Dear Friends,

Today has been a blessing. Many of us worshiped this morning at Wesley Methodist Church where we have stayed and worshiped in the past. It is a predominantly African-American church. There is a wonderful spirituality and verve at the service. Today, it started out like our traditional service and I was worried that they had gone conventional on us; but after a 4 hour wonderful service concluding with communion, we enjoyed the vibrancy and worship of the congregation. We saw and greeted old friends.

After lunch we visited the work sites. The Smiley family, Henry and Shirley, greeted us warmly with smiles and hugs. We haven't learned their story as yet but know they were living in a dilapidated trailer before their new house.

The Duffy family is Edith, George and Anthony, their son. Their life was changed forever last November when Anthony was left paraplegic after an accident. He was discharged from rehabilitation 2 days ago and they are in need of a ramp. The amazing thing is that the crew assigned to the project include Jim and Marti who took care of a severely disabled son for many years, Chuck who has experienced severe disability after an accident left him with bilateral amputations of his legs and many fingers, and. Julie who has worked as an orthopedic nurse for years. It was such a blessing to see the relief for Edith knowing that these people will be so supportive outside of the mechanics of the project.

Mrs Duffy and the work crew

The afternoon was spent in Charleston where we spent time walking around and shopping some. Liz and I presented the concept of Rural Mission to vendors in the flea market - once in English and once in French. We are amazed that this foundation is not better known in the community because when people hear about it they are intrigued.

We finished with dinner, ice cream out and devotions. We look forward to starting work tomorrow.

Blessings to all,
Doug