By Spencer Boesch and John Coleman

The second workday started with a wonderful breakfast nourishing us as we continue in God’s work.  The kitchen volunteers joined the rest of us on the assigned projects after getting things started for our dinner. Tom's meaningful devotion challenged us to "multiply" our talents.

The fence team steadfastly wrapped up the fence before lunch. The owner, Delana, was moved that we came back to finish the job; it makes one wonder who wouldn’t. She gave the team a gracious donation to be used as God put it on our hearts. Having relocated from Lafayette, Indiana(!) to take care of family here, we gave her a Vineyard card so she could visit us sometime.

The shower team finished up with Buddy’s shower – Buddy, flashing a rare smile, inspected the finished project. He took a minute to comb his hair, then joined the team for a celebratory photo. The step-in shower will be a significant change for him as mobility issues made stepping into the old tub/shower combo seemingly impossible. He had been driving to the nearby truck stop to take showers. More significant though, in the dining room, the team asked and received an enthusiastic yes to pray with and for Buddy. Buddy said he was saved but had fallen away from church. Kent’s challenge to Buddy relayed that God had brought him (Kent) back to Buddy’s house, all the way from Indiana, to deliver the message: Get Right With God and find a church to attend on a regular basis. We may not know until Heaven, if in fact that happens, but Kent did what he was called to do. Buddy didn’t have much but felt compelled to give the team something in thanks – reaching in the fridge he gave the team a couple packets of gourmet cheese that had just been delivered to him.

At the third site, Jose finished up the cement block. The team started repairing the siding, cleaning up trash and overgrown areas, demolishing a large rear deck, and replacing a dangerous front entry porch. The other teams joined us once their projects wrapped up. Oh, and a trailer tire “made friends” with some broken glass at the dumpster site so it had to be replaced.

Welcomed showers, at the end of the day, soothed sore muscles. During our debrief, Donna, the weed trimmer master, shared that she chatted with a neighbor, who was walking their dog, and learned that God even uses tornadoes to bring people to Him. Their son came to Christ after the tornado storm; we concluded that some people need a really big reminder to find their need for a relationship with Jesus. Also, many on the team have been moved by meeting Bailey, a resident’s granddaughter. Linda felt moved by the Holy Spirit to gather up Bailey’s dirty Barbies that were laying on the deck and around the yard and spent time cleaning them up for her. More on God’s work in this later.

We all shared about the “gift of giving” – our call to give to those in Dawson Springs, and the ones we are serving, their need to give back something to show their appreciation.

As we look towards our last day, we are exhilarated to see what God has in store. We have been seeing the results of seeds planted before and continue to plant for the future. Tomorrow is another opportunity to show God’s love through the work of our hands.

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