Day 5
The finial day. There was a sense of excitement with our whole group this morning. Everybody was up and ready to eat breakfast on time. Even Tony, who is a bear to get up, was out there eating bisques and gravy. We packed our lunches and headed of. Since it was the last day and we didn’t have to go to the warehouse before we went to our site, I made an executive decision to stop at Starbuck and get a good cup of coffee for the morning. It was a great decision. We headed straight over to Dave’s house to pick up where we left of from the night before.
The original team of Justin, James, Travis, Ryan, Sam, Jill, Jacey, and Christina started working on there normal jobs. We add a few from the second crew to put a second coat on the awning out side (which looked great by the time we were finished), and to start mudding the drywall. The rest of the second crew went on a project. We were trying to think of ways that we could bless our two families and after a little brain storming we decided to get them a gift basket with some personal touch.
You could tell that our work meant so much to Dave. Jerry Wayne pointed out how much Dave was talking with all of us and having a good time, way different from the first day. I have already given the student the finish strong talk and the just right to the work. We spent most of the day finishing the back room and the bathroom. I am proud to say that I can now do hang drywall along with several other kids in our youth group. We took a short lunch break today and got right back to work. We wanted to try to finish as much of the house as possible. About 3 o’clock things started winding down. We ran out of mud and most of our manual labor was dropping like flies. We knew that we still had to drop off some tool at the warehouse so we started cleaning up around 4. We made sure that we didn’t leave Dave with a huge mess to clean up after we left. We got all the tools together, cleaned up, and all crashed out on the lawn of his house. Heather was still out with the other team finishing the gift baskets.
It was real fitting that the song that came on as soon as we were finished and all out side with Dave was Lean on Me, I just smiled. Heather pulled up in the van and we all got packed up to leave. We took a big group picture with Dave and made plans to come back to meet him for the festival at 8. Dave handed James a CD case with about 40 CD of all different kind of music that he had burned for us, a lot of jazz, and blues. He loves music and this was his gift to us for everything we did. It was really special. A few of us headed to the warehouse and the rest went back to the church to eat and get cleaned up for the crawfish festival.
Before we left the church, Jerry Wayne and Travis, gave a dozen of colorful roses to Mrs. Nichole, the leader of our location operation. She got a big smile on her face and gave them all a huge. It really was the least we could do for somebody that works as hard as she does. There was a team from Alabama that had been serving food all week. They were so impress with our student that they kept taking pictures of the kids and thanks us for everything. It was such a blessing.
Well we all loaded up and headed over to Chris and Marjory house. I didn’t even realize this until today but the live right smack in the middle of the lower 9th Ward. This is the area that got the worst of the storm, the area that was constantly on the new, and the one that all the tourist come a visit. We had a chance to rebuild it. We were greeted at the gate by a chuckling Mr. Chris and his with wife. All the Kid piled in his small back yard and you could hardly hear yourself everybody was talking. He invited us to go into the house and we all took a tour of his the place. He has two Dalmatians and a St. Bernard mix that run the place. Marjory stopped everybody and want to thank us for everything; I thought Christian was going to cry standing behind her. We gave them there basket we had put together, It had a picture of all of us, some doggie treats, a tee-shirt for each of them, a book for her cause she likes to read, and a album for pictures with some personal note and scripture from all the kids. We placed it in a canvas basket that we drew our logo on and signed it. They loved it.
We all piled in back in the vans, including Chris and his wife, and headed over to Dave’s house. We called him on the phone and he was still eating at his parent’s house so we were just going to meet him at the festival. As we got close you could see the huge Farris wheel in the distance. Cars we lined up every where as were the people. It was one of the largest carnival/music/festival I have ever seen. You could tell the kids were excited as they were arguing in the car over which ride they would going to ride and which one was the coolest. We park in the back and met in the front. It only gets better. We were discussing our plan meeting location incase anybody gets lost and Chris interrupted me and told everybody that he and his wife wanted to pay for all the kids. He started handing out 20 dollars to each of the kids and told them to have a good time. I was going to stop him but I realized that this was his way of blessing us. This was a huge gift. Well all the kids decide get the all you can ride pass and headed to the rides. Dave met up with us and got an all you can ride pass and went of with the kids. When I talked to his sister earlier she said he hasn’t been out of his trailer in months, well he was on the tilt-a-whorl tonight baby.
We road rides until about 10:15 and headed over to the food area. Again blessed, Chris started handing out money again for all for us to get some food. There were tones, some had shark on a stick, other gumbo, some had gator, but the high light was the crawfish. It was an awesome ending to a great week. We all walked back to the van and got ready to leave. Dave came with us and we all gathered around the van to give him his basket. Christina told him that “we just wanted you to know that we love you, but more important the reason were hear is because we believe God loves you.” Kinda taken back he thanked us again and gave us all hugs. We loaded back in and went back to Chris house to drop them off. We said goodbye and got back to the church about 12. What a night.
I really can’t express to you in words how I feel. I am so proud of our kids. We honestly have some of the best there is. They work so hard this week with out a complaint. They loved these two families they way I believe Jesus would, with word and deed. They made an impact in the live of the people down in New Orleans and I believe that New Orleans made an impact in there life. I have a dream, a vision. I believe that as a Christian every place we go, and every person we meet should be better because we were there. I hope this was accomplished.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Day 4
Day 4
Breakfast was wonderful; eggs, bacon, sausage, bisques gravy, grits. The food here is definitely a blessing and a wonderful motivator in the morning to get up out of bed. Honestly I don’t know if I would have been able to get up this morning if there wasn’t some motivation. I am laughing right now because I felt like a mom trying to get the kids up for school this morning it was like I had to peel some of them off the sheets. We all ate breakfast together packed our lunches and headed on.
Our first stop was the warehouse. We had to pick up a couple extra drills and so that we could have all hands on deck at Dave’s. We left the warehouse and headed over to over, all 18 of us. We arrived and it was a slow start getting every in place, but once we started there as no stopping us. We had most of the team in side the house hanging and finishing some of the drywall. We now only have one room to finish hanging and the rest is putting the finish on. The main contractor came by the house to check out the progress and was very impressed with our work. Well I think he was surprised and impressed all at the same time. It’s amazing what a bunch of high school students can do. The rest of the team worked on paint the front porch and the awnings around the house.
