by Deb Vita

It was a snowy Sunday morning in January when five of us from the Presbyterian Project set off for Jacksonville, NC. We were heading south to help work on houses that had been damaged by Hurricane Florence. There were three churches represented in our group and some of us did not know the others. The car trip took about 11 hours, including stops. We arrived at a strip mall where we would be staying for the week in part of a store. Dinner was ready, and two other workers from a fourth church were there to greet us, along with our hosts, Calvary Relief.

After dinner, we found out that we would be working on two houses. One was almost done, but still needed some baseboards installed, doors hung, and walls painted. The second house needed some drywalling and plumbing done. From the outside, everything looked normal. It was hard to tell that there had been any issues there, but when you got inside the houses you were well aware. Both teams worked hard all week and, by the end of the week had accomplished what we had set out to do. There was a second group coming from Pittsburgh the following week to get things finished up.

Breakfast and dinner were prepared for us by our host for the week. The meals were good, and it was a relief each day to come back to dinner already being made. Lunch was a sandwich, snacks, fruit, and cookies. Clean up was done by the group.

The Presbyterian Project was put together after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast and has been doing mission trips since then. It is a great team of people to be associated with. I always look forward to doing this trip and meeting up with those I normally don’t see. These trips are always open to anyone who has an interest to help others. No experience is needed.