CT done... nothing in the abdomen, but they saw a little something in the left lung. Chest xray revealed a small amount of pneumonia. ER Doc said he probably would have missed it on chest xray alone, it was so small. They'll load her up with some antibiotics via IV and give her some to take home. Good thing we came in. It could have gotten much worse. Should go away in the next couple of days. Thanks to all who were up and able to pray for Amy. Keep praying. She'll still be recovering for the next few days. Hope you all have a wonderful week.
Phil
I've deleted the other posts to make room for the previous posts, but here's the first part of the story. Amy had felt pretty sick the few days before Christmas. She had a fever and some abdominal pain.
Update: She's feeling a lot better. Still doesn't have much energy, but the fever and abdominal pain is gone. She's coughing a bit. We're waiting for that to become really productive. She's taking an antibiotic and some over the counter meds to help. Keep us in your prayers.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas!!
Good Afternoon and Merry Christmas to you all!
I just came back from working in the free store at Trinity Church. I helped check families in and also helped wrap up Christmas gifts for the children. It was such a blessing to work side-by-side with some church members who donated to purchase the gifts.
Tonight we will have a missionary friend, Frannie, stay with us and we will take her to the airport in New Orleans early tomorrow morning. The Prince Family will join us for Christmas along with Miss Joan, a church member. We are excited to share our home with them.
My family arrives the day after Christmas so I'm hoping to have a clean home so I can relax and enjoy our time with them. (See my mom and dad below)
Please pray for Phil right now. His old back injury is flaring again and he is in a lot of pain. Please join us in praying that God will heal him from this pain and that it will never return. God's using him in mighty ways with the teams that volunteer and the home sites he is working at. We're praying for him to be healthy. Thank you!
We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, safe travels to wherever you might journey, and are filled with the love of Christ this holiday season.
Blessings,
Amy and Phil
Amy and Phil
Friday, December 14, 2007
Thank you, supporters!
We finally received our donor report today. We hadn't been able to view it since we moved here so we are glad to be able to know where we are at financially. Thank-you to the Lakeland Crossing youth group who committed to pray us through our support-raising. Your prayers are coveted and God is providing! When we left Chicagoland we were at 11%. We are now over 20% supported.
We have been here for two months already. I divided the months up and at 2 months we would need to have 16% to remain here for the year, which we have now exceeded. At 3 months we will need to have 25% raised and that will go up as we continue throughout the year.
Thank you to everyone that has supported us or pledged to support us prayerfully, financially, or by helping us in your own way during the move and while we are here. Without supporters like you, the EFCA Crisis Response Ministry would not survive.
We have been here for two months already. I divided the months up and at 2 months we would need to have 16% to remain here for the year, which we have now exceeded. At 3 months we will need to have 25% raised and that will go up as we continue throughout the year.
Thank you to everyone that has supported us or pledged to support us prayerfully, financially, or by helping us in your own way during the move and while we are here. Without supporters like you, the EFCA Crisis Response Ministry would not survive.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
1 Corinthians 9:19 - 23
19Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
These have been my theme verses for some time now. Ten years ago I told God that I would go wherever it was He wanted me to go. I wanted to be a missionary and spread God's Word overseas. Now, ten years later, I'm in Louisiana! Louisiana is not overseas. You don't have to fly for two days to get there. You don't have to speak another language. But it is a mission field!
Due to the hurricane, there are many lives, hearts and homes to be rebuilt piece-by-piece. God is showing favor on this area and I am seeing it in answers to prayer, vivid dreams, and the challenges we are facing.
I have been praying for the church we have partnered with here. The ministry's goal is to equip, empower and release the body for effective ministry within their community. I was a little disappointed to find out that the past two quarterly church work days, where the church helps other church members or people in the community, had been cancelled, some say due to lack of interest. I kept thinking, this isn't what the body is supposed to look like.
Paul reminds me that in order to reach people, I need to assimilate into their culture and build relationships so I can reach them. I cannot be a person on the outside, judging their way of life, expecting them to change. We began to pray more intentionally for the church and the community.
Well, two weeks ago, the pastor of the church here preached on these verses. He challenged the congregation to be the church and reach out to their neighbors and their friends. He said that we can be in the church service and say we will do this and then go home and forget about what we heard. But, to me, this means helping a neighbor that I see in need. This means spending the five minutes on the phone to listen to a friend in need and pray for them, even when my 'schedule' doesn't have room. It's a choice that I'm going to have to make so that "by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."
God's reminded me of our purpose in Louisiana....it's HIS! A few blogs ago we asked, "Why are we here?" I don't know if we will have a clearer answer to that question, but our purpose is clear.
These have been my theme verses for some time now. Ten years ago I told God that I would go wherever it was He wanted me to go. I wanted to be a missionary and spread God's Word overseas. Now, ten years later, I'm in Louisiana! Louisiana is not overseas. You don't have to fly for two days to get there. You don't have to speak another language. But it is a mission field!
Due to the hurricane, there are many lives, hearts and homes to be rebuilt piece-by-piece. God is showing favor on this area and I am seeing it in answers to prayer, vivid dreams, and the challenges we are facing.
I have been praying for the church we have partnered with here. The ministry's goal is to equip, empower and release the body for effective ministry within their community. I was a little disappointed to find out that the past two quarterly church work days, where the church helps other church members or people in the community, had been cancelled, some say due to lack of interest. I kept thinking, this isn't what the body is supposed to look like.
Paul reminds me that in order to reach people, I need to assimilate into their culture and build relationships so I can reach them. I cannot be a person on the outside, judging their way of life, expecting them to change. We began to pray more intentionally for the church and the community.
Well, two weeks ago, the pastor of the church here preached on these verses. He challenged the congregation to be the church and reach out to their neighbors and their friends. He said that we can be in the church service and say we will do this and then go home and forget about what we heard. But, to me, this means helping a neighbor that I see in need. This means spending the five minutes on the phone to listen to a friend in need and pray for them, even when my 'schedule' doesn't have room. It's a choice that I'm going to have to make so that "by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."
God's reminded me of our purpose in Louisiana....it's HIS! A few blogs ago we asked, "Why are we here?" I don't know if we will have a clearer answer to that question, but our purpose is clear.
Monday, December 10, 2007
On our way home
Well, I know I said we try to update more often. We just didn't have a chance this week. We went back to Illinois this last week to pick up Rusty and some other things from home. It was good to see some good friends and my family. We had a pretty good time though Amy and I both feel under the weather. I guess we're not used to that cold weather in Chicago anymore :) We are looking to get back to N.O. late Monday. We'll probably be moving to our new place late Tuesday and Wednesday. You should have received our new address in the blog update email. If you didn't, let me know and I'll resend it. Please continue to pray for us as we transition into another new place. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Friday, November 30, 2007
New living situation
I know it's been a while since we blogged. We've been really busy. So here we go. I'll try to keep it short... right.
