Schaumburg church members help Illinois town after tornado

A group of volunteers from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Schaumburg returned last week from a mission trip to Brookport, Ill., where they helped rebuild homes destroyed by tornadoes in 2013.

The group helped to build the outer walls of a new triplex housing unit in Brookport, as well as completing repairs on single family homes.

Prince of Peace had sponsored a mission trip to nearby Washington, Ill. and Gifford, Ill. in 2014. Homes in those towns were damaged by the same tornado system that struck the Brookport in 2013.

The Prince of Peace group was comprised of 16 church members, including some high school youth from the church. The trip lasted from Aug. 2-8, starting with a roughly 8 hour drive to Brookport.

The group did electrical work, plumbing work, tile grouting and sealing, and some volunteers sweated in crawl spaces laying vapor barriers under flooring.

The group worked in significant heat with temperatures rising to 100 degrees some days. Work had to be stopped for one day as heavy storms passed through the area.

Volunteers from Prince of Peace said the trip had challenges, but it was also rewarding, particularly when they got to see a family move into one of the newly renovated homes.

Prince of Peace sponsors an annual mission trip to places that need help. For more information about Prince of Peace, please visit www.princeofpeace.net