Tuesday on the Coast

Today started out as a rainy day, but was mostly overcast after that. We didn't operate our clothing center today because there was no one to help us do it. Chris Lockhart came over and helped me set up a new room today and clean up the foyer some. He also treated me and Maggy to lunch (Thanks, Chris!), as he always does on Tuesdays when he comes over. He doesn't think he does very much, but he lifts my spirits and helps me smile a lot! The group from Missouri worked at Bayou LaBatre today with J. V. Lamar. Paul England and his wife drove in tonight from Padukah, Kentucky. He is to be here for three months doing contracting work. This weekend we have a big crew coming in from Hillsboro Church in Nashville who are going to have a big cookout Saturday night for our church and our community. That ought to be a great event! And it will hopefully lead into a great Sunday together. In fact, we might have to borrow some chairs from somewhere! Another reason to look forward to Sunday is that one of our elderly sisters is having a birthday this weekend. Her family will be bringing her to worship here at Central for the first time since the storm. She will be surprised to see about 20 members of her family with her during this worship time. I hope we remember to sing Happy Birthday to her! Sadly, her twin sister is far removed in Oregon ... but we will hopefully be able to send her a card... if I can find her address. My friend Otis Bowman is coming next week. He preaches at Johnson Grove Church of Christ near Brookhaven, MS. We had about 8 workers from Americorps tonight. I took several with me to a tent city where we gave out toiletries, underwear, socks, towels, food, and other supplies. We had a request from one worker whose wife had stepped on some glass and cut her foot. So we brought her some medical supplies. One person asked for denture adhesive, and we did have some of that ... so we brought it back out to him. On a personal note, it seems our kitchen floor did not have as much damage as we thought, and that is a great source of joy for us. Well, I'm about to wrap things up here at the building. I have no access at the camper any more, so I'll be posting at odd times...just whenever I can. I do have access at the building, so I'll check e-mail from there. Not to be repetitive, but here are some of our needs... 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 *Hotplates *Towels, Sheets, Pillows, Blankets *Deodorant *Laundry Detergent in boxes or bottles we can give away easily. (Note: The big 5 gallon buckets of detergent are nice, but we would rather have smaller quantities to spread it further!) *Plastic tableware (forks, knives, spoons) and napkins. The FEMA trailers come with no items such as these. *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, buckets, etc.) *Delivery Truck. At some point State Farm will come get our totaled 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. *Large Print Bibles. We have a lot of elderly people here in our community, and they cannot see the small print editions. I have a special need for a Thompson Chain Reference Bible if anyone wants to make an investment in an older man who is hungry for the Scriptures and needs the helps to get him started. It needs to be LARGE PRINT and NIV please. *Chocolate and Coffee. Ok, those aren’t necessities. You caught me. All of my contact information is to be found at http://www.123jesus.com/. My picture page is located at: http://community.webshots.com/user/jedobber