Photos and story from Mark Johnsen

A group from the Dakotas Conference recently traveled to Liberty, Texas for disaster relief work.  This group of 11 from Prairie View UMC, Legacy - Bismarck and Spearfish UMC left November 19, on an eight-day adventure, in a 15-passenger van pulling a trailer full of luggage and tools.  Dakotas team members ranged in ages from 17 – 74 with various backgrounds, skills and abilities. 

Team members included: Ruth, Dylan and Kylee Pourier, Pastor Mark and Lisa Johnsen Judy Cox, Ron Rickenbach, from Prairieview UMC. Team members from Spearfish UMC were: Ron Borgman, Josie Pearson and Pastor MaryAnn Sheldon. Colette from Bismarck Legacy also joined the team.

Pyppa Johnson, disaster relief coordinator with the Texas Conference of  The United Methodist Church, arranged for the team to stay at the Langetree Retreat Center near Liberty Texas, just a few miles from the project site.  Babs Lange graciously hosted the meals for the group at her Eco Center.  She fed us breakfast, packed lunches and served good southern food like grits, dirty rice and gumbo. Babs also prepared two turkeys, six cornish hens and all the fixings on Thanksgiving Day. The group delivered 19 Thanksgiving meals to shut-ins in the neighborhood.

For three days, the Dakotas team worked on a small home owned by 80-year-old Mary Wilson. Wilson’s home is located in a low area on the banks of the Trinity River. The floodwaters had filled her home in August and she was still living there until recently when a neighbor took her in. She will be away from her home until it is fully gutted and restored.

The work included removing all of the sheetrock, insulation, flooring and nails from Wilson’s damaged home.  Darrell, a contractor from Kentucky, was on-site, staying with and working alongside the group. There was time to meet some of the neighbors and hear their stories.

Each morning, those that traveled to Texas began with devotions and bible study. On Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve, the group traveled into Houston to the New Windsor Village United Methodist Church (Kingdom Builders) to worship.  Thursday afternoon, the group took another quick road trip to Galveston Island, to experience the Gulf of Mexico.

On Friday the team did the final cleanup at the Wilson house, where every nail was pulled and all the wall studs were sprayed with a chlorine solution. Pyppa Johnson told the group that it may be February 2018 before the home would be ready for Wilson to move back.  That means it will be six months that she will be away from all that is familiar to her.  It is hard to imagine what that would be like. 

“The entire team has been blessed to help her in reaching that goal,” said Pastor Mark Johnsen, who organized the mission trip. “ There is still much work to be done for the poor in Liberty County. More teams are welcome!”

Anyone interested in a more details or about how to help on-site should contact Pastor Mark Johnsen at the Prairie View United Methodist Church 605-440-3201. If you would like to help financially, there is still time to give to the 2017 Thanksgiving appeal dedicated to UMCOR’s disaster response in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico and beyond.