A.N.T.S. trip to Orange, Texas to help with Hurricane Ike relief efforts.

October, 2008

Doug Dix from Yuma Christian Church, Yuma, CO and Ed Buck went to work rehabbing a mobile home so volunteer crews working in the area and with ìMission Lumberî would have a place to stay during their time in Orange. ìMission Lumberî is processing lumber from donated trees to use in rebuilding efforts. Many thanks to Bobby & Pat Granger for their hospitality they provided during this time.

November, 2008

Lynn Coleman, bob & Richa Chappel, Joy Balding, Mel & Pat Gramm from Green Mountain Christian Church, Lakewood, CO, Earl Helm and Jason Young from Cheyenne Wells, Co Christian Church and Ed Buck spent a week in Orange in November, 2008. They helped a widow with a developmentally disabled adult daughter clean up her yard and house so the house could be demolished. They were going to try to save the home after Hurricane Ike, but determined termites had done considerable damage and it needed to be destroyed. They also helped do repairs on the Ministerial Alliance building in Bridge City, TX. One of the team members commented they did not know who received the bigger blessing, the ones they helped or themselves. ìI think it was me!î Team members also worked on the home of Wilfort and Nora Bergeaux so it could be ready for renovation. The West Orange Christian Church was a huge blessing as they provided a kitchen and evening meals for us all week long.

January, 2009

A unique trip in that we had 4 couples commit to going. Earl & Pam Helm and Carl & Leta Smalley from Cheyenne Wells, CO Christian Church, Mel & Pat Gramm from Green Mountain Christian Church, Lakewood, CO and Ed & Lil Buck from Sterling, CO. We try to take a break from traveling and stop at an interesting site. This trip it was the 6th Floor Museum in Dallas where President Kennedy was shot.
Prior to leaving on a trip, we try to give team members an idea of what they might be doing while there. Two of the ladies, being first timers, werenít sure what they could contribute. As with most trips, you may be asked to do something out of your comfort zone. These ladies were asked to help in a home where sheet rock was being installed. Once at the job site, Henry Hecht (the person in charge of the project) showed them how to properly insert the screws so that when it was mudded, it would create a smooth finish. He then taught them the techniques of ìmuddingî and away they went with their project! Leta and Pam found their niche and completed it to the end! They are true ìmuddersî! Great job! At this particular site, team members also helped install a couple of walls, removed tile to make way for new and various other odds and ends. Other team members helped at the Ministerial Alliance building, putting up, taking out, putting up trim, etc! We also cleaned up around the Mission Lumber site and base camp. Mission Lumber and base camp are located on property owned by Bobby Granger and he so graciously has granted permission for his property to be used in recovery relief efforts since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita almost four years ago. Mel and Ed succeeded in building a cabinet with sink and countertop for the base camp mobile home. The cooks sure appreciated it!
As relationships are built with team members, both your own and others working from various areas, and also with those working in Orange on a permanent basis, your eyes are opened to many and varied individuals. This trip provided a unique experience in that as we were eating dinner one evening provided by the ladies of West Orange Christian Church, a young man came and was asked to join in. He had written a poem (prayer) about how his life needed help. That night the group witnessed his conversion and baptism. Garry Jones and Ed Buck proceeded to have a study time with this young man. We never know what or how lives will be impacted by these trips. To God be the glory!
We so enjoy interacting with the people working at Mission Lumber: Garry, Larry, David, Ed, Mark & Coleen. Bobby Granger is so kind to provide us with not only a tour of the area, but also interesting historical facts (some not written!). We are humbled by their kindness
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February 2007 Nairn, LA

Four people left February 10th to go to Nairn, LA.  We arrived on Sunday evening to a house full of people.  Over 30 people were staying in the base camp.  We had beds everywhere.  Don Aldrich and Ed slept in the attic with Zeke Radel, while Lil Buck and Joy Balding slept with a dozen other women.  We were able to help with plumbing issues, insulating, and framing along with several other things.  Most of the time for some of us was spent working on the house boat of Mr. Boudreaux who lost everything during the storm.  This gentleman is retired and living on social security on his house boat.  However, he has been living in a FEMA trailer at his brothers house or at the base camp as a security guard when no else is around. 

This trip also gave us the opportunity to work with the Amish who have committed to coming to the area to help in the rebuilding efforts.  It was so great to experience the love of these people to go outside of the culture they live in to help those in need.