While the team working at Dave house I had a chance to stop over Mr. Chris’s house. He was very excited to see me and honestly I was excited to. It crazy how close you can get in a short period of time and what kind of relationship you can build. He invited me in and we all sat in the living room and talked. It was so incredible. I didn’t care or know how long I was there. They just started share about everything. His wife, Margery, was giving me a lesson on New Orleans culture, the food, the people, and the festivals. Speaking of festivals I ask them if the would join us for the crawfish festival that we are attending tomorrow night and there response was awesome. Margery turn to Chris and said “what do you think” while shaking here head emphatically yes and he was like yea sure that would be great. It was so awesome. So it looks like we will all be traveling as one happy family to the festival.
They continued to share about some just horrible stories that happen to the people in there community. One neighbor loosing 25,000 dollars to a contractor who skipped town on the job. The pet in the community being taken and never given back to the owner. The looters, not the one’s you would think of when you hear the word looters. I’m talking about the contractors that came in from out of town to help clean up and helped themselves to whatever they wanted. Even ripping our windows and doors with chainsaws to use them elsewhere. It’s hard to imagine. Yet you still have great people down hear like Mr. Chris. I stayed for about an hour and a half and the got up to head back. Oh I forgot, Mr. Chris was tell me about how he shared with his sister, the Christian, about our group come and help them. You could tell he had a rather long conversation with her about it and was (what do I want to say) proud. As I got up to leave he gave me a piece of paper with there names both phone numbers there address and two other things. A not on top “please call” and on the bottom “We would love to hear from you.” Praise God.
I headed back over to the other house and it was time for lunch. We all took a break to eat lunch and the weather was beautiful. It’s been about 70-75 all week. Dave is a Hugh music fan, I talking everything from Tina Turner, to BB King, to the Eagles, He started talking to us about how much music means to the people of New Orleans. The best musicians in bad at each school get chosen to play in a special jazz band. Totally destroys the whole band geek theory, there actually the coolest kids in school. Dave plays the sax. As we all got back to our jobs a group of the teenagers were circled around Dave outside. Just conversing, laughing, smiling, and truly loving each other. Many of the student’s came up to me afterward and were telling me all the stories Dave was sharing with them. It was Hope. Dave’s sister dropped by, she is the owner of the house. She saw the work that was being done and was close to tears. It was almost too much for her and she had to leave. Dave said that the progress on the house was so overwhelming. I kind feel like were in extreme home make over. Christina, Sam, and Jacey had a chance to talk to the neighbor across the street as well. I forget her name but they talked for about 30 min and she too wanted to share her story. She told the girls that she would bring over pictures tomorrow.
Most of our team was finish with all the extra work about and hour before quitting time so they just hung out. You could tell that everybody was very tired and kind of restless. They have all work extremely hard this week. We decided that tomorrow we are going to put together some gift baskets for the two houses. We have just enough of our tee shirts that we made for the trip to give to each family so that will be awesome.
We headed back to the church to eat and clean up. We had chicken, rice, green beans, and desert. It was delicious. I asked the team who wanted to check out some of New Orleans tonight since we are going to the crab festive and about 14 of us went after showers to the French quarter. We head down to the world famous café demond. A coffee shop that serves homemade donuts covered with powered sugar, unbelievable. It took us about 1 hour to walk there because we were like Chinese tourist taking more pictures than you could imagine. It was awesome thought to see the kids so excited. We headed over to the river walk and took some picture by so monuments (not really sure what they were) but it was a lot of fun.
We got back to the church about 10pm and met for a time of prayer. We share the verse that we have been focusing on today, “but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” I challenged the student and myself to really focus tomorrow and finish strong. This is truly a huge prayer request for us. We are all very tired physically and that makes it tough spiritually. Pray that God will give us the strength to finish strong. Our prayer time was great again. I can see God really working deep in our student lives right now. It a blessing to watch. Praise God.
Please be in pray for our finial day with Chris, Margery, and Dave. Pray that God will open the door for us to share his love and just to minister to there heart. Pray that God will keep us unified and not allow Satan to get in the way because of peaty things. I love you guys so much and thank you for partnering with us during this time.
By Grace,
Jon
P.S. I wish I could record the sounds in the back ground as I am typing this. Its SNOR fest 2008. I’m actually kinda nervous it sounds like the people are choking on there tonsils. I just made myself laugh.
Breakfast was wonderful; eggs, bacon, sausage, bisques gravy, grits. The food here is definitely a blessing and a wonderful motivator in the morning to get up out of bed. Honestly I don’t know if I would have been able to get up this morning if there wasn’t some motivation. I am laughing right now because I felt like a mom trying to get the kids up for school this morning it was like I had to peel some of them off the sheets. We all ate breakfast together packed our lunches and headed on.
Our first stop was the warehouse. We had to pick up a couple extra drills and so that we could have all hands on deck at Dave’s. We left the warehouse and headed over to over, all 18 of us. We arrived and it was a slow start getting every in place, but once we started there as no stopping us. We had most of the team in side the house hanging and finishing some of the drywall. We now only have one room to finish hanging and the rest is putting the finish on. The main contractor came by the house to check out the progress and was very impressed with our work. Well I think he was surprised and impressed all at the same time. It’s amazing what a bunch of high school students can do. The rest of the team worked on paint the front porch and the awnings around the house.
While the team working at Dave house I had a chance to stop over Mr. Chris’s house. He was very excited to see me and honestly I was excited to. It crazy how close you can get in a short period of time and what kind of relationship you can build. He invited me in and we all sat in the living room and talked. It was so incredible. I didn’t care or know how long I was there. They just started share about everything. His wife, Margery, was giving me a lesson on New Orleans culture, the food, the people, and the festivals. Speaking of festivals I ask them if the would join us for the crawfish festival that we are attending tomorrow night and there response was awesome. Margery turn to Chris and said “what do you think” while shaking here head emphatically yes and he was like yea sure that would be great. It was so awesome. So it looks like we will all be traveling as one happy family to the festival.
