Monday evening - tired and thinking it through

Today was a long day. We were split into five teams and sent to five different homes to work and serve. One home was being prepped for a young couple to move into from their parents house. One was being renovated after suffering lots of fire damage. One has had so much water damage it is hard to know where to stop replacing pieces. The other two are simple but extensive repairs and renos to make them moreliveable and right. These are the homes of some of the Appalachian people living here who through social services and network, found their way to MCC SWAP and asked for help and so...here we are. We are learning to cut out the damaged portions of floors of trailers and replace them with clean wood, re-tiling, re siding, light carpentry, painting, plumbing repairs, some electrical work and on and on. The people here are gracious and thankful. There are many older grandmothers raising their sons and daughters children. We hear and see evidence of cultural and systemic poverty and the power that the "coal" magnates have over this area. The facts and figures are scary. However, the people we meet are not. They are beautiful. I can hear the team already begin to process their own issues in the face of simple poverty and to begin to lay down some of our ridiculous values that simply are unnecessary. How does one love and feel deeply for a stranger when one has much more than they do? We need to answer this question while we are here so we can address it when we come home. The youth are processing frantically and I am so proud of them. They are hands on into the construction. They are willing and more than able to work, to serve and to share with these soft spoken twangy accented people here. I see hope through their eyes and it is good. Please continue to pray for us as we renovate and spend time searching for God's fingerprints here. Thanks. I am gathering everyone's photos for the day but have run into some Internet glitches. Perhaps the issues will resolve by the morning and you will get to see what we have been seeing. Peace. Everyone is well. Everyone is still tired today from a short sleep last night. Tonight we catch up and tomorrow we learn more.