Friday, October 23, 2015

Crisfield 3- The end

We've been back almost a week now and I thought I better send out the last reports about the trip.  First, though, a mighty big Thank you!!!! to everyone that was praying for us and supporting us financially and socially and everything.  You are a huge part of the story and we wouldn't do it without you.  

In the last email, I said that Bob wanted to do a debriefing, and that I would talk about that in this email.  Sometimes things don't go the way we want them to.  When you put your guts out on social media or the internet for all to see, it's easier to sugar coat everything and try to avoid offending people or making them feel uncomfortable.  But it isn't the truth and I think it's worth it to be transparent.  

Our team is mostly from the Upper Midwest, where things are done a certain way.  We dig basements.  We put ice guard on our roofs.  etc.  The agency we worked for asked us to do something that some people on our team felt would be ineffective and not achieve the best results.  Which led to some fundamental questions about what we do and how and why.  

A few years ago, we worked on a house in New Orleans that I had a hard time reconciling the "why" question.  This house was half of a duplex that the owner was living in the other half.  So this was going to be rental property.  And the guy was a plumber.  He knew how to do things.  Seemed like a bad use of our time. I reconciled it in my mind by remembering that we volunteered to serve the agency we were working through.  And if they thought that was needed, then I had to trust those whose authority I was under.  And the same applies here.  

AND-  

Yes, it's done differently here.  We are not in the Upper Midwest.  We are in the Mid Atlantic.  We voiced our concerns, offered suggestions, and they were heard and rejected.  We are not the ones who live here and it would be arrogant and disrespectful to tell them they are doing it wrong.  They are doing it differently than we would.  Again, we are under their authority.  We are in their sandbox, we'll play by their rules. I think we struggle with this because we put so much of ourselves into it.  Our way was rejected, so we were rejected.  After the last round of emails from Marquette, I was talking with a friend who doesn't live in the US anymore and he said, "I remember everything in the States was about being accepted... (is it still?)  and if one gives any kind of criticism, then that is seen as rejection. It's actually quite shallow. " 
And since then, I have tried to cognitively separate criticism from rejection.  I'm seldom successful, but at least I know.  So I guess the roundabout point here is that rejection of someone's idea is not rejection of that person.  

And finally, we talked about the whole thing not really making sense.  If you want to have the best return on your money, then maybe we should take up a collection and send it to the areas where disaster hits.  Let the professional builders make some money and put it into the local economy that way.  But I think that God's economy is not our economy.  And what we do isn't just about rebuilding a home.  It's about sharing hope.  And community.  And faith.  And Love.  It's becoming friends and sharing connections with the people in the van on the way out.  It's demonstrating God's outrageous love for us by driving halfway across the country (paying over $200 in tolls alone) to dig out oyster shells and pour cement.  Financially, what we do doesn't make sense.  But maybe it doesn't have to.  

I don't know if what we did to the house helped it in the long run.  The floor feels better when you walk on it.  And maybe the insulation we put up around the foundation will help keep wind and water out.  And maybe the reason we went to Crisfield was bigger than that.  

The drive back was pretty uneventful.  It did snow while we were in the Allegany Mountains.  But nothing that made driving unsafe.  We were very well taken care of in Maumee, Ohio again.  The people that hosted us came in gave us breakfast.  We got home on Sunday night around 6:15pm.Central Time.  

I didn't finish my paper, but I turned in what I had.  The next installment is due next weekend.  (It's a cumulative project)

Next trip that is currently scheduled is New Orleans on April 23-May 1st, 2016.  If you want to come, we'd love to have  you.  There are five people signed up already and three or four more assumed going.  That's a big start!  For more info, See our event on our Facebook page:  (click here for info about the next trip)  Or you can call Rod or email.  

I did put up more pictures of the trip.  You can see them here:  (click here to go to our Facebook page) or here:  (click here to go to our Picasa Page)

If you would like a photo book from this trip, or one of those awesome green team t-shirts, let me know and I'll tell you  how much they cost.  

Thanks for joining this story.  Hope to see you in New Orleans!

