On our final day, our team completed any last minute details that needed to be done. One was shampooing the carpets in the lodges. Another was washing the windows which was a major task because the main house was filled with french doors. By the time we finished, lunch time had arrived and we all sat down for our last meal with the Wrights.
During our lunch, Mr. Wright shared with us some news. On Saturday, Mr. Wright was notified that as a result of some work being done down the road from Eddy Farms, a main pipe was burst. This caused a lot of concern because the water supply was unable to reach the main house. Well, on Monday morning, Mr. Wright was contacted by the company that caused the damage and has offered to put in a new system before the end of the week! We were so happy to celebrate with Mr. and Mrs. Wright in their good news. To thank the Brickthink team, Mr. Wright gave us each a hat with Eddy Farms written on it. Mrs. Wright gave each of us a copy of her book which tells the history of Eddy Farms. We were moved by their generous gifts. We said good by to all who were there and to our team. Though we were sad to leave, we look forward to see the blessings that will come in this new season at Eddy Farms…
On Sunday, Brickthink continued working together with the task ahead. With Mr. and Mrs. Wright away for the day, the team worked together to complete the jobs left for them. Some of the jobs were fixing the last touches of the lodges and sweeping the front yard.
Lucas continued working with Teddy on the electricity. Yet, today’s challenge became just that: a challenge. Together, both of the them (with the help from our leader, Tim and others) changed the circuit breaker of the main building. All those involved worked late even after dinner! By bedtime, the main house was running smoothly with a brand new circuit.
With the whole team fully together, Brickthink got straight to work! First, some of the team members helped set up the dining room furniture. Through team unity, the dining room was set up in a swift manner. Once that was completed, Kathleen and Shirley began staining some of the bedroom furniture.
Christopher was an unexpected surprise to Mr. and Mrs. Wright (the owners of Eddy Farm). Due to his experience in plumbing, he was able to work on various projects that required his skill. Francis and Carolyne worked on various jobs from ironing to cleaning chandeliers. In the photo below, Francis is getting the bleach for the chandeliers through the help of another volunteer. Outdoors, Andrew, John and Tundai worked together to prepare the golf course by clearing out any debris they found and then disposing of it. In one of the guest houses, Tim, Glenn, and Ruby painted the rooms to prepare them for Friday’s first group. Lucas and some other volunteers continued fixing and changing the lighting around the property. Lastly, Mrs. Wright and others painted and fixed up the lobby and the store within the main building.
On Friday, the team prepared for the challenges of the day. With two new team members (Shirley and Lucas), Brickthink was ready to work. The team members from the day before, continued working on the jobs from the day before. Being an electrician, Lucas immediately helped with the outdoor lighting. Fortunately, with the help of another electrician Teddy, both were able to accomplish tasks that took two people to complete. Shirley also arrived earlier that day and helped with painting and staining in and around the building. The day ended and late that night, the final members of the team arrived: Andrew, John, Christopher, Francis, and Carolyne.
On Thursday, the Brickthink team to Eddy Farm arrived early afternoon. The team members were George, Ruby, and Glenn with team leaders Kathleen and Tim. From the get go, it was evident that there was a lot to do. Yet, the team worked earnestly together with another group from Brooklyn to get as much done on the first day.
When they arrived, Glenn and Ruby began clearing out the dining room. As others arrived, they joined in and helped as well. After lunch, Tim and George began painting the guest rooms. Kathleen and a member from Antioch Baptist Church worked on housekeeping by preparing the rooms. Glenn and Ruby completed clearing out the dining room and ended their task by waxing the floors.
By the end of the day, the team took an early night in order to be rested for Friday’s chores….
On Saturday, October 2nd, we took a team of BrickThinkers out to Great Neck – Long Island. We’d received word a few months back that there was a church congregation in need of some help, and we wanted to jump in and give a helping hand. The biggest need for the church was to remove all of the fallen trees that came down in a storm this past June. In fact, just within the last two weeks, they received a violation from the town for not having cleared the debris. Because of the financial impact invovled with hiring a company to complete such a task, the church was praying for a miracle.
At a bright and sunny 7:30am on Saturday morning, a group of 22 volunteers left from Times Square Church, and loaded into a caravan of vans and pickup trucks. Before long, the team arrived at St. Paul AME Zion church. We were greeted with open arms from a few members of the congregation, and got right to work. The chainsaws were started up, and an assembly line of workers started loading the cut up trees into the pickup trucks. (Despite having received a violation from the town, we were actually given permission to dump all of the debris into a town lot, where all of the county equiment and materials are stored…quite ironic).
For those who were a bit “timid” to pick up a chainsaw, one of the team members jumped in and began giving basic lessons on how to safely use it. Soon, we had women and men standing side by side sawing away at the fallen trees. Within just a few hours, we had already cleared 3/4 of the lot, and it was only lunchtime! We were then blessed with a huge buffet of fried chicken, green beans, rice, cabbage, and carrot cake!
After lunch, we finished clearing out the trees, and raked up the yard. The spot looked so good, that we had neighbors coming to ask if they could hire us to clear their property too!
All in all, we were able to pour out God’s love for the church to the congregation of St. Paul AME Zion, and help them clear out their property of the fallen trees. We’ll be making a second trip out to the church in the upcoming weeks, to help paint and cleanup the inside of the church building. Stay tuned for more updates and information about when we’ll be going.
East Harlem Fellowship, a ministry of Times Square Church was in need of some remodeling due to their growing number of attendees. Pastor Hector who pastors this church asked BrickThink volunteers if we could come help reorganize their small space. So we went to check it out and thought “wow this would make a great free missions trip”. Key word being “free” so anyone who ever wanted to go on a BrickThink trip but can’t cause of the cost could go on this trip. All you need is a metrocard and a set of hands ready to work.
So that’s how it started!
Yesterday completed day 3 and the focus has been demo and clean up. It’s amazing how much fun it can actually be when you rip things apart. We ended up having so much fun that we took apart a wall that wasn’t suppose to come down and had to build it up again. We’ve been cleaning overhead pipes and the walls of the entire space. Once that’s done we’ll paint the walls and ceiling with primer. Some of us have been patching up holes in the main sanctuary area and getting that ready for primer and paint.
Andrew and David our two professionals are concentrating on the back wall of the building because…well it requires a lot of work!
We’ll post pictures up soon, so come along with us and let’s see how it turns out.
Welcome to the BrickThink Blog!
We build shelters for those in need around the world. Whether it be building homes, churches, bridges, or helping with disaster relief, we like to get our hands and feet dirty in a very real way. The heart of BrickThink is to serve others in a practical way while having a willingness to do whatever is required. This year some of the places we’ll be traveling to are Mexico, Texas, Philippines, Scotland, and The Netherlands.
Come join us if you’re a man or woman, young or old, skilled or unskilled.
