This past week, those prayers were answered. On Sunday, her church, Greater Faith Tabernacle, an Evangelical Covenant Church congregation, presented the 74-year-old Gaylor with a 2001 Mitsubishi Gallant.
On Wednesday, a dozen teenagers and adult sponsors on a mission trip from Texas started repairing her house at 6 a.m. and have been putting in long hours since.
Gaylor has been caring for her 93-year-old mother. That included driving her to doctors’ appointments, management of household matters, and responding to physical needs, even though Gaylor didn’t have her own personal transportation. There was no way she could afford her own vehicle.
At the initiation of Davis, church members pooled their money to buy the car and pay the first year’s insurance, which the people did readily. “Everybody here loves mother Gaylor,” he explained.
“I can’t find the words to express my appreciation for everything,” Gaylor said after she was handed the keys to the car. “I am so excited about everything. All I can say is God did it.”
Gaylor added she will use the car for others. She wants to visit people in the hospital and nursing homes.
Davis said the congregation is committed to helping Gaylor in the future. “She won’t want for anything.”
The teenagers repairing her home are from the Central Texas Conference Youth in Mission (CTCYM), a project of the United Methodist Church. They were doing several projects in the city.
A local group suggested Gaylor’s home be one of the projects. Their work included giving her a new floor.
“I knew (the house) needed work,” Gaylor told a local newspaper as she stood in her front yard. “But I didn’t know it needed as much work as is does.”
The team is scheduled to complete its work Saturday.