Good morning! The following is a message for you from Jerry and Faye Hop, to update you on the mission trip:
We are coming to an end of our three weeks. While here our group of 23 has finished the work in two houses. We have two other houses almost to the finished point (and are hopeful we will come close to finishing them); and one that still needs a lot of work done but we have made good progress on it. We feel God’s presence here–in our work, in the gifts of those on our team, in the progress we have made, and in our interaction with our homeowners.
We have heard some of the stories of the owners of our homes. There was a flood in 1999 that was as devastating as the damage done in 2016. Some of these folks have lived through both floods and are praying they will not have to do this again. Some had time to save some of their possessions, but the loss was still great. Flood waters were 5 feet deep in some homes.
Sunday we split up into three groups and were able to worship in the community with the people whose homes we are restoring. The community is so grateful for our work and are amazed we have come so far to help them.
Princeville (formerly known as Freedom Hill) NC is where our work is being done even though our home base is just across the Tar River in Tarboro. Princeville is the location of the first established freed black community after the Civil War. Although this piece of history seems very interesting, racism is still part of the story as Princeville is in the flood plain of the Tar River and has experienced many floods over the years. It’s easy to give up land that has problems!
Please pray for safety during these last few days of work, for safe travel on Saturday for Hops, Veenstras and Laningas, and for Brouwers as they do a bit of sightseeing and have a visit with their son and family before returning home.
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