Views from the Big Country: Getting a Grip on Hope ~ Part Five

Week of July 14

We had a very relaxing and hot weekend. We're awaiting the arrival of the youth group from United Dayspring Mennonite Church, Millersburg, Ohio. They've brought 47 people. They arrived by charter bus. Mike and Libby went to Fargo over the weekend to borrow Fargo First UMC bus. We picked up "happy-go-lucky" from Devil's Lake UMC Sunday. Both of these buses will be used to transport the team to and from the job sites.

After a long bus ride (they had two bus drivers so they were able to drive straight through) of 22 hours, they arrived at the Ministry Center...

Off to the dorms...

After orientation and dinner, it didn't take them long to begin to play...they'd been cooped on the bus for a looooooong time!!

Setting up the volleyball net...

Up, Up

and Over!! Told ya they'd been on the bus for a long time...

Cooper and Zoey each have new best friends...

Out of the 47 team members, four are professional roofers!!! Soooo, we'll be doing roofs. The team is sure they can do at least six!!! Awesome!!! We'll start off working in St. Michael's, same street as the roof that was done last week. Diana will be doing Sidewalk Sonday School in St. Michael's as well -- it's held right at the end of the street we're working on.

Ready and anxious to get to work!

The two homes that we will begin working on are right next door to each other...

And so it begins...

Meeting some of the neighborhood kids...

Billy wanting to get on the roof to help...

Discussing the roof...

Did I mention that there's a lot of kids in the neighborhood...while work continued on the roof, some of us played with the kids...

Jumping with Billy...

Hoops

Helping to unload shingles...they're heavy!!

Help is on the way...

Piggyback Races!

I'm not sure who was having more fun, the youth or the children!!!

By 2:30 today, (Monday) both roofs were complete!!! Simply amazing!!

Celebrating the completion of the roof!!

Sooooo, everyone decided to join in Sidewalk Sonday School St. Michael's Style!!!!

Today, Tuesday, we will be roofing two more homes. Again, we'll be on the same street in St. Michael's. Also, Sidewalk Sonday School will be held in St. Michael's again.

Hazy, hot and humid! Not a good day to be on the roof...two more roofs will be done today. These two homes are also right next to each other.

House Three

House Four

Shingles Flying Everywhere!!

Ground Crew

Measuring for shingles...

Once again, this team did not disappoint! Both roofs were done by 2:30. Half of the team went with Mike to the dump to get rid of the old shingles. The other half went to Sidewalk Sonday School. It was very hot, 87 today. Not as many kids as yesterday. Too hot!! I cannot imagine how hot it was on the roofs. Lots of tired, hungry and sunburned people tonight.

Taco Night

Tomorrow, two more homes will receive new roofs in St. Michael's. Sidewalk Sonday School will also be held there. The children in the neighborhood are so excited to have people to play with that they are not boarding the bus to take them to their lunch program. They are afraid they will miss something. Tomorrow, the team will make lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to share with the children during lunch.

Much cooler today. Also, partly sunny. A much better day for roofing!!!

House Five

House Six

There's nothing more beautiful than new roofs...

We love playing with the children at Sidewalk Sonday School...

Today was their last day of work. Tomorrow morning they are planning to visit old Fort Totten. In the afternoon, they want to go back to St. Michael's for Sidewalk Sonday School. They love playing with the children!!!!

A beautiful sunset over the Spirit Lake Nation Reservation. A perfect ending to a great week!