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.
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| Soup Kitchen |
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| Back of Building |
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| Power washing |
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| Laying patio stone |
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| Stripping wax |
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| The NOMADS Team |
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| Sunset over Delray Beach |
