Where has the year gone?

We have a great year of opportunity and a great year of exciting projects in 2007! Now we have a new year staring us in the face, and I believe we can have an ever greater year in 2008. Some of our bright moments included a comedy night with Adam Christing, it rained cats and dogs and we still had over 700 people in the building for the event.
Facing the Giants and Flywheel were two great movie events and lots of popcorm and coffee filled our guests and members who watched these family movies.
Our two outdoor events, Back to School Bash and Harvest Festival aka Trunk or Treat were wonderful atteneded by the community and our own members.
Our Holdiay food baskets helped hundreds of individuals in dozens of families.
Our newest outreach effort, a book titled, "People of the Park" has been given out to hundreds of individuals city wide. It is a book that demonstrates the power of Jesus to help and heal us through the hurts that the world tosses our way. The book is offered to anyone who wants one free of charge, no shipping or handling. In the book seven of our members tell their story of redemption through adversity.
The Response Team Trips to San Diego were bright moments for Christ. Several families were lifted up by the working hands of the people of Davis Park. Our hands represented the savior who has given so much to all of us.
Thanks to all who have made our outreach possible.
I will write about the coming opportunities later.

Buddy

Merry Christmas. . .

I hope all is well with you as you read this message. I would like to go to San Diego one more time but I am unsure of the need at this time. I will contact the folks at Barrett Junction and see what is happening there. I may need to survey the work area there to make an informed decision. Keep this in your prayers.

I am into my second day on call as an MPD Chaplain. I am praying for a quiet holiday week. I pray for our police officers to be kept safe during this time.

I am thankful we were able to go to San Diego this year and look forward to the opportunities presented in the coming year.

Buddy Gray

Interview with Shelley. . .

Sorry to wait so long to post this but I wanted to use it in my sermon today.

Shelley helps us understand the importance of Disaster Relief work. Disaster Relief allows Christians to be the hands and feet for God in this world and bring His love and care to the world.

San Diego Wildfires Relief 2007 Volunteers

Rincon Video

This is an ad hoc interview with Debbie, the owner of the property we were working on. Debbie is working on getting through this life event and our hope is that through the efforts of Hilltop and Davis park Community Response Team we have been able to bring the light of Jesus to her life. Seeing her daughters face light up made my heart warm on a cold day. Watching Debbie's spirit's raise over the couple of days we were there was powerful. Thank you God for letting us work for you in this world!

More Rincon Goatshed pics

David Martin on the fence post crew along with Zack Newman and Jordynne Newman.
Corky teaching the crew how to set a fence post without concrete.
Debbie's family, Corky and I talking about life after the fire for the family.
Debbie and her children.Debbie saw the rainbow as a sign of hope for her family. The were touched by us helping them and the rainbow seemed to add another dimension to it for her.

Rincon Reservation Project Pictures

Jordynne having fun.
Jordynne and Lanae posing for the camera.
A photo of the group and Christie in a sink hole.

Brett and Jordynne goofing off!

Jordynne really was a hard working, all kidding aside!


I am beaten down by the work and a cold. I will save more pictures and comments for later.

Buddy

On the Blog Again. . .

We stopped for church at the Hilltop CofC in El Segundo,CA, LA area. Next we went to lunch in Malibu at Jack in the Box. It is crazy to think of all the places to eat in Malibu and we ate where we did. After church I was standing talking to friends from past relief work, when I noticed something cool. Hilltop is a mobile church, all the chairs have to be packed up and moved. Our teens without any direction from Aaron or I were helping take the chairs down. Again it is so nice to have teens like we have had on the trip.

We have enjoyed it all. More pics tomorrow.

Buddy Gray

Blogging on the Road Home. . . .

Last night I slept well except for the noise of Brett and Aaron getting sick in the middle of the night. Exhaustion tooks its toll on Aaron, he could not warm up last night and then his body decided not to except the steak he had for supper. Brett felt bad but looks ok the morning, Aaron is doing ok and driving, I am riding with him in case he becomes fatigued. Right now we are on the 405 coming up on the 605.

