A Lakeland Reunion...in NOLA

We were surprised by a familiar face at Trinity Church on Tuesday night. Some of you Lakeland folks might recognize the guy in the middle. That's Cabot Ashwill. He's here serving with his church from northern California. His team is staying in the city this week.

We had a good time catching up with him and hearing some of the great things TouchGlobal is involved with overseas, especially in the Congo.
As I mentioned in the last post, we're getting ready for some time off next week. We'll try to get our stuff in order and get ready for the teams coming in March and April. We need to get just a couple of things done, like cleaning out the car and some stuff around the house. Most of all, we're looking forward to spending some good time together.

Our team is saying good bye to a couple of fellow staff members this week. Aaron was in charge of the tools and supplies up at Trinity for the last several months. His commitment is up at the end of this week. He'll be heading back to Denver, CO. He's really excited about what God is doing in that city and he's hoping to be a part of that. Please pray for his ministry to continue in the Denver area.

Kevin and Babette are heading back home as well. They are currently in the application process to serve as long-term staff with Crisis Response. Kevin served as a Construction Site Supervisor and Babette worked with the Debriefing team for the past year. Their kids will be going to school in PA and will finish out the year up north. They will probably be back more permanently in just a few months.

Please pray for these people as they transition to a new area. Pray for safety as they travel. Also pray for long-term staff to replace them (in the meantime for Kevin and Babette). We could use someone to take over the tools and supplies area and some people with construction skill to serve for a longer term. If you know of someone that would be interested in serving in this capacity, please have them contact us!

Another Update

Nothing clever is coming to mind for the title. Well, the pink eye cleared up a couple days later. Antibiotics really help those sort of things. Amy's feeling much better. She made the comment that she's feeling more like herself again. That's a good thing.

Learned a lot from Sam last week. We finished the roof we were working on, though we had to tarp it again last Saturday. It appears there's still water coming in one of the corners of the house. We should be able to fix it. It'll just take a little time and effort. There was a team at the other house I was working on in the city (Thrift's) this week, but only for a half day yesterday. We'll have some more people there next week to hang the gutters outside and finish the drywall and start painting inside. I'll be up on the North Shore next week with a couple of teams finishing off some projects we've been working on. Some flooring, painting, and plumbing at two or three different houses.

We're looking forward to some time off the first week of February. We'll use it to re-group, so to speak, and get some rest. We are expecting a lot of volunteers in March and April. Please pray for jobs. We're in the process of scoping and bidding jobs in the city and some on the North Shore for these teams to go to.

Continue to pray for the health of our team and its members, physically, emotionally, and spirtually. Pray for the homeowners and neighbors we're working with now and will be working with, that they would see God through the volunteers that come.

As always, if you would like to join our support team, please email us. There is a link on the right side of the page if you would like to support us financially. Also, if you would like to bring a team, please email us and let us know. We would love to serve with you.

Take care and have a great weekend!
Phil

Wink... if you love pink eye ;)

Hey everyone. Don't know how many of you are winking... I am, because of the itching. I got pink eye some how. Don't know of anyone else that has it right now, but whatever. I'm on antibiotic eye drops. What fun. It just so happened that the symptoms started while I was trying to shingle a roof. That made things interesting. Should be better in a couple of days.

I'm working with a guy named Sam this week. He's our only volunteer at Trinity this week. He's a building inspector from Maryland. He really knows a lot and has been teaching me as much as I can learn. We've been roofing an addition that we're building for a family at the church. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so we'll be at Trinity building a wall in the church nursery.

The team from Wyoming finished the roof and got a lot of drywall done in the house I'm overseeing in the city. This week, there's a team from Dixon, IL at the house. They are staying down in the city. One of the guys is really good at drywalling. They should be able to finish a big chunk of it this week. (It's a good sign when the team is getting the stilts ready to mud and tape!)

Amy's feeling a little up and down. She feels good one minute and cruddy the next. Keep praying for her. And also pray for my learning. I'm confident I'll get it, it just takes some time. Continue praying for skilled volunteers and more full-time staff with construction experience. We have some guys leaving and we're looking to God to fill the openings. We're sure that He will.

Leaning on our Savior,
Phil ( for Phil and Amy)

Thank You, Supporters!

Hey everyone! Greetings from a soggy New Orleans.

We just received our donor report from the EFCA. We are just blown away by how God works through this support raising process. We have now raised just over 30% of our needed funding to be here in New Orleans. This is because you have been faithful to God's call in supporting us. We really appreciate all that you give and thanks for continuing to pray for us. If you aren't already supporting us, either financially or prayerfully, and would like to, please let us know. There is a link on the right side of this page, about half way down, that has more information on giving.

It's been a pretty good week for me so far. We have a team here from Wyoming working on the house I'm supervising. They are great. Ten guys with great skill. They are just about done with the roof (should finish this week if the rain holds off!) and the drywall inside is moving right along. There are nine people coming next week and they have all said they're pretty good with drywall, both hanging and finishing. I'm pretty excited to see how that works out. There's still a lot that needs to be done inside and outside the house, but we take it one project at a time. I'll keep you updated.

Amy is still recovering. She has a doctor appointment today just to follow up and see how she's progressing. There is another staff member here that also has been diagnosed with pneumonia. It starts as a cold and progresses. It's our latest "staph" infection with about 3-4 people affected. Please continue to pray for the physical health of our staff, as well as emotional and spiritual.

Much needed update

Thanks to everyone praying for Amy and I. She's feeling a little better. She's been coughing a lot. We're hoping she starts feeling better soon. My back is feeling OK right now. We had a team here from PA. They Did a great job on the drywall job we're working on. I learned a few little shortcuts and I'm excited to get back at on Monday morning. At that same house another church from Vancouver worked on the roof... to make sure the rain didn't ruin the drywall we just put up. They were able to get a lot done in a short amount of time. It was good to get back to work after not having teams the last couple weeks, even though I spent most of the week trying to knock the rust off, if you know what I mean. We are now getting word that there will be over 130 people here each week in March! We are still in need of a bunch of volunteers, especially with construction experience. Again, if you or someone you know would like to come and serve, please let us know. Even if you or someone you know doesn't know that they would like to come and serve, let us know. We have some "techniques". ;)

We're gearing up for a New Year's Party this weekend. We know... New Year's has already happened, but we all had to work the next day, so not many of us were able to really celebrate. So we'll count down just before 10pm Saturday night, Jan 5th. Good times.

Please keep in touch. We LOVE hearing from you guys, either by comments on the blog or emails, or whatever. It really encourages us and brightens our days. You don't have to be profound, just a quick hello and how things are going in your life is great. Also, please keep praying. We're getting more settled in our roles, but there is still some adjustments being made, and as I mentioned in previous posts, we feel under attack from time to time, so continue to pray that we would be protected from those attacks. Most of all, be praying that through the work we are doing here and the work the volunteers are doing, that God's glory would be seen in us and through us and that His Kingdom would go forth. Hope to hear from you soon!

Phil

Oh, one more thing. Amy and I had intended on sending out Christmas cards this year, but do to a system problem in MN, we weren't able to get addresses and cards sent out in time. We apologize and want to let you know that we are really grateful for your love, support, and prayers during this time. God bless you all!