Rod
--
Are you a tool?

Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.  
(St. Teresa of Avila)

Friday, October 16, 2015

Crisfield3- the last work day.

What a day!  

First I'll apologize for not getting any pictures up today.  It is late and I have to pack because we're leaving first thing in the morning.  And truthfully, it probably won't be until Monday.  But I'll get them going.  

Today we got as much done as we could with skirting the foundation of the house with styrofoam insulation and then hearty board.  It's kind of like a cement board.  The hard part was putting it up under the house along the perimeter of the deck.  I know I won't explain it well, but suffice it to say that Howard and Jon and I were under the house on our bellies in a crawl space putting a wooden framework to hang the insulation, and then putting in said insulation.  I only got claustrophobic once.   Just as we were getting ready to clean up and pick up the tools, the guy in charge came by and asked us to get one part under the next porch done, so we did.  

We left the job site around 1:00pm, went back, had lunch, and cleaned up.  Bob wanted to spend some time debriefing the job, which is something he hasn't asked for before.  When I write up the final piece, I'll talk about the issues we brought up and how we have left them.  (Stay tuned!)

We went to the local museum and gift shop.  Looked around.  Bought a few things.  Then drove around town for a few minutes.  (It's not a big town.)  Had some ice cream.  And then went and parked by the dock and waited until 6:00pm when the homeowners we were working for joined us for dinner at a nearby restaurant.  It was nice to spend time with them and get to know them a little better.  

Then we were invited to the home of a local guy name Joe Pinto who offered beverages and snacks and talked with us about Crisfield history and some guesses about the future of Crisfield.  It was really interesting.  Joe is a fascinating guy and a fantastic host.  

We just got back to where we stay and are cleaning up, packing up some, and heading to bed.  We are going to get up early and try to leave here by 7:00am- which is an hour earlier than we usually do, but it's a long haul.  

Pray for safe travel with tired drivers.  Team unity with tired and worn out (physically and emotionally) people.  Pray for our home owners, Mary and Monte and the next team that will come and work on their house.  

Thank you for being with us and taking this trip with us.  You are an invaluable part of our team.  

Talk to you again in a couple days!

Rod

--
Are you a tool?

Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.  
(St. Teresa of Avila)

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Crisfield3- Wednesday and Thursday

A good couple days with progress on the house and other cool things.

On the house, we got the piers to brace up the house done and the holes in the floor covered back up.  Now we are working on putting styrofoam insulation around the outside of the foundation of the house.  I guess it is to keep the wind from blowing up and in.  After the insulation, we are putting on something they call hearty board, which looks to me like some kind of cement board.  Putting it around the outside of the house isn't a big deal.  But where the porches are, they want us to go under the porches and install it there.  The success prediction for this project is a little dubious.  When Bob and Howard are both skeptical, it pays to pay attention.  But that is what we have been told to do and have clarified that we understand correctly.  So we will give it a shot.  Might end up being easier than we thought.  

Tonight we went to one of the home owners we worked for last year.  It was a house that Howard and Lewis and Ron and Dale and I (Rod Sc.) worked on.  When we were there, we started from the foundation and laid the plate, the floor joists, the floor, framed up and covered the exterior walls and framed up the interior walls.  We made the skeleton of the house.  Tonight we went in and saw it completed.  It was a little surreal.  The house is done and furnished very nicely and they have put their unique touches on it.  You can see a few pictures of it.  on our FB page or our Picasa page-  links below.  They they told us the story of how they weathered Hurricane Sandy and the ripple effects their actions had in saving three other lives.  It was inspirational.  I have a typed copy and will try to post it once I get back to MN and can scan it in.  

OH!  And they bought us a Smith Island Cake.  Google it if you don't know what it is.  It was delicious!  

ANDDD-  a local guy donated a big box of blue crabs for us for dinner.  They are pretty work intensive, so some people had an alternative, but I thought they were pretty good.  It was a good cultural experience.  

