Posts Tagged ‘Texas 2009’

The following is the continuation of a blog write–up by a team member of the Houston, Texas missions trip. This team is from Region 1, and they have a heart for serving. This is the last post with two more before it. WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED!

-From Jacob Ehrichs, Leader of Trip, June 30, 2009:

“On Thursday, the first group was down a couple of members because the sickness had spread. It turned out to be a good thing because there was just not enough work for  five people to do that day. We painted the ceilings (it was amazing how quickly the paint dried because of the heat!) and even the kids got involved in the painting!

The second group had finished up the on the inside of the house and began priming the outside of the house. It was VERY hot that day and the team had to take a lot of water breaks to try and stay cool. Not that it helped!!

On Friday the entire team was back to work, but at the first job site all that was left to be done was the trim so Ryan and Sean finished up the job on their own. Before leaving for the day, a new set of UNO cards was given to the family (they were so excited to have their own!).

The rest of the team painted the outside of the other home and moved some of the stuff back into the garage. The rest was going to be donated by the family. Since it was so hot outside we finished up early, around noon, that day.

Friday night the team spent the evening in downtown Houston at the aquarium. It was nice to relax and spend some time together after all our hard work!

On Saturday we said goodbye to our hosts and headed for home.

The week came with many unexpected challenges (who would have guessed that more than half of the team would get sick!). But those challenges were greatly outweighed by the blessings. Many of the team members learned a few new skills, all the work we set out to do was finished, relationships were built with the home owners, and a strong bond formed between the members of the team (due in large part to the sickness, God sure can work every bad thing for good!). The team has already planned several activities for the rest of the summer to get back together and there may even be more mission trips together in the future!”

For further information on this trip please contact Jacob Ehrichs at ehrichsj@yahoo.com. For further information about how you can get involved in Apex Missions please contact Tab Green at tabatha.green@apexcommunity.org.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The following is the continuation of a blog write – up by a team member of the Houston, Texas missions trip.  This team is from Region 1, and they have a heart for serving.  After this post, there is one left to detail the remainder of the trip.  ENJOY!

-From Jacob Ehrichs, Leader of Trip, June 30, 2009:

The second group consisted of Sarah, Eric, Krisha, Luanne, Dave, and Josh. This group made a pit-stop on the way to their primary project. They completed some yard work for a gentleman who had recently fallen and could not take care of his property. Good thing it was in the morning because they sure worked up a sweat pulling weeds, bagging magnolia leaves, and attempting to mow the grass (the lawn mower broke, but they came back on Thursday with a new one to finish)!

After the yard work, the team moved on to their main project. This half of our team also worked with a Hispanic family. The hurricane had caused water damage and mold to the ceiling in the teenage daughter’s (Iris) bedroom and in the garage. Additionally, the water had caused the soffits around the house to rot. The team spent the rest of the first day clearing out the daughter’s bedroom and the garage.  Once the rooms were clear the initial stages of demo began. The drywall was ripped out, insulation removed, and the soffits torn down. Fortunately for this group, the drywall was hung in the traditional manner and was much easier to remove! However, the corners were a little tricky so some of the team even learned to use power tools that day!

On Tuesday the team woke to a surprise. One of the team members had been taken to the hospital. The team never found out exactly what he had, he had stomach flu symptoms and all they knew was it was not bacterial (no swine flu!). He was taken back to Our Redeemer after just a few hours, but then that same day three more of the team members got sick. Each of the two groups lost some members that day, but everyone was still able to accomplish a lot.

The first group had removed all the old ceiling on Monday and was now putting up new insulation and drywall. During the lunch break that day the kids of the family were introduced to the game of UNO (surprisingly they had never played before!). They loved playing the game and did not want us to go back to work!

The second group also began putting up new insulation and drywall on Tuesday. They made a few mistakes along the way but Bob always told them, “Don’t worry, I’ve got a trick for that!” By the end of the day they had gotten pretty handy hanging the drywall and soffits. It was definitely a group effort! Even though the team was down a couple of people, they got a lot accomplished that day.

On Wednesday everyone in the first group was back to work. We finished putting up the rest of the drywall and started taping and mudding. Of course we played several more rounds of UNO at lunch time!