This week has been pretty good. We've found a new place to live. We've decided that Amy must be allergic to something here. I've been mostly fine for the last few weeks, but Amy has been waking up with headaches everyday. We stayed the night at a friends house while we were babysitting a couple of nights ago, and Amy didn't have any problems waking up. Also, it's a little bigger then the 300 sq ft trailer we're in now. It's got a guest room for us to have company, which is really important to us. We love having people over and we both feel we have the gift of hospitality. Amy is going to do some work from home time to time, so this will allow her to have the space to do that... comfortably. We'll be able to get some of our stuff from home and make our new place a lot more "ours". We'll also be able to have a pet there as well. Rusty... welcome to Louisiana! We're really looking forward to it.
We haven't had any teams here this last week, but we have some this coming week... then it's another week without teams (that's when we're moving). As you can imagine, we are getting desperate for teams. Especially teams with "skilled" laborers (carpenters, electricians, plumbers, masons, metal workers, dry wall hangers) to help start new projects and finish some of the older ones. Please be praying for this. We could also use a few of these people on staff. Pray for this as well. If you would like to organize a team or know someone that would, please email us. We can give you the best time frame for you to come down and serve.
Lastly, we've heard a lot of people are checking the blog and disappointed that it's not updated enough. We hear you. Part of the problem is that we're pretty busy, but we're going to give it a try. You may be worried you're going to get a bunch of emails from us letting you know it's updated. That's not going to happen. I'll still send out an update, but only once a week. Continue to check back throughout the week, if you think of it. Be patient with us though. We've got a lot to do with moving and all, but we'll try to keep you up to date. Hope you all have a wonderful week. Stay safe... don't let the snow get ya down! We look forward to hearing from you soon.
This week has been pretty good. We've found a new place to live. We've decided that Amy must be allergic to something here. I've been mostly fine for the last few weeks, but Amy has been waking up with headaches everyday. We stayed the night at a friends house while we were babysitting a couple of nights ago, and Amy didn't have any problems waking up. Also, it's a little bigger then the 300 sq ft trailer we're in now. It's got a guest room for us to have company, which is really important to us. We love having people over and we both feel we have the gift of hospitality. Amy is going to do some work from home time to time, so this will allow her to have the space to do that... comfortably. We'll be able to get some of our stuff from home and make our new place a lot more "ours". We'll also be able to have a pet there as well. Rusty... welcome to Louisiana! We're really looking forward to it.
We haven't had any teams here this last week, but we have some this coming week... then it's another week without teams (that's when we're moving). As you can imagine, we are getting desperate for teams. Especially teams with "skilled" laborers (carpenters, electricians, plumbers, masons, metal workers, dry wall hangers) to help start new projects and finish some of the older ones. Please be praying for this. We could also use a few of these people on staff. Pray for this as well. If you would like to organize a team or know someone that would, please email us. We can give you the best time frame for you to come down and serve.
Lastly, we've heard a lot of people are checking the blog and disappointed that it's not updated enough. We hear you. Part of the problem is that we're pretty busy, but we're going to give it a try. You may be worried you're going to get a bunch of emails from us letting you know it's updated. That's not going to happen. I'll still send out an update, but only once a week. Continue to check back throughout the week, if you think of it. Be patient with us though. We've got a lot to do with moving and all, but we'll try to keep you up to date. Hope you all have a wonderful week. Stay safe... don't let the snow get ya down! We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
"What are we doin' here?"
This has been our question since we arrived in late October. "Why are we here?" It is evident that God cleared the path for us to come here, but why did He want us here? There's been a lot going on the last couple of weeks. Between getting acclimated to the area, and a new job, we weren't really sure which way was up. Praise God that we finally feel like we're getting our bearings and that we have some answers to the questions above.
Amy had really been struggling with what to do here. She very badly wanted to use her skills and giftedness to help organize the communication aspect of the ministry. While met with some frustration early on, she's had some good conversations to help encourage her in what she can be doing to get started with that. She gets to coordinate the communication area which includes: press kits/church kits, website maintenance, and various other things. She's got two wonderful and very capable people on her team, and I will also be helping with some communication items now and then. She also found a new passion she wants to explore.
Early this last week, Amy came out to a job site with me. She took some pictures and talked with the team that was here serving from Hershey, PA. She had a wonderful time. She decided to make a DVD using pictures of all the teams here this week and give each team a copy. Someone does this for teams that stay in the inner-city and she wanted to give it a try for teams up here as well. It's great for teams to have something they can bring home and show their churches what they did while they were here. Here's the first video.
Currently, we are organizing an inventory of all the tools that have been donated and purchased. Between that and running supplies to teams all over the North Shore (Covington, Slidell, Lacombe, and Mandeville), I've been really busy. I'm really learning a lot. Whether it's how we do things, or how to measure a drywall job, or what tools we need, there's something new everyday. Like I mentioned above, I've also been helping out with some of the communications here. We just uploaded the latest Katrina Project video on YouTube. You can view the video from this page. Go to the top of the page and play the video on the right. I've also included a link to the video in the "links" section. Check it out.
Please continue to pray for us. We're still adjusting. Please pray for the people here in the New Orleans area. Also check out the EFCA Katrina Project website (Link Section) for supplies we need. One more note. If you would like to send a team, we are in need of skilled labor (carpenters, drywall hangers, electricians, plumbers, HVAC, general construction, etc). If you or someone you know would like to come and serve for a week, let us know.
If you are interested in supporting us, prayerfully or financially, please let us know. Thanks to all who have prayed for us and the ministry here in New Orleans. We've raised about 15% of our monthly support needed, so thanks to all who have donated and made a monthly commitment as well. We really appreciate your support.
We appreciate your feed back. Please drop us a line. weheartno@gmail.com
Amy had really been struggling with what to do here. She very badly wanted to use her skills and giftedness to help organize the communication aspect of the ministry. While met with some frustration early on, she's had some good conversations to help encourage her in what she can be doing to get started with that. She gets to coordinate the communication area which includes: press kits/church kits, website maintenance, and various other things. She's got two wonderful and very capable people on her team, and I will also be helping with some communication items now and then. She also found a new passion she wants to explore.
Early this last week, Amy came out to a job site with me. She took some pictures and talked with the team that was here serving from Hershey, PA. She had a wonderful time. She decided to make a DVD using pictures of all the teams here this week and give each team a copy. Someone does this for teams that stay in the inner-city and she wanted to give it a try for teams up here as well. It's great for teams to have something they can bring home and show their churches what they did while they were here. Here's the first video.