There are so many nice people in this town.  The locksmith that came and opened the van when Debbie had the keys in her pocket for hours and the rest of us couldn't find them.  He refused to take any money.  And then the plumber who gave us a big box of crabs for our supper.  And the homeowner who gave us Smith Island Cake and let us gawk at her house.  (she was actually happy to share it with us.  They are proud of it and grateful.-  And I like they way they said, "Come Aboard!" when they were inviting us in.)  

Last work day is tomorrow.  We will work about a half day and get as much done as we can.  Ben and Gordy (from UMCOR, the agency we are working through) both said to just do what we can and that they have 60 volunteers coming next week.  So we will do what we can.  

That's all you can do, right?  

The homeowner we worked for last year that invited us over tonight said something I thought was a good image.  She said, "When you go through the water, you leave a wake.  We don't always look back to see how those ripples affect things, but you know they do."   Be the Boat.  Be the Ripples.  Be the Wake.  Be the Tool. 

R

(OH yeah-  links:  Click here for the Picasa site
Click here for our Facebook page )

--
Are you a tool?

Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.  
(St. Teresa of Avila)

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Crisfield3- the 2nd work day

Business as usual.  Dug out some more clam holes.  Cut another hole in the floor, Poured cement.  Bent some rebar.  The inspector likes it.  He will be by in the morning to see about the cement pillars we are going to pour.  There was question about how to do it.  

Tomorrow I think we are going to pour some cement pillars in a round form about a foot in diameter.  Then once that dries, we are going to put a couple 2x8's across pairs of pillars and use them to shore up the floor joists.  I'll know more when it happens.  

In an odd change of scenery, I (Rod Sc.) stayed back to work on a paper that I have due for my class on Saturday.  I am about a third done with it.  I may have to stay back tomorrow, too.  I feel odd not helping on the work site.  They did just fine without me today, though, so they will probably do just fine without me again tomorrow.  But It sure feels funny.  

Prayers for continued team unity and safety.  
Prayers for our home owners M and M.  
Prayers for our families left behind. 
Prayers for me to get this paper done.  

There are pictures from today on our Facebook Page ((click here for Facebook)-  Like us if you have not.

The same pictures are here (Click here for our Picsasa site) on our Picasa site, but there are no captions.  

Thank you for being part of this story with us.  It is good to have you with us!

R

--
Are you a tool?

Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.  
(St. Teresa of Avila)

Monday, October 12, 2015

Crisfield3- the first work day

We started working today.  We are working on a house close to downtown.  The goal for us for the week is to shore up the house-  help make it level/raised a little and brace the flooring that was damaged in Hurricane Sandy.  

The process is:
Take out everything in the rooms we are working in.  
Take up the carpet and padding and old linoleum.  
Cut 4x8 holes in the floor in three rooms. 
Dig a hole 2'x2'x26"(deep).  - MORE ON THIS
pour cement footings.  
And then I don't know how to explain-  so more tomorrow.  

Everything was pretty straight forward until it was time to dig the holes.  The ground is made up of old clam shells.  So you can't really use a shovel much.  So it's really digging by hand.  And the hole is pretty big.  So it takes a lot.  After about 8 inches down, we hit water.  Makes it a lot of fun.  Wet clammy fun.  Took about two and a half hours to get about half done.  

We got to meet the homeowners.  They are great people and we talked about their story about what they did during Sandy.  (they were going to wait it out, but then called the National Guard for a rescue, but ended up driving their truck out because the Guard wasn't coming that close to the ocean anymore.  When they came back, there was water damage in the house, but they were able to get back in and worked on cleaning up.  

Today was a good day.  

And then I thought I lost the key to the van.  We looked for a couple hours after devotions.  Turns out Debbie had it.  But that was after I called a lock smith.  He opened the van for us, but wouldn't take any money.  He was grateful for our help in the community and said it was what he could do to support us.  We asked if there was anything we could do for him, and he said, "Just pray for me."  So we ask you to pray for Paul.  He came out in the late evening to help out.  

There are more pictures on Facebook.  Click here to go to our Facebook site

And on our Picasa site.  Click here for our Picasa photo site

Thank you for being with us.  This is a great story!

