Out of Africa

I hope you've had a good day in your part of the world. I was able to talk to my friend Dusty Rush for a while today. I always enjoy hearing his thoughts - and he's a good listener also. It was great to see my friend Tex Nolan, who is in town for the week. Also it's always a pleasure to get to visit with David Jordan, when you can get him to sit down and rest for a minute. Jim Ingram and I made a visit together this afternoon, and spending time with Jim is never a dull moment. I did see David Kilbern a time or two today, but only for a moment!

David Kilbern's birthday was yesterday and I should have mentioned it then. Not that he has time to keep up with this blog ... but I let it escape me. I'll catch up. Anyway, you can wish him a happy birthday by sending him a belated wish HERE.

Today I met a lady who brought her son with her. She will lose her electricity in a few days. We simply cannot pay electric bills. She has a new job, but the first paycheck won't come in time. I feel really bad to turn her down, but how can we begin paying electric bills? We have tons of requests each day for these kinds of funds. We did bring her some food later in the afternoon. She said she may come Sunday. She visited before the storm and did not see any other African Americans in the crowd and she felt uncomfortable and left. I praise God that we are now worshiping in technicolor! We are a church with a wide open door that welcomes everyone. We do not meet anyone at the door with a litmus test or a checklist, we just choose to love all.

As the day was winding down I sat down and talked to a tired looking lady in our foyer. She had not heard of us helping storm victims until yesterday. During Katrina she stayed in her trailer. She has a paralyzed son, and it was his floating hospital bed mattress that kept them from drowning in the trailer. After the storm she rented a P. O. Box and had her mail delivered there. It turns out that this is a bad move ... FEMA can't seem to find her physical location. She hasn't received a camper yet. Where's she living? In a tent in some woods off of a road here in Pascagoula. For over ten months. Her son received a camper, but she can't live there. There are restrictions on who can live in the FEMA campers so that someone can't get a camper and then load up 20 other people in there. I don't know all the circumstances, you understand. But this poor woman is living in a tent. This is happening in other areas as well but it should not be happening in Pascagoula, as far as we have come.

We have a lot of people here at this time. I know that many of the teens are doing yard work. Several of our teens worked on my street today, cutting several yards. I saw a lady I know at the post office, and she told me that some wonderful teens from Georgia cut her grass today. She was so happy. I saw some of those teens tonight in Walgreens. They didn't know me ... and I have to say that they were very polite and well behaved. Good thing!

I mentioned our youth intern yesterday. Will Collins spent part of the month of May in Africa doing mission work. His girlfriend, Brittany, just returned from Malawi, Africa this week.

Tomorrow night we will enjoy a presentation of their work on the "Dark Continent" - a place where the light of Christ is growing more and more bright with each passing day. I hope that the message they bring will encourage all of our young people to be involved in missions in one form or another. I believe that out of Africa the message of Christ will come loud and clear in the coming decades.