The hotel we are staying in has a nice breakfast which everyone was able to enjoy before church. The weather outside was unusual we are told for Minot -- fog! As we drive to the church, there are still many houses with boards on the windows. We hope to hear more of the stories of those affected at church.
By the time we arrive at the Christ Lutheran Church, the fog has almost lifted. We are greeted by Alan Pearson who is the chair of the rebuilding committee at Christ Lutheran. Alan introduces us to Bill Graves of ELCA-Mission Builders who is leading the work for the rebuilding. We expect to see Bill tomorrow when we start our work project. Alan explains how much damage was done to the church. Over 2 feet of water filled the church damaging everything inside. The water also went into their basement where they had their fellowship room. We also see the damage in the sanctuary which required them to rebuild their altar area. So much work to be done but they rejoice that so much work has been done, allowing them to hold their worship services.
The church Holy Communion service is led by Pastor Mike Johnson and he also delivers a wonderful sermon. We sing some favorite hymns - Beautiful Savior for one and afterwards enjoying meeting some of the congregants. Roger Arnholt presents the SAKLC gift to Alan Pearson who expresses much gratitude.
Some of what we learned this morning from people at the church. There are many people who were permanently displaced by the flood. There were over 1,000 trailers brought in by FEMA to house people after the flood. Around 200 still have people living in them. Elderly people sometimes had to make the tough decision of abandoning their home because they could not afford to repair nor had the physical capability of repairing their home. The AFB had lawyers and counselors come and help the people make the tough decisions. There are too many stories to tell here about the affect of the flood on the people of Minot.
We leave the church and an offer to take our picture -- the sun is now shining too!
After church, everyone heads to lunch on their own and then meets again in the hotel lobby at 1:30 pm for a tour of the Dakota Boys & Girls Ranch. The 'ranch' is on a 300 acre property just about 2 miles outside of downtown Minot started by Lutheran organizations. It provides residential and day programs for children 10 - 17 years of age who are at-risk with emotional and behavioral issues, and some with developmental challenges. The work they are doing for youth in various situations is amazing and all in the name of Christ. We are impressed with their facility and their plans to seek the best ways to help these children become successful in their adult lives. Truly an organization that is a blessing.
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| Staff at the Ranch |
Our evening meals have been arranged with Hope Village of Minot. This organization has been the heart and soul of the Minot community recovery, coordinating all of the Christian relief organizations and volunteers. Our contact at Hope Village is Lutheran Disaster Response which we will meet with on Monday. Sunday evening, we are greeted by Steve who is the Hope Village Director and hospitality coordinator. Sheila also greets us in the blue and white tent where they serve the meals. She serves us and then sits down and chats with us about the community and how happy they are to have volunteers come and help those during this flood recovery.
In the morning, we will return to Hope Village to discuss our work assignment and make our brown bag lunches to take to our work site. Some of the local churches bake cookies for us to enjoy too.
T-shirts are hanging along the side of the tent from different groups that have come to volunteer. SAKLC's servant team t-shirt will be joining these tomorrow!
Back at our hotel, Pastor Roger leads us in an evening devotional. Everyone is thankful for this opportunity to be together and be SAKLC servants in Minot.
I Corinthians 3:9..."God's servants, working together"
Rise and shine early for breakfast in the hotel and then at 7:30 a.m., Ray, Lynn, Steve and Jane go to Hope Village to find out about our work assignment and to make our lunches. We meet with April and Judy from Lutheran Disaster Response of North Dakota in their work space to receive our work assignment. We also present the $4,000 check from the funds raised by SAKLC for LDR- Recovery Warehouse. They are so thankful as the need is still great and these funds will help with purchasing more materials for the rebuilding of homes. In their trailer, the team is signed-in for the day so volunteer time can be tracked. Our assigned project is to go to Christ Lutheran Church and help with their rebuild so we do not need to pick-up any tools because they are already at the job site.
Once at the church, Bill Graves makes assignments for the team members. The assignments are based on preferences and skills. Our first day includes various projects with some of the group focusing on the same project for the day. This being our first day, everyone is learning about the entire project work and their specific activity. What is really nice about being at Christ Lutheran Church are the people. Some of the people are ELCA Mission Builders, people who travel the country helping build churches. They are here in Minot because they were to help build the addition but instead with all the flood work still to do, they are leading the project for the rebuilding. There are also several women from Mission Builders (Becky & Chris pictured here) and others from Christ Lutheran Church who are providing devotions, snacks at the breaks and lunch for the other workers at the church.