I will blog more later . . .


Buddy Gray

Job Complete/ Coming Home in the Morning!

The Rincon job was completed today at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon. Today was a day of misfires, I forgot tools that were job critical, the propane bottle would not let the propane flow for the camp chef stove. We finally microwaved the two gallons of Dinty Moore Beef stew. No one complained about the hot stew. The weather was cold and rainy with wind. We could see it snowing on the mountain about 3000 feet above us.

The teens were incredible, again. Point them in the direction of a task, give them a little instruction and they would take off. The girls used power tools today. They had one word for it, awesome!

We spent more time with the family today. The fire has taken much of the joy of their life away. Right now the tribal council is putting them up at a casino hotel. It is hard for me to imagine, one day life is rolling your way, the next your life is upside down, instead of living out in rural setting you live in a high rise hotel.

Debbie and I talking about life after the fire. . .
I asked Debbie what it meant to her for us to come and build the two small structures, her comment was that it had renewed her faith somewhat to see people come in from so far off and help her family. Her youngest daughter, 6 years old, lost two pygmy goats in the fire. She had vowed not to have pets again. Today while we were talking to her she is excited to see a new home for the goats she will be purchasing in the future. One of our Davis Park members donated money to replace some of the goats lost in the fire. These goats cost between 200-300 dollars. In a few days the child will be able to have her own goats to take care of again.

This is Debbie and her two daughters looking at a completed "kid pen". In the background is the completed goatshed.

Thanks to everyone for praying for us. Thanks to all who contributed money to our Community Response Team. Thanks for letting us be the hands of Jesus and God on the Rincon Indian Reservation.

Tomorrow is a travel day. I will post more pictures and comments on Monday. If you visit the site please make a comment. It will be appreciated. . . .

Buddy Gray

Pics form Rincon

What a great project for the kids to learn how to build a barn. We are working on two small structures, one a goat shed, the other a "kid"pen.


Debbie is the home owner, she and her husband had been living in andbuilding their house for three years before it was totally destroyed. These are Debbie's children who were out at the site today
The rainbow was on the mountain behind us. What a great sign of Hope!

We could get a few more people in this area if we tried!

Pictures of some of the hardest working teenagers I have ever seen.

Tomorrow weather permitting we will finish the project.

Buddy Gray

Trip Two Update. . .

We met the homeowners today and it was a sad feeling to walk their site and the most level place on the lot was where the house formerly sat. The teens are awesome. . . No wasted effort, lots of hard work and a lot of laughs. We were able to get the foundation of the buildings we are building completed today, and we have 21 one holes to knock out tomorrow in addition to putting the sides and roofs on the buildings. Parents if your kids are here stick your chest out and be proud. They gave a great effort today.

I will post pictures later.


Buddy

The Teenagers Made it Safely

The Teenagers made it in safely last night at 2:00 a.m. They are up and eating breakfast. Soon we will head out to the Rincon Indian Reservation to build a barn in the rain. I gotta go eat breakfast.

Buddy

Ramona at last. . .

WE FINALLY MADE IT! We pulled in a little after 8:30p.m. and ate supper then made it into the camp at 9:15 pm after having a fine meal at Moma Rosa's Italian Restauraunt. It was a great meal.

The rest of the group is still traveling they will be in later, much later. Pray for there safety.

My bunk beckons me to it. I cannot wait for tomorrow's adventures.

Buddy

Blogging on the road . . .

Max is behind the wheel, Christie is in the back seat with Brian and I have shotgun. We are 131 miles into a 430 mile trip. It's foggy and cool. It is like this throughout the state today. We are watching the weather, hoping the weather pattern will break so we won't be completely miserable as we work.

David Martin has not missed a day of school in the last eight years, tomorrow he is going to break his streak by coming with us to do relief work. Six others have chosen to miss school to come with us. Lanae Kuensinger hs rescheduled her finals at JC to come on the trip. We have a bunch of Good Hearted people that want the message of Christ to go forward.

