Today was our final day of work.  The drywall team finished installing a new ceiling and finished taping and sanding the joints in two other rooms.  The electrical team pressed hard and finished their wiring.  During the evening, John drew a schematic of the wiring and made various explanatory notes for the homeowner.  The deconstruction team (we called ourselves the "unskilled" team) finished our house's next step of tearing down three ceilings, removing the insulation, and removing the hot water heater.  We were somewhat surprised that a rat jumped out of the furnace as we were taking it out.  As someone said, "Now he's homeless too."

The kitchen team worked especially hard as they prepared for some 60 people including the workers, church members and the homeowners of the houses on which we had worked.  The mayor of Long Beach came as well.  The evening was much like Paul described in Romans 1:11-12 (For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you - or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.)  And mutually encouraged we were.  The mayor and the homeowners thanked us for our work, and we felt compelled to thank them for their warm reception of us and for the trust that they had placed in us.  After the "guests" departed the kitchen crew and a few additional volunteers helped finish the clean-up.

As we had planned the Elfinwild, East Liberty and OPC groups worshipped together sharing some of their reflections on the week's events.  As we were quite tired from the cumulative work, we were glad to receive communion.

After worship we gathered around the one television in the church to watch the Biloxi, Mississippi news.  A reporter had come to film some of the work that our teams were doing.  Mark, the Elfinwild team leader, was interviewed.  Also, the report showed pictures of a number of the OPC team.  Fortunately, no one seemed to lose their humility over it.

Although tired and ready to return to our homes, folk continued to have a good sense of humor.  We were asked to pack what we could and keep an overnight bag for our motel stop.  One of the team asked playfully, "Can I keep my sleeping bag out until tomorrow?"  We packed in the van turned in for the night.  As with other nights, the room quieted down quickly except for the snoring.

Everyone on the team seems ready to return to our homes and routines.  If you read this on Saturday, please pray for our safe travel.

Steve