Organization Helps Rebuild Alvin Church

ALVIN, Texas - An unholy racket makes the walls of the steel building vibrate. Saws scream, hammers pound and workers yell over the din.

The building is Skyview Baptist Church. It is not open to the public yet, but the pastor says it will be in one week.

"It looks like a stirred up anthill," says pastor Bill Murphy with a grin. "It's amazing what they've been able to accomplish."

"They" are the volunteers from Volunteer Christian Builders, who all came from the Dallas area.

The organization travels throughout the country building or rebuilding churches. The volunteers range in age from infants to retirees in their seventies. They know what they are doing too. Many of them have decades of experience in the construction trades.

Despite the difficult working conditions, the organization has no difficulty attracting volunteers like retired aerospace engineer John Wilson.

"It's a wonderful experience. The people who do this learn the blessing is not on the church we visit, the blessing is ours," said Wilson, his voice raised above the cacaphony.

The volunteers will work 11-hour days for one week and the think they can get it all done. So does the pastor.

"At the end of the first day, my wife and I stood by the double doors and just wept, because of all they got done," said Pastor Murphy.

Volunteer Christian Builders chose this church to rebuild because it took damage from Ike. That is just part of the story.The rest is passing it forward. The volunteers are installing extra showers and facilities so that the hurricane-resistant building can serve as a public shelter if another hurricane hit.