Big Stone Gap - Monday

Ten of us from Bagley Swamp are in Big Stone Gap, VA this week on a mission trip. I hope to update daily while we are here. We'll see how it goes. My Internet connection is at the McDonald's a mile or two away, so it shouldn't be that hard.

We drove into Big Stone Gap, VA on Sunday around 4:45 pm. As we traveled, we were on four-lane highways the whole way except for about 10 miles. The roads were clear of snow and dry. At the top of some mountains we saw a lot of snow, sometimes snow and ice still in the trees.

The house we are staying in has three bedrooms, and no beds. So . . . we are on the air mattresses and cots that we brought with us. The two women are in one room, three guys in another room, and four guys in the third bedroom. Myself and our host, Ken, are in the living room. So . . . by the end of the trip, we ought to be real close.

Lots of laughter this morning as each told stories of waking during the night to hear the others snoring. We'll probably sleep sounder later in the week when we are more tired (probably snore more, too).

We ended up watching the Super Bowl last night in the lobby of a Comfort Inn up the road. Nice big screen HDTV. We thought about staying for the free breakfast, but decided we'd better not push our luck.

This morning we have been working on finishing insulating a new building for His Ministries in town. Right before lunch we began putting the drywall on the ceiling. It was cold when we started this morning, but the building we are working in was warmed up by kerosene heaters, so by lunch we had our heavy coats off.

This afternoon we are working hard on the sheet rock and hoping to finish it tomorrow. This evening we plan to eat at a local church. Here will be the interesting part - there is only one bathroom/shower in the house. Who gets the hot water?

Keep us in your prayers - we're praying for you!