Joplin, Missouri - Summary

We're on the way back and just east of St. Louis in Litchfield. A week without Internet access, other than iPhone, is quite a challenge but here's the Reader's Digest version of the past 5 days.

We worked on Dan's House all week on the second floor doing drywall...mudding, sanding/washing, patching and muttering about the previous crew who could have done a much better job of taping...which made our work more difficult and time consuming. However, we managed nicely and Dan was on the property most days to thank us and tell his story which we'll save for our general presentation. Today we were able to move downstairs and start the repairs to the drywall there...we are actually pretty good at it now and did more than a day's work in 5 hours.

Kurt's cousing, Kelly, really took care of our every need regarding meals and accomodations despite her 16 hour days caring for Bob who has advanced Alzhiemers. We had a very nice version of Wonderful Wednesday one evening...a short church service at her church...Grace Episcopal and the Eucharist (Communion) then a $1 dinner of Italian pasta, sauce, salad, bread and special cookies from a baker who bakes traditional treats you'd find in Jordan...where their church sponsors a school for the death and blind.

Interestingly that school accepts Jews, Arabs and Christians and it's the only school in the Middle East that does so and teaches to each faith.

You can't believe the damage that the tornado has done...it even moved the local St. John's Mercy hospital off its foundation causing it to be abandoned...it is a seven story cement and steel structure...taller than Munson Hospital in TC.

We met and worked in tandem with at least a dozen teams of volunteers from churches, colleges, high schools and private individuals who just "wanted to help out." There was not even one person with an "attitude" that we observed and the street where Dan's house is located had another 6-8 homes going up or in some stage of completion with large crews of folks in team T-shirts. Several of these crews shared our one Porta John...pictures later. There was electricity by generator, water at a neighbor's home (just completed) across the street and plenty of sunny/breezy weather in the 80s all week...very pleasant.

This was a great team, the days flew by and our evenings were planned out by Kelly and Kurt...even including an evening at the Senior Center where a five piece country band played and everyone did the Texas Two-step...even me. If you want dancing lessons you only have to ask Carla and Jim...they were turning heads of the locals and the band members!!

Carthage, MO, is the site of the first Cival War battle west of the Mississippi and a drive down their main thoroughfare is a blend of 6th street mansions, traditional post-war homes and the mix you get by being at an exit of an Interstate...the downtown is centered on the courthouse (see photo gallery) square and much of it was constructed in the late 19th and early twentieth centuries. The stores reminded me of downtown Manistee.

It's midnight, Michigan time, and we're going to be on the road for 12-14 hours tomorrow so...until Sunday,
thanks for checking the blog.
Staton

Missouri - Very busy day...it's 11pm

Blog by iPhone, no WiFi. Did the Arch while Jim and Milz did courthouse that first heard the Dred Scott case. Then worship at Centenary Methodist downtown St. Louis built 1869. Photos at Busch stadium home of current World Series Champs. Six hour drive SW to Carthage. Where Kurt's cousin Kelly met us and gave a personal tour of her home church and Labrynth gardens...Grace Episcopal. Then she filled her SUV with prepared meals for us to have tonight and 4 breakfast! She joined us for dinner, after she settled us in a magnificent home loaned to us. Carthage is a local stone, the same as her church was made of also in 1869.Flowers are everywhere, leaves are half open and we are eager to start work early tomorrow. Staton

Missouri - Gateway Arch is Awesome

Rebuild Joplin team started out at 6am...right on time and watched as Spring emerged mile-after-mile as we headed to St. Louis...weather was perfect for a van that has no air-conditioning and we arrived at the Arch 11 hours later.

The Tour to the Top was sold out but we plan to arrive at 9am Sunday for the amazing journey. We saw the movie depicting the construction that took 3 years from 1962-1965 and no lives were lost!

Kurt's cousin is giving us local information on a great restaurant...we are hungry...the NCAA quarter finals are here and so are the people...rooms were a little tough.

Milz is looking forward to the building project but everyone is expecting to see the Ozarks for the first time after the Arch tour and a church service downtown.

Kurt is happy to report that all is going very well.
Staton

Joplin, Missouri Mission Trip - March 2012

Tuesday March 20th
Sunday Pastor Dale said a blessing for our team at the 11am service and two new members have joined us since the photo was taken last week. We welcome Robin Bowden and her 12 year old son Miles...this makes our team an inter-generational team which was the intention from the start. Now we have someone to do the heavy lifting..just kidding Miles.

