"Won't You Be My Neighbor"

This is Part II of Pastor Susan's sermon "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" based on her work trip to Joplin, Mo.  This is about their first work assignment.

Our small group gathered at the First Presbyterian housing building last Sunday evening before heading to the Olive Garden for dinner.  Four St. Mark adults, three youth and two Kirkwood Pres servants were not really acquainted but certainly held a common mission.  Olive Garden was new and fresh…part of the immediate rebuild along with WalMart and Home depot.

One year later, the devastation remains alarming…yet Joplinites are quick to say…oh, we look so much better!

         Bright, very bright and early Monday morning we received our job assignment from catholic Charities…we would be doing cement work…thankfully the men in our group as well as Liz from Kirkwood had done this work before…we met the work crew…five young Mennonite men who had quit their jobs to move to Joplin for one year to rebuild homes…they learned to build a house from nothing and we were their willing and eager students.

Our boys hoisted bags of concrete and cement, shoveled sand, inhaled all manner of nasty air born particles…we filled and emptied wheel barrels, we moved cinder blocks from here to there and back again.  It was hot…

I have no idea how much water we drank and drank and drank.

The house we would raise belonged to 90 year old Don…he would show up several times a day with coolers of water and pictures of his former home…he shared his story and his amazing attitude of resilience and positive thought.  Don’s new home, like all the homes being built after the tornado would have a safe room…reinforced with steel and concrete...never again would these homeowners wonder where to go for shelter from the storm.

As we worked, hard, we would spell one another with a few minutes on Ed’s porch…the only shade in a treeless neighborhood…Ed and Don…long time neighbors would join us telling and retelling about that evening last May.

We met volunteers from Minnesota and Canada, Kentucky and Tennesee.

We ‘adopted’ a dusty pup named Chance who would entertain us as we sat

in the oven which was Joplin last week and kept each other energized with visions of McDonald’s cherry berry chiller and Sonic’s iced sweet tea.

Our prayers were for endurance, for selflessness, for our new friends and for our small ratty group from St. Louis.  We were blessed that our Glenn Knopf has knowledge and experience at building, no nonsense…there were moments I wasn’t sure if we would get Glenn out of that heat, if he could be convinced to leave the job site unfinished. It was the same with our former Marine, Hugh Smith…no job too large or small…he worked until we practically had to drag him away.  Linda and I filled in where we could, eager to work.  Our new friends Jim and Liz McCane were seasoned missionaries…skilled at many jobs they helped us stay on track and added their gifts of humor, Liz’s homegrown veggies and, for me, what I know will become lifelong friendships…God is just so good!