Day 2

Hey Everyone!

We are here in Tuscaloosa, Alabama! We arrived yesterday afternoon and made it here safe. All bags, tools, guitars, and snacks made it without a scratch...thank you Southwest Airlines for not only letting our bags fly for free, but for handling them so gently.. :) After arriving in Tuscaloosa and settling into our temporary home at the First Baptist Church, we set out to our work site to do what we came here for.

A natural disaster is hard enough on a city, regardless. But for Tuscaloosa, the tornado ripped through some of the poorest communities in town. It was humbling to see people's belongings, and really, their life, just lying on the ground. Most of these people could not afford to rebuild themselves, even with home insurance. They had no other choice but to uproot and move away. This is a picture of an apartment complex that was destroyed and then left abandoned.

We arrived at our work site this morning and began our project, which is a complete rebuild of a roof. Not only was part of the roof damaged from the wind, but this home was built during the 1940's and possibly as early as the 1930's. So it was needless to say that we have our work cut out for us. Everything will be ripped down and will start over from scratch in order to provide a safe and weather-proof roof over this family's home. This seems like a tremendous task, but I'm confident that we were put here for this specific reason and have the tools and knowledge to finish the job.

Our goals for this week are:

- Complete tear down and complete rebuild the roof

- Show God's love and mercy through our work

- Build stronger relationships with our team members and with other volunteers

- Enjoy our time here!

This is a great town that is full of great people. We have been greeted with countless thank you's from the moment we got here. Seriously, one of the most welcoming places on earth. We can definitely learn from them. Roll Tide! (Hopefully some of you get that)

More to come tomorrow. Thank you for the support and prayers.

Michael Mann