When Donald Moore passed away prematurely of cancer, his wife, Julia (Hardy) Moore was left to take care of five children by herself. But since then, the community and region have come together to help her build a new house in Worth County northwest of Grant City. Moore said that the upstairs and the exterior were framed, the roof trusses were put on, the sheeting was put on, and some of the tar paper was put on as well. The house is being built on land donated by her parents, David and Carolyn Hardy.
The house is being built with almost all volunteer labor, with volunteers from the community, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the Missouri Baptist Builders Association coming in. At first, Moore’s three sisters, Jane, Susie, and Cindy, along with some of Donald’s friends from the seminary where he attended in Texas and people all over the country who were touched by her story sought to nominate her for Extreme Home Makeover. However, when that did not work out, Moore said that she turned to God in prayer.
She said her prayers were answered in January when that she came upon the book of Jeremiah, where the Lord told Jeremiah that he knew all the plans that he had for him. Moore then said that right then that she knew that the Lord was going to help her. A few weeks later, she got a call from Charles McCrary of the Missouri Baptist Builders Association, who agreed to donate labor to build the house.
Since then, men from St. Joseph, Savannah, Lees Summit, Edgarton, Macon, Albany, and Cameron have come to work on the new home. Among the people from Macon working is Larry Murdock a former Worth County grad and classmate of Julia’s father David Hardy. The number of people working on the project varies from day to day; however, 21 people worked on the house last Tuesday. In addition, there have been many local people helping as well. Dennis Downing drew up the plans for the house; Brian Monticue has helped with the construction as well. Among other local volunteers helping with the project have been Len Green, Jubal Summers, Jeff Blaine, Jerry Roach, Brad Gabriel, David Seat, and Michael Ruckman. Judd Summers has donated equipment for the project. Julia said that the quality of the work was "top-notch" and that they would make sure that everything was right for the project.
In addition, several area ministers have done devotionals for the workers, including Leland May of the First Baptist Church of Albany and Dirk Buffington, the new minister for the Grant City Christian Church. The CTA, the Worth County School, Sheila Hunt, and other people have donated food for the workers, while Mary Kay Hunt, Allen & Robin Andrews, and Pat & Sue Hardy have housed workers overnight. Mary Seat has coordinated the food help for the project as well as provide meals. Janie Gabriel, sister of Julia, has taken pictures of the project and posted them online. "Just about every church in the county is involved in some way," said Moore.
Moore, currently a teacher at Worth County, said that juggling teaching, raising five children, and working on the house project was difficult. "But it goes back to something Donald would say," she said. "I wouldn’t have picked this situation, but now that I’m here, I wouldn’t change a thing." She said that she wanted to keep Donald here and that she struggled with the issue constantly. "But there is a day and hour appointed for everyone," she said. "It’s truly in God’s hands."
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