Out-of-state volunteers help rebuild a local home

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - A group of people from Modesto Christian Reformed Church in Modesto, Calif., heard about the devastating EF-3 tornado in January, and decided to take a mission trip to Hattiesburg and help rebuild a house.

Volunteer, Haley Daugherty said, "Mostly, I've been working inside scraping off old paint, repainting, sanding, a lot of sanding."

But, they are not here just to rebuild a house.

"We're learning so many new different things that young people don't usually get to do, and being able to spread God's word in all of these new experiences I think that's what we're called to do," said Daugherty.

R3SM is housing these volunteers for their week-long mission trip. And both of the R3SM and volunteer leaders are impressed with what they are seeing.

"It's a great experience for the kids to reach out to others, to serve, to get out of their world. I think that they provide a spirit of hope," said volunteer, Carla Mensonides.

"They didn't know how to do a lot of this stuff. But, now, you look at some of the work they've done, it's like they've been doing this for a while," said R3SM construction manager, Darrell Lewis.

Lewis said the house belongs to a husband and a wife, and their home should be finished by mid-July.