Currently, we are organizing an inventory of all the tools that have been donated and purchased. Between that and running supplies to teams all over the North Shore (Covington, Slidell, Lacombe, and Mandeville), I've been really busy. I'm really learning a lot. Whether it's how we do things, or how to measure a drywall job, or what tools we need, there's something new everyday. Like I mentioned above, I've also been helping out with some of the communications here. We just uploaded the latest Katrina Project video on YouTube. You can view the video from this page. Go to the top of the page and play the video on the right. I've also included a link to the video in the "links" section. Check it out.
Please continue to pray for us. We're still adjusting. Please pray for the people here in the New Orleans area. Also check out the EFCA Katrina Project website (Link Section) for supplies we need. One more note. If you would like to send a team, we are in need of skilled labor (carpenters, drywall hangers, electricians, plumbers, HVAC, general construction, etc). If you or someone you know would like to come and serve for a week, let us know.
If you are interested in supporting us, prayerfully or financially, please let us know. Thanks to all who have prayed for us and the ministry here in New Orleans. We've raised about 15% of our monthly support needed, so thanks to all who have donated and made a monthly commitment as well. We really appreciate your support.
We appreciate your feed back. Please drop us a line. weheartno@gmail.com
Monday, November 5, 2007
Our First Week
Happy Monday!! We're about to start our first full week here. I will be running tools and supplies around the North Shore (Covington and surrounding areas). Amy will be working in the office.
Last week was good. We were able to get a little more settled in our house. After searching for a suitable place to sit in our living room, we found a small love seat at the thrift store for $45, which was $10 less than the other ones. It was in OK shape, but we decided to wait before buying. When we returned later in the afternoon, the workers told us there was a donation on the back of a pick-up outside, if we wanted to look. It was perfect. The right size, no stains, no springs sticking out, just perfect. The "pricing lady" recognized us from earlier and priced it lower than all the others, $35. And it would've been the best one in the store. Praise the Lord!
Please continue to pray for our transition. We're still adjusting to the new area and new people. Amy and I have not been feeling very well. We both have a cough and congestion that has been lingering for the past week. Please pray for healing.
Please pray for Amy in the office. She is used to working in an environment where she knows exactly what her responsibilities are and is able to just take initiative and go with things, but that hasn't been the situation down here just yet. She is having a difficult time transitioning. Please pray that she will feel comfortable in her new surroundings soon and will be able to use the giftings the Lord has given her.
We have enjoyed hearing from some of you and hope to hear from more of you soon. Let us know what is going on in your lives and how we can be praying for you.
Last week was good. We were able to get a little more settled in our house. After searching for a suitable place to sit in our living room, we found a small love seat at the thrift store for $45, which was $10 less than the other ones. It was in OK shape, but we decided to wait before buying. When we returned later in the afternoon, the workers told us there was a donation on the back of a pick-up outside, if we wanted to look. It was perfect. The right size, no stains, no springs sticking out, just perfect. The "pricing lady" recognized us from earlier and priced it lower than all the others, $35. And it would've been the best one in the store. Praise the Lord!
Please continue to pray for our transition. We're still adjusting to the new area and new people. Amy and I have not been feeling very well. We both have a cough and congestion that has been lingering for the past week. Please pray for healing.
Please pray for Amy in the office. She is used to working in an environment where she knows exactly what her responsibilities are and is able to just take initiative and go with things, but that hasn't been the situation down here just yet. She is having a difficult time transitioning. Please pray that she will feel comfortable in her new surroundings soon and will be able to use the giftings the Lord has given her.
We have enjoyed hearing from some of you and hope to hear from more of you soon. Let us know what is going on in your lives and how we can be praying for you.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
We're HERE!!
Sorry it's been a long time since we updated. You can imagine why. From packing and moving out of our house and having people move in, and planning the trip down with the team and moving... it's been crazy. But good. We had a lot of time to say "see you later" to our friends and family and dog. We really miss everyone, but we're so excited about being here. Plus, we know we'll see everyone soon. I know of some that will be here around Christmas, and some later.
Well, I'll go back to the last update and work from there. The move went pretty well thanks in big part to the Senior High group from Lakeland, the Crossing. It's was so much fun hanging out with all of them, packing and loading the trailer. A handful of them came with us to New Orleans to help us unpack and unload our stuff into the trailer we're staying in. They then stayed the rest of the week... but I'll get to that in a bit. The trip down was a lot of fun. There were four in each vehicle, and we all had a great time. We left early Sunday the 21st. Good thing too. It took us close to 17 hours to get here. Mostly because of long stops and a 20-30 mph head wind. This made towing the trailer an adventure!
The unpacking went pretty well, and it wasn't long before we realized we had brought a bit too much. We sent a bunch back to storage. After a fairly long day stuffed into a small trailer in Covington, the eight of us piled back into the vehicles, and started to make our way to the Yellow House. The Yellow house is where the team and staff live while serving in Central City New Orleans. It's right down the street from Castle Rock Community Church. Here's where the story gets interesting.
It had been raining pretty much all day. We didn't think much of it while we were inside, but once we started driving, we realized it was much more rain than any of us had every seen. The ditches were completely flooded and the water was running over into parking lots and onto the streets. As we approached the Lake Pontchartrain, we learned the Causeway, a 24 mile bridge over the lake, was closed to bigger vehicles due to high winds. Not to mention, the streets of New Orleans were flooded to about 2-3 feet in some areas. The Army Corp of Engineers were out checking the levees and closing gates in areas to keep the water out. We then learned of the a tornado watch in effect over the lake and on the north shore, where we were. We made some phone calls and ended up at Trinity in Covington for dinner and decided to stay the night there. Besides, we didn't know what we'd be working on in the city... no one did. So we offered to help with whatever needed to be done on the north shore... sandbagging, water removal... whatever.
As it turned out, the rain stopped shortly after we went to bed. The water was gone in the morning. They didn't really need us to do any sandbagging or anything so we decided to head into the city and get settled in. It was now Tuesday and most of the projects were started or near completion by the other teams. We offered to do whatever needed to be done. We learned of a cleaning job near the Urban Impact offices. There had been a fire alarm the night before. When attempting to leave out the fire escape, the door was blocked by some garbage cans and debris in the walk way. It all needed to get cleaned up.
There was a lot of garbage. The rain from the night before didn’t help, as all the cardboard was spongy and stuck in the mud underneath. It was not a pretty job. Just when you thought we were out of the gutting phase!! There was one can overflowing with stinky water. We treated that like a refrigerator in a gutted house. Move it last, ‘cause we ain’t going back if it spills!
Take a look at the before pictures...here
And the after pictures...here
Not bad for a half day’s work, eh? I had a feeling we’d be back the next day to clear a field of debris behind this building, so we left that nasty can for another time. I don’t have any pictures of the giant cockroaches or the huge spiders because as soon as they surfaced, they were crushed. Girls with shovels are not to be taken lightly when you’re a ½ pound roach or a hairy spider.
