WE ARE HOME!!!

We got back today at around 11 am and had an amazing time!  Thanks for following us on our blog.

Friday Continued!

A Haiku by Jenna Taylor

Layers of chipped paint

And roof sagging in despair

We repaired that stuff.

This has been a Haiku by Jenna Taylor.

Friday!

Today was the last day working on our homeowners house!  It was a little bittersweet but so awesome to be able to see all of the improvements we were able to make to her house over the week.  Overall I personally was up on the roof when there was literally just the beams left which was kind of fun and scary, and we did sooooo much scraping of paint this week that I'm pretty sure all of our knuckles are raw.  But today was nice because we finally got to paint her porch and got it almost completely finished!  There were a couple of things that we weren't able to get to that another group will have to finish for us, but overall we got so much done.  Looking back on the past week my favorite day had to be Wednesday when we had homeowners night at The Pittsburgh Project.  The homeowners were able to come and have dinner with us and so we got to know our homeowner a little better.  We found out all about our homeowner's family and her past and it was so nice to talk to her and get to know more about why we were sent to help her.  After dinner we had a church service with our homeowners and during the service a couple of kids were asked to go up and talk about the work being done at their homeowner's house, and thank them for inviting us into their home.  Pastor Brett asked me to be the one to talk about our homeowner.  At first I really didn't want to because I typically don't enjoy public speaking but afterwards I'm so glad I got to because our homeowner has been so patient with our amateur attempts at fixing her house and it made her was so happy as well!! She loved the flower I got to give her and when the homeowners were given the chance to speak about what was going on at their

house she did!  It was so exciting because honestly none of us thought she would because she's so quiet and shy but when she did it was a huge encouragement to us.  It really showed us why God put us where He did.  Thursday we got to meet our homeowner's six year old grandson who was adorable!  He loves playing basketball and wore us all out asking for piggy back rides and is convinced that Megan is his girlfriend;).  He got to eat lunch with us both today and yesterday which was also a lot of fun for us all.  Unfortunately today he lost his basketball down the street so we went to K-Mart to get him a new one!  Megan, Liann, and I ran around the store with him on my back and he got to choose out a basketball with his two favorite colors, red and blue.  The best part was when we told him to thank Pastor Brett and he said, "Thanks for the new ball Mr. Wrinkle."  So of course that's Pastor Brett's new nickname:).  Overall this week has been such an enlightening experience and I'm so glad that I've been able to go on it with such an awesome group of people.  I have really enjoyed getting to know all of them better as well on this trip and almost wish that we could stay another week, however I'm also really excited to go home and hopefully apply all that I've learned here to the lifestyle at home as well!

-Maddie B.

Thursday!

 Hello, my name is Norman and I have been working at a household in Homewood this week. We were all over the place doing things consisting of fitting drywall above the newly inserted tub walls to finish the bathroom which I cut mostly by myself with the help of Kyle. We put in a dishwasher, washer and a dryer which turned out to be piece of cake because the delivery guys took the old ones and put the new ones in the correct area and all we had to do was hook up some minor things. My group finished painting a hallway. We finished off the day by hanging out with the family. Today was a little different from the others as it was a free night where we could do something fun in Pittsburgh. We had a change in plans because of the weather, so we went to the Point which is a big fountain on a peninsula where three rivers join together instead of going kayaking. We still got to go to the Pirates game, which we thought was going to be rainy but the seats we got were right under the overhanging roof and turned out to be a good time. We did have to leave early because of curfew but at least we left with the Pirates up four to nothing against the Cubs. Even with the rain it turned out to be another great day in Pittsburgh!

HOMEOWNER NIGHT!

McKenna and Maddie thanking their homeowners at Homeowner Night!

Wed Continued!

So it was another amazing day of an amazing week! Today at our homeowner's house we continued with the bathroom project and painting while furthering our street hockey skills. We also made a stop to Home Depot where we picked up some flowers to plant in their front yard. While we waited for mulch to be delivered we had opportunities to sit with the grandkids and talk. Our conversations continued this evening because it was FAMILY NIGHT! Tonight homeowners came to the Pittsburgh Project Campus to eat and worship with us! It was great getting to talk with them out of their home and answer 14 year old granddaughter's numerous questions about what we do while we are here. It was also rewarding to hear about how appreciative they are that we are here to serve them! This has been a great experience so far as we grow in our friendships as a youth group, as we make new friends with our homeowners, and as we spread the love of Christ to Pittsburgh!

