Saturday, Sunday, Monday, AND Tuesday!

First off, let me apologize for not having an update ready for you sooner.
After a long day of traveling Saturday (and throwing donuts, marshmallows, and mysterious brown goo out the window of our vans), we arrived safely at Beulah Bible Camp in Frenchburg, Kentucky. The vans were a bit crusty with food remnants sticking reluctantly to the windshield, windows, and the front grill, but a good time was had by all. After our bags were unpacked and our stomachs were filled, our group split up into our four work teams to conquer the aisles of the biggest grocery store in town--Walmart. For those of you who don't know, Saturday was the night before Easter, and probably not the best night to grocery shop. But, we survived.

We woke up Sunday morning to attend a worship service that was quite unlike what you may have experienced back at Highland Park Baptist. Filled with country songs and lots of warm welcomes, we were given an incredible opportunity to worship our risen King with other believers from the local community. For the rest of the day, we simply hung out with our teams and did some fun team-building activities. Right before dinner, a few of us went to scope out the work-sites and meet the families that we would be helping.

The first site to which we went was a twenty minute drive deep into the hills. We pulled up and were warmly welcomed by an elderly lady and a young boy named Shelby. The woman's husband suffers from Alzheimer's and spent most of his time simply sitting on the couch. They had a leaky roof, and our project was to replace the roof, put on new siding, and install a new floor and a new ceiling in a damaged room.

At the next site, we met a middle-aged woman named Anita whose house also had some leaking problems. Our goal was to put on a new roof, new siding, and to take out the entire ceiling and insulation in one of the rooms. Some black mold had developed and the beams across the ceiling were rotting and moldy.

On Monday, our group split into two and went to each of the work sites. Teams two and three went to the first site and tackled a large portion of the siding and roofing. Teams one and four headed over to the second site and ripped out the ceiling in the moldy room and put up some siding. Everything was set to prepare for a productive second day.

On Tuesday, the groups again went to their work sites and worked a solid day. The first teams added a couple more tasks to their list and began to remove an old, deteriorating bath tub to make way for a new one that will come later in the week. They also removed and installed the back door which proved to be a bigger job than expected as it had to be re-framed. The roofing was completed, and the siding is close behind. Also, the team began work on the new floor inside the addition and will also be completing that in a couple of days. The second group had an equally productive day with a roof completed and walls mostly sided. The ceiling is completely ripped out and a few of the beams have been replaced with freshly-cut, mold-free lumber. We are confident that all of Anita's needs will be met within the next couple of days.

In addition to our 34 person team, we have been very fortunate to have Jason Sewell join us this week. Jason is another youth pastor, and good friend of Ty's, from the metro Detroit area. He has spoken for the Crash during retreats in the past. He has done this trip for many years, and is very familiar with the area, what needs to be done, and how to do it. He also brought two of his high school students, Chad and John, down with him. The three of them have been a huge asset to our team, and we've had a great time getting to know them.

Also, on Monday, Ty and Jason Sewell went to visit the family that we did the most work for on our last Kentucky trip. Hoping that there would be a few more projects that we could do for them, they drove out to the Trent's house. The first thing they saw were beautifully sided walls and the door that was freshly painted two years ago. Everything that we installed and repaired in their home was still in great shape, and they were overwhelmed with excitement at seeing Ty and Jason once again. They welcomed them with huge hugs and told them that there was nothing that they needed. It was encouraging to hear that the work that was done a couple years back was still enough to bring them joy and contentment.

Here we are Tuesday night, all very encouraged and humbled by the week so far. The people that we are helping have continued to express their genuine gratitude, and have told us multiple times how much this means to them, and it is very apparent that this was a very real need for them that God has given us the opportunity to meet. I think it's safe to say that we're all looking forward to an amazing second half of the week, watching everything come together, while we also continue to form relationships with these families and encourage them in any way we can.

Thanks for keeping up with us, and we hope to have more updates, including videos, later!

In Him,
Crash Kentucky 2010 Team