As I mentioned above, we returned the next day to clear a field behind this building . It was mostly full of old sheets of plywood and other building materials. It took about half the day to clear and it was off to lunch!! We ate at a really cool restaurant in Central City called Café Reconcile. Check out the website here. They have really good food and their mission is to teach youth in the area culinary skills and after Katrina, started to teach construction skills as well. Check ‘em out. It’s pretty cool. We went back a couple of times. Amazing catfish! Thursday we cleaned up some at the church and started a painting project at Castle Rock. We had a great time painting the two rooms. A lot of trim work and 12 ft ceilings. We weren’t able to finish, but we got a lot done.
Super Friday went well. For those who haven’t made it down here yet, all the teams from both Covington and Central City gather for a Rally in the neighborhood. We circle up, get LOUD and get pumped up to go out to clean up the streets and talk to neighbors. We work for a couple of hours and head back to the rally area where the “Hot Dog Truck” meets us and feeds the teams and neighbors from a grill mounted in the back of a pickup truck. It’s a lot of fun and a great time to hang out with the other teams and with the people from the neighborhood.
On our way back to Covington, where the team would be staying before departing back to Illinois, we took a tour of the upper and lower 9th ward. We first went back to the first house we worked on in the upper 9th ward when Crossing went to New Orleans. (Thanks for the directions Karen!!) It was all boarded up and it didn’t look like much was happening with it. A lot of the houses that were there last June were gone. A church that had caved in was gone. The area was still mostly uninhabited. We then went over to the lower 9th ward, near the Industrial Canal Levee break. It was amazing to see it was still a “ghost town”. Further inland from the canal, people are rebuilding their homes… on stilts, but rebuilding all the same.
The team returned to Illinois the next morning, and I hear reports that the trip was really good. They made it back in about 15 hours. Not bad with 6 people and towing a trailer! We had a wonderful time with the team that came down. It was really a blessing to have familiar faces around as we transitioned. We look forward to seeing many others while we’re here.
So that was the trip. Thanks to all who prayed for our time here last week. Please continue to pray for Amy and I as we continue to transition into a new phase of our lives. We start tomorrow. We felt it was a good idea to take some time to get settled and rest before starting. Pray also for financial support. We are at about 15% of our total support needed. If you are interested in donating, follow the link on the right to the EFCA website. If you have any questions about this, please let me know. Thanks again to all of you for your prayer and financial support. We really appreciate it.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Getting Close!
We are in the mid stages of packing up items for the move on the 21st. It's hard to believe we've accumulated so much stuff in the past 6 years, but it has been so refreshing and freeing to get rid of "stuff" that we don't need.
We are well on our way for support-raising, but not quite where we need to be this close to departure. We need to have 50% of our support raised at this stage and we only have 11% of our monthly support raised so far. We are praying that the Lord would provide. He's provided so much to clear the path for us to go to New Orleans, we have confidence that His provision will follow us there. We included our pledges for the year in the figures below:
There are at least 4 people going with us to New Orleans on a team from our church. Phil's mom might be going with us for the week. (She was on our team that went back in April, too.) This is an answer to prayer as we were looking for another adult to come on the trip.
This past week, the Lord (once again) answered a prayer of ours. We had been praying for a cargo trailer to bring with us. U-Haul had one we could rent for 2 days/one-way that was nearly $600, much more than we had anticipated spending. As we've continued to pray and to search for one, we ended up finding one in Round Lake that we could rent for 2 weeks and it would cost about half as much as U-Haul. Yea, God!!! Thanks to a family in the church, we will be able to pick up the trailer early next week and haul it with us on the 21st.
This next week will be a difficult one for us as we will be saying good-bye to family and friends. We are bringing a web cam with us to keep in contact via the internet from time to time. If you have Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger, let us know. Don't forget, our email address is: weheartno@gmail.com.
Until next time...
We are well on our way for support-raising, but not quite where we need to be this close to departure. We need to have 50% of our support raised at this stage and we only have 11% of our monthly support raised so far. We are praying that the Lord would provide. He's provided so much to clear the path for us to go to New Orleans, we have confidence that His provision will follow us there. We included our pledges for the year in the figures below:
There are at least 4 people going with us to New Orleans on a team from our church. Phil's mom might be going with us for the week. (She was on our team that went back in April, too.) This is an answer to prayer as we were looking for another adult to come on the trip.
This past week, the Lord (once again) answered a prayer of ours. We had been praying for a cargo trailer to bring with us. U-Haul had one we could rent for 2 days/one-way that was nearly $600, much more than we had anticipated spending. As we've continued to pray and to search for one, we ended up finding one in Round Lake that we could rent for 2 weeks and it would cost about half as much as U-Haul. Yea, God!!! Thanks to a family in the church, we will be able to pick up the trailer early next week and haul it with us on the 21st.
This next week will be a difficult one for us as we will be saying good-bye to family and friends. We are bringing a web cam with us to keep in contact via the internet from time to time. If you have Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger, let us know. Don't forget, our email address is: weheartno@gmail.com.
Until next time...
Monday, October 1, 2007
Great Garage Sale and Google Group
Hello everyone.
We had a garage sale this past Saturday and it went really well. We had a constant flow of customers. Amy and I had several opportunities to share with our neighbors and others what we're going to be doing for the next couple years. We made a significant amount of money, around $400, and got rid of a lot of stuff. What we didn't sell, we donated to Goodwill. Over all, I'd say it was a success. Many thanks to all that helped out on Saturday or donated items to be sold.
We had our second renter move in on Thursday last week. It's been a bit of a transition, but we were able to get him moved into our room. Amy and I have been staying at my mom's house at night, and spending the daytime at the house, getting ready to move.
You may have received an email from me or Google, asking you to join our Google group. We set this up so that we could email each person on our list individually and avoid the email system from spamming our emails. There is nothing you need to do beyond joining the group with your email address. You will then start receiving emails from the group instead of from me. You won't have to go and check the group or anything. Please email us if you have a questions or concerns about this.
Lastly, our prayer requests for this week. Amy and I will be traveling to her parents house in the quad cities this coming weekend. Please pray for safe travels. Also, it's becoming a bit overwhelming with all that's going on, our house is a mess with stuff in limbo, etc... please be praying for our spirits, our relationship with one another, and that we would not feel so overwhelmed that we feel defeated.
We had a garage sale this past Saturday and it went really well. We had a constant flow of customers. Amy and I had several opportunities to share with our neighbors and others what we're going to be doing for the next couple years. We made a significant amount of money, around $400, and got rid of a lot of stuff. What we didn't sell, we donated to Goodwill. Over all, I'd say it was a success. Many thanks to all that helped out on Saturday or donated items to be sold.