-Abbey M.

Wednesday!

Middle of the week! #humpday

It was homeowner night tonight. We had the opportunity of having our homeowner accompany us for dinner at The Pittsburgh Project. Now, normally our homeowner is very quiet and shy because she suffers from depression and anxiety, but tonight she really opened up to us. I feel that we are making an amazing impression on her and hopefully she is seeing that the Lord loves her and is always there to watch over her and protect her. We are also able to see her eyes light up as she watches all the hard work finally pay off. She shared with the entire project that she feels comfortable having company over now because of all the work we have done. It was so heartwarming to hear because most of us felt that she didn't appreciate the work. I really hope that on these last few days we can show the love of Christ to her more than ever!

~ Mollieeeeee<3

Tuesday Continued!

Today I got to feel completely in the way as Abbey and I were human roadblocks to kids while we painted the walls leading up the stairs and the upstairs hallway.  It was really neat to see the progress with each layer of paint, though, and we were able to get to know our homeowner's 14 year old granddaughter as she helped us in between the freak outs about paint in her hair.  Everyone else was busy weeding or cutting the grass and tearing down shower tile in the upstairs bathroom.  After all our work we got to play some street hockey where I was shown up by Abbey's crazy goalie skills.  In the evening, a husband and wife band came and led worship for the night with some songs they had written.  Today was a great day of hard work, lots of fun, and I can't wait for tomorrow's activities.

Amara D.  

Tuesday!

Today was the second day in Pittsburgh working on our homeowner's house fixing the porch roof and interior issues. She doesn't talk to us that much.  She actually spent the most of the day sleeping in her bedroom, while we just did our work.  Today Tim and I went up on the side of the house to scrape paint so that our designated painters could apply a new coat on it.  We also helped with a bedroom ceiling which consisted of tearing down a section of the ceiling, and putting on dry wall to fix the hole.   We were told by our professional builder guy Dave to build seven swords out of the scrap wood that was being taken out of the porch.  There is something about David and Goliath tomorrow which is why we had to build the swords.  I think God is working with us in a lot of ways.  We have been free of severe injury (just cuts and scrapes).  Our homeowner did come out when we were done and when she looked at the work that we had accomplished today her eyes got wide and she looked like a little hope had come to her, because when we left on Monday it looked a bomb blew up inside her porch!  That was an encouraging thing to see because we were worried that she was a little overwhelmed with what we were doing to her home.  We are looking forward to the work we will accomplish tomorrow.

Ian B.

Monday Continued!

After arriving at our homeowner's house we greeted him and talked briefly and discussed not only a little about himself but also about the work we were going to do.   The girls in our group; McKenna, Abbey, Amara and Ashley all went into the stair hallway to prep a masonry wall and prime it to be painted later.  Norman, Harvey and I all went to solve the problem of water leaking into the basement of the house.  We already knew it was caused by a broken or cracked pipe that connected to the gutter.  Thankfully the concrete we had to bust was thin and the crack in the pipe was just below ground level. After digging a little farther we uncovered the pipe and determined the direction of the pipe. Our craftsman came and got PVC pipe and some fittings to replace the broken pipe and reconnect it to the gutter.  This, even being a quick fix was a very important one.  The water leaking into the basement was starting to effect some of the Grandkid's breathing problems so this was a top priority.  After lunch, where we also made the home owner a sandwich and ate with him on his porch, Norman, Harvey and I cut out the wet sections of drywall and left a dehumidifier there to help remove moisture and help clean up the water damage. During our work today we had some great discussions with our homeowner.  We found out that he was the third oldest of eight.  He definitely had great parents growing up based on the things he said about how they were and what they did raising them.  He also served two years in Army from 1965-1967.  He was not deployed to Vietnam but he was stationed in Germany.  After returning to the States he did not say too much about it but he made some choices that lead him down an unfriendly road. He became a drug addict and alcoholic.  He then went on to say that come October this year he will be celebrating 23 years being clean and off of all drugs and alcohol.  He shared repeatedly not only his love for God but also for His people.  He even took custody of six grandkids and is raising all of them even after three kids of his own.  This story was clearly a powerful one and one of great change and shows especially to me that even with a great start, you can still go down dark paths.  The saving grace here though is once on it, you are not bound to the path, you can still get off it and back into the light and despite all he's done, he is a very grateful man for where he is and what he is doing now.  We finished our work early today mainly because anything else we did not have time or the resources to start.  So we continued talking in his yard for sometime.  By far he is a very wise and loving man and after one day I can say its been great getting to serve him and help repair his house.

