On Saturday, November 7th, over 30 people descended on this home from various churches and organizations. It belongs to a single Mom and her two great kids. We will call her Suzy. Suzy contacted NeighborLink Porter County because her roof was leaking rain water into her bedroom and onto her bed. These calls break my heart. I usually explain to callers that while I will be happy to post their project for them, this is a rather large project for NeighborLink to handle, and that I will be praying for their situation. Some of the calls sound so desperate and folks have no one else to turn too. It truly is heartbreaking and one of the tougher parts of my job.
Well, not this time! I made a few calls as I normally do and this time, this situation tugged on a few heart strings. We had some people who really wanted to take this project on, but we just weren't sure how we were going to pay for it. Larry and I had a speaking engagement at a church in Chesterton a week or so later and we shared all that God has been doing with NeighborLink. We talked about having some folks who really wanted to work on this project, but that we weren't sure if it was something that NeighborLink should take on or not. And we certainly didn't know where the money was going to come from. (NeighborLink's application for non-profit status is currently in the hands of the IRS. We are waiting to hear from them.) Would you believe that after we spoke at two services, we had several people come up to us who wanted to make a donation?!?! This came as a complete surprise to us! We were very humbled.
Later that week, we got word that two different anonymous donors had come forward! Can you believe it? So we started putting the word out to all of our volunteers. The folks that we had helped the weekend before with the garage tear down wanted to come and pay it forward!! We are in awe of just how awesome our God is!
There were so many people praying for this project. Praying for safety and for good weather. Would you believe that on November 7th, we almost broke a record and had a 70 degree day? It was gorgeous! And we accomplished so much! The volunteers tore two layers of shingles off and re-roofed this house in 7.5 hours. The men were incredible and determined. Not only was the roof completed, but the yard was cleaned up in the front and the back and part of the outside of the house was painted.
We and the homeowners are incredibly grateful for the volunteers and donors who made all of this possible. I often say that I have the best job in the world. That's because I get to see God work in miraculous ways all of the time and I am privileged to be a part of it.
In Him,
Larry & Judy Alders
NeighborLink Porter County