They continued to share about some just horrible stories that happen to the people in there community. One neighbor loosing 25,000 dollars to a contractor who skipped town on the job. The pet in the community being taken and never given back to the owner. The looters, not the one’s you would think of when you hear the word looters. I’m talking about the contractors that came in from out of town to help clean up and helped themselves to whatever they wanted. Even ripping our windows and doors with chainsaws to use them elsewhere. It’s hard to imagine. Yet you still have great people down hear like Mr. Chris. I stayed for about an hour and a half and the got up to head back. Oh I forgot, Mr. Chris was tell me about how he shared with his sister, the Christian, about our group come and help them. You could tell he had a rather long conversation with her about it and was (what do I want to say) proud. As I got up to leave he gave me a piece of paper with there names both phone numbers there address and two other things. A not on top “please call” and on the bottom “We would love to hear from you.” Praise God.
I headed back over to the other house and it was time for lunch. We all took a break to eat lunch and the weather was beautiful. It’s been about 70-75 all week. Dave is a Hugh music fan, I talking everything from Tina Turner, to BB King, to the Eagles, He started talking to us about how much music means to the people of New Orleans. The best musicians in bad at each school get chosen to play in a special jazz band. Totally destroys the whole band geek theory, there actually the coolest kids in school. Dave plays the sax. As we all got back to our jobs a group of the teenagers were circled around Dave outside. Just conversing, laughing, smiling, and truly loving each other. Many of the student’s came up to me afterward and were telling me all the stories Dave was sharing with them. It was Hope. Dave’s sister dropped by, she is the owner of the house. She saw the work that was being done and was close to tears. It was almost too much for her and she had to leave. Dave said that the progress on the house was so overwhelming. I kind feel like were in extreme home make over. Christina, Sam, and Jacey had a chance to talk to the neighbor across the street as well. I forget her name but they talked for about 30 min and she too wanted to share her story. She told the girls that she would bring over pictures tomorrow.
Most of our team was finish with all the extra work about and hour before quitting time so they just hung out. You could tell that everybody was very tired and kind of restless. They have all work extremely hard this week. We decided that tomorrow we are going to put together some gift baskets for the two houses. We have just enough of our tee shirts that we made for the trip to give to each family so that will be awesome.
We headed back to the church to eat and clean up. We had chicken, rice, green beans, and desert. It was delicious. I asked the team who wanted to check out some of New Orleans tonight since we are going to the crab festive and about 14 of us went after showers to the French quarter. We head down to the world famous café demond. A coffee shop that serves homemade donuts covered with powered sugar, unbelievable. It took us about 1 hour to walk there because we were like Chinese tourist taking more pictures than you could imagine. It was awesome thought to see the kids so excited. We headed over to the river walk and took some picture by so monuments (not really sure what they were) but it was a lot of fun.
We got back to the church about 10pm and met for a time of prayer. We share the verse that we have been focusing on today, “but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” I challenged the student and myself to really focus tomorrow and finish strong. This is truly a huge prayer request for us. We are all very tired physically and that makes it tough spiritually. Pray that God will give us the strength to finish strong. Our prayer time was great again. I can see God really working deep in our student lives right now. It a blessing to watch. Praise God.
Please be in pray for our finial day with Chris, Margery, and Dave. Pray that God will open the door for us to share his love and just to minister to there heart. Pray that God will keep us unified and not allow Satan to get in the way because of peaty things. I love you guys so much and thank you for partnering with us during this time.
By Grace,
Jon
P.S. I wish I could record the sounds in the back ground as I am typing this. Its SNOR fest 2008. I’m actually kinda nervous it sounds like the people are choking on there tonsils. I just made myself laugh.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Day 3
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Day 3
It was a little harder to wake up this morning, ( I think this will be the case for the rest of the week), but we took shower’s the night before so we got an extra 15 min of I love you Jesus sleep. Most of our team was up and we all ate a pancake breakfast. There is truly no shortage of food and you can get all you want. Even though its cafeteria style it is actually really good, either that or I’m just really hungry. I haven’t heard any complaints so must be good.
We loaded up and headed straight to the warehouse to pick up some supplies for the drywall house. We needed some mud and tape. The warehouse is about 40 min from where we stay, that sounds like a far distance but really it’s because of traffic. After we grabbed what we needed we headed to our two locations. We dropped the first team off at Dave’s house to work on the dry wall and the rest of us headed to Mr. Chris.
Mr. Chris asked us if we could work on the trim of the house as well so that’s what we worked on. A couple of the students started taping off windows and door and the rest were sanding down his metal fence in the front getting it ready to be painted. After a few instructions we all got started on our specific jobs. Next thing you know it was like noon. Mr. Chris would come out side and say hello, check on us and have a little small talk (really a high light). Heather had a chance to sit down with Margery, Mr. Chris wife, and just talk. Heather said she could probably talk all day long. I mean really there is no one else to talk to, all the neighbors are gone. As you look at the house we are painting it looks great and defiantly the best one on the street but at the same time really the only one the has life which probably makes it really hard for them. Good news came a little after lunch as one of Mr. Chris’s neighbors returned and said that she was moving back in the neighborhood. You could hear a sense of pride in his voice as he told us. Praise God for that.
The team work so hard today and did such a great job. About 1pm we were finished with the entire fence in the front and most of the trim. We decided to bring have the team to the other locating to help with there job. Five of us stayed back to finish the rest of the painting. We finished with perfect timing right around 5pm. We started to clean up and Mr. Chris came out to say thank you for the thousandth time. You could tell that it was such a blessing to them. Before we left we circled around and held hand with Chris and Jerry Wayne prayed, it was so special. Mr. Chris shook everybody’s hands individually and wished us all a safe trip. I was putting his extension later back in his shed and he stopped me and was kinda speechless. Its was one of those awkward silences but a good awkward silence. He finally said “man so many good people you known, there just aren’t the words.” I just gave him a hug told him that I love him and he said the same back. Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he said it is better to give than to receive.
We left there and headed over to Dave’s house to meat the others. We pull up to big smiles, laughing, and some music jamming in the back ground. Dave loves funk music, straight New Orleans style. Every body was hard at work in the house. Justin and Jacey were putting the finial touches the back room. Travis and Ryan we finishing screwing a piece of sheet rock down. Jill and Christian were helping Dave with the closet. It was awesome. Seriously the inside of the house looks great. They have finished 3 rooms and were hoping to complete the entire house before the end of the week. The kids were really excited about the start of the Crawfish festival that Dave told them about. It’s kind of like a fair only the food is way better. It’s on Friday and we are all defiantly going to go. Christina and Jacey told me that Dave spent about an hour or more telling them his story about Katrina. Dave and his parents left New Orleans just in time but never thought they would return to what they did. He said that he couldn’t even recognize his street and it was hard knowing which house was his. There was a tons of debris everywhere and a camper parked in his back yard. The two empty lots next to his indicate what happen to the neighbor’s home. He said his mom had just purchased a brand new big screen TV and was really hope that it would be ok. When his parents returned home, there was no home. It was completely lifted of the foundation and no where to be found but across the street sitting upright was one brand new big screen TV. It gave strength to his mom.