The second group was still down a couple of people but the remaining crew was still ready to go! They also began taping and mudding the drywall. The drywall mud was not premixed and it set up in just 45 minutes! Add that to the Texas heat and you better work fast!! It was a new experience for everybody on the team and some enjoyed it more than others. But everybody soon fell into a rhythm, working where their skills were best put to use. By the end of the day they even had some extra help from the homeowner’s grandson. After the rooms were finished, the daughter, Iris, even told the team that she could finally feel safe in her room! Praise God!!

Stay tuned, Part III detailing the rest of the trip is yet to come.

For further information on this trip please contact Jacob Ehrichs at ehrichsj@yahoo.com.  For further information about how you can get involved in Apex Missions please coontact Tab Green at tabatha.green@apexcommunity.org.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The following is a blog write-up by a team member of the Houston, Texas missions trip.  This team is from Region 1, and they have a heart for serving.  Over the next couple of posts, you will be able to read all about their experience in Texas.

-From Jacob Ehrichs, Leader of Trip, June 30, 2009:

Apex sent a team of eleven down to Houston, Texas to help with disaster relief from Hurricane Ike which hit Texas in September of 2008. Team members included Eric West, Sue and Josh Clagg, Sean Wade, Dave Boggs, Ryan Schlosser, Sarah Smith, Luanne and Krisha Storer, and Jacob and Amanda Ehrichs. We traveled with the organization called Forward Edge International (FEI). Our hosts were Bob and Diane Johnson and their two daughters, Monica and Paige. Bob started doing hurricane relief after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 and the family has been in missions full time since then.

The team flew down (some also drove down) on June 20^th. Upon coming out of the terminal we were greeted by a long haired man dressed in khaki shorts and a bright tie dye shirt waving at us.  Well we figured it had to be Bob, or some other crazy person, so we went with Bob.  The rest of Saturday was spent getting to know one another better and just settling into where we would be living for the next week. FEI had partnered with another organization called Lutheran Inter-city Network Coalition (LINC) in Houston, and through LINC we stayed at a church/school facility called Our Redeemer Lutheran on the northern side of Houston.

On Sunday the team took part in the church service at Our Redeemer then packed our lunches and headed to Galveston for a day of fun in the sun. Driving through Galveston you would hardly know that a hurricane had come through less than a year ago (except for the few stray boats on their sides in the middle of the island). Most of the outward damage had been cleared away, at this point it is the inside of the homes that are still damaged, mainly from mold and water damage.

On Monday the team got to work bright and early. We split into two different groups and went to two different projects. The first group consisted of Sue, Ryan, Sean, Jacob, and Amanda. We worked for a Hispanic family whose home had been hit by a tree during the storm. The roof had been repaired, but mold was now growing in several parts of the ceiling. The family was in the house all the time that the group was working. The mother spoke very little English but the children (ranging in age from first grade to a sophomore in high school) often acted as interpreters.  The foreman for the week was Edward Gill, a full time employee of LINC. Working with Edward and hearing his stories was amazing. To see how God has changed his life, from being one of the top drug dealers in Houston to being a follower of Jesus and working to spread His love.  Edward was also Hispanic and fluent in Spanish and he helped with the translating.

When we got started we discovered that we definitely had our work cut out for us. The house was a manufactured home and the drywall had not been screwed on, but had been glued to the trusses. So instead of being able to pull off entire sheets of drywall at once, we were only getting pieces a few inches across off at a time. As the drywall was being pulled off, we discovered the insulation was the blown in kind and it piled up on the floor as we worked (what a mess we made!).  The first day we really discovered just how hot Texas can get. The highs at times got into the 100s. The ceilings mostly ten feet high, and the house (yes it was air conditioned) in the afternoon would reach near 90˚ and as you went up the ladder the temperature would increase by at least ten degrees. There were nails in the roof that if you touched them, you would burn your finger!

The second group’s experience as well as more of the trip will be detailed in an upcoming post Texas Mission Trip: Part II.

For further information on this trip please contact Jacob Ehrichs at ehrichsj@yahoo.com.  For further information about how you can get involved in Apex Missions please contact Tab Green at tabatha.green@apexcommunity.org.

We look forward to hearing from you!