Thanks to those who donated to the cause. Your money makes it all possible. A special thank you to the Lakewood congregtion, they have providing funding for this trip also.


Bakersfield is 72 miles away and its 11:45 am.

I will check back in later.

Buddy Gray

San Diego Trip is ready to roll . . .

The load trailer takes off tommorrow at 9:00 a.m. We have14 going on this trip and it should be an exciting trip. We havc seven adults and seven teenagers. We are greenlighted to the goat farm to build a goat shed. Additionally, we will do some fence repairs, our intent is to help rebuild this family's living (income) so they can find life(Christ). Pray for as we travel tomorrow. Pray for good weather and for God to bless this work.

Buddy Gray

San Diego Fire Relief just two days away . . . .

The team total has finally solidified at 13. Six adults(if you count Aaron and Lanae as adults)and seven teenagers. Looks like a chance of rain for the weekend both here and there. If you are going on the trip bring rain gear. We are for sure re-building a goat farm on the Indian Reservation. Other than on the freeway this will by a first trip to a reservation for me. I cannot wait to get to work.

The current plan will be for Max, Christi and I to leave Modesto on Thursday morning after I drop Matthew off at school. It's his birthday and I want to wish him a happy birthday before leaving. That afternoon the rest of the group will leave around 5:00 p.m.

Pray that the rains come slowly in the south so that they will not have to deal with any mudslide issues. If there are any changes I will post more info. If you are on the team going south this week please be at the meeting tonight at 6:00 p.m. We have paper work to finish and critical information to give to you.

For more information on the affected Indian Reservations go to this link.

http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=3542

Buddy

San Diego Trip Countdown

The number of the people going on the trip is still in flux, we are going to have over a dozen people on the trip. It is starting to look like a building work this time. A woman on a local indian reservation lost her goat shelter in the firestorm along with a lot of goats. This was her main source of income. Additionally, she lost her manufactured home during the firestorm. Most likely we will assist her in re-establishing her goat farm. We will help her build sheds and put up fending to keep the goats in the area they are supposed to be in. Should be an intersting work to say the least.
I look forward to working with our youth on this trip. It will be the first time we have included youth on a relief project. Pray for us and them to have patience with each other. I can't wait to be around our youth for a couple of days, I know it will be refreshing.

Pray us as we piece this trip together.

Buddy Gray

Family Promise Upate, San Diego Trip Update

Family Promise Update . . .
It has been a whirlwind of a week. Arriving back from vacation and immediately we were into cooking supper for Family Promise with our small group. Small groups are the life-blood of the church. 20+ people(kids incuded) plus seven from Family Promise made for a loud but fun evening. Jill and Theresa have secured housing and will make the move out on their own next week, stay tuned for information on their needs, while they are starting over.
Deborah the other lady in the program got a job yesterday. Deborah began a bible study with Mike Crowley last night, pray for this study to bear fruit. After the Wednesday adult she had tears streaming down her face and had a lot heart questions that need answers. God will give her answers through His people and His word.

San Diego Trip update. . .

We have contacted the Hilltop Group and let them know we are heading their way with 10-20 folks. I believe we have around 12 going on the trip. Right now the list looks like this

Aaron Scott
Justin Dawson
Lanae Kuesninger
Art Turgeon (?)
Paul Sale (?)
Buddy Gray
Sara Mando(?)
Max Allen

and a host of kids from the youth group.

From all indications the work in the area is progressing from clean-up to rebuilding. The nature of work will focus on the unisured and the underinsured property owners. We will still have cleaning work to do but we will mix in light building projects. Fence building, sheds and such as this. I have not had an update on showers yet, but I am sure something is available.
We need committments from anyone who wants to go.

Come and be the hands in this world for God and Jesus.

Questions contact me : ) Buddy 209-380-3851

Family Promise

We are having a great week with our family promise group this week. Last night the three ladies in the program came to our mid-week bible class. Krista, Matthew and I have stayed over and the air mattresses are not too bad, they are not too good either.

