EVANSVILLE, Ill. – Ten students and two adults spent two days helping to rebuild Trinity Lutheran Church in Tryon North Carolina.
Pictured in the group in front are Lacee Liefer, Christine Liefer, Brianna Brake, Tristan Jones, Olivia Crank and Haley Liefer. In back, Reyna Fearing, Josh Wallace, Isaac Luebkemann and Brian Liefer. Adult chaperones not pictured are Tim and Lisa Luebkemann
The group of volunteers made camp at Mt. Pisgah Lutheran Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
Mt. Pisgah is a host church for volunteers coming to the area to help with the hurricane clean up and rebuilding process.
On Sunday the group attended Sunday School and Church at Mt.Pisgah. After worshiping, the group enjoyed a tour of a local tea farm and hiked to see some waterfalls.
Monday morning students and chaperones were greeted by Pastor Olson of Trinity Church. Pastor shared the story of how the waters from the nearby creek filled the crawl space with mud and water.
This is what caused water and mold damage to their church. It has taken them months to get the mud out from under the church. They had dehumidifiers going in the crawl space and they have had to spray two different types of chemicals to kill the mold on the concrete and the wood. Part of the foundation had collapsed as well and was recently repaired.
Once the Pastor shared with the group what needed to be done the volunteers began painting the fellowship hall, pulling up plastic from the crawl space below the church and learning how to measure, cut and hang drywall from Alan.
The group had the pleasure of working with two retired construction workers from Raleigh,NC, Russ and Alan.
Day two at Trinity Church began early in the morning with leveling the dirt in the crawl space, hanging more drywall and learning how to tape and mud the drywall from Russ. Some of the students worked in the pastor’s office by wiping off the walls and applying a fresh coat of paint.
After lunch students shoveled dirt around the foundation in areas that had been repaired and areas that the dirt had washed away. The group also helped clean up debris around the church property.
While in North Carolina the group heard and witnessed just how bad hurricane Helene affected the communities. There is still a lot of clean up that needs to be done and many bridges, homes and businesses that need to be rebuilt.
Please continue to pray for the people around Hendersonville, Ashville and Tryon, NC.