I wanted to give a short update on the West Virginia trip. We have not debriefed yet but there was a lot of interest in this trip so I will try to give a short update.

The Helping Hands team consisted of 5 adults, 1 teenager and four children from Helping Hands (three of the adults are Board members). There was also about 30 people from a local Baptist Church, Pleasant Hill. They traveled about seven hours to Bradshaw, WV, to a church which would be their base of operation for their short stay. They arrived late, rested, ate breakfast, and was on the road again by 8 AM to Rhodell and New Richmond, WV. Donna Haywood was the Team leader for HHM. Donna has traveled extensively overseas but was not prepared for the conditions she found in WV. The team visited homes and distributed aid to shut-ins and sick belonging to the congregations. They found many of the homes lacking running water, no bathrooms inside or out, no electricity, and the people living off almost nothing. The team distributed boxes of food, book-bags with school supplies, quilts, stuffed animals, children’s books and some clothing to the members of three small churches pastored by Dean and Betty Crane of Pulear, NC, near Wilkesboro. The pastor travels four hours every weekend to minister to these areas.

The need is great, and HHM is investigating all of the possible ways in which we might be able to serve. The pastor has a long list of needs which include construction projects, electrical issues, plumbing, they would love us to hold a medical brigade, and the people are in bad need of dentist.

HHM realizes that we cannot meet all the needs and must pick the ones we can complete. Food and cleaning supplies are a continued necessity and some hygiene lessons would be greatly appreciated.

The pastor shared with the NC team, that some folks had recently visited them and brought fresh fruit baskets. The pastor shared that the people hardly ever get fresh fruit, it’s usually bad by the time it gets to them. It was quite a joy for the small congregations and communities to get fruit.

If you are interested in helping, contributing, supplying, or making the trip, Please, Please, let us know! The cost for the trip is minimal, transportation is rough and long and NO CELL PHONE SERVICE.

This trip consisted of Friday through Sunday. It could easily be extended to a week if necessary.

I look forward to hearing from you. We have not yet set a date, but Pastor Dean said inclement weather would probably not be an issue. It will be cold as Winter approaches.

Let me know if you’re interested.

Tony and Donna Haywood