Day 4

LongIsland2Day4 “You are the gospel come to life.” - Mary, Fran’s mother. After some banana pancakes and scrambled eggs we were off to our work site in Wantaugh. Today’s site was the same as yesterday which was nice because we were able to continue what we had begun. Fran (the homeowner) bought coffee and breakfast snacks as well as lunch from a local deli. She was just as friendly as she was the day before. The rain held to a spotty drizzle but it was enough to keep things nice and cool. Our tasks today consisted of removing walls, sheet rock, and nails. We also needed to remove parts of a tree and a shed floor consisting of railroad ties (the shed was destroyed in the flooding). The wood all had to be cut into small pieces and bundled before placing it on the curb. After lunch all of the six vacuums were on full blast sucking up dust, rocks, and debris. After three hours of vacuuming – yes, every guy does know how to and can vacuum quite effectively and Katie has pictures to prove it! Every inch of every wall, joist, and stud from floor to ceiling had to be vacuumed to remove mold spores that are in the dust. All Hands will be returning soon to de-moldify (Mike’s word) the entire basement with another crew. Upon returning to the church in Brooklyn we were all able to take much needed showers to clean and to cool us off. The sump pumps were running a bit slow again. We will clean the pumps and buckets as well as replace the batteries tonight. Tonight we decided to get out a bit so we drove to about 25 minutes to Coney Island. None of us had ever been there and four of us (Bob, Lynn, Katie and Mike) decided to try a spin on the world famous “Cyclone” roller coaster. Mike had to ride in a seat by himself since the coaster was built some 85 years ago when people were much smaller. If you haven’t been on this coaster I will tell you that it was the roughest “amusement” ride I (Mike) have ever been on. As I staggered off this wild ride I exclaimed, “never again!” But, I’m really glad I did it! We stopped at Nathan’s hot dog stand for some dinner and ate out on the beach. It was obvious that Bob enjoyed hiss chili cheese dog since half of it ended up on his hands and face. A cool breeze was welcome relief from the city heat in Brooklyn. Listened to a little bit of live jazz/blues and walked on the beach before heading back to Brooklyn. We started bible study just before 9pm and instead of Nehemiah we switched over to John chapter 13. This chapter tells of how Jesus ‘lowered’ himself to wash the feet of his disciples. Back in the time of Jesus people who washed others’ feet were the servants. In John 13:14 Jesus said, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 13:15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you”. We ‘washed the feet’ of just a few of the families hit hard by hurricane Sandy. Pictures will be coming soon. Unfortunately, the 'blogspot' page wouldn't fully load on our limited internet connection. Leaving for home early in the morning.