FBC Raleigh 2012 HS Mission Trip: June 2012

Saturday, June 23, 2012

That book must be interesting Montana

Saying our Goodbye's in Birmingham

Josh is so sad to see Blair leave.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Hey guys! It has been an amazing week in Birmingham… with Trey and Dennis. They are so knowledgeable and wise, and they are phenomenal teachers. I feel SO LUCKY to have spent time learning with them!

Today I had to work on a roof in a really difficult place, and there wasn’t any place for me to stand and still reach the shingles that I had to put in. Dennis showed me how to levitate while I hammered. And I only had to hammer one time, and the nail went all the way in! Dennis is SO STRONG!! And he can LEVITATE! How awesome is that?

… Sorry guys, Trey and Dennis stole the computer from me for a while. Anyways back to what I was saying… It has been an amazing week in Birmingham and I’ve learned a lot of things, none of which was levitating. But I have done multiple things that I would’ve never imagined myself ever doing. I’ve gone on a two story roof with a pretty steep slope, ripped off shingles and replaced them, stepped in nails while cleaning shingles, painted soffits, spackled walls, and used a nail gun. Pretty amazing stuff.

Although I’ve learned a lot of things about working, I’ve also learned a lot about the people here in Alabama. Every day I’ve had the amazing opportunity of doing a different project every day, which meant meeting a lot of different people, each of which have moved me in all kinds of ways. But the people who have moved me the most here, were the family that runs the organization we are working through, The Next Step Storm. The family consists of a mother, Kim, a father, Monty and five amazing kids, four of which we were able to meet this week.

The faith and the work ethics that this family possess are astonishing to me. Kim, the mother, is actually a new believer and one morning for devotion she told us her story of how she met Monty and how her life changed immediately. The dedication that she and Monty have put into helping others is truly amazing, moving wherever they need to in order to help others. They have obviously taught their children to have the same faith and work ethics because all they do is serve. From early in the morning, before everyone is awake until dinner, their children, the youngest of which is five, are helping. They serve with a smile and with the Lord in mind.

So I’m sad to say, tomorrow is our last day, our last day with this wonderful family, our last day on the work sites, and the last day to make an impact on the lives we have involved ourselves for the past week. I feel truly blessed to have met this family and all the other people at each site I have been privileged to work at. And I’m blessed to have learned skills that can help me to serve better in the future, and maybe one day I’ll finally be able to levitate as well as Dennis does.

Natalie Willmschen

Dinner Thursday night at Ezell's Catfish Cabin

Earl's Flagpole

The Angel Band

Montana on the Harness

Cynthia's House

Zach G

What a catch

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Well, we have been working very hard this week. Between days on rooves and nights playing ball in the gym, some of us are worn out. As one of the natives would say, "I'm doggone tired, I tell you what."

But I've had one problem plaguing me this whole time: gas. Not what we have to put in the vans every other day, but wretched, malodorous, flatulence. It must be something in the food. Or perhaps I've inhaled a lot of asphalt. Either way, I've grown accustomed to having a five foot radius of nobody but me and immobile objects that don't have olfactory senses.

That's what's going on down here and Alabama. Hope y'all are having fun in the old north state.

Yours truly,
Parker "P$" Creekmoore

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Amazing Youth, Missionaries, and People

Hello All. We are having a wonderful week with your amazing young people. I am so impressed with their work ethic and their understanding of what they are doing and why. Their eagerness to serve is amazing and tireless. Our jobs have been varied but have largely involved roofing work. Needless to say, it is hot and dirty work. Tonight, a wonderful man who watched us feed the homeless in the park, noticed our youth’s maturity and asked us to his home for swimming. We were greeted with watermelon and drinks. It has been a wonderful trip so far. The missionaries here are amazing people who basically live very minimally in order to serve others and run this ministry. This minimal and exhausting work they do involves not only the couple but their four children.

The youth are wonderful to each other and they share openly and seem to feel safe that way. The play is harder than the work, if that is even possible. Some of the youth are literally staying in a room connected to a gym with a basketball court so there is constant activity even after 8 hours on a hot roof.

It is always true that the more you give the more you get back. The blessings are many and the youth have eyes wide open. Tonight’s conversation after our day’s work was about people who completely trust God and serve him with their life.

More Later,

Mary Jane Lewis

Back to Tommy's House

Being able to come back to Alabama was such a blessing. I had such a great time when the college group came down, so I decided to intern for the summer. If you read the newsletter for the church you probably read my article about Tommy. I knew I would probably get the chance to see him while I was down here, but I didn’t know it would be so soon. Trey put me in the group that would be working at Tommy’s. I was so excited to see him again!

