Jennings, LA – Feb. 12-18, 2023

We thought we would only have five workers this week, because our large group cancelled out. But our head cook reached out to a nephew in Dayton, Virginia, and he responded by sending eight youth to help us. We also had two unexpected arrivals of two friends, one from Ohio and one from Idaho. So we ended up well-blessed! The church gym rocked every night with volleyball, pingpong, basket ball, and cornhole. During the day there were a 2-year-old and a toddler playing, eating, and enjoying life. Their mom cared for them while their dad helped us with all the construction.

Meanwhile Bryant Swiers’ crew was churning through roofs with gusto, trying to dodge the rain in between. They also worked on a section of someone’s home that needed to be taken out and built up again. They were plumbing and repairing floor joists, installing flooring and erecting walls, all while wading through a foot of mud, and even lying down on it to fix the plumbing below the floor. Two days in they were already roofing that section!

Sheryl Benoit’s home is about done, thanks to lots of finishing labor and Dave Mininger’s good leadership. Two girls even painted the whole outside, in spite of several tries to get the right color, and in spite of the rain washing off some of their efforts before the paint could dry. The interior has been almost completely redone and looks fantastic.

Pam Parker’s house is also finished. Doug Goertzen wrapped up on Thursday with the punch list. Both these ladies are looking forward to having their homes dedicated within the next couple weeks. Pam was living in hers for two years, with no heat besides a space heater, very little insulation to help keep the little heat in that there was. Her stove did not work either. So she is grateful for each little thing done to help her.

Submitted by Christa Barth on behalf of the Jennings team