Hello Novel!: Tales from the South: Homeowners

Without homeowners, our Kentucky trips would be a whole lot less worthwhile.

Homeowners are pretty brave people. They wouldn't admit to it. Most of the time, if you spoke with them, they'd say they did it as a last resort. Or, because it had to be done.

Imagine it was YOUR house that a team of crazy Canadian young people were coming to fix. How many of you would sign up for that opportunity?
Can you imagine not having enough money to hire someone to do it for you? Can you imagine being too old, sick, or disabled to fix the door/roof/porch/steps on your house?
How frustrating would it be if you had the money to afford the supplies, but couldn't afford the labour costs (especially as labour is often 2/3rds of the overall cost)? How frustrating if you knew that the project has to be done now to preserve the live-ability of your home, and you know that within a year or two you'd have the money, if not for the interest? Or, if the bank won't give you a loan?

Would you be glad to have the SWAP option? Free labour, paying [interest-free] for supplies as you are able?

I'd probably feel embarrassed & ashamed, not to mention apprehensive.

And yet, I've met some wonderful people over the years who have opened up their homes to volunteers. They've all been giving, loving, caring people.

T.I. > an elderly lady with Alzheimer's who prayed with us the last day, thanking God for her new front porch & fixed roof (which had both had holes), and newly fixed chimney & painted interior (all the coal smoke from the stove had been staying inside the house.)

Missy > caring for her own 3 kids, and her sister's 4 in a double-wide and collecting every last scrap of something that might be useful.

Myrtle > the matriarch of a whole family clan - primary care-giver of 2 great-grandchildren, relieving a granddaughter with a paraplegic husband. Her son would help, but he suffered from black lung after working in the mines and couldn't do much anymore. Her wooden-sided house needed drainage & painting, to protect from further water damage.

Jason & Manda > a coal miner & his wife, with three little girls. The house needed underpinning & a new back porch now, but they needed to put all their funds toward paying off the land, in case Jason had an accident in the mines & was laid off of work, with no pay and therefore no means of paying off the mortgage, which would result in the loss of their home.

All those awesome homeowners, and yet, Bill & Evelyn stole my heart this last trip.

I'd call them Grandpa & Grandma, except they're young enough to be my grandparents' children.

Bill & Evelyn are ten years apart in age and got married within two weeks of meeting each other. That was over 40 years ago. They had a son, David, who died when he was 9. He had been disabled all his life. Soon after that, they both 'got saved.'
Evelyn was born in Harlan, but her family moved away when she was very young - back when Harlan was known as "Bloody Harlan." Bill was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, as one of 12 siblings. After they married, they lived in Cincinnati until 7 years ago. Seven years ago, Evelyn felt the call to Harlan, to come and serve as chaplain at the local hospital.
They moved and bought a house. They 'adopted' James, who works at Christ's Hands (a soup kitchen & homeless shelter in Harlan.) And they've come to love the community they live in.

Evelyn has severe arthritis, and can't easily navigate steps anymore. Being on a limited income, she and Bill couldn't afford to pay for the ramp she needed to get into the house. Or for the porch roof that would protect their existing porch and offer them shelter from the rain. So James, who knows SWAP through his work at Christ's Hands, got them in touch.

I loved, loved, loved working for these people. You could tell that they were delighted to have us. They regaled us with stories, introduced us to their family through pictures, and spoke of their love for their Saviour. We became their children - evidenced by Wednesday night: Ed & the girls went to pick them up to join us for a bbq picnic we were having just down the road. When they pulled in, Bill said to his wife: "Evelyn, our kids are here!" That's how I felt. They enjoyed our duck games (more on that later) and played along. They fed us snacks & water (provided by James.) They cried when we had to say goodbye Friday night. So did we.

And the reason for our close connection? We are family in our Lord & Saviour.

I've never been more delighted or satisfied to see our work finished. God has been so good!