Pray for Jill and Theresa who are in the program and on the edge of getting some housing. Jill is an interview away from a Job with a local retailer. Jill and Theresa are applying to a housing program that will allow them to save money for their own place after they complete the program.

So far we have had numerous members have contact with these three families which is the whole point of the program for us. Christians showing Christ's love for those experiencing tough times. It is always good to sit back and watch as we come through with love for these individuals.

Buddy Gray

San Diego County Trip #2/ Family Promise Week

We will be having somewhere between ten and sixteen people make the trip to SD County next week. We are excited to have this much interest in the trip. Presently we are trying to finalize the decision on where it will be best for us to go. The churches of Christ have to work sites up and running at the moment, we will go to the one where we believe that we can do the most good for the kingdom. I will post the decision on Thursday and at that time begin making final plans. Relief work is always fuid, that is it is ever changing. The work this time may be totally different than last time, but still hard work none the less.

I have changed the look of the blog, I hope for the better. Let me know what you think of the changes. I am trying to make the sight informative for the various types of work that we do. I will add more elements to the blog as time allows. If there is any info you would like to see as a part of the blog let me know and I will try nto add it. I am trying to add a sldie show feature and hopefully that will come about in the next week or so. . .

Family Promise is in full swing with the third night coming about tonight. Presently we have seven guests. Three families with a total of 7 people(4 adults and 3 children). Things are running smoothly and the food has been good.

More Fires burning in Southern California

This Link will get you to the latest info on what is burning in Southern California. Pray for the people in this area tonight. Pray for the vigilant firefighters. Remember to call for prayers that God's Great hand can be seen through His People duringthis time of need.

http://www.malibu-ca.gov/download/index.cfm?fuseaction=download&cid=11426

Ramona was spared today with only a small fire that was quickly extingushed. I will keep watch on these fires in the coming days.

I look forward to being home.

Buddy Gray

Getting Ready to Go to San Diego County. . .

Right now I am enjoying time with family. The break has been good so far, I started it out with a whopper of a cold, sniffles, coughing and the works. The bad news is that I spread the germs throughout the world by traveling through several airports. The good news is that the cold is all but gone away.



Trip Info. this trip will be a sprint compared to any other trip we have ever done. We will leave in the afternoon on Thursday, roll in very late and get up around 7:00 a.m. on Friday to go to work. We will work all day Friday and all day Saturday. We will leave after a devotional on Sunday morning. Please confirm you are going on the trip by Tuesday November 27.



Paul Sale and Larry Long have committed to going thus far. Aaron is rounding up a bunch of youth to go with us. We should have a fairly large group. I am excited about the return trip and look forward to going back to the area to help.



We are having a special contribution to help with the costs associated with the trip and to purchase equipment for the response team's future missions. The Lakewood congregation in Colorado has taken up a contribution for us(Community Response Team) and raised over $4500.00 God has blessed and we are humbled by all that he does for us. We are grateful for their willingness to give to this effort. As we assemble more of the team I will post more information. As I find out more information from Hilltop and others in the area I will pass the information along. Please be in prayer as we get ready to take the message of Christ to San Diego County one more time.

Family Promise/ Return Trip News

Family Promise group will show up this next week as the Thanksgiving Holiday is concluding. My heart goes out to these people without a home at this time of the year. I have many fond memories of holidays in the comfort of my home and the homes of my family. For those in the program our building becomes their home and we the members become their family for a brief time. I know it is not easy to give up the comforts of your home, because I know how much I enjoy mine. We need a couple of families still to finsih off the list of night hosts. It is a blessing everytime for Krista, Matthew and I. Matthew enjoys the time with the kids. Let Jesus be demonstrated by your love for others as we host the week of the 25th of November.

We are still planning on leaving December 6th for the areas affected by the fires in San Diego County. If you are planning on going let me know as soon as possible so that I can let Hilltop know how many of us they can expect.

A Time of Respite. . . A Time for Work . . .

