I spent the past week in Fort Myers response. What made this week special? You choose from the four options below!
A little background: This was a “staff week” in Fort Myers. No volunteer team had signed up for the week, but there were things that needed to be done. We need to to keep momentum going in rebuilding houses and to keep relationships going with the homeowners. So Crisis Response staff from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Texas came together to spend the week peopling and working.
What was my favorite part of the week?
Option 1: Ferrying a ministry vehicle. The plan had been that I would fly to Fort Myers on Sunday, January 4th. But on January 1st I was asked to fly instead to New Orleans and drive a ministry vehicle from Louisiana to Florida (about a 14 hour drive, with stops). We rearranged my Southwest flights (which added cost) and rearranged our schedule so I could leave a day earlier. I flew on Saturday, drove a few hours, then drove all day Sunday to get to Fort Myers in time for our planning meeting. I admit I’m an introvert and don’t mind time in a car with a good audio book, but was this my favorite part?
“Cole” (the ministry vehicle) in the New Orleans Airport parking garage.
Option 2: Sleeping in the Snorepedo. Some of you may recall that last year the fire marshal told us that people could no longer sleep in the Fort Myers Evangelical Free church building. After prayerfully exploring options, the ministry purchased a 16 bed mobile bunk house, affectionately called “Snorpedo.” Since Gail and I usually bring our own van to the response site, I’ve never slept in Snorepedo until this week. It has four small rooms, each with two bunkbeds and a narrow aisle between. Even with only one person in the room, it’s rather cramped. And because it’s on wheels, it tends to shake whenever someone enters any of the other rooms. Was this my favorite part?
Bunkhouse. The same brand as ours, but not “Snorepedo.” For some reason I forgot to get a picture.
Option 3: Painting 500 feet of trim. Have you ever calculated how much trim (baseboard and door trim) it takes to trim a whole house? I’m not sure myself, but it’s at least 500 feet. We spent the week painting and installing trim in Lou Ann’s house. Well, I spent the week painting, all day every day. We did get to spend some great time with Lou Ann and with other homeowners in the community, but was painting trim my favorite part?
My co-worker Harry painting trim.
Option 4: Talking with a potential new staff member. Kaleb came down from Minnesota to participate in the staff week. He’d never been on a Crisis Response trip before, but as a new believer who just came to faith last March, he felt led to check out the ministry. He came with a hundred good questions, and staff week was a perfect time to hear answers from multiple directions. Kaleb and I talked while painting, while driving and in the evenings at the church. We talked about everything from theology to fund raising. I made no attempt to answer all his questions, but was able to give him my perspective and some Biblical thinking. Was this my favorite part?
Kaleb may not be in a green shirt (volunteer shirt) for long.
Which what my favorite part. I’ll bet you can guess. If you can’t, rather than just give you the answer, I’ll tell you that it is the integral from 0 to 2 of x cubed dx. (Okay, I’m a nerd. If integral calculus isn’t your thing, you can just ask google.)
What would have been your favorite part?
Thank you for your support of our ministry by your prayers and your gifts. We are grateful for the opportunity to care for those in need. (If you would like to support Gail and me here is the link to our giving site: Bob and Gail DeGray)
Great update Bob!!!!!
Spending time with Kaleb.