Home again

We returned safely to our families and friends. We arrived in Bound Brook a few minutes after 5 Saturday morning.

Thank you for all of your support and prayers.

Edgar, John, John, John and Paul.

Desde Jonesville Va

Bueno hoy es jueves 18 y ha sido una semana muy provechosa en los Apalaches.

Hemos estado trabajando en la casa de Ben & Jessi cambiado las paredes agregando isulacion y ademas reparaciones el el baño el cual estaba muy deteriorado.

Desde que Salimos de NJ Jhon A, Jhon C, Jhon O Paul y yo Edgar hemos viajado mas de 600 millas para traer un poco de esperanza y amor para una familia que realmente lo necesita.

Al trabajar en este projecto ASP me he podido dar cuenta cuan Bendecidos somos en NJ y que Dios tiene cuidado de nosotros ya que aqui hemos encontrado una situacion totalmente diferente ala que normalmente he visto en USA.

Estoy muy contento de poder ser parte de este proyecto y aunque hemos tenido nieve casi todos los dias y a toda hora, no nos ha impedido llevar nuestro trabajo.

Para manana viernes esperamos terminar con los trabajos de remodelacion de la cocina en la noche poder volver a casa.

Desde Virginia

Edgar Flores

Full Crew

Well, all the prayers were answered and we were a full team today. We all rose and had breakfast this morning and then traveled on to our family's home. Everyone is feeling better and should be 100% by Friday morning.

Today we moved the kitchen sink and insulated and drywalled most of the last wall in the kitchen. In the first room the rough in plumbing lines were installed for the washer, tub/shower, toilet and a sink. Tomorrow we will finish the drywalling and start on the mudding in the two rooms. Jess and Ben did a little painting in another room today also.

Well we are not the only guests today. All week we have had the center and staff pretty much to ourselves. Today a group from Virginia Tech arrived near the end of dinner and another group from High Point, NC came in a little while later. We are all gathering in the lodge. We played a few games with the VT group earlier and had a blast. A great group of people.

It seems like we just got here and tomorrow it will be time to depart. While we are looking forward to seeing our families and loved ones again it will be a sad time leaving this wonderful part of God's world.

A big thank you to you for keeping us in your hearts and supporting us in our travels.

God Bless.

Paul

Day 3 on the Job

Wednesday, just past the halfway mark. We are having a great time. Last night we took our staff out for dinner to a local sports eatery, The Rooster. The conversation was lively and the United States was playing Japan in the Olympics curling contest. I was very nervous for our team and I found out this morning for good reason! :)

Ok, we had a small work crew today. Two of our team were under the weather last night and needed today to rest. Please join us in prayers for their full recovery. That being said, we journeyed to our family's house and put in a full day of repair. We finished the first room yesterday for insulation and drywalling. Today we removed the wooden slats from the kitchen and insulated and drywalled one of the 2 walls we are doing. Tomorrow we anticipate completing the second wall. Our mood was good, but we missed our teammates a lot. Hopefully they will be able to join us tomorrow.

It is a beautiful part of the country here in Lee county. Every morning this week we have had fresh snow greet us, just enough to cover the driveway, a beautiful sight, but it makes for a slow drive down, and down and down the driveway. (it is steep and not straight). The drive to our family's house takes us through the valley for about 10 miles and it is scenic.

From another part of God's Country.

Love and peace.

Paul

A Small Part of God's World.

Well here it is Tuesday night on our asp trip. It is easy to see how fast the week will go by. The work assignment has a lot of work to be finished but this work never seems to really be work . We all work well together, we laugh a lot and it always seems to get done. We had a great meal tonight in town with our ASP staffers as our guests. There are so many people here who need Gods help and it is good to be a small part of that help. We are enjoying wrapping up the day relaxing by the fireplace in the lodge. Good night from Jonesville Virginia

John Almendinger

Day 2 -- Snow!

Well the second day of this ASP trip had something none of us have experienced during a mission trip to Appalachia but has been common all over the East this winter – SNOW! The center we stay at is on quite a hill for snowy weather. The travel down to get out to the worksite as well as what the drive back up to the center might be if the accumulation was a lot gave us great concern. But God provided a day that we were able to have a great day of work without having to worry about the weather.

Intermittent flurries mixed with sun and blue sky while inside we worked to remove the inside wall, install insulation, close up a window and put up drywall. Ben & Jess’s house at the beginning of the winter had an outer & inner wall but not a bit of insulation between the two. The difference in the temperature of the room we started in when we first got there and how felt at the end of our day was drastic. Now imagine five rooms like that. Fortunately several other groups had worked on the house before we arrived. Ben & Jess as well as the ASP staff have noticed how with each room, we are working on the third, has made a significant difference in what it takes to heat the house.

We had a great day of progress, and we are praying for God’s good weather and that we can finish the work we set out to do this week.

John O’Melia

We have arrived

We arrived in Jonesville around 1:30 pm today, and went out to see the house we worked on last year. The Johns (A, C and O) showed me around and we met the family. It was a nice reunion. The family is healthy and warm and dry. The house looks great. They said that sometimes it seems to be almost to warm, that's how good of a job was done by the ASP volunteers. Kathleen and Rex remembered John, John, and John.

We then went up to the ASP center and met the staff, Mitch, Alex, and Christina. Christina is from Madison WI, Alex is from Morgantown PA and Mitch is from the Twin Cities area. We settled in a little and then went out to meet our family. Mitch showed us what needs to be done and we met Ben and Jess and the 2 pitbull puppies and Oscar the fish (who is an Oscar). We will be insulating and drywalling their walls.

We came back after a quick stop at Walmart and Shoe Town, for some forgotten items. Dinner was chicken, mashed potatoes, green beens and salad. Desert was some chocolate chip cookies and some delicious brownies with heart sprinkles for Valentines day.

We are relaxing in the lodge having some good conversation and an good fire by John O.

Love to all, and a Happy Valentines day to all our loved ones (yes you too!)

paul

Winter Adult trip

On Saturday, February 13, 2 trucks, 5 individuals will begin their journey to the ASP center in Jonesville, VA. Hopefully mother nature will let us travel without incident. If all goes well and we are able we will post updates here. Check back soon.

God Bless

Paul