Today began with an excellent breakfast at 7:30. We then met with Pastor Jerry for orientation for everyone going to the prisons this week. Along with our 10, there is a group from Rocky Mount, a group from Tennessee, a group from Virginia, and a group from Kentucky (that arrived at 3:30 this morning). Everyone went to the park in downtown Marlinton first thing this morning and there were already about 15 people waiting for us to unload our free clothes.
Our group brought a 5x8 trailer, a 6x10 trailer, an 8 x22 trailer, a pickup, a suburban, and 3 vans filled with clothing, school supplies, toys, and food. The other groups also brought a good bit of items. We guessed tonight that there was still over 10,000 items of clothing left after having many people show up today to receive items. Pastor Jerry says that he has never seen so many cars at the park for a clothing giveaway! Some of our folks stayed at the park all day helping people select items.
After unloading, Stephen, Colin and Dan went to a home near Hillsboro to help install plumbing, electricity, and water - as well as make other repairs to the home of a lady who has lost her children to DSS because of the living conditions. They made some progress today, but will go back tomorrow to do more. David and Lynwood spent part of the afternoon there helping too.
After lunch, I went to Lewisburg with Lynne, Will, Ben, and Lane. We bought over $350 worth of groceries for the food giveaway tomorrow. A local farmer is also donating a huge crate of potatoes for us to give away tomorrow. The Walmart in Lewisburg is only about 45 miles away, but the drive is well over an hour due to the mountain roads. We made it back to camp in time for dinner.
After dinner some of our group went to town to cover all the clothes with tarps while others stayed at the camp to bag groceries and put together gift bags for the girls at the prison. Several of our folks finished the evening with treats at Dairy Queen.
Tomorrow we will be doing more home repairs and clothing giveaways, plus the food giveaway and traveling to the women's prison to lead Bible Study and fix dinner for the girls. Tomrrow night we are leading worship services at the men's prison. Will and Colin are returning to Raleigh after dinner tomorrow evening.
It has been a good day and everyone is doing well. Please continue to pray for us as we minister to "the least of these."
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