Krista and I have snuck away for the last three days. We are on Lake Tahoe, watching the flames in our fireplace and enjoying the scenery. Two days ago they had a light dusting of snow, which makes everything nicely accented with frosted white tips. What a nice way to spend our twentieth anniversary, at one of the most beautiful places in North America.

It is our intention to try to leave for our next Ramona trip on December 6th around 5 pm. Our planned return will be on Sunday. This would give us two days of good work. Again we will be working with Hilltop if they have Room for us. Contact me if you are interested. Comment here or e-mail me or call 209-380-3851.

look at these pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19978632@N05/

Home AT Last . . .

We rolled into Modesto tonight at 10:00 pm. A conclusion to the past couple of weeks helping people rebuild their lives. We arrived about five hours later than anticipated, bad planning on my part for not checking the trailer tires, a blowout on the R.V. etc. God took care of us and got us home safe and sound.

For those that are wondering the foot is healing very well. Most of the soreness is gone and there is no swelling. I have been trying to follow Doctors orders and stay off of it and I am taking my antibiotics.

Two items I wanted to mention about the Ramona Response:

1. At lot # 48 Krista found a nativity scene character fully intact and unblemished. It was a ceramic baby Jesus. The baby Jesus made it through the fire and arose out of the ashes to be used by its owner again. Jesus can endure in lives of everyone no matter what trial they are faced with.

2. At lot# 5 Christie Sipes found a ceramic cross in pristine condition and gave it back to Peter the friend of home owner. His comment, "The Cross survived, just like it has for all these years."

The reason we went to Ramona was to represent Christ. Christ was already there and working, I am glad he allowed all of us who were on the team to work for him for a few days.

Mark your calendars for the second weekend in December. If there is work still there, we will return to Ramona!

Buddy

An Interesting End . . .

What great trip we have had. People who needed help recieved help they desparately needed. I was blessed by people whom I came to bless. My hats off to the members of the team. We worked them hard and they finished the jobs we were assigned.

Jobs completed on Black Canyon DR.

# 5, #8, # 17, 48

Boxing Club, hundreds of pieces of tin straightened, pulled and stacked

One Large truck of supplies unloaded.

Numerous lives touched by the hands and hearts of our team.

At the beginning of the day we (Glen and I) talked it over and decided it would be in the best interest of the team, to finish the projects we had started and go home on Friday. We quickly finished the jobs on Black Canyon and moved to the Boys and Girls Boxing Club. (The boxing club was a place in Ramona for kids at risk to learn discipline in sports.) The property was full of nails. After several near misses, I finally got my puncture wound. I stepped on the nail, Rick pulled it and we walked to the truck for first aid. Rick decided that I needed more than first aid so we went to the church building and set up a medical office. Then he and Dr. Glen fixed me up. I screamed like a little girl when Rick cleaned out the wound. All seems to be going well today.

I will make more comments later

Buddy

Change of plans

In the middle of last night around 3:30 a.m., I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. The nagging thought I had was this...we've subjected our crew to 4 full days of physical labor with a fifth to come and sixth if we let it and we were pretty banged up. I talked to Buddy this morning about my uneasiness and we decided to start "winding things down." Y'know, finish out the 2 jobs we had and do our best to help out Fabian, a man who was running a Boxing Club for at risk boys and girls and lost his Boxing Club to the wildfires. I figured our bodies couldn't take much more and this would be a good way to finish off a week doing disaster relief work.

As is the case with most disaster relief work, things don't always (or usually) go the way you hoped or planned. Being flexible and making decisions on the fly are part of the deal. The Boxing Club is a job that required taking sheet metal (the walls) and then folding them up and dragging them to the front of the property. The building was big so there were lots of nails, screws, and metal.

Well, as I drove up to the site after lunch, Rick was driving Buddy's truck with Buddy in the passenger side. Strange, something wasn't right. Turns out Buddy stepped on a rusty screw that "went down to the bone." Bad. Very bad. I followed Rick back to the church building to work on Buddy. We have the capacity & supplies to handle most minor medical emergencies, and today was no exception.

