Sorry... I know it's been a while

A whole week! It seems like longer. It's been a kinda strange week. Amy really felt a burden to be at home with her family last week, so she got on a plane last Saturday and has been hanging out with her family for the last week. She'll return March 11. It's hard being apart. We really miss having each other around. Things have been pretty good besides.

We started work on a church in the city this week. It's called Rock of Ages Baptist Church. If I heard right, they were a congregation of 250 before the storm, now down to 25. They have continued to meet in other churches and have stayed in contact with the community around the church. I've heard a lot about the people in the community being really excited about getting the church back in the neighborhood. We were asked to come in and hang drywall. The church had been gutted sometime ago. This isn't the first time we've sent teams to the church, however. A church from Naperville, IL replaced the roof a while ago (at least this is what I've heard). There were 30 volunteers working there this past week, representing 3 churches. A team from California, Pennsylvania, and North Dakota/Minnesota. There were 3 builders on the teams there so it made my job a lot easier. There were 3 or 4 crews all hanging drywall in different parts of the church. Some of them had never hung a sheet of drywall. By the end of the week, they were calling the shots! Others were installing insulation, others scraping walls and floors, others fixing some of the framing studs in the basement. They even built a wall in the kitchen that will act as a serving window. It was really cool to see all those people working together. Some that hadn't met before this week. They worked really hard and got more accomplished than I anticipated. They completed all but the walls of the sanctuary and a few pieces on the ceiling of the sanctuary. They even had time to put the first coat of mud on in the classrooms. "It's an awe-some spec-ta-cle." We're excited to have 15 more volunteers working there next week from Amy's alma mater, Trinity International University.

Please continue to pray for us as we're apart. Pray for unity and communication in our team as we look to having 1100 volunteers in the next 6 weeks. Pray for the homeowners and people in the communities where we are working. Pray for the teams that are coming to help in the next weeks. Pray that God would be glorified by our actions, words, and thoughts.

Thanks for reading, We look forward to hearing your comments. Also, there is a group on facebook.com called "I served with EFCA Crisis Response". If you've served with us, and you're on facebook, please join. It's a great place to post pictures, stories, videos, etc and keep in touch with others that have served here in NOLA.

Phil

God Provides Exactly What We Need

I wanted to share a cool story from a couple of weeks ago of how God provided financially for Phil and I.

The background...In January, we found out that we had a third renter on our house back home. Then the third renter moved out two weeks later. We found out the dishwasher broke in that house and that the pipes had to be roto-rootered so there was some part and labor costs that we would need to somehow cover.

In December, Phil received a speeding ticket on the Causeway...which some down here say that you're baptized into Louisiana by receiving one of those tickets. The ticket was to cost $200!

Two weeks ago I had a hair disaster. I had dyed my hair a reddish color that should have washed out in December. It didn't. I decided to dye my hair lighter because the lighter my hair is, the less I can see that my hair is thinning. Well, it turned out a neon orange! I found someone who could work on my hair on a Sunday, a local lady. She was very friendly and very helpful. Then she said it was going to cost $75! Not what I was expecting at all.

Later on that week, I was beginning to feel the stress of the financial burdens we had put on ourselves. I wasn't going to ask God for help because of my shame in our decisions and my pride. However, that Thursday morning I swallowed my pride and asked God to bless us financially so we could afford to buy groceries for the next week. The next week the ministry was going to be closed which meant we couldn't go to the church for our meals. I had asked God for a certain dollar amount, but said that He knew exactly how much we needed so that I trusted Him with that. I told Him that I don't know where the $ would come from but that He would just somehow miraculously provide for our needs.

Well, later on that day I spent time with a lovely lady from a church in Maryland. She is very lively and I was encouraged by her positive outlook on being here. I shared my hair story with her. She said that she woke up that morning and felt led to give a donation to Phil and I. What?!? The next day she handed Phil $100 cash.

Saturday we went to the grocery store. While in line, I had Phil bring a few items back and knew that we had everything we needed. The cashier said our total was $98.30! Not only did God bless us, he blessed us in abundance. I still have the $1.70 in my purse today. :)

Last night Phil went to traffic court for his ticket, and praise God!!! It got thrown out!

I'm just thankful that God continues to provide, hears my prayers, and teaches me daily to rely on Him. I need to not worry about things. He knows what I need before I even ask.

Great week off!

As many of you know, we had this last week off to regroup and refresh before the spring rush. I'm happy to report that the week was pretty refreshing. Amy and I just hung out most of the week. We had no specific plans set and just went into each day not sure what we were going to do.

We had some friends over for the Super Bowl on Sunday, Monday we worked on a table for our deck out back. We had the chairs already and had got a table off "free-cycle". It's a yahoo group where people from certain areas post offers and requests for items. The key is that everything is free for the taking.

