Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
As our missions trip in Texas continues, each day has brought new opportunities for camaraderie between members of NBC’s team as well as the congregation at Harmony Baptist Church. The work on Wednesday and Thursday was much the same as the previous day. Scott, Dan and the girls continued their work on the house in Rose Hill Acres, and the boys joined Pastor Hack and Pastor Doug in working on the mobile home project.
After finishing the job of pulling nails and staples in each room, the team focused on installing insulation on all exterior walls and hanging drywall. Corbin, Brian and A.J. each became proficient at measuring and cutting drywall, as well as hanging it on the walls. Each of them had plenty of practice over the two days as we were able to knock out a majority of the work in four rooms. Corbin and A.J. each had “electrifying experiences” on the job as they got a little too close to the outlets at times, and all ended up with their share of scrapes and scratches.
Just as the boys were challenged in their tasks, Ashley, Courtney, Elizabeth and Anna did not escape their work without bumps and bruises of their own. As they installed flooring at Rose Hill Acres, each managed to smash fingers with hammers. Needless to say, each evening during dinner we all took turns talking about our day, displaying battle scars and laughing about the many anecdotes that made the day a unique experience.
Tuesday evening after dinner we took a side trip to Walmart. The Vidor Walmart Supercenter opened on March 14, and offers 184,000 square feet of shopping bliss. The store is a big topic of discussion locally, as it is twice the size of the Walmart it replaced. As they say, everything is bigger in Texas. It was fun to get out, take a break from the work, and check out the facility. The girls came back and applied their newly-purchased facial masks, which was highly entertaining.
Since Hurricane Harvey, Harmony Baptist does not regularly hold Sunday evening and Wednesday evening services. As the community continues to recover, they are getting closer to returning to a more regular schedule. However, Wednesday night a service was held in the community center where we shared a meal and Pastor Doug brought a short message. It was a great opportunity to talk with members of the congregation and break bread with them. The church has been an incredible host this week, and it gave many of us a chance to thank them for their Texas-sized hospitality.
Thursday will be our last day of work in Vidor. The plan is to wrap up as much as we can before eating an early dinner, packing and departing in the late afternoon. We will drive a few hours before stopping for the night at a hotel somewhere along the way. Friday morning we’ll set out to travel what’s left of the roughly 1,000-mile trek home. While we have all enjoyed the fellowship and have focused on the mission of the trip, it will be nice to be home again.