Rick irrigated the puncture wound and we watched Buddy squirm and say publicly "I'm scared like a little girl." Graciously, we anesthetized him. After the anesthesia took effect (1 year old expired Lidocaine....again) Rick probed the wound to see if he could feel any metal fragments. No luck. We irrigated the wound even more with saline and betadine and wrapped it up.

I sent Krista off to the pharmacy to get some pain pills, antibiotic pills, and an antibiotic injection which she kindly administered in his backside. Needless to say, Sheila was on hand (naturally) to document the drama.

Given that our commander in chief was now on doctor's orders to stay off his feet while we watched for worsening symptoms and our injuries continuing to mount, I called our crew and told them to stop working because we were done. When the crew arrived, everyone checked their shoe/boot soles and Brian found 6 rusty nails/screws embedded in his boot.

Change of plans. We decided to come home tomorrow instead of Saturday as our bodies are done and Rick and I are not interested in seeing what injuries another work day would bring.

Pray for safe travels. Looking forward to being home.

2239 Black Canyon RD., Day 5

A view of space #48
Prayer for the job
The master bedroom
Lowering the roof.
Krista, Matthew, Rick, Edwina and Max at the CIA food tent

We started today with a great breakfast made by Sheila Smith. Biscuits and gravy were a great way to start the day.

Next we headed to our worksite on Black Canyon RD. We did the same type of work, shoveling debris, emptying wheelbarrows on to the pile and cutting I-Beams. The work takes its toll after a few days. We are in an isolated spot surrounded by homes where life continues as it was before the firestorm. On one side of the street, the lawn company is doing its mow, blow and go, while we are doing relief work for their across the street neighbor. People are jogging in the neighborhood and walking their dogs around the circle of burned out homes.

The attitudes of some of these people is phenomenal. Irene Neal requested our help because she thought another group had forgotten her. While I was talking to her she told me she could not wait for what God had in store for her next. She said she had faced many trials in her long life and everytime God had prospered her after the trial was over. Strong words from someone whose house of 38 years is all gone. Later in the day I passed by and saw her grinning and asked what had happened. She showed me her 150 piece set of china that had survived the firestorm. She gave God the glory.

Another family has agreed to let us clean their property. These folks were still in shock about the loss, but ready to move forward. The husband reached under his car and pulled a large piece of aluminum(melted). It was the aluminum block from the motor of his car. He thought it looked cool and plans to hang it on his new house wall. He asked me if I knew anyone who had a motor block on their wall.

Tomorrow we have some more homes to work, pray that we can bring God's light to this community.

Mid week blues

I dropped Yvonne off at the San Diego Int'l Airport this morning around 9:15 a.m. She was returning to Modesto to be with our girls. (Maya and Ani were ready for Mommy to come home...they were getting tired of not sleeping in their own beds. Mid week blues.)

Got to the work site around 11 a.m. and found the cutting crew getting finished up at lot 17 with the help of a bulldozer and dump truck. The rest of the crew was at Lot 5, the home of Victoria, a Hispanic lady who had lost everything and who had no homeowner's insurance. I saw her yesterday as we were leaving the mobile home park and I jumped out of my truck to talk to her. Peter, a young man who was with her was going to help her remove the debris from her burned down home (by himself!). I explained to them what we do and how much we charge. We would clear the debris and do it for the nominal charge of nothing. Free, nada, nunca. She said "Really?" because free sounded suspicious to her. Once I finally convinced her that we would do the work at no charge, she looked at Peter and asked him "What do you think?" Peter thought about it for about 0.1 seconds and said with a big Cheshire cat grin, "Yeah, I think that's a good offer." Smart young man.

Lot 5 is about 83.4% complete, give or take, after just one half day of working on it with our crew, bolstered by the addition of Rick Kelley and Krista Gray. One was additional muscle & one was additional brains...I'll let you figure out who was which. Rick and I took apart the incredibly large aviary cage and the metal shed that was blown off its foundation and thrown over the chain link fence into the small ravine behind the lot, Oleta sifted ash for valuables, Max and the guys (Paul & Art) worked the metal cutting chop saw, and the rest of the crew shoveled, lifted, and wheelbarrowed debris, metal and otherwise, close to the front of the property to be picked up. During one of the breaks, I found a bike and rode it around the block.