We started packing up the tool and loaded up in order to make it back for dinner. We said good by to Dave and I couldn’t help but notice the continual smile that he had the entire time we were there. Seriously he just keeps smiling, and telling me what a wonderful job the kids are doing. At one point he bought the entire team Ice Cream from the Ice Cream Man (yea the old school kind with the awesome music you hear from about a half mile away that makes you want to run out like a little kid yelling ICE CREAM ICE CREAM). It was a big deal.
We made it back in time for some BBQ and sweet potatoes. It was soooooooooo good. One staff said “You back so late and yall look tired must have been working hard.” She was right; everybody was beat but worked really hard. After dinner most took shower, which for us was extremely eventful. Of course were loud and crazy where ever we go and having no hot water only increases that. There is suppose to be the trick to rest the hot water heater but it didn’t seem to work for us so we toughed it out like men (men crying like little girls J. We had about an hour of chill time or so, some played cards and stuff, I crashed. About 9pm we all gathered in the main room and decided to all take a trip to starbucks, I wonder whose idea that was. It was fun. We played the bless me game again and bought the drinks for the three people behind us. They all thanks us, one of the girls asked us if we were her to spread the gospel. In my mind I was like SWEEEEEET. We told here what we were doing and she said God bless you, awesome.
We headed back to the church and met in our little room for a time of worship. After calming the troops down from there caffeine burst (a very wise idea before bed). We started talking about the day. As the student started to share I could see how much serving others is having and affect on them. You could hear the true personal connection they each had as they shared with Dave and Mr. Chris. You could hear it in there prayers as the prayed for these Men and there families and the entire community. Today’s verses of focus were Phil 2:4-6 “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” I saw this today in our students, not just in there actions but also in there spirit which was so amazing. I think we are all learning what it means to think about other more than ourselves and what a blessing that is. The community we have in this youth group is truly amazing. It really can’t be put into words, the love they have for each other and for complete strangers I believe is the love that Jesus spoke of in John 13 “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” I honestly wish I could have brought everybody into that room. We spent some time praying and the Hannah lead us in Worship. I honestly wish everybody could have been apart of tonight, His presence was with us. One student approached me afterward with such a desire for Dave. Another pulled me of to the side and wanted to talk about his relationship with Christ. From his admittance he has been struggling but has been move by this week. He said he is to prideful to depend on God but feels God move in his heart. Please pray for this young man. Please know that your prayers are truly being answered and the mean more than you realize. Thank you so much for your partnership with us in prayer. Please pray for continual opportunity with Chris and Dave. We will be going over to Chris’s house tomorrow just to hang out so pray for and open door. Pray that God will give us an opportunity with Dave as well. We are all very tired and our bodies are physically tired, pray for strength. Love you so much. So bless to be a follower of Christ.
By Grace,
Jon
It was a little harder to wake up this morning, ( I think this will be the case for the rest of the week), but we took shower’s the night before so we got an extra 15 min of I love you Jesus sleep. Most of our team was up and we all ate a pancake breakfast. There is truly no shortage of food and you can get all you want. Even though its cafeteria style it is actually really good, either that or I’m just really hungry. I haven’t heard any complaints so must be good.
We loaded up and headed straight to the warehouse to pick up some supplies for the drywall house. We needed some mud and tape. The warehouse is about 40 min from where we stay, that sounds like a far distance but really it’s because of traffic. After we grabbed what we needed we headed to our two locations. We dropped the first team off at Dave’s house to work on the dry wall and the rest of us headed to Mr. Chris.
Mr. Chris asked us if we could work on the trim of the house as well so that’s what we worked on. A couple of the students started taping off windows and door and the rest were sanding down his metal fence in the front getting it ready to be painted. After a few instructions we all got started on our specific jobs. Next thing you know it was like noon. Mr. Chris would come out side and say hello, check on us and have a little small talk (really a high light). Heather had a chance to sit down with Margery, Mr. Chris wife, and just talk. Heather said she could probably talk all day long. I mean really there is no one else to talk to, all the neighbors are gone. As you look at the house we are painting it looks great and defiantly the best one on the street but at the same time really the only one the has life which probably makes it really hard for them. Good news came a little after lunch as one of Mr. Chris’s neighbors returned and said that she was moving back in the neighborhood. You could hear a sense of pride in his voice as he told us. Praise God for that.
The team work so hard today and did such a great job. About 1pm we were finished with the entire fence in the front and most of the trim. We decided to bring have the team to the other locating to help with there job. Five of us stayed back to finish the rest of the painting. We finished with perfect timing right around 5pm. We started to clean up and Mr. Chris came out to say thank you for the thousandth time. You could tell that it was such a blessing to them. Before we left we circled around and held hand with Chris and Jerry Wayne prayed, it was so special. Mr. Chris shook everybody’s hands individually and wished us all a safe trip. I was putting his extension later back in his shed and he stopped me and was kinda speechless. Its was one of those awkward silences but a good awkward silence. He finally said “man so many good people you known, there just aren’t the words.” I just gave him a hug told him that I love him and he said the same back. Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he said it is better to give than to receive.
We left there and headed over to Dave’s house to meat the others. We pull up to big smiles, laughing, and some music jamming in the back ground. Dave loves funk music, straight New Orleans style. Every body was hard at work in the house. Justin and Jacey were putting the finial touches the back room. Travis and Ryan we finishing screwing a piece of sheet rock down. Jill and Christian were helping Dave with the closet. It was awesome. Seriously the inside of the house looks great. They have finished 3 rooms and were hoping to complete the entire house before the end of the week. The kids were really excited about the start of the Crawfish festival that Dave told them about. It’s kind of like a fair only the food is way better. It’s on Friday and we are all defiantly going to go. Christina and Jacey told me that Dave spent about an hour or more telling them his story about Katrina. Dave and his parents left New Orleans just in time but never thought they would return to what they did. He said that he couldn’t even recognize his street and it was hard knowing which house was his. There was a tons of debris everywhere and a camper parked in his back yard. The two empty lots next to his indicate what happen to the neighbor’s home. He said his mom had just purchased a brand new big screen TV and was really hope that it would be ok. When his parents returned home, there was no home. It was completely lifted of the foundation and no where to be found but across the street sitting upright was one brand new big screen TV. It gave strength to his mom.
