There’s been a lot going on with us including our web/blog being down and I haven’t been able get a good update done, so this may be a little long!
Last month we took off for 2 weeks to visit with family/friends and to attend the SECC pastor’s and leader’s conference in FL. We took our bunkhouse so that we could stay in it and I could figure some towing issues out we were having with it. This was the first time I pulled it and I really needed to figure it out as it sits lower to the ground than others and was causing issues. I’d made some changes with hitches, etc, but I still needed to fine tune it. I made some adjustments on the way down, and by the time we pulled it back home, it was pulling great!
We’d stayed in it a couple nights when we were working on our 5th wheel, but never really “lived” in it prior to this. I was able to figure out a few things that are different, such as how the water heater works! But we also had a couple of issues pop up, the refrigerator died and furnace thermostat quit working. The thermostat was a quick replacement, but the fridge couldn’t be saved. An RV fridge is over $1500 and an Amish guts replacement is $700. Since this is mostly a backup fridge we decided that we’ll do some reframing and will go with a dorm style fridge/freezer for around $350.
But then the phone call!! I noticed something strange concerning my internet monitoring of our 5th wheel. The internet we’ve been using at our base has had a lot of issues, including outages. We needed to upgrade some of our equipment to make our side a little more robust and that cost about $500. Unfortunately while the upgrades were needed the local internet provider is sketchy at best and just say that it is what it is! So when things were down, I assumed internet issues. After the 2nd day of no communication, I called our neighbor late at night to go check on things. Our home was flooded, which shorted out our backup power inverter, which shut down our power and internet!
We tried to get some sleep and took off early in the morning for TN, missing the last day of the conference. We thought it was a power issue but turned out a flood caused the power outage. Best we can figure is someone inadvertently turned on the hose bib to keep some pipes on the property from freezing not knowing that it would flood our home! The water entered our sink causing the waste tank to fill. Then our shower pan and washing machine drain pipe both filled and overflowed. This then flooded our trailer from the upstairs through the underbelly to under the trailer and all points in between!
We quickly called our friend Charles, who lives in the area and who is partially responsible for us getting into disaster relief! He owns a remediation franchise and told us what to do. Even though some affectionately call me the minister of mold, this was my first trailer and situation exactly like this! He loaned us some great equipment and we got busy getting it dried out. We let it sit a couple of days with just the inside drying because the weather wouldn’t allow us to work outside. Three levels were flooded and some areas had begun to mold. It’s been 4 weeks since we discovered it and some of it still isn’t dry, but we’re close. Part of that is because we were working on a home we’d committed to and didn’t have the time to really dig into things.
We’ll be replacing the kitchen/entry floor, some subflooring, a lot of insulation, and repairing some plastic liner. We also have some electronics to repair, our main backup system, and three heaters is what we’ve discovered so far. We’re looking at about $3000 since I’m doing all the work myself.
We’ve also been working on getting maintenance done on all our vehicles since we’ve been here. The V10 went in the shop for $2200 in repairs in January, and the diesel was a little over $600. I was able to replace the coil packs and spark plugs in the V10 myself for $500. The van was next and we spent $1200 on that and now found out that the transmission is bad. We don’t know how bad yet, and have it at the 2nd shop awaiting an estimate. First shop just said it needs replaced for $3000 without any hesitation, but I’m not sure that replacing it will solve the problem, so we have another shop looking at it. Please pray it will be quick, inexpensive, and be fixed for good! Even for $3000, since it was donated, it’s a lot cheaper than us buying something else with possible problems! We have a youth group flying in to serve with us April 3rd so need it completed in time for them to use it!
Now onto what and where we’ve been serving here in TN. We met Promod and Anu, a couple from India, back in December. They have 3 kids, a 3-year-old daughter and 2 sons, 8 and 10. Promod’s parents are 80 and live with them as well. Promod’s great-grandfather is the first family member to get saved. He was beaten, his legs were broken, and he was thrown out of his house by his family because of his faith in The LORD! Their story of going through the tornado and how God miraculously spared their lives is crazy! Both neighbors on each side of their house, separately told Promod that they swear they looked after the storm and that their house had been leveled, yet they and the house structure survived. Because of the damages it should’ve been torn down!
They’ve been fighting their insurance company and finally had to hire a lawyer. They’ve been staying in a small rental home with only 2 bathrooms! They’ve been scraping all they can together to get their home rebuilt praying that the insurance company will soon reimburse them.
We were asked to look at the outside of their home to help with getting the debris, broken glass, etc picked up. After meeting them and hearing their story I asked what else they needed done. They were looking for someone to lay over 2000 sq ft of hardwood flooring throughout their home. I quickly called Thom from CC Silver Creek, OH and Twinkle Toes (Mike) from CC Clayton, NC. They both said they could make it when needed. I had also received a call back in December from Parker from CO. He worked for a local contractor when we were helping with rebuilds and wanted to see if he could come help in a couple of months. This also lined up with our time frame.