We had our second renter move in on Thursday last week. It's been a bit of a transition, but we were able to get him moved into our room. Amy and I have been staying at my mom's house at night, and spending the daytime at the house, getting ready to move.
You may have received an email from me or Google, asking you to join our Google group. We set this up so that we could email each person on our list individually and avoid the email system from spamming our emails. There is nothing you need to do beyond joining the group with your email address. You will then start receiving emails from the group instead of from me. You won't have to go and check the group or anything. Please email us if you have a questions or concerns about this.
Lastly, our prayer requests for this week. Amy and I will be traveling to her parents house in the quad cities this coming weekend. Please pray for safe travels. Also, it's becoming a bit overwhelming with all that's going on, our house is a mess with stuff in limbo, etc... please be praying for our spirits, our relationship with one another, and that we would not feel so overwhelmed that we feel defeated.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Praise and Prayer
We returned Friday from the Strategic Planning meetings for TouchGlobal Crisis Response staff, held at Trinity Church in Covington, Louisiana. While down there, we were told we needed to set a date to move as the need is great for us to be there. I will be the Media/Communications Manager with the responsibilities of maintaining the Katrina Project website, updating and editing the Relief Cast monthly newsletter, and contacting 150 new churches in the next year to promote awareness and encourage participation in the relief efforts. I will also be the On-boarding Coordinator responsible for connecting with new missionaries to Covington/New Orleans pre-deployment, providing them with resources to connect them with the missionary staff and the local church, and to pray with them as they make the transition. Phil will be working with supplies/tools and will also be a Field Coach to come alongside new missionaries in helping them assimilate to their new lives in Louisiana. That being said, we are moving to Covington, Louisiana on Sunday, October 21st. (Phil’s 28th birthday)
We are bringing a team with us from Lakeland EFC to serve that week in Covington/New Orleans. If you are interested, please contact us as soon as possible so we can get you connected with a team.
God has made it clear to us that this date is the one he wants us to move on. We are trusting Him that He will provide the financial support that we need committed in the next four weeks in order to make this move. We have seen God’s direction and provision with clarity and He has answered our prayers. Praise God! Within 24 hours of flying down to New Orleans, we had two more monthly supporters and 1 additional renter with another possible renter as well. God has provided!
Thursday morning on our way to the airport, I got really car sick. By the time we checked our bag and checked in, I felt worse. Walking made me sick. We decided it would be best to not fly out and to wait until I was feeling better. I was also having a terrible headache…extreme pain. I had been having headaches for two weeks straight with little to no relief. I woke up with one and went to bed with one.
Seven hours and two Dramamine later, we began to look into our travel options. Phil was told at the airport that it was going to cost $100/person to change our flights. He called the airline and they said it was going to be $176/person to fly out Friday. That would cost us over $350 that we weren’t prepared for. Phil then started to call car rental companies to see about renting a car and driving straight through the night. That would’ve cost ½ as much, but neither one of us were up to pulling an all-night driving marathon, plus we could only rent a vehicle from one airport and drop it off at another.
We decided that we would just eat the cost and pray that God would provide. As Phil once again called the airline, he prayed and asked God to intervene. He asked that God would provide the finances to cover the extra cost. Phil booked us on the first Friday flight to Chicago. Then I saw him kicking his feet in excitement as the person he spoke with told him the cost. He got off of the phone to tell me the good news. It was only going to cost $25/person to change our flight. YEA, GOD! There is no explanation other than God providing for us and hearing our prayers.
We also humbly ask for prayer and financial support to help us be the Hands and Feet of Christ in serving Him by serving others as missionaries. If you have pledged to support us and have sent in your donation, please let us know as this past week we learned that if you do not designate correctly on a check which name and account # you are donating to, the support does not get applied to the correct account. Once a donation is made, you will receive a receipt in the mail with another envelope to continue to send in the monthly support. You can also look at the options to donate support on the right-hand side of our blog. We are updating our blog weekly, sometimes daily. Please visit for current prayer requests and updates of what the Lord is doing. http://www.iheartno.blogspot.com/
Please email us and feel free to forward this email to anyone that you think may want to join our prayer or financial support base. weheartno@gmail.com
God Bless and Bless God!
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Amy (for Phil and Amy Stokes)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Greetings from New Orleans; part II
The last couple days have been pretty productive days. Praise the Lord for the work we were able to accomplish. It was really good to get some background on the ministry were are going to be working with and also talk about this coming year. It was good to take a look back and see what has been going on here with the staff. It is really cool seeing how God has been making Himself more real to them, but also revealing to them ways they can continue to move forward more efficiently.
In the past few days we were told to set a date to move down here and to do it. Really cool news but a huge leap of faith on our end. We've been waiting for this date for sometime now, and after much praying and planning and seeking the Lord and changing plans and so on... OCT 21, 2007!! We are so excited about this. On one hand, we now have a deadline to raise support, get the house packed up, etc... and that can be stressful. On the other hand, it's a huge relief!
We are planning to bring a team down with us that week. If you are interested in joining us for that, please let us know as soon as possible.
If you are interested in supporting us prayerfully and/or financially, please let us know. There is a place on the right of our blog to donate online or set up a bank EFT withdrawal.
Thanks again for your love, prayer and support!
In the past few days we were told to set a date to move down here and to do it. Really cool news but a huge leap of faith on our end. We've been waiting for this date for sometime now, and after much praying and planning and seeking the Lord and changing plans and so on... OCT 21, 2007!! We are so excited about this. On one hand, we now have a deadline to raise support, get the house packed up, etc... and that can be stressful. On the other hand, it's a huge relief!
We are planning to bring a team down with us that week. If you are interested in joining us for that, please let us know as soon as possible.
If you are interested in supporting us prayerfully and/or financially, please let us know. There is a place on the right of our blog to donate online or set up a bank EFT withdrawal.
Thanks again for your love, prayer and support!
Greetings from New Orleans
Hello everybody! First of all, I want to thank all of you for your prayers. Our travels yesterday were not only safe, but somewhat enjoyable. We made it through airport security at O'Hare in about 3 minutes. Upon our arrival to baggage claim in New Orleans, our bags were one of the first out. Our ride arrived about ten minutes later, and we were off! Amazing.
Well, as we prepare to meet this morning, we ask that you would be praying for our time. That it would be encouraging, insightful, and productive. Most of all, pray that the Lord would be in our midst.
Also to note, we got word from back home that a second renter will be moving in in the next weeks! Praise the Lord. There is a possible third renter that was looking at the place last night. Please continue to lift this up in prayer.
I will be updating here daily this week, so please check back often.
If you are interested in supporting us prayerfully or financially, please email us:
weheartno@gmail.com
Well, as we prepare to meet this morning, we ask that you would be praying for our time. That it would be encouraging, insightful, and productive. Most of all, pray that the Lord would be in our midst.