R

--
Are you a tool?

Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.  
(St. Teresa of Avila)

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Crisfield3- Getting there

We arrived in Crisfield tonight after one easy day and one harder day of driving.  Saturday morning we left the church at 6:20 am-  a few minutes ahead of schedule.  (a first?!?)  Half hour down the road, somebody I won't name called for a bathroom stop.  (It was Debbie).  We gave her a hard time for it, but EVERYONE used the bathroom and Lewis went so far as to call her a hero.  The rest of the day seemed to go by quickly.  

We spent the night at a church in Maumee, OH.  Great hospitality!  

Up and on the road by 8:15 am.  (used up the time we were early on yesterday?)  We spent the same amount of time on the road today, but it seemed to go by slower or something.  Great scenery going through the Allegheny Mountains and crossing the Chesapeake Bay.  Had dinner at some hole in the wall Chinese restaurant (same place as last year!) and then to the base we are staying at.

There is another group staying here working from here this week also.  And here is where you can see my attitude not be completely golden.  I talked to their team leader last week and told them we had some older people and needed a few bottom bunks.  Anyway, when we got here, we didn't find what we expected in terms of what they left for us.  Would it be petty for me to explain what happened?  Probably.  So the point is that God did not call us to be comfortable or have everything our way.  And as the great Polly Brantner once said, "YOU choose joy!"      And so I am.  It is good to be here in Crisfield again and getting ready to serve a homeowner with a great group of people that I love and love to be around.  THAT is the point.  

I have a few pictures that I took on the road with my phone, but not very many.  I'll post them on Facebook so check us out there if you haven't already.  -  


Prayers for our team for safety as we get started on our work project tomorrow.  
Prayers for our relationship with the team we are sharing the space with.  May we all give glory to God and further His kingdom.  
Prayers for our friend, Sandy Helms who is having a pretty major surgery on Monday morning.  Sandy hosted us at her church in Findlay, OH the other times we came to Crisfield.  

We are so glad you are part of this story with us!

Rod
--
Are you a tool?

Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.  
(St. Teresa of Avila)

Saturday, October 10, 2015

RE: Be The Tool on the road again! Crisfield3

Praying! Praying! Praying! Holding all of you and those you are serving close in our hearts and prayers. D&d

 

From: Rod Scofield [mailto:rod@bethetool.org]
Sent: Friday, October 09, 2015 10:42 PM
To: Of Course it Quacks <rodscof.ofcourseitquacks@blogger.com>
Cc: Debbie Fors <Deb4sgm@gmail.com>; Dort Schlientz <dort@dondort.com>; Ginger Stemme <vstemme@usfamily.net>; Jon Fors <heloves2sail@yahoo.com>; Rod Stemme <stemme@usfamily.net>; Ron Clayton <ronclayton1@gmail.com>; Howard Newton <hbnewton@comcast.net>; Robert Newton <rgbobnewton@yahoo.com>; Carolyn The Colonel Newton <celesalee@sbcglobal.net>; Theresa Whitehead <angeltheresa10@gmail.com>
Subject: Be The Tool on the road again! Crisfield3

 

Here we go again!  Leaving in the morning for Crisfield, MD.  The van and trailer are packed.  Seems like half the team is staying at my (Rod Sc.'s) house tonight.  (in reality, it is 4 out of 11)  We will be heading out bright and early at 0'dark:30.  

 

Pray for us for safe travel and good weather.  

 

R

 

--

Are you a tool?

 

Christ has no body on earth but yours,

no hands but yours,

no feet but yours.

Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;

yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;

and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.  

(St. Teresa of Avila)

Friday, October 09, 2015

Be The Tool on the road again! Crisfield3

Here we go again!  Leaving in the morning for Crisfield, MD.  The van and trailer are packed.  Seems like half the team is staying at my (Rod Sc.'s) house tonight.  (in reality, it is 4 out of 11)  We will be heading out bright and early at 0'dark:30.  

Pray for us for safe travel and good weather.  

R

--
Are you a tool?

Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.  
(St. Teresa of Avila)