January 2007 Trip to Nairn, LA

The Yuma Church of Christ sent Don Smith and Doug Dix, and along with Bill Langridge, Zeke Radel, and Ed Buck returned to help in the area. Again we worked on the same house as before along with other details. It was a great experience to meet up with Travis McCasland who had gone back to help in the area.  His expertise in sheet rocking and painting is invaluable.
While those back home were experiencing cold and blowing snow we thought it was also cold as the homes we were working in did not have heat, and it was only about 35 to 45 during the daytime.  While there we had the chance to enjoy a group of men from the Wisconsin area.
After returning we all gathered at the Yuma Church of Christ the following Sunday to share in the food and culture that we had experienced.

 

 

November 2006 Trip to Plaquemine Parish, LA

This trip was with 5 people who experienced for the first time what the destruction of Hurricane Katrina did first hand.  It is hard to realize that no building is being done in this area of the storm ravaged area. We had the experience of working on a family house that was a naval orange farm with several out buildings. The only building that was close to being salvageable was the home.   The entire grove of natsumi’s (oranges) about 1500 trees was lost due to the length of time the salt has remained on the land.  We worked on rewiring the entire house and worked on insulating and shingling the part of the roof not completed by prior crews working on the exterior.  After 2 weeks of work on rough-in electrical it was ready for inspection. This trip saw two of the young men deciding to stay to help others who were working in the area. Wendell and Ewoldt Greise from the Hastings, Nebraska area came down and helped for one week while we were there.

During the weekend we took a trip to the greater New Orleans area to see the destruction that was in that area. It was more that words can describe.

September, 2006
Have you ever asked yourself, how can I help? Did you really mean what you said?
Twenty different people did just that recently when they banded together to replace the roof on the Vona Church of Christ. In the course of a week a roof with two layers of shingles was torn off of a steeper than normal roof and replaced with asphalt shingles. It just goes to show you that sometimes peoples’ actions do speak louder than their words.

The Vona Church of Christ has helped many people throughout the years and now they are the ones to receive a blessing from God.  Starting on Thursday morning steps were being taken to secure the roof from underneath so no further sagging of the roof would occur by adding cross members in the attic.  Vents were added to allow for ventilation of the new roof.  Then on Saturday the dreaded job of removing the two layers of wood shingles began in earnest. It was a very steep roof and not many of the men were comfortable on it, but with the aid of toe boards and ropes, they were able to keep their footing.  With part of the crew doing nothing but stripping shingles and pulling nails both sides were completed by four o’clock in the afternoon.   As soon as the shingles were removed and nails pulled some men were putting new sheeting down for the replacement shingles.  As darkness set in that evening the sheeting had been completed on both sides and the underlayment completed on one side. What a day!  Monday morning came and a smaller crew of five the finished the underlayment on the other side of the roof.  Next step was to lay the shingles.  Through the wisdom of one of the men (Don) shingles were installed from the top down. Our first thought when Don told us we should try this was “you have to be kidding”.  Within an hour’s time he had shown us how this would work.    By Wednesday evening the roof was replaced with a nice asphalt shingle roof.  Later on plans are to paint the woodwork on the ends of the building and trim of the roof.

Twenty men from as far away as Missouri, Sterling, Julesburg and locally from Bethune, Burlington, Seibert, and Stratton lent a hand to complete the job.  The organization was spearheaded by David Williams of the Burlington Christian Church and “Help Is On The Way – A.N.T.S.” which is a ministry that responds to building needs brought on by disasters or varying circumstances and the occupants are not able to complete the task themselves.

The ladies of the Vona Church of Christ and others in Vona contributed to the effort in the way of delicious food over a period of several days to hungry workers!