Also to note, we got word from back home that a second renter will be moving in in the next weeks! Praise the Lord. There is a possible third renter that was looking at the place last night. Please continue to lift this up in prayer.
I will be updating here daily this week, so please check back often.
If you are interested in supporting us prayerfully or financially, please email us:
weheartno@gmail.com
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Still Pluggin' Along
I was thinking back on this week, I first thought that not much had changed or happened since our last post. How easily we forget how God sustains us.
I'll start with this weekend. Amy's folks were here with her brother, Matt, and his kids, Isaac and Taylor. We had a pretty good time with them. Our focus was to get some stuff done around the house to shore up some small issues. We were able to get most of the list completed, and than some! We recently had some water in our basement that did a little more damage than it normally does. The water doesn't come in through the foundation, but rather the window wells. Our goal was to seal off the windows in question. We considered a couple of options and settled on 3/4 inch pressure treated plywood. In the midst of pre-drilling holes in the metal, my drill bit found its way into Amy's dad's little finger, fracturing the bone, and possibly leaving a little metal behind. OUCH! After a couple hours in an immediate care facility near our house, we were on the way back home, finger splinted and wrapped. Needless to say, we took it a little easier the next day. Please be praying for continued healing for his finger and comfort as that process takes it course.
We found out this week that the mission board at our church is going to support us in our trip to New Orleans for the Strategic Planning meeting. Thank you all for you prayers in this area. We really appreciate and rely on your prayer support.
We are still working through some paper work. We sent in the most important forms, but need to finish that early this week. We are hoping to hear from EFCA about our health insurance. At this point, we don't know where or how this need will be met, but we are confident in our Lord, that He will take care of this. Please pray with us regarding this issue.
No update on the roommate situation. Please continue to pray, not only for the probable roommate, but also for one more.
We are planning on a yard sale in the near future (maybe next Saturday). If you are interested in helping with this (set-up, tear-down, etc...) please email us. We'll contact you when we know the date! We may also need some help during the week before the sale to organize and price the items. This is a two-tier deal. We are trying to downsize as well as make some money.
Lastly, we have been blessed by the support we've raised. As we posted last week, we have some goals for support raising. As a response to that post, we now have 1-$100, 1-$50, & 2-$25 supporters. Each of these is per month! Thank you all so much. If you are interested in supporting us at one of these pledge levels or making a one time donation, or interested in becoming prayer supporters, please let us know by email.
Moving forward, this week Thursday, we will be meeting with the elders at our church to talk about our plans. Also, next Sunday will be the congregational business meeting at Lakeland. The main focus of this time will be the new mission statement, which I believe is a great step in the life of the church. Also discussed will be the upcoming budget. Please pray for these meeting this week. Pray for wisdom of the elders and others in this coming week.
Thanks again to all of you for your support. Please continue to pray.
weheartno@gmail.com
I'll start with this weekend. Amy's folks were here with her brother, Matt, and his kids, Isaac and Taylor. We had a pretty good time with them. Our focus was to get some stuff done around the house to shore up some small issues. We were able to get most of the list completed, and than some! We recently had some water in our basement that did a little more damage than it normally does. The water doesn't come in through the foundation, but rather the window wells. Our goal was to seal off the windows in question. We considered a couple of options and settled on 3/4 inch pressure treated plywood. In the midst of pre-drilling holes in the metal, my drill bit found its way into Amy's dad's little finger, fracturing the bone, and possibly leaving a little metal behind. OUCH! After a couple hours in an immediate care facility near our house, we were on the way back home, finger splinted and wrapped. Needless to say, we took it a little easier the next day. Please be praying for continued healing for his finger and comfort as that process takes it course.
We found out this week that the mission board at our church is going to support us in our trip to New Orleans for the Strategic Planning meeting. Thank you all for you prayers in this area. We really appreciate and rely on your prayer support.
We are still working through some paper work. We sent in the most important forms, but need to finish that early this week. We are hoping to hear from EFCA about our health insurance. At this point, we don't know where or how this need will be met, but we are confident in our Lord, that He will take care of this. Please pray with us regarding this issue.
No update on the roommate situation. Please continue to pray, not only for the probable roommate, but also for one more.
We are planning on a yard sale in the near future (maybe next Saturday). If you are interested in helping with this (set-up, tear-down, etc...) please email us. We'll contact you when we know the date! We may also need some help during the week before the sale to organize and price the items. This is a two-tier deal. We are trying to downsize as well as make some money.
Lastly, we have been blessed by the support we've raised. As we posted last week, we have some goals for support raising. As a response to that post, we now have 1-$100, 1-$50, & 2-$25 supporters. Each of these is per month! Thank you all so much. If you are interested in supporting us at one of these pledge levels or making a one time donation, or interested in becoming prayer supporters, please let us know by email.
Moving forward, this week Thursday, we will be meeting with the elders at our church to talk about our plans. Also, next Sunday will be the congregational business meeting at Lakeland. The main focus of this time will be the new mission statement, which I believe is a great step in the life of the church. Also discussed will be the upcoming budget. Please pray for these meeting this week. Pray for wisdom of the elders and others in this coming week.
Thanks again to all of you for your support. Please continue to pray.
weheartno@gmail.com
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Pledging/Support Raising
We received our acceptance package this week. We now have our donor # and address to send support. It will be listed below in the Strategic Planning blog. Right now, we do not have the ability to accept pledges to be sent to the EFCA, however, in order to get some indication of where we need to go with our support-raising, we have come up with an idea that will help us track where we are at.
We set a few goals in regards to monthly pledges and one-time donations for support. At first we were hesitant in setting these, but are trusting that the Lord will provide. Our first goal is for 10 people/families to pledge $100/month for a minimum of 1 year. (We would like to be there for 2 years, but realize we should make that decision prayerfully after being there at least a few months.)
Our second goal is for 20 people/families to pledge $50/month for a minimum of 1 year. Our third goal is for 40 people/families to pledge $25/month for a minimum of 1 year. One-time donations will also be gladly accepted and can be sent right away to the EFCA address listed below.
If we reach our first 2 goals, we will have enough support pledged/raised to be able to deploy to New Orleans. Please prayerfully consider one of these opportunities to support us. If you are interested in pledging support, please email us at: weheartno@gmail.com, and we will get you the necessary information as soon as it is available to us.
The Lord has blessed us indeed with a great prayer support base! Thank you! Please continue to pray for this time of transition for us and for the hearts of those we will come in contact with while in New Orleans. May HIS name be known to all the nations!
We set a few goals in regards to monthly pledges and one-time donations for support. At first we were hesitant in setting these, but are trusting that the Lord will provide. Our first goal is for 10 people/families to pledge $100/month for a minimum of 1 year. (We would like to be there for 2 years, but realize we should make that decision prayerfully after being there at least a few months.)
