| Project by SawdustJunky | posted 04-28-2010 04:34 PM | 3644 views | 1 time favorited | 7 comments |  |
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It is my hope this will inspire other s among you to take the talents and abilities God has given you and do as He would have do.
This is a project our Men’s Small Group (12 members) took on. People looked at us like we were crazy. Here’s the situation. A member of our church who goes out of her way to serve others was leaving in this house for 3 years before anyone knew about the condition. She has 4 beautiful children aging from 4 to 18 years old. Admittlly she had made some bad choose in life and men and this is where she found herself with 4 children. Her husband left her and the kids and she had nowhere to go and no source of income so she moved into this old house left to her by her deceased alcoholic parents. It had set empty for several years with no upkeep as you can see. A friend at church asked if we could help. Honestly my first reaction was yes, “with a can of gas and a match”. At this point we said all we can do is pray. After meeting with the family and much prayer we were lead to the conclusion, “if God wants this to happen, he will provide a way”. Within a week we had nearly a 100 volunteers, some skilled, some not. Our MSG committed to $15,000 to start the project and prayed for donations to cover the rest. In the mean time someone volunteer a home for the family to live in while we worked on repair this one. God is good!!! There’s not enough space here to show the horrid conditions they were living in but these will give you a small sample. I am proud to say after 5 months, nearly $65,000 in donations and labor we moved the family back into their home. It has been a little over a year now. The mom was able to get a Pell grant for education and see will complete dental hygienist school in about 3 months. I thought when we stated this project we were changing someone’s life but it was our lives that were being changed. The only credit our MSG can take for this project is doing the task God put before us. Now we know there very little we as a group cannot do if we are lead to do so.
Blessings to all
-- ... In the end it is more about the memories we make than the pieces we build.
7 comments so far
japanesewoodworker
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3 posts in 4902 days
posted 05-01-2010 12:03 AM
Wow !
What a “story” !
Have you tried to get this story in the local papers, TV, and internet (You tube) ?
SawdustJunky
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20 posts in 4934 days
posted 05-01-2010 12:33 AM
No. We are always careful not to boast about what we do. We prefer to do what we do as quitely as possible. I will admit it would be nearly impossible to take on a porject this size without ask others for help and trying to generate some interest but we are selective in who we and where we ask. We all believe we were put on earth for a specific purpose and given certain skills and abilites to achieve such. We try to do as best we can that which the Lord has put before us. To tell you the truth I hope we are never faced with a challenge like this again because it was exhausting and depleted a lot of our resources. On the flip side, I would not trade the experience for anything. We do lots of small jobs $500 to $2500. Our goal to help those who are not able to do for themselves. Like elderly, sick, single moms with children. Just do as God would have us do.
Blessings and thank you for looking.
-- ... In the end it is more about the memories we make than the pieces we build.
birdladynb
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14 posts in 4903 days
posted 05-11-2010 05:22 PM
I agree with japanesewoodworker Wow ! What a “story” !
That was really kind that you offered this poor family hope. It’s a starting point and only can get better for that family from here on. What you are doing is more meaningful to them than they could ever possibly express. Thank you for a job well done and an inspiring story.
-- birdladynb
SawdustJunky
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20 posts in 4934 days
posted 05-11-2010 05:39 PM
Thank you BirdLadynb for kind words. Great playhouse…...now you just need to have some mail going his way….
-- ... In the end it is more about the memories we make than the pieces we build.
Dan Lyke
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331 posts in 5660 days
posted 05-14-2010 10:57 PM
Awesome tale. And, yeah, I totally understand the “bad choice in life and men”, we’re involved in some of the things COTS (a local to us organization that runs not only our homeless shelters but programs that work step-by-step to get people back on their feet and living on their own) does, and know a couple of women who are great people, but who had childhoods so awful I can’t begin to comprehend, and who made bad choices following that, and though they’re working to turn their lives around they’ve got a lot of work ahead.
I respect your desire to do what you do as quietly as possible, however press and publicity can also help inspire others to action. And, for atheists like me, seeing an example of someone actively living their faith is far more effective at bridging some of the gaps I have in communicating with Christians than any amount of witnessing.
Good work, and inspiring work. Thank you for sharing it.
-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/
SawdustJunky
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20 posts in 4934 days
posted 05-17-2010 01:26 PM
Thanks Dan. I understand fully the “gaps” even with those of my own faith. Far too many get faith and religion confused. Respect and understanding will take you far in serving others.
Blessings
-- ... In the end it is more about the memories we make than the pieces we build.
giriraj98542
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19 posts in 1532 days
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