Kyle B.

Monday!

Have you ever started a project that you thought would take a day, maybe three at most? Have you ever started that project, and the deeper you got into it the more complicated it got? Welcome to my assignment! Kevin, Maddie, and I spent our first day on the porch of our homeowners' house. like, literally ON the porch. What was supposed to be a simple shingle replacement turned into a porch replacement. As Kevin and I scraped the old shingles off the roof, we quickly discovered that water damage had turned the existing roof and rafters to the equivalent of mulch. After consulting the professional craftsman assigned to us, we decided that the best course of action was to tear out the rotted out ply, add 2x4 pieces to the existing rafters and support beams and then replace the rotted ply with fresh 4x8 sheets. After the infrastructure is improved, we will then put on the shingles!

     Now, this is a lot more work then we bargained for. But i believe that this load has been placed on us for a reason. Perhaps we will get to see the power of our God at work. I remember hearing a quote about goal setting, it said that we should set goals that are so big that they can only be reached if God is playing an active role in realizing them. Redoing a porch is a large and complicated task, especially when it wasn't built right in the first place, but I truly believe that we can accomplish this overhaul by the end of the week. The task is big, but God is bigger, and I know He is with us every step of the way! 

Ryan S.

Sunday Night Continued!

First Day=Mission Accomplished!

Although there really wasn't any real mission, my group was able to meet our homeowner tonight which we were very thankful for.  Our youth group has been split into two subgroups going off to two different houses.  My group's homeowners are a couple in their 60s who are also raising four grandchildren all between the ages of 13 and 16.  Unfortunately, the grandchildren are going off to camp this week so we will not be able to be a Christ-like influence on them.  The grandparents were very respectful and seem to have high expectations of us.  The plan is for Abbey and Amara to paint the interior walls, Ashley and I will be (speedily) tearing apart the only shower in the house and trying to find a leak, and Norman and Kyle will be doing everything else.  That everything else includes replacing a washer and drier while avoiding a big dog, replacing shingles, and tearing apart the concrete to find a leak that floods the basement.  Oh boy.  And they expect us to get this all done within a week!  On top of this, the grandparents are worried about their grandchildren's respiratory problems with all the mold issues accumulating.  I can tell you that we are all out of our comfort zone!

McKenna W.

Sunday Night!

We left the church around 11 a.m. and stopped at a food court an hour later and then went the scenic route to Pittsburgh. After we unloaded we hung out in the game room until we had club, where we played a few games with the other groups and were introduced to the staff. Then we sang some songs and a speaker talked to us about God's power and what it means for this week. We were also assigned our discussion groups for the week. The discussions group had some people from Harvest mixed with some people from the other group, and a Pittsburgh Project leader. We went over the rules and were told what to expect at the houses we are working at, along with setting goals for the week. We went and scoped out the house my work group was going to serve in, but our owner sadly wasn't there at that time. I am looking forward to the rest of the week.  It seems like between everything it will be an amazing experience!

Tim M.

Welcome to our Blog!

We are excited to share with you how God is working in us and through us on our trip! We will be serving the needy through the Pittsburgh Project, an urban, neighborhood-based, Christian community development organization.

Pittsburgh has an older housing stock and large aging population that is increasingly unable to maintain their home due to fixed incomes and shrinking resources.  We will be deployed to serve and connect with senior and disabled homeowners to perform home repairs and greatly improve the quality of life for each person we serve.

Please follow us every day on this blog to hear more!  Thanks for your support and prayers.