Eastern KY, Jan. 15-21, 2022

Another week here has quickly come and gone, and it’s been a good one once again.   Joining us were four from NY, six from PA and one from VA.  It didn’t take long for the chatter and laughter and fun to begin.  One of the highlights of the week was a visit from a native Kentuckian with his banjos and guitar, and he favored us with music and song.  Quite an enjoyable time.  On another occasion we were joined by Roger who shared the Bethel Camp experience of the flood and challenged us to see God’s provision even when everything seems out of control.

We started another job this week and the volunteers were delighted to hear Olie tell his stories and one of the volunteers called him a “veritable Kentucky mountain man”. Olie + Barb are very thankful for the work being done on their home and he helped along as much as he could. There was a variety of things that got done including putting up window and base trim and crown molding, building a handrail on the stairs, repairing some plumbing problems, installing shower doors and mirrors, and other doors and more.

At Lee’s there was still some painting done, trim and molding installed and lots of flooring got put down.    Doors were painted, and appliances brought in and every day is closer to done.

The floors and windows got cleaned at Edith’s house at the beginning of the week and her countertop was delivered but the installation will wait till next week.

Here at the camp house, work continued with mudding and sanding and by the end of the week the volunteers were happy to report that painting had begun.  There was some work done on remodeling the porch and a door and window installed thanks to help from our assistant cook who used his time off to do some physical labor.

At the first new build, the stem wall building got underway at the end of the week, thanks to some men coming in from Ohio to lay the block. At the second new build, things started moving along on Friday with lots of plans being made, supplies purchased, and equipment rented and put on site, ready to get a good start with the project come Monday.

We had to say good-bye to one of our long-term team and are sad to see him go. He was a good leader, who could do almost anything, and had a good rapport with clients and short-term volunteers and got each project he worked on moved farther along. Thanks Peter for coming and working with us.

And so, once again, there were new friends made, a lot of good work done, and clients are closer to moving home. It was a good week!

From Eastern KY,   Peter, Aaron, MaryAnn, Jonas, Hannah, Andrew, Sue, Merle, Chris, Judy, John, Jolene, Carl, Ruth, Lois, Ike, Zeke, Kerry, Jo