Footsteps in Service. July 17-23. Reflections by Rev. Greg Wood

Any week of camp starts off with a few doubts and fears: Who will be in my group? What will we do? What if…?  “Footsteps in Service” adds another layer: What if I can’t do what they ask me to do? What if I don’t like doing this?  What if we have to spend the whole week digging ditches for drain tile?

In spite of the fears, we set off for a week of service in Pulaski, Virginia.

Pulaski is a small town in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia that in April 2011 took a direct tornado hit.  Nearly half the homes suffered damage, over half of these had significant damage.   This summer, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Town of Pulaski, 2 Presbyteries, and a number of different churches joined together to repair a home at 301 State Street.  Before repair even started on the tornado damage, there was an electrical fire and the house was condemned.

Our team arrived on site at the right time: the foundations were finished on Friday, the concrete cured over the weekend, and when we arrived on Monday, it was time to get to work building a new house. 
Part of my fears were that the builders wouldn’t let our youth do any of the significant work.  I had spoken with the general contractor and he hinted that the youth could help most by “back filling the foundation” and “moving the materials around for the workmen.”  A week of that kind of busywork, and I was sure that we’d turn off this group of young people towards serving others. 
Undeterred, the youth jumped in and moved materials, helped put down the ribbon boards, and by the end of the day they had proven their worth.   They set floor joists, glued and nailed down floor sheathing, and built a beam.  The moving materials around for the workmen turned into holding boards for the workmen, then doing the work with the workmen, and then doing the work while the workmen sat in the shade and watched.

For the campers it was a couple of days of the excitement found in learning new skills (like hammering for some) and seeing something built from the ground up. 
The second day was different, though.  There was still excitement in the work, and in new skills, but there were also new relationships being built.  The volunteer workmen from small towns around Pulaski wanted to know more about these exceptional youth, the youth asked questions of the “old men.”   Many in both groups were amazed that they would come so far to work this hard.  Mutual respect was built.

Early on, we agreed that part of our week would include times of “random dancing:”  that is, someone would call out “RANDOM DANCING” and for the next 30 seconds or so we’d dance, some better than others of course.  The “workmen” were mildly amused when we did it the first few times, but when Terry (a workman from Pulaski) demonstrated his version of the hokie-pokie, we knew that the Kingdom of God was at hand.

It is easy to settle into the rhythm of work while building a house. The youth helped put in the floor, nailed together walls; they added sheathing to the outside walls, stood them up, and nailed them down.  It was impressive to see the campers’ confidence build.  It was also easy to lose sight as to why we were doing these things.  It was fun for a week, but that’s not why they were there.  On Wednesday, most of the floor was down but none of the walls were up yet.  Two little girls wandered over from Gramma’s house next door to see what was going on.

We took time to talk and to tell them what we were doing, until they told us that this was going to be their house.  They were there when the tornado went through; they were there when the fire leveled the house; they had watched the backhoe tear down their old house…  And now they were excited to see where their bedrooms would be, the kitchen and the back door --  they were excited to see so many people working on their home.

For the rest of the week, the motivation wasn’t about new skills or random dancing, it was about two little girls getting to move into their new house.  Our only fears were that it would take too long or that we wouldn’t do a good enough job.

By the end of the week the house was framed.  Other people will put on the roof and finish the house.  There is a group of “workmen” who learned not to sell others short because of age or inexperience.

There is a site coordinator that knows now that anyone can contribute to the project.  There is a group of 10 people who know they did something significant for another family.  Best of all there are two little girls who have a new home.

As I write this, about a month after our trip, I read again an email I received today that says they are looking for people to come in and finish the trim and painting so the family can move in.  By the time you read this the work will be done and the family will be home.