Hello Michigan

We broke the 14 hour drive from Cozad NE to Grayling MI into 2 days with a peaceful night's sleep with all the other truckers in the parking lot of Walmart in South Haven MI. Arrived at Dave and Judy's home in Grayling as they met us about a half a mile down their road and escorting us into their driveway with their 4wheel drive buggy. Spent a couple of days of fun and laughter as we reminisced about the times together in Alaska.

 

Made it

Dave and Judy with Cloe

 

 



Even the woodpile is painted in patriotic colors

 

 

Left early on Wednesday for Vassar MI (about 2 hours south) for our next project, Vassar Victory Center, a local Assembly's of God Church founded in 1991. Since the church was not set up for RV'ers , we were directed by Dave and Sherrie Armstrong, who by the way is lead man for the project and basically both  Dave and Sherry are full time Volunteer Construction Missionary (VCM) for Hard Hats 4 Christ / RV'ers for Christ, to drive to the place where they were camped at.

 

Sign you will see from the state road

 

Amazing interior

 

Unique and interesting architecture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stone plaque on front of building

 

 

We had the privilege of meeting up with Mike and Linda Slocum (our host) as we parked and set up our RV on their lovely property. Mike, retired Air Guard and active Christian Motorcyclist Association member and Linda together with Jimmy, their lovable Burmese Mountain Dog (part of the St. Bernard breed, HUGE dog) made us feel right at home with their humble spirit and gracious hospitality..

 

Mike and Linda Slocum on their trusty Victory

Jimmy

 

 



Dave Armstrong at his camper

 

After setting up camp and  since it was still early, we proceeded to the church to get an overview of the project. Dave  has a knack for grasping the whole project and dwindling it down to bite size tasks so that he can hand them to volunteers who are eager to take on a challenge. This is a rare trait that is evident of a man who has actually worked and grown with the industry and is not  usually seen in many Project Managers of this present day. What makes Dave unique is his style of directing a crew with Christ's heart intertwined in his management style, a real God given gift!!. Sherry  on the other hand is a prime example of a woman with a true servant's attitude as she quietly BUT firmly goes about her work to a level nearing perfection.

 

 



Sherry Armstrong hard at work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carol painting away

 

 

Hiding in the woods

 

Dave does not waste time in assigning work - he had Carol start taping/masking the upper restrooms for painting and I was assigned to tear down the ground floor ladies room shelf and replace with a wider one. When that was done he decided that we should tackle fabricating the quite complicated steps that led to the churches attic.  

 

The church had originally 76 different tasks listed all of varying degrees of complexity  and with a couple of men's Saturday workshops and a steady influx of  church and local volunteers during the week has since dwindled it down to 44 totally completed and 10 partially complete; However, as most projects go, a few more tasks had been added to the list. 😊 .

 

 

 

 

John (Maintenance Director) Mike Slocum (our host)

 

Dave concentrating on the message to be delivered for men's work day

 

The men having breakfast prior to work

 

 

Theodore

 

Even Pastor Mark Seppo helped with the work

 

 

Brandon

 



Mat " the Batman" a real dynamic duo fan

 

We were all invited to a sumptuous dinner one evening by Judy Neblock who is a church elder and wonderful host as well as a great cook too as seen in the pictures!

 

The work crew after a hard days work enjoying a meal, Judy on far end of table

We had a great fellowship and laughs at the dinner

 

Pastor Mike and Karen Seppo joined us at Judy's home for dinner

 

 

As we get ready to leave for WA to attend a meeting, we can only marvel at how God has put the right people in the right places at the right time, ALL THE TIME!!!. Pastor Mike and his lovely wife are and continue to be such a blessing to Vassar Victory Center as he shepherds and leads the congregation to a better understanding and appreciation of how God impacts each and everyone's life in a very intimate way despite the personal challenges that we all face. Dave and Sherry Armstrong, with their unique gift of management and dedication to the Word,  take and face headstrong the difficult challenges of a church renovation/maintenance project. All the volunteers who have helped in one way or another in bringing God's building to where it would put a smile of acceptance on His face.

 

We offer up our prayers to those involved in this church project and totally lift them all up to our Lord for His continued blessings. Our hope is that with the completion of the project, many more souls will be won through this church and those that are part of it.

 

We leave with this verse from Matthew 19:26 (NIV) "Jesus looked at them and said " With man this is impossible, but with GOD all things are possible."

 

In CHRIST alone.