached VA Beach. However the area had already endured several severe thrunderstorms in the few weeks prior and by the time Matthew moved on, VA Beach had received 51 inches of rain. Many neighborhoods were flooded and houses were inundated with anywhere from 6 inches to 3 feet of water.
In the aftermath, a number of faith based organizations came to help the area recover from the damages. And while some demolition work began shortly after the storm, most of the work began in earnest early this year. Approximately 17 homes have been finished with another 30 or more still in various stages of completion. Michelle says that elderly, young single mothers with children and handicapped residents have been given priority in the reconstruction efforts.
Since Monday was Labor Day and technically a holiday, Michelle arrived early to give us some basic instructions and then took us to our work site. Today the entire team worked on a single house that is currently empty, its elderly owner is still living with her daughter in Richmond until she can move back in. But 3-4 of us will break off tomorrow and go to a 2nd site that is closer to being finished and is presently occupied by a gentleman and his mother. Michelle says that the house today had to be completely gutted inside and teams have been working on it all summer. It is a cozy split level home and sits in a modest neighborhood of similar homes that were built in the 1960s.
After we received our "marching orders" from Michelle we paired off and picked various tasks. The front and back yards have been mostly neglected so Steve and Jim set to work raking, mowing the sparce lawn and pulling down vines and weeds, later joined by Bonnie. The rest of us divided up inside to mud and sand drywall, prep and paint. There is plenty of work to be done but by the end of the day one room downstairs has gotten a 2nd coat of paint on both walls and ceiling and will be ready to install baseboard and quarter round before the end of the week. Two rooms upstairs will get painted with primer and will be ready to paint by mid-week. Doug and Martin tackled a little demolition work in the utility room while the rest of us did some sanding, spackle and plaster mud repair work to touch up a few spots missed or needing to be touched up after previous teams.
Carol, Robin and I left the site a bit early to do some additional grocery shopping for the rest of the week and to prepare dinner for the team. Then after a delicious meal of turkey BBQ, fresh garden green beans, watermelon and cantaloupe and both lemon zucchini cake and banana cake with caramel frosting, we shared in a few moments of reflection and devotions, led by Pastor David. Praying on the passage above from John 13, we look forward to a night of rest, renewed energy and servant hearts reinvigorated for the work in the days ahead.
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