Rebuilding Together

The Rebuilding Together work day took place in Arlington on Saturday, April 24^th for a local family.  They are Salvadorian and have been in the U.S. and in their condo for 12 years.  They are a strong family unit.  The father, Jose, is a laborer.  The mother, Tomasa, cleans offices and takes care of the family.  They have three sons.  They were very cooperative and pleasant throughout the entire Rebuilding Together process.  Their condo was very small and in need of many repairs, some of which our team did not have the capability of tackling.

However, the work day was a big success.  We took on a long list of jobs and managed to complete the vast majority of them, much to the delight of the family and the Rebuilding Together staff.  We painted all the rooms of the condo except the bathrooms (owner’s request), replaced both bedroom doors, hauled a new refrigerator up to the 3^rd floor, transferred food from the old fridge to the new one, and then hauled the old one downstairs, installed a new kitchen faucet, installed a functional living room fan/light, installed a functional dining room lighting fixture, and installed crown molding in the living room and one bedroom.  When we finished, it looked “like a new house” in Tomasa’s words.

The team consisted of 14 members: Henry Allen, Theo Aristanto, Brenda Bartholic, Mike Caruso, Al Craddock, Pat Hood, Rich McElaney, Meredith Peterson, Mark Rumple, Cary and Mary Ann Skahn, Brian Swanson, Ashley Wilkins, and Philip Wilkins.  Susan Cheney provided a very delicious (and healthy) lunch for the team.  Meredith and Mike do not attend CPC, but like the rest of the team humbly gave their time and energy to be a part of the Lord’s work on this day.  Because the condo was so small there was much bumping into and sliding past one another to get the work done, but the team worked great together and everyone displayed much joy and patience throughout the day.  We asked Him to be, and the Lord was surely among us as we worked.

It was a very special day to be able to serve our great God by helping to meet the real, physical needs of the family.  No doubt they felt His love for them radiating through every one of our team members.  And what a special day to be able to publicly display His love and mercy in the middle of a neighborhood desperately in need of it.  Praise God for such an opportunity!

The next local work day is Saturday, June 26th with Habitat.  See details on the church website.