Toward the end of the day, the injuries started to mount. Tina scraped her leg and reinjured her back, making it difficult for her to move. Max's arms were getting torn up by touching sharp metal. (I asked Max to stop working around 3 p.m. to rest his body. 10 minutes after sitting down, he was back shoveling ashes and debris. Go figure. The oldest guy here happens to be one of the toughest.) Krista's back stiffened up and required prescription medicine to help unstiffen. Art often asked, "So how much Ibuprofen can I take?" We were going through Ibuprofen like candy. The aches and pains were definitely taking its toll on our crew. Must be our collective advancing age.

The last hour or so of the work day dragged on and on. The dust from the ashes was more than usual. Everyone's patience was a little shorter than usual. We were getting kind of punchy with each other. Low energy coupled with extreme fatigue and body aches makes for a testy crew. Just in time, 4:20 p.m came around and it was quitting time. Loaded up the trucks and headed for the showers. Nothing helps the mid week blues like a hot shower.

Everyone's been sleeping like bricks. Well deserved sleep, I'd say.

What

More Pictures. . . .

Maui shower

Dr. Glen and Yvonne
Mad Max and his cutting crew
Tina and Yvonne hauling steel

Black Canyon Road, Ramona, CA Day 4. . .

Max cutting some I beam













Max, Tina and Edwina working













The Tide Trailer - free washing of clothes













Looking down Black Canyon ST.













Saving a carport roof to move to camp.
We had an awesome work day today. We went back to Oak Tree Ranch, where 41 homes in one area burned down. Everyhone of the homes in this section burned completely. Jewelery in boxes was reduced to molten metal. Dreams of the future there have ended and new dreams have to be made.
We finished our first job today. Mary Ann's house is now complete. Max, Arts, Paul and I joined together and cut the I- beam structure apart. We used a 14 inch gas powered grinder. It was indeed a manly job. Glen could not operate the heavy duty machine because he had on his girly looking capri pants. Max's pant caught on fire at one point, no real flame, just alot of smoke. Max had some hot pants on, Jeanette knows what I mean.

Shelley's lot is almost complete. We have about six more cuts on the I-beam and then we will be finished. We sifted more of her property today and found several former pieces of gold. Shelley is ready to move forward. May God bless her.

Sue's house is next on our list. I walked the property with her, she is still in shock as she looks around at what she thought would be her retirement home. Her husband and her have made some of the most beautiful landscape features I have ever seen on one small lot. There were water falls, plants park benches and many other items that made the place their dream home. Now they are looking at moving to a senior mobile home park in Ramona, in town, not in the country. Sue could not believe that we would do the work for free. She kept commenting, how much is this going to cost? She also would ask what the catch was. I told we were here because Jesus Christ had sacrifed life and blood for each of us, we felt it was the least we could do to clear a lot full of fire debris for his glory. She started crying and sobbing. She composed herself and said she knew Jesus and God, and knew that better days were ahead and someday she would be able to see the good God had brought to Ramona through all of this.

We actually got a referral today from a group of Chaplains with Billy Grahmn's Crisis Group. They had visted us earlier and came back with a job that Samaritan's Purse could not do. We will help a boy's and girl's club position themslves to rebuild.

We shower at night at the Maui shower. These showers come out of Minnesota. This is a big rig, full of stainless steel showers. Normally the cost is $5 for five minutes, we are using them for free. What a blessing to have a good shower at the end of the day.

Yvonne leaves us tonight for the airport, we will miss her useful therapy of massage, and her hard work behind shovels and wheelbarrows. We all prayed together, she cried and I had a moment of eye watering allergies. We have jobs to do for God tomorrow. Pray for Him to use us and for us to be willing to do it his way.

Buddy Gray