We leave at 6am Saturday morning and plan to pack the Chevy van on Friday evening with our gear and sundry tools...we'll be staying in a private home in  Joplin that we'll have to ourselves.WOW.
Staton

Rebuild Joplin VIM team is set

Five Central UMC members will head to Joplin, MO, Saturday March 24th for a week of work in the tornado-damaged city that lost 7,500 homes last spring. Volunteers from all over the nation will converge this month for a massive effort to erect homes now that most of the debris has been cleared away.

Kurt Pelligrino is the VIM team leader and will have Linda Poindexter, Carla Roberts and her friend Jim Rantala and myself...Staton Lorenz...to keep busy. We don't know our assignment yet but are prepared to do whatever is necessary while working with other teams on designated projects.

We'll keep everyone posted on our daily activities via the blog so stay tuned.

Washington DC, final days of being tourists.

Something we have been looking forward to on this trip was our visit to the White House. Susan Norkowski graciously arranged some of the tours for our group, the White House being one of them. As you might imagine, security is really tight for those who want to tour the White House. We had to send information about ourselves months in advance to be pre-screened. Yesterday morning we arrived plenty early to go through security before our assigned tour time. Once we were inside the White House we were able to see several of the rooms. The history and information we learned today was wonderful. The kitchen garden was not part of the tour, but you can see a picture from the road above. All the portraits, furnishings. history and stories about each room was really interesting to hear and see. The kids were interested in the president's daughters and some of the security guards who acted as the tour guides told them stories about the girls living in the White House. It was a great experience.

After finishing our tour, the families split up for the rest of the day. We visited museums, took trolley rides, and walked around to enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms, now at their peak. Almost all of us met up at a restaurant near Dupont Circle for dinner together late in the evening. Sadly, Autumn was not feeling well, so she and Susan stayed back at the hotel. During dinner the adults had a great conversation reflecting on our shared experiences as well as talking about the sites we had seen on our own. The kids hopefully were not to disruptive to the other dinner guests as they enjoyed time together.

We are not focusing yet on the fact that we leave tomorrow. Each family has plans for more sites and fun. Many of us did decide to enjoy a slower morning after a full week of early wake up calls! Today is sure to be another fun filled day!

Washington DC, Mission Work, day 4

Today was the final day of our mission service with YSOP in Washington DC. We started off bright and early this morning, heading off to our two locations. One team headed to DC Central Kitchen which provides more than 4500 meals a day, 365 days per year. Much of the food they prepare comes from donations or purchased at a reduced cost. The rest of the food comes by rescue of surplus from local hotels and restaurants. Once prepared, the food is distributed to shelters, community outreach centers and churches where many people all over the DC metro area are able to eat each day. This morning, our group rinsed and seasoned over 400 pounds of chicken, peeled and chopped about 150 butternut squash, made pans of granola bars and gutted, and scaled over 200 salmon (for those of you who know Alline, she is very glad that was not where she was assigned! :)). Then we all worked to packaged up the food once it was prepared so it could be loaded into vans and delivered for the day.

The other group worked at Thrive DC where individuals and families are offered a variety of services that help stabilize their lives. The hope is that Thrive DC can be a safety net so homelessness can be avoided. Some services available at Thrive DC are breakfast 5 days a week for around 200 people, sandwiches people can take to eat for lunch later in the day, shower facilities, hygiene items, community classes, resume writing assistance, legal services, a community computer lab, laundry, telephone and mail services. In the evening they provide food and services to women and children only through a local domestic abuse shelter. Our group cooked and served breakfast, greeted guests as they arrived, signed guests in for showers and gave them personal care items.

Once both groups wrapped up their work, we went back to the YSOP headquarters for a wrap up discussion. We had a chance to reflect on our week and revisit the goals we set Monday morning. Then we set goals for when we return home. YSOP hopes that the time of service with them will be an encouragement to continue the fight against hunger and homelessness in our home communities. Each of us thought of ways that we can make a difference in Traverse City. In some ways, it is our new understanding and outlook that is life changing.

Now we have a couple more days of site seeing before we head home. In the morning we have our tour of the White House. The cherry blossoms are really beautiful now, they are at their peak blooms. The weather is supposed to warm up a little and the sun should shine for our two tour days.