Our second goal is for 20 people/families to pledge $50/month for a minimum of 1 year. Our third goal is for 40 people/families to pledge $25/month for a minimum of 1 year. One-time donations will also be gladly accepted and can be sent right away to the EFCA address listed below.
If we reach our first 2 goals, we will have enough support pledged/raised to be able to deploy to New Orleans. Please prayerfully consider one of these opportunities to support us. If you are interested in pledging support, please email us at: weheartno@gmail.com, and we will get you the necessary information as soon as it is available to us.
The Lord has blessed us indeed with a great prayer support base! Thank you! Please continue to pray for this time of transition for us and for the hearts of those we will come in contact with while in New Orleans. May HIS name be known to all the nations!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Fund Raising for Strategic Planning
Hello everybody. We wanted to post an update on our situation. We've been really encouraged about the work God is doing in our lives. I shared last week that we needed to sell our 2nd car. Well, after a couple of set backs, it looks like we'll be able to sell that car to my dad! We've also had some exciting news regarding another renter. He's about 95% sure of moving in around October. Please continue to pray for these things. Though we have people in place, we understand things happen, so we don't want to get our hopes up, but we're encouraged all the same that our Lord is providing for our needs!
I also shared last week that we were planning to attend the Strategic Planning meeting in N.O. in two weeks. Amy had a wonderful idea to raise funds to pay for plane tickets. Her and a few girls from the youth group were able to make a about 50 of the bracelets (pictured above) . We started selling them at youth group on Friday night. There is a suggested donation of $5 for them and it's worked out really well! We are certainly on our way. We've raised almost $100 of the $400 we need to pay for the plane tickets. We are thinking of giving bracelets to all of our supporters. We hope it would serve, not only as a reminder to our supporters to remember us in their prayers, but also as a conversation-starter with their friends and families.
Please continue to pray for us as the Lord brings us through this transition. We long to fully rely on Him, knowing that we can't do it on our own. Please ask the Lord to be working in us in this way.
We are compiling a list of names and email addresses of those who wish to support us financially and those who commit to praying for us every week. If you would like to be on that list, please email us at: weheartno@gmail.com
I also shared last week that we were planning to attend the Strategic Planning meeting in N.O. in two weeks. Amy had a wonderful idea to raise funds to pay for plane tickets. Her and a few girls from the youth group were able to make a about 50 of the bracelets (pictured above) . We started selling them at youth group on Friday night. There is a suggested donation of $5 for them and it's worked out really well! We are certainly on our way. We've raised almost $100 of the $400 we need to pay for the plane tickets. We are thinking of giving bracelets to all of our supporters. We hope it would serve, not only as a reminder to our supporters to remember us in their prayers, but also as a conversation-starter with their friends and families.
Please continue to pray for us as the Lord brings us through this transition. We long to fully rely on Him, knowing that we can't do it on our own. Please ask the Lord to be working in us in this way.
We are compiling a list of names and email addresses of those who wish to support us financially and those who commit to praying for us every week. If you would like to be on that list, please email us at: weheartno@gmail.com
Please send one-time donations to:
EFCA Donor Services
901 E 78 ST
Minneapolis, MN 55420
*Make check payable to EFCA and include the donor # 1562 in the memo section of the check.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Time to start packing!!
We've been waiting for this moment for quite some time and we are finally approved! We got the email Thursday. I've been meaning to update this, but just haven't had the time. So here it goes.
After an extensive application process that we've shared here before, we had a final phone interview on Tuesday the 14th. The person that interviewed us actually went to college with Amy. He is one of three that interview potential missionaries. The others were out of town; one in Asia, the other in Peru. Well, as you may have heard, there were some serious earthquakes in Peru... the next day. He was OK, but this delayed their decision a bit. They also wanted to clarify some of my theology. This also delayed their decision. Finally last Thursday, we received the news that we were official.
Thanks you all for your prayer and support through this process. Our next steps will be raising our financial and further prayer support. We need to have/ have committed 50% of our monthly budget for deployment. We think that our budget will be around $4,000 per month. We are also still looking for more renters for our house. Seth (the youth pastor from Lakeland) has been staying with us and will continue to stay here while we're gone. He's been looking for roommates and has some good prospects in mind. To ease a little of the burden on him, we are also looking for a handyman to help us fix the house if anything happens while we're gone. We are also looking for someone to buy our 2nd car from us.
These are some of the long term things we'll be looking to take care of. We do have an immediate need as well. There is an annual strategic planning meeting that is going to happen in New Orleans on September 18-19. We don't think we'll be ready to move there by then, but our attendance was requested and we think it would be important for us to be there. We're looking for plane tickets and the cheapest we've found was $199/per person round trip.
Please join us in praying for these things. Also, as we make the transition, continue to pray for God to use this time to grow us closer to HIM and to each other. As you can probably imagine, it's a big step to move away from all you've known. It can be pretty scary. Pray that God would continue to prepare us for this, and continue to provide for us in this time.
We are compiling a list of names and email addresses of those who wish to support us financially and those who commit to praying for us every week. If you would like to be on that list, please email us. weheartno@gmail.com
After an extensive application process that we've shared here before, we had a final phone interview on Tuesday the 14th. The person that interviewed us actually went to college with Amy. He is one of three that interview potential missionaries. The others were out of town; one in Asia, the other in Peru. Well, as you may have heard, there were some serious earthquakes in Peru... the next day. He was OK, but this delayed their decision a bit. They also wanted to clarify some of my theology. This also delayed their decision. Finally last Thursday, we received the news that we were official.
Thanks you all for your prayer and support through this process. Our next steps will be raising our financial and further prayer support. We need to have/ have committed 50% of our monthly budget for deployment. We think that our budget will be around $4,000 per month. We are also still looking for more renters for our house. Seth (the youth pastor from Lakeland) has been staying with us and will continue to stay here while we're gone. He's been looking for roommates and has some good prospects in mind. To ease a little of the burden on him, we are also looking for a handyman to help us fix the house if anything happens while we're gone. We are also looking for someone to buy our 2nd car from us.
These are some of the long term things we'll be looking to take care of. We do have an immediate need as well. There is an annual strategic planning meeting that is going to happen in New Orleans on September 18-19. We don't think we'll be ready to move there by then, but our attendance was requested and we think it would be important for us to be there. We're looking for plane tickets and the cheapest we've found was $199/per person round trip.
Please join us in praying for these things. Also, as we make the transition, continue to pray for God to use this time to grow us closer to HIM and to each other. As you can probably imagine, it's a big step to move away from all you've known. It can be pretty scary. Pray that God would continue to prepare us for this, and continue to provide for us in this time.
