OBI Volunteer Blogs

Worth the work

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Volunteers from Rockford Master's Commission work with OBI to fix up a house devastated by flooding in Atlanta, Georgia.

ATLANTA, Ga. —Anthony and Myrica’s house is coming along very nicely. After having multiple delays yesterday and having to work a night shift, we are back on task and caught up with the other projects. (more…)

Volunteer: “We are here to bless others”

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Master's Commission volunteers Spackle a wall while repairing a home damaged by flooding in Atlanta.

ATLANTA – The rain has come again. Almost ironic, I guess, as our goal this week is to bless some people whose houses had been destroyed by flooding back in September. We weren’t going to let it hinder us. (more…)

Teams rebuild homes, lives of flood victims

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Volunteers work with Operation Blessing disaster relief teams to repair homes after flood damage in Atlanta, Georgia.

ATLANTA— Today we arrived at the little Baptist church that has generously opened its doors to around 120 Master’s Commission students, both from Atlanta and Rockford, Illinois. Having worked with Operation Blessing before, I thought I knew what to expect. (more…)

Finishing touches

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Volunteers from Rockford Masters Commission finish landscaping Colleens house
By Jenae Boren

Today at Colleen’s house, we finished all of the exterior tasks. We finished painting the trim and touching up paint at the house. We finished all the yard work, including the back path leading from the house to the back yard made out of stone. We also spray painted the chain link fence. (more…)

Rebuilding a home

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Operation Blessing disaster relief staff help rebuild Colleen's house

Meghan CurranBy
Meghan Curran

Today was a day of coming together. The walls were primed and painted, the house cleaned. This home is now looking very much like a home- and I can’t wait for Colleen and her family to arrive. (more…)

Just being honest

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Rockford Masters Commission volunteers help Operation Blessing mud out and restore homes

Max RiveraBy
Max Rivera

I am going to be completely honest with you. (more…)

From destruction comes life

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Operation Blessing volunteers work hard to restore damaged homes

Meghan CurranBy
Meghan Curran

Yesterday we made a huge dent in our workload by completing all the drywall and getting half of the mudding and taping done. Everyone was in bed early last night for the extended workday we had today.
(more…)

The human condition

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Operation Blessing volunteers work on removing debris from damaged homes

Candice WadellBy
Candice Wadell

Day 1 

As we unloaded the van, ready to take on the second house of the evening, we soon realized this house was different. It wasn’t dry, and we weren’t knocking walls down, or moving tree branches. The rooms weren’t empty. (more…)

The salt of the sea

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Operation Blessing volunteers work hard to restore damaged homes

Meghan CurranBy
Meghan Curran

 What a strange thing it is to wake up and have a new taste in your mouth. I wonder if, after living through something like the loss of all your furniture, your family photos, your clothes, your silverware and good china and car and neighborhood, if salt tastes the same. (more…)

Lessons that stick

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Operation Blessing volunteers work hard to restore damaged homes

By Dana Mueller

 The second morning of work came quicker than I would have imagined.  Thankfully, God gave us all refreshing sleep, so we were able to work at full capacity all day. We returned to Gerald and Gloria’s house, with a couple extra hands to make the work go a little faster. We tackled taping and mudding the drywall, and as I’m writing this, the team is continuing with it. Our goal was to finish the mudding so we could begin painting tomorrow. Even without paint, having the drywall up gives the house a realness to it, so that I could picture a family living there. (more…)

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