Tom DeHuff, Ed Williford and P. K. Campbell, all members of Faith Presbyterian Church, are a group of good friends. They’re retired now — have been for years — and are fond of making fun of each other’s ages from time to time. But that hasn’t stopped them from continuing to work for God.

DeHuff has been chopping wood to heat his own home for years, and he started helping out families at church when they needed it. Then DeHuff got the idea to do more.

“We wanted to help out the church,” DeHuff said. “So, we started over-producing and selling some — just selling for people in the church and doing things we could to make a little money.”

And so DeHuff, Williford and a team of friends and church members began the work of collecting firewood. It’s $80 for a half cord and $160 for a full cord. Delivery is $50. Proceeds from the sales go to the church to support missionaries at home and abroad.

“Our denomination is very missions-oriented,” Williford said.

“We spread the word,” DeHuff said. “We support missionaries overseas and missionaries in the US.”

The journey from forest to fireplace begins with Wayne Smith Tree Service Inc. Smith, a friend who works in the forestry business, cuts the trees into manageable sizes and delivers them to the team. Then, they take a chainsaw and cut the trees into 20 or 23 inch logs. The logs are loaded into a log splitter, where they’re split to their final size.

The logs aren’t ready for the fireplace right out of the log splitter. They need to be seasoned. The logs are stacked and left to dry — a process that can take as many as six months.

This process of sawing, splitting and stacking wood is hard work, but the retirees who do it aren’t daunted. They look forward to the opportunity to get out of the house — and their wives’ hair.

“This is our playground,” Williford said. “We’ve got to have something to do. And we like this. It’s great exercise. It’s keeps your body in fairly good shape.”

“Especially as old as he is,” DeHuff said.

To buy firewood, call 601-695-1275 or 601-941-5549.