As soon as I saw him I got the biggest smile on my face. It seemed like it had been years since I had seen him. His house had been worked on prior to the high school group arriving, and it looked 10 times better. He was so happy to see that there was going to be even more work done to it. Once again, he was so happy and positive about everything. That makes working so much easier. We’ve already accomplished so much on his house! I can’t wait to see the final product. Staying here until August will allow me to do that. Although, if it looks like it’ll take longer I might be staying in Alabama a little longer. I’ve decided that I’m going to stay here until his house is completely done. That’s my mission!

The high schoolers are working so hard! I’m very proud of them, and I know the chaperones are too!

Elizabeth Morris

Ken's Cars

Monday, June 18, 2012

Prayers and Well Wishes for Ginny Kimball

Ginny was not able to join us on the mission trip this year because of a surgery that needed to be done to help her cope with and recover from an illness she is dealing with. Bob was also planning to chaperone the trip but had to stay back to care for Ginny. We got a good report after her surgery today and look forward to a quick recovery. We are praying for you and love you Ginny!

We have Different Gifts... if Yours is Serving, Then Serve

Hello everyone. I hope that you are enjoying this blog and it has made you feel connected to what we’re doing here in Birmingham. I will just come out at say that I am a rookie on this trip, because it’s the first time that I’ve been able to come. I am very humbled by what I saw today.

The first glimpse of the tornado damage came for me on the way to our worksite, when Meg Dare pointed out fallen tree after fallen tree and piles of rubble that were once houses. I wished that we could stop at every damaged house to at least help in some way. When my group finally got to our worksite, we immediately wanted to do as much as we could in addition to the wall that got painted. The man whom we were working for had in the past year lost his wife, and you could tell he just had lost the will to live. The one thing that I remembered throughout the day that really kept me going was how happy he was to see us and to know that we were going to help him do what he couldn’t do himself.

In a way, I was able to relate to him because of one small detail of his house. When you walked in the door, it smelled like cigarette smoke. That was the same way my aunt’s house smelled. My aunt passed away when I was 6 years old. I kept that in my mind when I wanted to give up because I was tired. I wanted him to know that we sympathized with him and I wish we could have talked to him longer.

I enjoyed what I did today more than anything else I’ve ever done related to volunteer service within FBC and beyond. It gave me a sense of accomplishment and it gave me hope for the future of people in Alabama with damaged houses. Our reflection at the end of the day revealed that it was a rewarding experience for all three work sites.

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach.” –Romans 12:4-7

by Elizabeth Riley

p.s. If anyone hears something about a group named the Fantastic Four from this trip, they were very hard workers! J

Some Words from Zachary Rounds

Hi, and for some of you, greetings again. Just like a few Sundays ago, I’ll be keeping this short (though for an entirely different reason this time; we are entirely worn out).

So, Trey told us that we would most likely be doing some roofing this week. When I asked about this, only the slightest bit concerned, Trey assured me that we’d be working on one-story, mostly flat roofs. I mean, really, this is Alabama. So, when we pulled up to the house we worked on today, I was a bit intimidated by the two-story-built-on-a-high-foundation-with-a-pretty-seriously-slanted-roof-house that imposed itself before me.

Though I seriously considered the possibility, this time I didn’t faint. I simply watched as the first batch of youth ascended the rickety ladder that seemed dangerously tall and let my feet quiver in my metaphorical boots. Before long, the Alabama sun worked its devilish magic and some youth needed serious replacing. As they trudged back down the ladder, I realized that I had a decision to make. Not only that, I had a message to live up to. It had hardly been two weeks since I proclaimed to the world that fear should be faced head on. So, you know how the rest of the story goes. I climbed that ladder, walked that roof, tore the heck out of some shingles, and even put down a few lines of tar paper before the day was through.

Now, retrospectively, I can confidently say that, though my fear is by no means conquered or gone, I’ve gained perhaps even just an inch of dominance over it. Therefore, let this serve as an echo of my voice from that short time ago. We shouldn’t let our fears control us; I wouldn’t have gotten up on the roof and done some work both fantastic and enjoyable.

Anyway, no big closing words from me. It’s time for a nice early night. This is Zachary Rounds, signing off.

P.S. – I have always wanted to do that! Yet another small victory.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

On the road

Departed FBC at 9:00 PM Saturday, on the way to the Greensboro Amtrack station.

Friday, June 15, 2012

FBC High Schoolers Heading to Birmingham

A powerful EF5 Tornado hit Birmingham & Tuscaloosa Alabama April 27, 2011, killing 243 people across Alabama, including 61 in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.

http://articles.cnn.com/2012-01-24/us/us_alabama-storms_1_alabama-emergency-management-agency-alabama-counties-storm?_s=PM:US

The area was again struck on January 23, 2012, when at least 2 people were killed and 100 injured.http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/01/report-loss-of-life-major-damage-from-alabama-tornado/1

The high school youth from First Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC are devoting their time, energy, and emotions to provide some care and relief to the victims of these natural disasters. Please follow our trip on this blog as we post photos and stories of the people we serve, the work we do, and the transformation in our lives as we serve others.