Monday, November 5, 2007

Demolition Dogs

Well, I am back to writing. Want to tell about my chance to be a demolition dog on our mission trip this past weekend. We had 12 go to the United Methodist Relief Center in Mt. Pleasant. I didn't know they had such a great group house as a base for teams.

Friday half our team was assigned to dig out a foundation for an ET House. Elderly Transportable (ET) Houses are one person homes built on a trailer chassis. It is provided free of charge to elderly persons who qualify, but remains the property of the UMRC. When it is no longer needed by the person, it is refurbished and moved to the property of who ever needs it next. Trinity built an ET in 2003 and it is being used by a lady outside Sumter.

The rest of our team took apart the treated wood stairs and landings at another ET. This home was never lived in. Just as it was made ready, the man had to go into the hospital, and would not be able to live independently again. We joked about whatever mission team this past summer that built the stairs coming back to see their handiwork and being unable to find it.

Can't you just see some teenager standing there on Clement's Ferry Road, exclaiming to his parents, "Honestly, we did do mission work down here - I don't know what happened to the house, it was right here!"

Saturday, we all worked together on a house out toward Wando on Hwy 41. We tore out the kitchen and the bathroom, and took off the roof. Demolition dogs. Someone else will have the fun of building back.

It was good to get out and do some physical work. For some reason, I especially enjoyed busting out the tile bathroom walls with a hammer. And it was nice working with a group of people who understood we were just playing a small role in a big relief effort.

No one complained about moving about to different sites, or lamented that we didn't get to build anything, or griped about what they had to do. They signed up to serve and that's what they did. And we enjoyed working together. Our efforts will contribute to others having decent housing somewhere down the line, and that's what it's all about.

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