We started packing up the tool and loaded up in order to make it back for dinner. We said good by to Dave and I couldn’t help but notice the continual smile that he had the entire time we were there. Seriously he just keeps smiling, and telling me what a wonderful job the kids are doing. At one point he bought the entire team Ice Cream from the Ice Cream Man (yea the old school kind with the awesome music you hear from about a half mile away that makes you want to run out like a little kid yelling ICE CREAM ICE CREAM). It was a big deal.
We made it back in time for some BBQ and sweet potatoes. It was soooooooooo good. One staff said “You back so late and yall look tired must have been working hard.” She was right; everybody was beat but worked really hard. After dinner most took shower, which for us was extremely eventful. Of course were loud and crazy where ever we go and having no hot water only increases that. There is suppose to be the trick to rest the hot water heater but it didn’t seem to work for us so we toughed it out like men (men crying like little girls J. We had about an hour of chill time or so, some played cards and stuff, I crashed. About 9pm we all gathered in the main room and decided to all take a trip to starbucks, I wonder whose idea that was. It was fun. We played the bless me game again and bought the drinks for the three people behind us. They all thanks us, one of the girls asked us if we were her to spread the gospel. In my mind I was like SWEEEEEET. We told here what we were doing and she said God bless you, awesome.
We headed back to the church and met in our little room for a time of worship. After calming the troops down from there caffeine burst (a very wise idea before bed). We started talking about the day. As the student started to share I could see how much serving others is having and affect on them. You could hear the true personal connection they each had as they shared with Dave and Mr. Chris. You could hear it in there prayers as the prayed for these Men and there families and the entire community. Today’s verses of focus were Phil 2:4-6 “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” I saw this today in our students, not just in there actions but also in there spirit which was so amazing. I think we are all learning what it means to think about other more than ourselves and what a blessing that is. The community we have in this youth group is truly amazing. It really can’t be put into words, the love they have for each other and for complete strangers I believe is the love that Jesus spoke of in John 13 “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” I honestly wish I could have brought everybody into that room. We spent some time praying and the Hannah lead us in Worship. I honestly wish everybody could have been apart of tonight, His presence was with us. One student approached me afterward with such a desire for Dave. Another pulled me of to the side and wanted to talk about his relationship with Christ. From his admittance he has been struggling but has been move by this week. He said he is to prideful to depend on God but feels God move in his heart. Please pray for this young man. Please know that your prayers are truly being answered and the mean more than you realize. Thank you so much for your partnership with us in prayer. Please pray for continual opportunity with Chris and Dave. We will be going over to Chris’s house tomorrow just to hang out so pray for and open door. Pray that God will give us an opportunity with Dave as well. We are all very tired and our bodies are physically tired, pray for strength. Love you so much. So bless to be a follower of Christ.
By Grace,
Jon
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Day 2
Day 2
We began the day with a 5:30 old fashion wake up call, the ole pots and pans. This wasn’t because they are mean but mainly because our sleeping quarters are right next to the kitchen. The majority of us headed out side to the showers, trailers parked directly behind the church. The water was hot and awesome. Breakfast was great; biscuit and grave, sausage, cereal, fruit, OJ, and of course coffee. Before you leave you pack your own lunch full of as many sandwiches you want. The also have chips, crackers, snacks, etc.
After breakfast we headed straight to the main where house to pick up any supplies we would need for the job. This two is an old church that has been turned into a supply center for the relief effort. The workers and team leaders at the where house are awesome. There just a bunch of skilled workers giving there time to help the people of New Orleans, our leader, Kenneth, had moved down from Southern Utah just to serve.
After picking up some paint brushes, rollers, mud, tape, etc. We headed out to our work areas. Luckily we were only about 10 min from each other, although it took us about 45 min to find the two places. New Orleans streets are very confusing; tones of one ways and canals in between, make for a great time. The high light was following MAP QUEST direction to the tee and going down a one way street the wrong way. Thanks Map Quest.
Now comes the difficult part. I really can’t explain to you what we saw. Honestly pictures will not even do it justice. It is literally the most destructive sight I have ever been apart. Even driving through the slums in Africa did not compare to what we saw today. The entire community that we were working in had been destroyed. I'm not talking about a few streets but the entire community. Tones of abandon house, destroyed houses, fallen houses. White trailers parked out front of houses are the norm. These trailers were provided by fema for temporary housing. Many of them have become permanent. All of the house have X’s marked on them. They represent several things; if the house is fixable, the date it was checked, the number of people in the residence, and any dead bodies found. A very sobering thought (again marked on every house).
Our first team was given a dry wall detail. We pulled up to a small house with a trailer parked in front and was greeted by a very friendly man, Dave. Dave is about 40 years old and has been live here most of his life. We walked into the house and all you could see is studs and dry wall. The house has been completely gutted and we were there to help start it over. I would say about 99 percent of the house have to be completely gutted and rebuilt. We left Justin, James, Ryan, Travis, Sam, Jill, Christina, and Jacey at this location to work on the drywall.
Jerry Wayne, Zach, Nathan, Ton-loc, Hannah, Rachael, Devin, Heather, Ashley, and I went over to a house on Flood St. How Ironic. We were greeted by Mr. Chris, a 50 year old man with a wonderful spirit. He was wearing a Harley-Davidson bandana and had a sweet moon earring. He was awesome. We had paint detail on the two story house. I had to pause for a second before I started because the sight was over whelming. It seemed like every house around us had been destroyed. We started working on the right side of the house and worked are way around. At one point Mr. Chris came over to the side and started telingl us about his neighbor. She had escaped the flood waters on her kayak, floated over to a bridge and hid underneath. He said if anyone came close she would Patel out to the middle so nobody would steal hear float or harm her. The worked together for many years and were really close friends. She told him she would never move back to that house again.