Fat Tuesday we went to a parade on St. Charles St. In the city. The weather was beautiful. Amy and I and a couple of friends were there for the last half of the parade, but even that was about three hours long. We were exhausted and a little sunburned after that, so we went home and relaxed the rest of the day.

Wednesday we caught a movie and that night we went to a friends house for a fish fry. He had caught some catfish and red fish from Lake Pontchartrain and fried it up for us. We finished out the night with some Apples to Apples. Great game. You should play sometime!

Thursday and the first part of Friday was all about the last two seasons of Alias. Good show. Funny story. I thought season 4 was the last season, but when we got to the end of the season... huge cliffhanger. I went out to the video store immediately and got the 5th season.

We finished Alias late morning Friday. We then went on a bit of a journey. We just drove around to some places we'd never been before on the north shore. (We found what must be the only hilly roads in Southern LA). It was a lot of fun.

Saturday we picked someone up from the airport and did some yard/thrift store shopping. We got a couple of good deals. Let me tell you... good thrift stores around here are hard to find.

Today we went to church and did some grocery shopping. We're set to go for the next few weeks. On our way home, we saw a bunch of cars parked along the side of the road approaching our house. We asked someone what was going on and learned of another Mardi Gras parade. This one was for our furry friends, though. It was called Mardi Paws. We took Rusty down to the lake front, but quickly realized he wasn't ready for such a big crowd. We went back home and went for a quick bike ride instead. Good times.

Speaking for myself, I'm ready to get back to work. It's been good to have some time off, but I'm really looking forward to having teams here and doing some work.

At the risk of having this post be really long, I'd like to share something with you all. I got an email from a friend back home tonight. She asked some good questions and I'd like to share my response with you. Nothing real profound, but I had to stop and think, especially about the first question. Not that I wouldn't be able to find hard parts of being here, but rather the hardest. The most rewarding question was cool, too. Hadn't really put that into words yet.Amy may share her response to these questions in a future post as well. Check it out.

It sounds like you're doing well down there...what is the hardest part for you? And the most rewarding? Are you missing the Chicagoland area? And how is the job?

Hardest part: When you are a missionary in a “developed” nation, as opposed to a “third-world” country, there are several challenges. Imagine being a true missionary where you live. We live in a pretty affluent part of the area, while nearly 30% of the people in N.O. live in poverty. It’s also tough because, as you know, America is becoming less and less of a God-centered nation. America is the third largest English- speaking mission field. People have either heard it all before and don’t want to hear any more, or they’re already “Christians”.

Most rewarding: People’s lives being changed, including our own. We see on a day-by-day, minute-by-minute basis how God provides. He provides the right people for the right jobs at the right time every time. He provides everything we need for our ministry. It’s really cool to see God answering prayers (sometimes before we pray!)

Missing Chicago: Parts of it. Definitely the people. Not the weather… especially now. It’s in the 70’s here. Who wouldn’t want that? Strange, but I miss the drivers. In Chicago, everyone drives fast and crazy. And that's fine because you can expect it. In the rural parts, everyone drives slow and obeys the laws. And that's fine because you can expect it. Here, you don't know what to expect. Some drive fast, some drive slow. Some fast then change to slow and vice versa. You never really know what anyone’s going to do. Mostly because they don’t use turn signals very often and when they do it's either too early, or too late! I also miss knowing my way around. I’m getting there, but the roads don’t make much sense. Check out a detailed map of N.O. when you get a chance. You’ll see what I mean.

The Job: Well, it’s been rough, but good. I’ve been learning a lot about the construction tasks we do here. It’s coming along. I get through most of the problems that come up, but it’s nice to know I’ve got a great manager available to help me if I need it.

Sorry for the long post. It's been a great week and I really wanted to share that with you all. (notice I didn't say "y'all" there?) Please continue to pray for our ministry here in New Orleans. We have a busy couple of weeks ahead. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Phil

Urgent Prayer Request!

Please lift up Amy's brother Matt and his kids. There are lies and evil prevailing right now concerning him. Please take 5 minutes to lift Matt up and ask God to continue to give him strength. Please pray that God would reveal the truth in this situation and that people's true colors would shine through. Pray that God would judge in his favor and that his innocence would be proven without question.

Please pray for his kids that they would not be harmed by the evil going on, but would see the love they are being shown. Thanks!

Matt, you are being bathed in prayer right now. God is the ultimate judge and he knows the truth.

Psalm 7: 8-10
8 let the LORD judge the peoples.
Judge me(Matt), O LORD, according to my(his) righteousness,
according to my(his) integrity, O Most High.

9 O righteous God,
who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure.

10 My(Matt's) shield is God Most High,
who saves the upright in heart.

AMEN!