Have Lord - Will Travel: Delray Beach, FL

My third NOMADS Project in 2012 brought me farther south to Delray Beach, FL. Yes, I am about a mile from the Atlantic Ocean, a nice walk on a breezy evening. On the down side, I prefer a cooler climate and this far south is downright hot. In late February, it should be cooler than the high 80’s, wouldn’t you think? Complain and jab all you want, northerners, but your sour attempts at playful humor are lost on me. I like a little winter with my seasons.

Like most NOMADS projects, this one was quite different from the other preceding projects. The team is small – seven folks spread across four ‘homes’ of four very different sizes and shapes. I had the only fifth-wheel trailer, in fact the only ‘trailer’ of any type. The other three were motor homes ranging from small to mega. Four RV’s crowded into a small corner lot in a residential community. Our water source was on one side of the lot and electric on the other. I was given the opportunity to park nearest the only sewer outlet – yeah, the smell – but close to the electrical panel. I should also mention that I parked near the only spot of tall grass, which prided itself on giving unrestrained access to my trailer for millions of tiny ants. Florida is wonderful, to some maybe.

I find the people in this area of the world to be somewhat ruder than most areas of the country where I have visited. This has been quite a change from the good folks of Ruston, LA. I do not know the reason but I will bet it is related to the constant heat. Drivers tend to honk for the least of reasons, or none. Shoppers have not learned the courtesy of returning their shopping cart to a collection point, preferring to leave the cart either in an empty parking space or the driveway between them. Some of the local folk who have the money to spend on reverberating equipment that blasts deep bass sounds for blocks around, which apparently is akin to the loud rock and roll music of years gone past, than they have on hearing aids that will certainly be required of them in future years.

I learned that many homeless people come here for the warm temperatures during the winter months. One particular ‘customer’ of the soup kitchen was a thirty-two year old man from Chicago. He was in Florida this time of the year for the warm climate. At the downturn of the nation’s economy, he lost his job as an electrician. His truck followed along with the tools of his trade, and then his home and family. He could find no work and became homeless. As the cold winter months approached – that only folks in Chicago know all too well -- he too headed south. The past weekend he intended to head back to Chicago and find work. I wish him well. May the Lord guide that young man and help him regain his life.

As you guessed by now, our team worked at a soup kitchen that served the homeless and disadvantaged in Delray Beach. No, not serving food or even preparing it. We repaired and maintained the facility that housed the kitchen.

This NOMADS team was a little different from what I have grown accustomed. Team cohesion, individual desires, passive leadership, and organization (both from the sponsor and team leader) contribute to an awkward environment. I woke most mornings not knowing what lay ahead, not that I needed that of course, but there was no objective in the workday. One my first day, upon arriving at the worksite after our devotional period, I asked what was on the agenda for the day. No one knew. The leader, for whatever reason, could not find the words or abilities to direct the team. Frustrating, for sure. By group dynamics and ‘committee decision’, we arrived at the need to paint the exterior of the building. Ok, first we were to power wash the building. However, wait, before we can power wash, we need to trim a hedge, mow grass next to the building, clip branches from trees, clean vines from one side, and fix loosely hanging telephone or electrical wires. All right, where are the tools? What? No one anticipated the need for tools? Oh, we had a power washer on loan. What about lawn mower, clippers, and the like?

The week before we arrived a volunteer who was to help with maintenance coordination had fallen from a ladder and hurt his back. Nothing broken, thank the Lord, but he was sore enough, and perhaps smart enough, to stay off his feet for a few days. By telephone, he offered to supply a few tools. I was the only team member with a truck so I volunteered to find the guy’s house and pick up the tools. I was successful in doing that, and had a wonderful hour or so meeting and talking with the delightful man. He was one of the few really kind Floridians. He gave me directions for a short-cut back to the soup kitchen and with my ever keen sense of direction, it only took me an hour or so of wandering through the local community, up and down streets, and around curves only to find myself back near his house. I turned my initial directions upside down and returned the way I had taken to arrive at his house. It worked.

With the right tools, we set about preparing the exterior walls for washing. This part of our project was to take two days. We finished everything by noon on our first day, including my tour of Delray Beach. Over the next two days, we put two coats of paint on the exterior and had most of the interior painted.

We went on to lay what the locals called pavers in two sections beside a newly laid concrete walkway. The leader would simply acknowledge that laying pavers was one of our tasks so the other two men, apparently thinking a little fast than I, elected me to do that task. Not a bad deal on my part, I grant you. It kept me from painting the ceiling in the kitchen. On the down side, I worked out by the back door where all the ‘customers’ of the soup kitchen gathered to be let in and fed. Needless to say, I had more supervisors and technical advisors than I needed. Patience as my guide, I endeavored to persevere and casually laid the stone slabs in sand in a fashion that suited me although I was advised quite none too passively that I was doing it wrong. I enjoyed the banter, nevertheless, and I think the audience did too.

If that was not enough for the daily gathering of smiling and rather loud onlookers, the soup kitchen staff asked me to distribute two large piles of sand around the facility. Our team suggested they try to sell the sand or at least advertise it free, but no. They wanted it spread through the grass – not dumped in yet another pile but spread in such a way as to let the grass grow through it. The gathering crowd once again delighted in advising me on the right way to spread sand. More than once I offered my shovel to anyone of them, but that did not work, and neither would they. Again, I enjoyed the banter nevertheless.

Our team succeeded in painting the building inside and out, stripping and waxing the floor, cleaning the furniture, and repairing tables. Not being a people-person, generally, I enjoyed interacting with the people around the soup kitchen. Conversely, I did not enjoy the lack of leadership on this project or the constant heat when I expect a cooler winter. I know, of course, that the Lord gives his children opportunities to explore the spiritual gifts that he bestows upon them. I thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity to exercise my patience and compassion.