Its really hard to describe Mr. Chris’s personality, all I can say it that he is the type of guy you could sit with and talk to for hours. You can tell that he is a very hard working man, and knows how to hold his own, but as friendly as they come. He sat down with us at lunch and started sharing about his experience with Katrina. Honestly it was like a move, you just couldn’t believe what he was saying if he wasn’t right there sharing it with you. He said when they first heard reports of the storm there was really no worry. I mean they heard reports like that all the time he said so why would this one be any different. Him and his wife decided to wait out the storm because they could not fit there three dogs and themselves into there small car. He said the flood happen so fast, faster than anyone could react. You looked out side and you could literally see the water rising as you watched. He and his wife move to the up stairs of the house and Mr. Chris positioned a latter for the roof just in case. The water rose 7 feet in a very short period of time. There was really no escaping. After the water rose, Him and his wife placed there 3 dogs on a plastic covered mattress (that floated) and started swimming out, both holding on to the sides while swimming. The realized that there was no where to swim to so the simply returned home. One of the main bridges for safety was not an option to cross because there were several people on the other side with guns shooting at any persons trying to cross over. While at home he realized that he had a hibachi grill and some charcoal in his storage unity that was partially above water. Luckily the grill and charcoal were in the rafters so he was able to get them to cook food. He dove off his second story and swam over to get the grill. He grabbed all the meat he had from his now floating refrigerator and cook several meals on his roof. He said for the first night him and his wife simply sat across the bed from each other reciting prayers to each other. He kept pausing during the story to mention how thankful he was for life, for us, for all the people helping and then he would continue. He told us how he would grab an arrow he had in the house and a tin plate and make a banging sound when looters would try to come in. He said there were looters and thief’s everywhere. At one point a helicopter came down and shined its light right in his window to see if anyone was alive. Luckily there was. This was not the case for some of his neighbors. He did not mention this but the numbers on some of the houses around his did. Towards the end of his story you could tell that it was very difficult for him to share. He said it was kinda like a solider who goes to war. They see some pretty horrible things that they just really don’t want to remember. He finished quickly, thanks us several times again, while moving towards his house. You could tell that this was difficult. I thought to myself this is but one persons story, there are tons just like his.
We were able to complete most of the painting. Our team did a great job and worked really hard. We wrapped up our site around 5:30, started to clean up, and got ready to head over to the other sit. I was able to sit wit Mr. Chris and talk a little bit more about everything. We shared with each other and I asked if I could pray with him. He shared about how a team made a prayer circle the other day and it was so emotional for him he just started crying. We prayed. Mr. Chris wife Margaret came out just to thank us and we headed over to meet the other team.
On site two they had hung the entire back room with drywall and corrected a bunch of mistakes left by the team prior. Simply made because they didn’t drywall before not because of lack of effort. It looks like the entire house will be complete before we leave this week. Dave, the homeowner, had a big smile on his face as I walked up. He kept talking about the great job the team did and how the never even took a break. Jacey corrected him and told him that they took turns resting. J Justin the crew leader did an amazing job. Justin does construction for a live but seriously was incredible along with James they were two very skilled machines. Praise God. We quickly clean up and got ready to head back to the church. I stopped and told Dave that we pray as a team each night and asked if we could pray with him about anything. He smiled and said that he was doing ok today. He said it comes in waves. He mentioned his parents, Phillip and Madelyn, and said that they were still pretty down. He said that he was feeling the same way for a while, kinda like they were forgotten and there was little hope. Then with all the spring breakers and now the high school students came and it really brought hope back into the community. He mentioned how he had over heard in the grocery store all the people talking about all the young people coming down to help and how that pick up everybody’s spirit. Praise God.
We left the project and arrived back at the church about 6:30. Just in time for some awesome spaghetti and garlic bread, the crispy delicious kind. We had dessert and as many seconds and you would like. You could tell that everybody was pretty drained by the look on there faces after dinner it was priceless. Most took shower right after and then had about an hour to chill. I snuck off and grab a Starbucks coffee (thank you Jesus).
About 9 we gathered in a small back room for a time of worship. I don’t think we realized how much we need that time until we were finished. Hannah lead us worship and you could immediately feel Gods presence. The Lord was filling us up and blessing us. We had a time to simply share what you wanted and Devin mentioned something that was simply from God. We are going through Phil 2 this week and today’s verses were 1-3. Verse three say to do nothing out of selfishness or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves. She talk about how God laid on her heart when Mr. Chris was tell his story that we are not here to just come and tell the about what we think but to serve and minister to the people even if it is just listening. So true. The wounds are so fresh. It kinda like when something really bad happens to you, you don’t really want anybody to tell you how to fix it, you just want somebody to be there sitting next to you while you hurt. Just your presence is enough. Praise God that His presence is here and the He Loves these people.
My heart will never look at these people or this city the same. Continue to pray with us that we can simply be a blessing to these people even if that means just our being here. Also please pray for Justin and Jill they both are feeling a little under the weather. Continue to pray for our safety as we work with tools and latter’s, etc. Pray for Chris and his wife Margery, Dave and his parents. Pray that God will use us in a mighty way. Love you.
By Grace,
Jon
We began the day with a 5:30 old fashion wake up call, the ole pots and pans. This wasn’t because they are mean but mainly because our sleeping quarters are right next to the kitchen. The majority of us headed out side to the showers, trailers parked directly behind the church. The water was hot and awesome. Breakfast was great; biscuit and grave, sausage, cereal, fruit, OJ, and of course coffee. Before you leave you pack your own lunch full of as many sandwiches you want. The also have chips, crackers, snacks, etc.
After breakfast we headed straight to the main where house to pick up any supplies we would need for the job. This two is an old church that has been turned into a supply center for the relief effort. The workers and team leaders at the where house are awesome. There just a bunch of skilled workers giving there time to help the people of New Orleans, our leader, Kenneth, had moved down from Southern Utah just to serve.
After picking up some paint brushes, rollers, mud, tape, etc. We headed out to our work areas. Luckily we were only about 10 min from each other, although it took us about 45 min to find the two places. New Orleans streets are very confusing; tones of one ways and canals in between, make for a great time. The high light was following MAP QUEST direction to the tee and going down a one way street the wrong way. Thanks Map Quest.
