Catching Up

It’s been almost a week since my last post. Due to continuing restructuring of the cable system as everything is put back into place, I have not had the ability to post in the past few days. Plus, there just do not seem to be enough hours in the day to do all I’d like to do. I’ve had many ‘blogable’ moments, but I’m sure I will remember few of them. I have enjoyed the visits of some friends during the past week. Dusty Rush came from Conway with his new youth minister, Jason. I enjoyed meeting Jason. And Dusty has a great new ‘baptistry story’ to tell, but I’ll let him tell it when he is ready. Like many who visit, Jason wants to come back and bring a work crew with him next month. Friends and fellow bloggers Cecil May, III and Tommy and Carrie Dublin also served here this week. Cecil brought his preaching friend from across town, Miles Mayo, whom I enjoyed meeting. These visits lift my spirits and give me strength. Having an old friend around who is here to help is such a blessing. I am also enjoying meeting new friends. I can’t name them all… I don’t even know all their names. For a blog connection, a friend of Dee Andrews was here this week along with his wife (John Ash). Mrs. Ash’s name stars with a “D” but I can’t remember if she is a “Donna” or some other name. Forgive my poor memory, please. Pleasant people for sure. John is an elder at Pleasure Island Church of Christ in Gulf Shores, Alabama. He is also a blog reader. The church there has funneled thousands of dollars our way to help with reconstruction efforts. Also from Gulf Shores church is J. V. Lamar, who brought over a lady last night to be baptized into Jesus Christ. He is doing a lot of work now at Bayou LaBatre, AL - another forgotten area that was demolished by Katrina. A father and son who are both firemen came from the Rivergate Church in Nashville with a U-Haul truck full of good stuff. A truckdriver named Tony was here. He has a great testimony concerning his son who passed away last year and the work he is doing for God as he travels the interstates. He brought a semi-load of supplies from four small towns in Iowa. He drove them down for free, with someone paying for his fuel only. We had a few families from the Christian Home Church of Christ near Dothan, AL. . Isn’t that a great name for a church? It is also a good description of the heart of these families. They brought a lot of supplies as well. A group of people arrived from Illinois yesterday. Today they roofed a small house for a lady caring for her 84 year old father who has Alzheimer’s disease. Tex brought three or four guys from Monroe, LA. Their joy was contagious. And there are more people … more stories … more servants …. I just do not have the ability to recall all of them. Also this week it turned cold. I woke up in the middle of the night and I was cold in my camper. I cried for the people who were in tents and didn’t know that a cold front was coming through. Since then we have given away almost 300 blankets. Everything is evolving quickly here. We have moved most of our supplies and food to delivery status - taking them out on the bus each evening to the people in our immediate 15 blocks surrounding the neighborhood. We have put all of the donated clothing that is suitable for winter on the racks in our auditorium. There is some donated warehouse space where we can store materials until we need them. Through our partnership with www.openchurches.com, every $1,000 donated gets enough sheetrock and repairs done so that someone can move back into their house. It won’t be completely finished, but getting back into our homes is a big goal for everyone. On a personal note, there is some painting going on at my house today. Maggy and I spent the morning picking out colors and buying some paint. Nathan Walker, from North Carolina, is painting our house. We have run into some rotten flooring in the kitchen that needs some help. We will also need help getting some floor covering down. We hope it will not be too many more weeks before we are able to live in our house once again. Then we will be looking for something to sit on and sleep on. But that’s down the road a ways. CURRENT NEEDS: *Volunteer workers, both skilled and unskilled. Carpenters, plumbers, roofers, electricians, sheet-rock hangers, and painters can all be kept very busy! We can use ladies to sort clothes, load the bus for bus runs, and go with us on the bus runs. *Ministers who can give up several days to come and pray with the community members, conduct Bible studies as available, and fill in on work as needed. *Youth ministers who can bring their teen groups (mature teens willing to serve, please) for one or two days on the weekends. *Small electric heaters *Pillows *Hotplates *Blankets *Buckets *Towels & Sheets *Deodorant *Snacks, drinks, and other foods that can be kept in our Dining Hall for workers as they labor here on a volunteer basis. *Cleaning supplies (pine sol, mops, brooms, etc.) *Delivery Truck. At some point State Farm will come get our totalled church bus and we will need a delivery truck to make daily deliveries through our neighborhoods. This is from the "I doubt anyone can help with this, but it doesn't hurt to ask" department. All of my contact information can be found at www.123Jesus.com. Thanks again for reading. I think I will be able to update more regularly now, but I have thought that in the past!