The house was really broken up with lots of walls and doorways. The provided transition strips weren’t very good, so Thom and Parker decided to just flow from room to room without them, unless we were up against tile that was in some areas. This created a lot more work but turned out great! I know Promod and Anu were happy and impressed!
The problem though was that it was taking a lot of time and they all had to leave whether it was finished or not. I had them do the layout and flow into every room so that all I had to do to finish was continue without having to waste a bunch of time figuring it out.
I put the word out that I needed help. Everyone was busy! I talked to Joe, the leader at the Mennonite camp and he said they were pretty busy but if he could spare anyone he’d let me know. Several days later I ran into Joe at Home Depot. He asked if I still needed help! He said he’d try again. The next day he called with a team of 6 who could help the next day, the last day I’d have Thom and Parker. They all showed up and Thom and Parker kept working to get ahead of everyone so that the others could just lay flooring without having to deal with transitions, reversals, etc. But they only had that day and had to leave by 4:30. I was crazy running around trying to keep everyone focused and doing what was needed and everyone was working hard, but it didn’t seem like we were going to finish. All of the sudden everything just fell into place and we finished all but the tile transition strips at exactly 4:30 and we loaded up the tools and headed to our respective camps! God is good!
I’ve still got the transitions to do, but the trim is now finished and the painters have started. They’ve asked me to help oversee the rest of the work to ensure it’s moving along and being done right. We also found a great shed builder that builds exceptional buildings for almost what materials would cost us, so he’s working on that. We’ll finish it off on the inside once it’s in place. The youth group will help with that, pray it’s done in time. They’ll also help with cleaning up the yard and helping get the raised garden that Promod’s parents spend their time working in! We’ll be pressure washing the outside as it’s still covered with insulation from the storm! I may also paint the outside for them.
In my spare time, I’ve got several backburner projects I’m working on at the church we’re serving at, Wellspring CC. I’ve also got some work to do to get some things done there for the team who will be staying there and we’re going to set up full RV hookups in the parking lot for us to use the bunkhouse there when we have teams in town and working ourselves in town as it’s an extra hour each day to travel from where we’re living to where the work and church are. We’d like to move there and were planning on it when we got flooded out! Now we’ll have to wait to get everything replaced in the 5th wheel and we’ve been warned to not move it for a month after we’re all dried out! Pray about this as well!
We’ve also met Promod’s brother Santosh and their family, who has an amazing God story concerning his son Philip who recently died at the age of 19 but was supposed to be aborted or he would die right after birth, but God! Through him their family are now missionaries doing cleft pallet surgeries for free in India and Africa, 700 so far, and that has also led to some undercover God work amidst the sex trafficking business. He traveled often with his dad and family until Jesus called him home a little over a year ago. Please keep them in your prayers as they are currently planning their biggest surgical event so far for this summer!
Lots of financial needs right now and like I mentioned in an earlier post about our flood, it is discouraging and as the issues pile up, even more so, but we know that God is good and He hasn’t told us to quit what we’re doing, so we’ll press on until and if He does! We know just during the time with the guys working on the flooring, there was a lot of ministry and discipleship going on. Parker, who isn’t a believer yet, listened intently to all of our morning devos and he and Thom had some conversations regarding The LORD! His ways are not ours! Please keep us in your prayers and if you can help with anything extra towards our extra expenses that’d be great! You can click here for more info on giving!
Pray for unity for the youth group that’ll be here in a few weeks. Pray for Promod and Anu’s home to be finished soon so that they can move back in and that their insurance company would do the right thing! Pray that their shed will be completed by the end of March. Pray for our house to dry out! Pray for our van transmission! Pray that our vehicles will NOT have any more major issues anytime soon! Pray for guidance for all that we do! Pray that we’d always be a shining light to ALL those around us and that our lives would be a witness of the goodness of The LORD so that others would be drawn to either a relationship with Jesus or if they already have one, that they’d be drawn deeper into their relationship with Him! Pray that Christians all over the world would get serious about living their lives for The LORD and quit chasing after their own fleshly desires so that hearts and lives around us would be drawn to Christ! Satan is alive and well and he roams about seeking who he can devour as he attempts to thwart all of God’s plans. We need to get serious with our daily walk with The LORD so that we can be part of thwarting satan’s plans and instead of being part of them!
We so appreciate all of your prayers and support!
If you’re interested in helping with any of the expenses with Calvary Relief, please click here.
Love You All and LORD Bless,
Curt & Mary Jo
