It’s been a busy week as we’re getting Camp Calvary set up among other things. Honestly, we’ve been so busy I can’t remember all we’ve been doing and it seems as if we’ve been here a while now, though it’s only been a week!
I did a quick post about getting the roof of CC Venice tarped and the inside water damages dried. No damages to speak of, just needs dried and then the carpets cleaned in one of the rooms. Todd from CC SRQ is taking care of that!
We went to the pastor Bob’s house because he needed electric and water, so 2 generators, and did some tree and fence work on Tuesday to keep the dogs in. Continue to pray for Bob as he hasn’t been feeling very good. He’s retiring at the end of the month, and it’s got to be hard as they started CC Venice over 20 years ago.
Spent a couple of days figuring some stuff out for setting up Camp Calvary. I purchased all we’ll need to set up a larger hot water heater and a shower. We’ve got an oven/stove and refrigerator all wired up and ready to be installed. We’ll be working on this, this week.
Had a great day serving with a lot of people from Calvary Chapel Venice, Calvary Chapel Sarasota, and Faith Community Christian Fellowship (Osprey CC) on Saturday!
Started with breakfast provided by CC SRQ's Men's Fellowship, then Chuck Benham led worship, I did the devo talking about how Calvary Relief only exists to disciple people who know Jesus and to draw those who don't know Him to Him, which is what we're all supposed to do all the time!
There were about 50 or so people there, men, women, and children. Not all of them were able to serve with us as they had other commitments. A few folks stayed back and finished cleaning up the church property as we're moving our trailers in this week! Pray for the vehicle moving as this has been a huge battle with one thing after another beginning 5 months ago with a blown engine!
One group took off to start deconstructing a recent widow's home that got flooded and she doesn't have any insurance. Another group went to a widow's mobile home and removed some metal roofing, tarped the roof, and took care of some tree and yard work.
Another group went to a trailer park with over 1700 homes! Some are totally destroyed, some were fine, but a lot of them have roof and structure damages. They were able to work on 2 different trailers and get their roofs dried in. We're getting a lot of requests from this neighborhood!
I then had David from CC Philly who'll be staying with us for a little bit help me patch another widow's home not far from Camp Calvary!
Monday we’ll have some volunteers from CC Christian Fellowship in SRQ joining us and possibly some from CC Venice! Love seeing all these local churches get on board in their Jerusalem!
Mary Jo Hencye took off in her van Saturday morning for KY and arrived Sunday. She'll finish getting everything ready to move our RV's to FL.
Chris Reif was supposed to come down with Gery Base, and Ron Ramsey from CC Frontlines in Arkansas, but he’s got a kidney stone issue that came up yesterday afternoon. Gery and Ron will be taking off this morning, drive to Louisiana to pick up my V10 that is finally ready after yet another issue with a bad radiator. Jeff Robinson, CC Houma pastor, picked up some rolls of tarps from our ministry friends at CAM that were being stored and some 1x2's we left there and has them loaded in our truck. Gery will switch the load to his truck and drive to FL. Ron will take off with the V10 to KY to meet up with MJ to tow the bunkhouse. Eric, a friend from CC SRQ, will trade me trucks and take the diesel, and head out for KY on Tuesday where he’ll meet up with MJ and Ron and he’ll tow our 5th wheel. They'll hit the road, LORD willing, on Thursday morning and they should arrive in Venice Friday afternoon. Gery will help us until they arrive sometime on Friday and then they’ll help us set up camp and then Gery and Ron will head back to AR! Wow!
Talked with a friend of ours who is the EOC Chief of our county. He’s finally settling down and extremely glad that we’re here to help. We’ve worked hard with his office along with others in our community over the years to help our county prepare for disasters. He’ll be visiting Camp Calvary soon! He’s also got his assistant working on getting us some supplies!
We’re getting a lot of requests for help. There are so many 55+ mobile home parks around the area, most without insurance because no one would insure the older homes, coupled with the physical limitations they have, it’s very overwhelming for them.
Camp Calvary is up and running! If you’re interested in growing in The LORD as you selflessly serve others alongside of Calvary Relief, please let us know! For more info on joining us, click here.
If you’re interested in helping with any of the expenses with Calvary Relief, please click here.
If there’s ever anything you need prayer about or just need to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us and let us know!
Here to serve and disciple until He calls us home,
Curt & Mary Jo