Team members include:
Don Aldrich – Faith Tabernacle, Merino, CO
Don Graber – Milford Christian, Milo, MO
Dallas Miller – Assembly of God, Oshkosh, NE
Dustin Sells – Church of God, Stratton, CO
Eric Vary – First Baptist, Julesburg, CO

From Burlington Christian Church, Burlington, CO:
David Williams
Dennis Walters
Chadron Walters
Royce Walters
Jim Bartlett

From Julesburg Christian Church, Julesburg, CO
Scott Westphall
Steve Henni
Paul Anderson
Kerry Johnson
Mike Benson
Flake Burke

From Sterling Berean, Sterling, CO
Mike Krehbiel
Ed Buck

May 2006
This trip three of us from Logan County, Colorado went to Orange, Texas to help mill wood for restoration projects in the area south of New Orleans, Louisiana.  Working with Garry Jones and Don Mull from Louisiana and Pat Moore and Bobby Granger from Orange, Texas was such a treat.  All three of us had been down to help on prior trips, so getting to work with these men again was a delight.  Milling lumber and removing trees from lots that people had given permission was the task.   At the end of the week we felt that we had accomplished a great deal in helping mill lumber that could be used in rebuilding homes for those who had the misfortune of having their homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Team members from Sterling Berean, Sterling, CO:
Lance Russell
Jim Nelson
Ed Buck

February 2006
This trip we had the experience of working inside a church building replacing a ceiling that had been damaged because the roof leaked after Hurricane Rita made her presence.  We were able to take 4 men from Colorado and Nebraska for a week long stay.  It was all in God’s timing that we worked inside on this trip because it rained everyday.  One evening while attending one of the functions at the church building we were working on, a young child went into the room we were working on and observed the ceiling was missing.  He looked at his mother and said, “Is God mad at us? First the hurricane and now the ceiling has been destroyed!” She went on to explain that some men had volunteered to help replace the ceiling and it was not completed yet. Meeting additional people and making new acquaintances is always high light of these trips. We also got to see some of the people we met from the prior trip. 

Team members and their home churches:

Bruce Hiatt – Northern Hills Christian, Brighton, CO
Dillard Griffith – Home Church, Mitchell, NE
And from Sterling Berean, Sterling, CO:
Jim Nelson
Ed Buck

December 2005 trip

Have you ever experienced going to an area that has just been hit by a hurricane? The group of us that went on the trip to help with cleaning up debris from Hurricane Rita was in for a big surprise as to the extent of the damage.  Most of us have seen damage from tornados, and had seen the coverage on the TV of the damage but it was a lot more impressive in person. This trip was about 10 weeks after the actual hurricane and you thought, what did this look like before any cleanup?  Where do you start? Who needs the help the most? Thanks to contacts in the area we were able to help a retired minister in his 90’s whose wife recently died, a widow who does a lot of volunteer work at a local hospital, and a local minister who had donated his place as a camp site for volunteers and the placement of a sawmill to reclaim downed and damage trees in the area.  6 people from Colorado worked for a week in this endeavor.  We didn’t think you could work for 3 days in a small yard cleaning up the debris caused by Hurricane Rita and still not get it completed.  The teams that go down to help receive as much of a blessing as the ones that are being helped.  Getting to meet the local people and share some of the stories of what they found upon returning to their homes was amazing.   The trips we make are much like a fishing, hunting, family camping, or a short term mission trip.  You get to experience getting to know each other on a different level through these experiences.

Team members for this trip and the churches they represent:

Kerry Johnson  -  Julesburg Christian, Julesburg, CO
Bruce Hiatt – Northern Hills Christian, Brighton, CO
Sheila Worley – Peace Luthern, Sterling, CO
And from Sterling Berean, Sterling, CO:
Lance Russell
Dennis Herzberg
Ed Buck

October 2005 
This trip was to Youngsville, Louisiana to help rebuild a mobile home that had suffered damage from the affects of Hurricane Rita. Pat Hansen and Ed Buck went to help a nephew and his family refurbish their mobile home.  This project required us to strip the siding off the outside of the home in order to remove the insulation that had gotten wet and had incurred some molding.  Once the home was stripped then we put in new insulation, then put up half inch sheeting before covering the outside with vinyl siding.  The interior had sustained some damage to the ceiling and walls and kitchen cabinets. So we patched, replaced, and painted the walls and ceiling.  Next step was to remove and install kitchen cabinets.  When all that was completed the home was in better shape than before the storm. The total cost of materials, not including that which was donated, came to $4,000.  When the project was completed FEMA had sent a settlement for the salvage value of the home of $4,000.  What a coincidence.  Without the help of all the volunteer labor this young family would not have been able to move back into their home without incurring a large labor bill to refurbish the home or purchase a different one.   There was over 700 hours of volunteer labor in a matter of two weeks in rebuilding this home.  Now the family has a nice home they should be able to enjoy for years to come.