Now comes the difficult part. I really can’t explain to you what we saw. Honestly pictures will not even do it justice. It is literally the most destructive sight I have ever been apart. Even driving through the slums in Africa did not compare to what we saw today. The entire community that we were working in had been destroyed. I'm not talking about a few streets but the entire community. Tones of abandon house, destroyed houses, fallen houses. White trailers parked out front of houses are the norm. These trailers were provided by fema for temporary housing. Many of them have become permanent. All of the house have X’s marked on them. They represent several things; if the house is fixable, the date it was checked, the number of people in the residence, and any dead bodies found. A very sobering thought (again marked on every house).
Our first team was given a dry wall detail. We pulled up to a small house with a trailer parked in front and was greeted by a very friendly man, Dave. Dave is about 40 years old and has been live here most of his life. We walked into the house and all you could see is studs and dry wall. The house has been completely gutted and we were there to help start it over. I would say about 99 percent of the house have to be completely gutted and rebuilt. We left Justin, James, Ryan, Travis, Sam, Jill, Christina, and Jacey at this location to work on the drywall.
Jerry Wayne, Zach, Nathan, Ton-loc, Hannah, Rachael, Devin, Heather, Ashley, and I went over to a house on Flood St. How Ironic. We were greeted by Mr. Chris, a 50 year old man with a wonderful spirit. He was wearing a Harley-Davidson bandana and had a sweet moon earring. He was awesome. We had paint detail on the two story house. I had to pause for a second before I started because the sight was over whelming. It seemed like every house around us had been destroyed. We started working on the right side of the house and worked are way around. At one point Mr. Chris came over to the side and started telingl us about his neighbor. She had escaped the flood waters on her kayak, floated over to a bridge and hid underneath. He said if anyone came close she would Patel out to the middle so nobody would steal hear float or harm her. The worked together for many years and were really close friends. She told him she would never move back to that house again.
Its really hard to describe Mr. Chris’s personality, all I can say it that he is the type of guy you could sit with and talk to for hours. You can tell that he is a very hard working man, and knows how to hold his own, but as friendly as they come. He sat down with us at lunch and started sharing about his experience with Katrina. Honestly it was like a move, you just couldn’t believe what he was saying if he wasn’t right there sharing it with you. He said when they first heard reports of the storm there was really no worry. I mean they heard reports like that all the time he said so why would this one be any different. Him and his wife decided to wait out the storm because they could not fit there three dogs and themselves into there small car. He said the flood happen so fast, faster than anyone could react. You looked out side and you could literally see the water rising as you watched. He and his wife move to the up stairs of the house and Mr. Chris positioned a latter for the roof just in case. The water rose 7 feet in a very short period of time. There was really no escaping. After the water rose, Him and his wife placed there 3 dogs on a plastic covered mattress (that floated) and started swimming out, both holding on to the sides while swimming. The realized that there was no where to swim to so the simply returned home. One of the main bridges for safety was not an option to cross because there were several people on the other side with guns shooting at any persons trying to cross over. While at home he realized that he had a hibachi grill and some charcoal in his storage unity that was partially above water. Luckily the grill and charcoal were in the rafters so he was able to get them to cook food. He dove off his second story and swam over to get the grill. He grabbed all the meat he had from his now floating refrigerator and cook several meals on his roof. He said for the first night him and his wife simply sat across the bed from each other reciting prayers to each other. He kept pausing during the story to mention how thankful he was for life, for us, for all the people helping and then he would continue. He told us how he would grab an arrow he had in the house and a tin plate and make a banging sound when looters would try to come in. He said there were looters and thief’s everywhere. At one point a helicopter came down and shined its light right in his window to see if anyone was alive. Luckily there was. This was not the case for some of his neighbors. He did not mention this but the numbers on some of the houses around his did. Towards the end of his story you could tell that it was very difficult for him to share. He said it was kinda like a solider who goes to war. They see some pretty horrible things that they just really don’t want to remember. He finished quickly, thanks us several times again, while moving towards his house. You could tell that this was difficult. I thought to myself this is but one persons story, there are tons just like his.
We were able to complete most of the painting. Our team did a great job and worked really hard. We wrapped up our site around 5:30, started to clean up, and got ready to head over to the other sit. I was able to sit wit Mr. Chris and talk a little bit more about everything. We shared with each other and I asked if I could pray with him. He shared about how a team made a prayer circle the other day and it was so emotional for him he just started crying. We prayed. Mr. Chris wife Margaret came out just to thank us and we headed over to meet the other team.
On site two they had hung the entire back room with drywall and corrected a bunch of mistakes left by the team prior. Simply made because they didn’t drywall before not because of lack of effort. It looks like the entire house will be complete before we leave this week. Dave, the homeowner, had a big smile on his face as I walked up. He kept talking about the great job the team did and how the never even took a break. Jacey corrected him and told him that they took turns resting. J Justin the crew leader did an amazing job. Justin does construction for a live but seriously was incredible along with James they were two very skilled machines. Praise God. We quickly clean up and got ready to head back to the church. I stopped and told Dave that we pray as a team each night and asked if we could pray with him about anything. He smiled and said that he was doing ok today. He said it comes in waves. He mentioned his parents, Phillip and Madelyn, and said that they were still pretty down. He said that he was feeling the same way for a while, kinda like they were forgotten and there was little hope. Then with all the spring breakers and now the high school students came and it really brought hope back into the community. He mentioned how he had over heard in the grocery store all the people talking about all the young people coming down to help and how that pick up everybody’s spirit. Praise God.
We left the project and arrived back at the church about 6:30. Just in time for some awesome spaghetti and garlic bread, the crispy delicious kind. We had dessert and as many seconds and you would like. You could tell that everybody was pretty drained by the look on there faces after dinner it was priceless. Most took shower right after and then had about an hour to chill. I snuck off and grab a Starbucks coffee (thank you Jesus).
About 9 we gathered in a small back room for a time of worship. I don’t think we realized how much we need that time until we were finished. Hannah lead us worship and you could immediately feel Gods presence. The Lord was filling us up and blessing us. We had a time to simply share what you wanted and Devin mentioned something that was simply from God. We are going through Phil 2 this week and today’s verses were 1-3. Verse three say to do nothing out of selfishness or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves. She talk about how God laid on her heart when Mr. Chris was tell his story that we are not here to just come and tell the about what we think but to serve and minister to the people even if it is just listening. So true. The wounds are so fresh. It kinda like when something really bad happens to you, you don’t really want anybody to tell you how to fix it, you just want somebody to be there sitting next to you while you hurt. Just your presence is enough. Praise God that His presence is here and the He Loves these people.