We are compiling a list of names and email addresses of those who wish to support us financially and those who commit to praying for us every week. If you would like to be on that list, please email us. weheartno@gmail.com
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Urgent Prayer Requests
This week has been a trying one, but the Lord has been faithful! We wanted to share a couple prayer concerns that are on our hearts right now. Please join us in lifting these up to the Lord. It is our intent to be honest with you all about what we are struggling with, rejoicing in, and experiencing as we seek to follow the Lord's leading for our lives...
Last Monday on the way to work, Phil was in a car accident. No one was injured, but our car got pretty smashed up in the front. Thankfully it was all cosmetic and we will be getting it back, all repaired, sometime next week. Praise God no one was seriously injured! However, the accident has activated an old injury that Phil had. He hurt his back at work several years ago and wasn't able to work for 9 months. Last week, his back started to hurt again after the accident and the pain has not been alleviated as of yet. Please pray that the Lord would heal his back and make him free of pain.
Now, even more personal, we also ask that you please lift up Amy's brother's family in prayer. Without going into any in-depth details, Satan is attacking them. Please pray that her brother would be strong in the Lord during this difficult time and that his wife would be given Spiritual wisdom and truth that only comes from the Lord and that they both will experience the love God chose to give them; the love for His bride, the reason His son shed his blood, the love they committed to share together when they took their wedding vows. Please pray that the Lord would rescue their marriage. They have two young children. This is why what is happening with them saddens our hearts the most! Please pray that during this time of spiritual war, their children will still see the joy of the Lord and that their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs from their parents will be met. We know that Amy's brother is a believer and he really needs the strong support of other believers praying alongside him right now.
This has all weighed heavily on Amy as it is difficult thinking about moving further away while this is going on at home. Please pray for peace of mind for her and her trusting the Lord.
Thank you all for reading this and for joining us in prayer. We hope to find out about our approval to New Orleans within the next week or so and will let you know when and what we find out.
Last Monday on the way to work, Phil was in a car accident. No one was injured, but our car got pretty smashed up in the front. Thankfully it was all cosmetic and we will be getting it back, all repaired, sometime next week. Praise God no one was seriously injured! However, the accident has activated an old injury that Phil had. He hurt his back at work several years ago and wasn't able to work for 9 months. Last week, his back started to hurt again after the accident and the pain has not been alleviated as of yet. Please pray that the Lord would heal his back and make him free of pain.
Now, even more personal, we also ask that you please lift up Amy's brother's family in prayer. Without going into any in-depth details, Satan is attacking them. Please pray that her brother would be strong in the Lord during this difficult time and that his wife would be given Spiritual wisdom and truth that only comes from the Lord and that they both will experience the love God chose to give them; the love for His bride, the reason His son shed his blood, the love they committed to share together when they took their wedding vows. Please pray that the Lord would rescue their marriage. They have two young children. This is why what is happening with them saddens our hearts the most! Please pray that during this time of spiritual war, their children will still see the joy of the Lord and that their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs from their parents will be met. We know that Amy's brother is a believer and he really needs the strong support of other believers praying alongside him right now.
This has all weighed heavily on Amy as it is difficult thinking about moving further away while this is going on at home. Please pray for peace of mind for her and her trusting the Lord.
Thank you all for reading this and for joining us in prayer. We hope to find out about our approval to New Orleans within the next week or so and will let you know when and what we find out.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Welcome everybody
Hi Everyone in Internet land. This is Phil. We've been wanting to put something on here for a while, but just haven't had the time. Work has been really busy.
Our applications are in and references are being processed. We're really excited. I got a phone call from the director of the Crisis Response ministry that we might be working with in New Orleans, Mark Lewis. He was in the area and wanted to get together. We met up for coffee and had a chance to catch up.
It seems to me that every time I get discouraged (doubting whether we should go, wondering if we would make a difference, etc...) I get a phone call or email, or something that totally encourages me that God is in control and that He is truly leading His people... whether they want to or not!!
I left feeling really excited and encouraged. When I got in the car, Moody radio was on. Having an iPod, I rarely listen to the radio, but for some reason I had it on. Listening and thinking about some stuff we still need to do before we leave, I heard them mention something about Katrina relief in New Orleans. Of course, my ears perked.
After a few commercials, Greg Wheatly from Prime-time America introduced Pastor Michael Sprague from Trinity Church in Covington, LA!! It was really neat hearing Pastor Michael, a man that I've met and talked with and been so encouraged by in the past, talking on the radio!! Not only that, but talking about some of the very things, Mark and I had just talked about. Here's the link: go to 1:31:00. That should be about where Pastor Michael is introduced. mbn.org/ContentStore/ProgAudioArchives/2007-07-19_Prime_Time_America.asx
I have really enjoyed talking with people about the work we will be doing in New Orleans. It's surprising to them that people still need to go down there and help. It's so far removed from the headlines and overshadowed by "more important" news. Most people could tell me more about Paris Hilton's prison term than the work that still needs to be done in New Orleans (I'm ranting... sorry). Anyway... I was really excited to hear someone else say "there's still a need". And it's a big one. Please take a few minutes to look around the efca.org/katrina link on the right. There is some valuable information on their website. Also, if you are interested in supporting us in any way, please let us know.
Our applications are in and references are being processed. We're really excited. I got a phone call from the director of the Crisis Response ministry that we might be working with in New Orleans, Mark Lewis. He was in the area and wanted to get together. We met up for coffee and had a chance to catch up.
It seems to me that every time I get discouraged (doubting whether we should go, wondering if we would make a difference, etc...) I get a phone call or email, or something that totally encourages me that God is in control and that He is truly leading His people... whether they want to or not!!
I left feeling really excited and encouraged. When I got in the car, Moody radio was on. Having an iPod, I rarely listen to the radio, but for some reason I had it on. Listening and thinking about some stuff we still need to do before we leave, I heard them mention something about Katrina relief in New Orleans. Of course, my ears perked.
After a few commercials, Greg Wheatly from Prime-time America introduced Pastor Michael Sprague from Trinity Church in Covington, LA!! It was really neat hearing Pastor Michael, a man that I've met and talked with and been so encouraged by in the past, talking on the radio!! Not only that, but talking about some of the very things, Mark and I had just talked about. Here's the link: go to 1:31:00. That should be about where Pastor Michael is introduced. mbn.org/ContentStore/ProgAudioArchives/2007-07-19_Prime_Time_America.asx
I have really enjoyed talking with people about the work we will be doing in New Orleans. It's surprising to them that people still need to go down there and help. It's so far removed from the headlines and overshadowed by "more important" news. Most people could tell me more about Paris Hilton's prison term than the work that still needs to be done in New Orleans (I'm ranting... sorry). Anyway... I was really excited to hear someone else say "there's still a need". And it's a big one. Please take a few minutes to look around the efca.org/katrina link on the right. There is some valuable information on their website. Also, if you are interested in supporting us in any way, please let us know.
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