In 2019, a small group of 7 adults traveled to Tarboro, NC to do disaster relief from Hurricane Matthew in 2016.  It was surprising to see how many areas were still either abandoned or in disrepair after so much time.    In fact, while were at the conference site, members of the Army were there as well looking at the levees and trying to come up with a plan to prevent future flooding in that area.

Our group worked on the roof of the home of a wonderful gentleman named Roger Southerland.  He was a 77 year old man who was legally blind due to macular degeneration.  He lived alone and spent his days at the Senior Center or driving his lawn mower around town collecting trash in the neighborhood. He even was awarded a local citizenship award for his efforts.

Those of our group who weren’t fond of heights, spent time on the ground painting, cutting tiles and cleaning up debris.  Those of us on the roof spent time peeling off shingles, sweeping the roof, pulling nails then helping to lay the new paper and shingles.

Even though there was not a lot of down time, we went to a local Ecumenical Church in town for a free dinner they provide to the community each Wednesday night.  The food was wonderful.  The folks were so nice and we even got to be a part of the VBS closing program.  They brought service dogs in after dinner and shared information about them with the kids and all the folks at the dinner that night.  It was a wonderful evening.

This year, our trip is planned for July 7-11th.  There are 39 of us scheduled to make this trip, virus permitting!   We will include the youth and families in this trip.  We even have a few folks who have volunteered to go  along and shop and do meal prep for us.

Thank you to our church families and community for your generous support of our mission trip. We could not do this without you!