Giving up much of their Christmas break, these wonderful parishioners and guests got "down & dirty" helping others. Pictures are soon to follow!

Day 1 (Wednesday) we helped a man rebuild his dream home by sanding and floating the screws in the dry wall. His home had been ripped to pieces after four years of work in getting it together and living in it for one year. When Rita hit, a tornado (typical addition to hurricanes), it ruined his home and he is now disabled, unable to really work on his home or provide for him and his wife.

Day 2 & 3 (Thursday & Friday) featured demolition on one non-functional trailer that had the roof ripped off by the hurricane for a family still getting on their feet. The LaFleurs, who are Dallas Cowboy aficionados were so grateful that they allowed us to help them light their bonfire of demolished materials on Day 3 for the youth's enjoyment of burning things

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On Day 3 we also aided the church we were staying at, St. Mark's Episcopal, by helping feed and sing at their Friday morning breakfast and food for the homeless in the area. During this meal, over  plates were served, many songs sung and many hearts touched, especially in our youth group.

Day 4 was a little more casual, but still grueling. We managed to prime and paint lattice work to cover the skirt of the trailer for an elderly couple, remove everything from a destroyed storage shed and clean up the yard so it would be more manageable. This day's primary feat was Mark Hall's ability to pile broken tree branch's about 15 feet high. He will be forever termed "Batman".

All in all, we enjoyed the trip and look forward to sharing with the church how much we accomplished in pictures and also in stories to be told, because every single one of the youth has a story that they hold dear.