My heart will never look at these people or this city the same. Continue to pray with us that we can simply be a blessing to these people even if that means just our being here. Also please pray for Justin and Jill they both are feeling a little under the weather. Continue to pray for our safety as we work with tools and latter’s, etc. Pray for Chris and his wife Margery, Dave and his parents. Pray that God will use us in a mighty way. Love you.
By Grace,
Jon
Monday, March 24, 2008
Day 1
Well day one began bright and early, (OK not so bright as there was no sun at 3am), but it began. Everyone arrived and we loaded everything we had in the back of a sweet Honda mini van. The rest of us pack in like sardines into a 15 passenger van and we took off. It was actually a real blessing leaving so early. Most of the students slept for the first 5 hours, which probably made the trip seem a lot shorter.
One of our desires on this trip is to simply bless the people around us. So we decided that we would bless the people around us every place we stopped to eat. It was actually really cool. We would all put 1 dollar into a pot. We would use that money to buy the customer or customers meals behind us. The first stop was Wendy's. The ladies behind the counter just look at us like we were crazy, the agreed to the task. I was sitting down eating when the manger came back up to me with change after she paid for the first persons meal. I told here we wanted to use all the money. She repeatedly asked to "are you sure" we kept replying "Yes were sure." She just smiled and said OK. It was awesome. Our next food stop was at a Subway. A family came in to the restaurant right behind us. It was so awesome. We bought there whole meal. The mom said thank you and left with her daughter. The two women behind the counter just keep asking us question about what we were doing and why. Were we able to share about the missions trip and just wanting to show people God's love. It was great.
The drive was really good. No problems and honestly no complaints (Serious). We stopped a total of 4 times two gas and two food. With my awesome organisational skills i did not factor us gaining an hour, so that was a surprise blessing. We actually arrived to the church at 6:30pm instead of 7:30. Check in time was before 7pm, so God hooked me up. We are basically in an older church. I'm not really sure if they still us it for service but it is defiantly being used. The Noah staff was so sweet. I believe it is Felisha that is running our facility and she has a great spirit about her. All the staff her are truly servants. The facilities are as follows. The basket ball gym is split in half by a large curtain. On one side is our eating area and on the other is the male sleeping quarters, bunk beds line up military style. The female sleeping quarters is up stares away from the males.
After arriving and checking, we unloaded our stuff and headed out for dinner. We found an IHOP us the street and at dinner. This was probably the biggest blessing of the night. Two of our student Travis Forkner and Sam Woods were the last to leave the restaurant. Before they left a family noticed the shirts we were all wearing, which is basically an outline of Louisiana with our logo over New Orleans, and stop to ask the boys what they meant. Travis and Sam were able to share with them what it mean and what we were doing. They were both able to pray with the family right in IHOP. Praise God.
We all came back and gather for a time of prayer in a small room off to the side. This week we will be studying Phil 2:1-11. I encourage you to please study along with with. Tomorrow we will be meditating on verses 1-3. We read through these verses and pray for the families we will be serving tomorrow. We have been give 3 work orders, two exterior paint jobs, and an interior drywall so this will be awesome. Light out here is at 10:30 so basically that means i am typing this in the dark to the wonderful sound of men young and old snoring. :) Please continue to pray for us that we will be a blessing to these people.
By Grace,
Jon
P.S. as soon as i can get pictures loaded on here i will.
P.SS. Phil 2:1-31 "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves "
One of our desires on this trip is to simply bless the people around us. So we decided that we would bless the people around us every place we stopped to eat. It was actually really cool. We would all put 1 dollar into a pot. We would use that money to buy the customer or customers meals behind us. The first stop was Wendy's. The ladies behind the counter just look at us like we were crazy, the agreed to the task. I was sitting down eating when the manger came back up to me with change after she paid for the first persons meal. I told here we wanted to use all the money. She repeatedly asked to "are you sure" we kept replying "Yes were sure." She just smiled and said OK. It was awesome. Our next food stop was at a Subway. A family came in to the restaurant right behind us. It was so awesome. We bought there whole meal. The mom said thank you and left with her daughter. The two women behind the counter just keep asking us question about what we were doing and why. Were we able to share about the missions trip and just wanting to show people God's love. It was great.
The drive was really good. No problems and honestly no complaints (Serious). We stopped a total of 4 times two gas and two food. With my awesome organisational skills i did not factor us gaining an hour, so that was a surprise blessing. We actually arrived to the church at 6:30pm instead of 7:30. Check in time was before 7pm, so God hooked me up. We are basically in an older church. I'm not really sure if they still us it for service but it is defiantly being used. The Noah staff was so sweet. I believe it is Felisha that is running our facility and she has a great spirit about her. All the staff her are truly servants. The facilities are as follows. The basket ball gym is split in half by a large curtain. On one side is our eating area and on the other is the male sleeping quarters, bunk beds line up military style. The female sleeping quarters is up stares away from the males.
After arriving and checking, we unloaded our stuff and headed out for dinner. We found an IHOP us the street and at dinner. This was probably the biggest blessing of the night. Two of our student Travis Forkner and Sam Woods were the last to leave the restaurant. Before they left a family noticed the shirts we were all wearing, which is basically an outline of Louisiana with our logo over New Orleans, and stop to ask the boys what they meant. Travis and Sam were able to share with them what it mean and what we were doing. They were both able to pray with the family right in IHOP. Praise God.
We all came back and gather for a time of prayer in a small room off to the side. This week we will be studying Phil 2:1-11. I encourage you to please study along with with. Tomorrow we will be meditating on verses 1-3. We read through these verses and pray for the families we will be serving tomorrow. We have been give 3 work orders, two exterior paint jobs, and an interior drywall so this will be awesome. Light out here is at 10:30 so basically that means i am typing this in the dark to the wonderful sound of men young and old snoring. :) Please continue to pray for us that we will be a blessing to these people.
By Grace,
Jon
P.S. as soon as i can get pictures loaded on here i will.
P.SS. Phil 2:1-31 "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves "
Friday, March 21, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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