Lend A Hand

This blog is being established to compile the story of Royden & Lina.

Here are photos of their home earlier this year, before work had begun on their home.

Instead of celebrating the many accomplishments of this past week, the Lend A Hand work teams are hard at work tonight, committed to moving our families as close as possible to returning to their homes.

I received a call from Denny at 5:40 this evening to let me know that everyone was still hard at work and committed to going past sundown, with all the work teams converged upon Royden’s and Lina’s place since 4pm. 

Today was a rainy and messy day, but once again, our work teams were completely focused on their projects and much was accomplished.  I, your intrepid reporter, returned to Chicago this morning with Curt, so I don't have the pleasure of the fellowship of the work teams.  I am honored to have shared this experience with the Lend A Hand/ Kare a Van missionaries who are working so hard to create order out of the devastation caused by Katrina.  I will continue to work with the teams to share their stories with you, and to encourage you to join our discussion by registering as a user a

A glorious day!  It rained cats and dogs a few times, but we got a lot of stuff done today anyway.

Yolanda's House

• installed ALL the doors; Yolanda is sooooo happy to have a bathroom door with a lock on it!
• installed a wood floor in the living room and dining room
• prepped back bedrooms for laying down tile (leveled with cement)
• continued installing the AC system

Lina's and Royden's house

We are truly blessed to have a wonderful young man on this trip with us, who is making a tremendous difference in what we are able to accomplish during our week here.  His name is Kevin, and he is a phenomenal HVAC guy from Cleveland.  Because hs has joined us, our teams have been able to complete heating and cooling for Royden & Lena's and Cliff & Nieta's homes.  He is planning to work on Yolanda's HVAC so that her place can be completed before our team leaves the area on Saturday.

Hello from New Orleans.  We had another fantastically productive day!

Lena and Royden's house

• caulked windows
• tiled bathroom floor
• laid wood floor in family room and kitchen
• cut and hung doors
• laid subfloor

Cheryl's house

We have enjoyed a full day of work in God's presence throughout New Orleans.  There have been some interesting stories, set backs and accomplishments, and we are grateful for the events of the day.  Here's a list of the things that we have accomplished today:

At Yolanda's:

• made arrangements and preparation to install floors and hang 12 doors tomorrow
• landscaping

At Cheryl's House:

Denny is constantly keeping in touch, leading, coordinating, and always in fashion with his bluetooth headset.

Today's assignment paired Curt and Dan in manual labor.  Better than an Outward Bound session!

Curt and Dan teamed up to put down a base and concrete pavers to set up an area where the trash can be stored during the week.  It was a messy job that included concrete mix.  Now that they have created a solid base, the area will next be fenced in so that the trash can be attractively concealed (instead of being right by the entrance).