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Archive - Article 35
Appalachian Dream Center Hosts Alabama Church
3/6/02
It was a blessed day when thirty men and women arrived from the
Fairview Church of God in Alabama. Breakfast was waiting on them
and the fellowship was tremendous as time was spent thanking God
for their safe journey. This group was particularly eager to get
to work. Immediately following breakfast, the Fairview group loaded
into vans and headed toward Madison, WV.
In Madison, the house to be worked on was that of a widow of the
former pastor. They had served the Madison Church of God for many
years with distinction and now the house was in need of much repair.
This group of men and women went right to work removing the old
roof and preparing for the new. Some of them started removing trees
that would later be cut and used for firewood. Others were busy
cleaning windows and doing yard work. It was a sad but beautiful
sight. Sad that this widow had no one to turn to for help with routine
maintenance work, yet beautiful to see strangers from another part
of the country come and share their knowledge and skill to improve
her life. What a blessing from God!
When they returned to the Appalachian Dream Center that evening,
a few started painting our kitchen area while the other surveyed
the next day’s project. This project involved the house of
an eighty-two year old man and seventy-eight year old woman, married
for all of their adult lives. Their thirty-one year old granddaughter
and two great grandchildren had moved in to try and help take care
of them. Their living conditions were appalling and the few that
surveyed it came away in disbelief. When they returned to the Dream
Center and explained what they had seen, everyone could hardly wait
to get to the house so they could start to work.
This family was living with a dirt floor that became mud when it
rained. Animals could walk into the house from the gaps between
the walls and the floor. The first job was to give them a concrete
floor. While some of them took on this task, others were fixing
the holes in the roof that was rotting away. Others also noticed
the hillside beside the house needed attention so the water would
not run through the house. Before the day was done, the front stoop
and door was also repaired.
Upon returning to the Dream Center after each day’s work,
many had tears in their eyes because of the extreme poverty they
had witnessed. Most people do not understand the pride, poverty
and clannishness of mountain families. It will not allow them to
leave their homes and property. About all that can be done is to
change their environment around them to make living more bearable.
When the Fairview Church of God group was ready to go home, they
had been touched by the people they came to help and touched by
the hand of God as they helped others. Several wanted to schedule
a return trip, while a few wanted to spend the summer at the Appalachian
Dream Center. To say the least, the Fairview Church trip was a tremendous
success and not soon to be forgotten.
Tim Burdashaw
Communications Coordinator
Anyone interested in donating finances or products or providing
a corporate lead may contact:
Operation Compassion
David Lorency, President
114 Stuart Road, NE
Suite 370
Cleveland, TN 37312
423.728.3932 - Office
423.596.4200 - Fax
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