When you have a heart that is made anew through faith, it’s a great example to wear it on your sleeve.  Those from Bethel Reformed Church in Sheldon, Iowa wore their hearts on their sleeves, serving without complaining and selflessly living in close quarters during this past week.  After a twenty-two hour bus drive, they arrived on Saturday morning at 2:20am.  Even after such a long trip and without enough sleep, they still accomplished much around the Sovereign Grace Fellowship property by beginning work on two trailers, removing all the nails from three large piles of recycled lumber, weed wacking the lawn, and cleaning and organizing items around the property.

The most encouraging times during the week were when it was apparent that the crew’s ears were wide open, listening intently to Pastor Eddie teach and preach.  It put a smile on our faces to hear so many questions being asked and pockets of the volunteers interested in hearing more about the lessons that were taught.  On Sunday, when the crew attended service, there was a resounding sound of voices singing hymns sincerely and many conversations afterwards about the sermon message.

Sunday afternoon called for “fun” and with baited breath, the youth waited to hear what that “fun” would turn out to be.  It was an afternoon at the beach in Mississippi, swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.  For the grand majority of the volunteers, it was the first time that any of them had seen an ocean, let alone swim in one.  The day was full of volunteers trying to catch crabs along the shore, tossing sand at each other, and searching for shells to bring back to Iowa.

The rest of the week involved a lot of work, some of it a continuation of their first full day.  By the end of the week, the crew had successfully fixed two trailers, laid down 4.5 tons of sand to form a more stable walkway around some of the buildings on the church property, painted our recycling bin, laid reinforced pallets to walk on around the church sheds, switched out the winter clothes for summer clothes in our relief center, and re-organized hundreds of pieces of lumber.

Even with all the work accomplished at the church, the crew seemed to really enjoy their time in New Orleans when they visited St. Bernard Parish and worked in the 9^th Ward.  They were very touched and changed by the stories they heard of total devastation, survival, and rebuilding.  St. Bernard Parish is the only county in the entire U.S. to be deemed by the Federal Government as 100% destroyed, while less than 25% of the population has returned to the 9^th ward.  The crew expressed their wishes to accomplish more for the people in these communities.

On Thursday night, we took our customary “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” tour led by Pastor Eddie Exposito through Slidell and New Orleans, eating at Deanie’s and ending the night at Café Du Monde.  We all had a joyous time saying goodbye to this enthusiastic and hardworking group.

As the saying goes, “all good things must come to an end.”  The Sheldon crew had to return home that Thursday night.  Before leaving, they blessed Homeland Missions with funding, prayer, and a willingness to do anything that was asked of them.  Already, many of them have contacted us via Facebook and told us how much they learned and will never forget.  Those of us at Homeland Missions will not forget them either and the work they accomplished.  Thank you, Bethel Reformed Church.