No power due to storm. No more posts this trip. Seeya tomorrow.

wednesday pictures

We will try to have some more groups give updates tonight.

Kurt

yeah pictures!!!

just a few more. Hopefully more tomorrow

more

pictures

Wednesday... Day whatever that is. Pictures to come later today

This is Josh and Susan. Our group consists of Katie McCune, Kenzie Sapp, Robbie Ficzner, Brendan Singell, Ian Griffiths, and Timmy Hildebrand. Sorry for any spelling errors. We are working on the home of Odie Williams. So far this week we have been working on replacing the roof on his garage. The team has spent time removing shingles and laying tar paper. We should begin to lay new shingles tomorrow. Only injury so far is when Timmy decided to the touch the blade of exacto knife to see just how sharp it was. All the kids have worked very hard and we are very proud of the work they have done. They have been stretched mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Report from Binghampton, TN:
Wayland Thompson here…. It has been an honor to serve with your children this week. I have all three of our Morgans (Peebles, Thomas, Galovic) as well as David Hildebrand, Brandon Park and Alex Beckman. To watch these young people love on our home owner, Ms. Mary (90 yrs. old), has been unbelievable. Not only are they taking the time to get to know her – they have sat at her feet and heard some “good country preachin”. The home repair has gone well and I am happy to report that I am the only one who has bled to this point. We have affectionately named Ms. Mary’s chimney – Hell’s Chimney. It is an 8 foot beast of a chimney that was built by the world’s best carpenter (it refuses to come down). We will be laying tar paper and shingles tomorrow. I would like to leave each of you with this picture of your awesome kids: sitting under a huge shade tree in Mrs. Mary’s backyard listening to her talk about life, marching during the civil rights movement, and the love she has for her God. These are truly special kids.


Hey Guys! This is Brett and Amanda …we have Gabby Kinser, Hanna Pope, Cyle Letzinger, Billy Tousaint, Eric Gainer, and Chase Hattlet on our team. Like many of the other teams, we too have been working hard on a portion of a roof for a family here in Binghamton. The family consists of an elderly couple with a disabled husband, their daughter and her husband, and their four kids. This family all lives is a three bedroom house, and the father does not have a ramp to get into the house so he has to sleep in the car! They are a great family and all of our team members have really bonded with their kids! Gabby and Hanna are about to adopt the 7 year old girl, who says that she wants to repair roofs when she grows up. Cyle has been taking great care of the two dogs and cat that they have. Eric, Billy, and Chase have all loved being on the roof. They have all been working so hard and learning so much. We are so proud of them and it has been great to see them grow throughout this process.

Hey, it’s Lauren and Gary. In our group are Lauren Moreland, Caroline Bates, Caleb Campbell, Tyler Osswald, Jacob Sandburn, and Adam Williams. We have also been working on part of the roof for a family in Binghampton. Miss Shirley is the owner of our house. She lives with her 30-year-old son and her nephew. She works during the day, but she took Monday off so that we could meet her. Their house is not in very bad shape except for their leaky roof. The biggest obstacle is their six Pit Bulls. They keep them chained up, but we have to be careful not to get too close. The boys (Tyler and Jacob to be specific) are set on taking one of them home with them. Everybody loves to be on the roof, even though it is more sloped than most. We’ve taken all the shingles off one plane and replaced some boards. We will begin measuring and putting up the tar paper tomorrow. Everybody is working really hard, and also staying patient during the slow times. It is really neat seeing them work that hard for somebody they just met. All of them are learning so much and growing in their faith.

Hi, it’s Randy. In my group are Drew Moreland, Will McWhorter, Lexi Skelton, Angela DeLuca, Ryan Dietrich, and Jacob Walsh. We have the biggest project in the group. The house is so bad that the owner has to live in his van. The homeowner’s name is James McDoogle. We’ve been tearing the roof off all the way down to the ceiling this week. All of the kids are doing a great job and working hard. Our SOS team leader and the SOS construction manager are surprised that we got so far along already. We are so blessed to have such great kids; they are doing awesome.

SOS Day 3

So here is the computer issue, it isn't just me, it is all the computers of those here at SOS, other than staff members. So we'll get pictures up on the blog hopefully tomorrow when we are away from the retreat center and can find wifi somewhere else. Today instead of pictures I will start having leaders include you on what their group is doing for work this week. Each day I will a few leaders post about their group.

Here is today's update:

This is Kurt and in my group this week are Dylan Sheets, Andrew Day, Emma Davidson, Emily Pielmier (spelled wrong) Kayli Vankirk, and Tres Carver. This week we are working on Miss Margrett’s house. The inside of the house is in really nice condition, other than the hole in the ceiling where Dylan accidentally stepped through. The outside of her house is really in need of many repairs. There are a couple of overhangs on the house that have completely rotted and fallen off, we have found termites in her roof, and pulled layer after layer of shingles off of her roof. So far this week we’ve been able to remove an old chimney, de-shingle half of the roof, replace the boards with termite damage and water damage, and spray for termites. It’s been so great to work with your students. I am so proud of their work ethic and attitude. This week I have been told multiple times how great our kids are, and as much as I would love to take credit for that as a youth pastor, I know that I have very little to do with that. The students are a reflection of their parents and of Christ and you should be very proud of them.

Brooke and Sean here! And in our amazing group we have Emma Phillips, Madison Peebles, Thomas Metcalf, Nate Thompson and Nate Sharkey. We have been assigned to the house of 95 year old Charles Richards. Currently his neighbor is taking care of him and lives with him. Also in the house is an 18 year old girl and her new born baby, who we got to welcome home from the NICU. We have spent the first few days like most groups, tearing off shingles, beginning to tar paper and put shingles on the house. We are very proud of our group and how hard they have worked. A barrier that our group has faced is that our homeowner is deaf and is unable to communicate well with us. But Nate Sharkey and Nate Thompson have stepped up and really invested in ministering to Charles. Thomas is always ready and willing, and Emma and Madison have done a great job taking over tedious jobs that no one else want to do with great attitudes. We look forward to the rest of the week…


We'll give you more tomorrow.

Kurt

SOS day 2

so I am still having problems with the wireless network here.  We have our best people working on the problem, however our "best people" are all under the age of 14.  So this will be another short post.  

Today was our first work day.  The day was amazing and the students worked harder than you'll ever believe.  We tore off shingles, took apart a chimney, put in forms for concrete, and picked up nails, lots and lots of nails.  It was a great day.  We are looking forward to another good work day tomorrow, the team is already tired, but we managed to get a little Sonic run in tonight to boast our energy.  It is possible that the servers at Sonic will know all 58 names by the time we leave.  I'm sorry I haven't been able to put up pictures yet, we will as soon as I get internet on my computer and I don't have to borrow a staff member's.  

Gotta go, it's time for me to put an end to this pillow fight...

Kurt

SOS 09... we have arrived

I just wanted to send a quick note to all you parents that we have arrived at SOS.  The trip was great and we are busy getting settled in here.  We arrived a little before 4:00, so we went over to Sonic to kill time until we could arrive at SOS and as I'm writing this... I believe some students and leaders are going to Sonic for round 2.  

Of course technology let me down today, so I don't have pictures to post yet.  My computer won't connect to the wireless here, so I am using a staff computer and can't get you pictures on it yet.  But I will figure it all out tomorrow.  I plan on post at about 10 (your time) each evening so that you can see what we did during the day.  

All the students are doing well, Emily says "hi".  (I had to say that because she is sitting next to me)  If you would like to leave a comment for a student in the comment section, I will make sure they get the message.

Until tomorrow night!

Kurt