Chris_Day 4

Finally an update from the (non) prodigal son! (N. O. file photo to right -click to enlarge)

Chris called me last night around 10:00 pm after I returned home from Xtreme youth group. He was in very good spirits (of course) and was quite talkative.

To begin - you all know that Chris left home on Sunday afternoon, so that he could drive down and stay with his brother Ben and family near Chicago for his first night. What you didn't know was that Chris decided to drive the remaining 14-15 hours straight through to Covington without any additional stops. His original plan was to stop for a second night somewhere South of Illinois, or after about 8 hours.
He says the driving was going great, and that his car gets in the 'vibration-free' zone around 80 mph, so he just decided to go for it.

I finally got to ask Chris "what's new?". After only a brief pause he responded with Eccl 1:9 "Nothing is new under the sun". Hmmm, I believe hanging out with other young missionaries is making Chris just a little 'sassy'. Finally he answered that he is not living on the floor of the sanctuary for the first week as we anticipated because of over crowding. The Compassion staff is serving over 140 volunteers this week (recordhigh).
Instead of the floor, Chris is staying with the Director of EFCA-Compassion/disaster relief, Mark Lewis. Mark's story was highlighted in EFCA-Today 1-2 months ago. Click here for the article and some nice photos: http://www.efca.org/today/media/06sp_across.pdf.

Chris is spending the week working with a couple of guys from Wisconsin - how cool! These guys, Andy and Brian came down last week, and after seeing the need for workers, they decided to stay an extra week or so - Andy is about 32 years old and is working on work estimates for Compassion construction projects. Chris spent his first day riding along with Andy to different job sites and to get the layout of the area. Yesterday and today Chris is spending with Brian, a guy in his early 20s who is showing Chris the 'ropes' around the tool sheds. Chris has already learned how to sharpen chain saws and has completely straightened out tool shed #1 (out of 3)

Tuesday after work at the church, Chris went with fellow missionaries Shawn and Danielle Kelley, to their house. Shawn is remodeling the interior of the house they are living at, in exchange for free rent. Chris had to help Shawn pull electrical wires in the kitchen so the drywall could be done today. Chris was out until after 11pm.

In closing for his first official update, Chris wants to tell everyone that he is doing just fine, he is already adjusted to being back in Covington he is working hard and excited to be the new 'Tool Man".

Chris thanks everyone for the prayers which went out on his behalf and on behalf of his car. There were absolutely no problems during the trip, he never got sleepy and his car is running smoothly.

A special note for Abigail: Chris says "hi" to his favorite niece. :)