One of our dear friends and team members here in LA is very ill. Please pray for her to get better and that the physicians would have an understanding of what is going on and clarity in her treatment.
We're also praying for another car for us to get around while we're here. We are looking for something inexpensive (under $1000) that I can drive to and from the church or whatever.
Thanks, everyone!
Phil
Monday, April 28, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Kind of a rough week
That may be a bit of an understatement. Monday was riddled with problems for the rest of the construction team. My Monday didn't go too bad. It started Tuesday afternoon. I stopped by a job site in the city and ran in to check on a team of plumbers. About 10 minutes later, while walking out to the truck, I heard tires squealing. I had just poked my head out the door and saw the truck pulling out and rounding the corner. I grabbed for my belt loop where I normally keep the keys to the truck... oops. I took off running through a field towards where the truck was going. A neighbor had heard the commotion and came outside to check on it. We hopped into his car and took chase, all the while, updating the police over the phone. Eventually, we spotted the truck. We pursued it for a while, but after about 10 minutes, we lost it for good. The police stopped their search shortly after. It was gone. Along with a bunch of the ministry's tools (brand new Dewalt 18v cordless tool set), my tool belt, camera, iPod, etc. My heart sank. It's gone. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night. Wednesday was without incident, just some processing, which wasn't much fun.
Thursday came about and I needed a truck to haul some materials for Rock of Ages and get the tools. I took the '96 F150 that we call the Spud. It was donated with a bed full of potatoes from Idaho, thus the Spud. got off the highway on my way to Rock of Ages. It was just a couple minutes later as I was sitting at a red light, I was resting my foot on the break when it suddenly lost pressure and went to the floor. "Great... no brakes. This will be fun." I was able to carefully get to the church, which was only a mile away or so. Further inspection... broken brake line to the front brakes. OK. Now what?
I was able to get a ride to our Thursday meeting where we picked up a trailer to tow the Spud back to Trinity for repair. We loaded it up and were on our way. Before we got to the highway, we hit a bump and the trailer jumped the ball, hit the ground, slammed into the back of the truck we were towing it with, and we dragged it by the chains until we could safely come to a stop. "Well, this is going well." At this point, I was pretty discouraged. A long week just got longer. After a trip to Lowe's to get the right size ball on our hitch, we were finally on our way.
All that to catch you up to where we are today. Amy and I are pretty tired. It was really hard to focus on what we were doing last week. There's going to be a little time to recover and try to catch up on some of the areas we lost track of. Amy has been there for me every step of the way, helping me cope with this, as well as helping another family on our team. Mom has mono and dad was with me, so Amy has been watching their kids. She has been great. I would really have been lost without her around.
I'm getting ready for next week, trying to put all this behind me and get back to "normal". We've learned a lot, both as an organization and as individuals, about how to handle situations like this one in the future. It's opened up the door for some good communication.
Please continue to pray that we would all see the good God has planned to come out of this. Pray for the person who took the truck, that they would know God through this. While it was partly my fault, having left the keys in the truck, I know God will provide for exactly what we need. The beauty and mystery of His grace.
Thursday came about and I needed a truck to haul some materials for Rock of Ages and get the tools. I took the '96 F150 that we call the Spud. It was donated with a bed full of potatoes from Idaho, thus the Spud. got off the highway on my way to Rock of Ages. It was just a couple minutes later as I was sitting at a red light, I was resting my foot on the break when it suddenly lost pressure and went to the floor. "Great... no brakes. This will be fun." I was able to carefully get to the church, which was only a mile away or so. Further inspection... broken brake line to the front brakes. OK. Now what?
I was able to get a ride to our Thursday meeting where we picked up a trailer to tow the Spud back to Trinity for repair. We loaded it up and were on our way. Before we got to the highway, we hit a bump and the trailer jumped the ball, hit the ground, slammed into the back of the truck we were towing it with, and we dragged it by the chains until we could safely come to a stop. "Well, this is going well." At this point, I was pretty discouraged. A long week just got longer. After a trip to Lowe's to get the right size ball on our hitch, we were finally on our way.
All that to catch you up to where we are today. Amy and I are pretty tired. It was really hard to focus on what we were doing last week. There's going to be a little time to recover and try to catch up on some of the areas we lost track of. Amy has been there for me every step of the way, helping me cope with this, as well as helping another family on our team. Mom has mono and dad was with me, so Amy has been watching their kids. She has been great. I would really have been lost without her around.
I'm getting ready for next week, trying to put all this behind me and get back to "normal". We've learned a lot, both as an organization and as individuals, about how to handle situations like this one in the future. It's opened up the door for some good communication.
Please continue to pray that we would all see the good God has planned to come out of this. Pray for the person who took the truck, that they would know God through this. While it was partly my fault, having left the keys in the truck, I know God will provide for exactly what we need. The beauty and mystery of His grace.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Hello everyone!
Greetings from Louisiana, where the weather today is the same as back home. Sunny and 60. It's a nice change from the upper 80's and humidity we'd been feeling the last couple weeks.
Well, Amy and I have been kinda sick again lately. I'm getting over a cold, but I think it's turning into a sinus infection. I've been congested for over a week now and my face hurts when I bend over to tie my shoes. Amy's got strep, along with two or three others here on staff. We've been joking that it's our latest "Staff" infection.
My eyes have been feeling better the last couple of days. After another irritation, I've been wearing my glasses. I got a stye later in the week, but that's gone now, too. I'm hoping to wear my contacts for the rest of the week. My dad sent me some safety glasses that don't fog. I'm hoping that this will help. That way I can still see what I'm doing and keep my eyes safe from debris. I had an appointment with the LASIK guy here in New Orleans. He does 400 procedures a month and did one of my friends eyes. I'm eligible for the procedure and will be doing some additional research on it before I continue with the process. Please be praying for this.
Amy's home church, Grace EFC, was here from Aledo, IL last week. There were about 10 of them here for the week. Amy went out with them for Monday and Friday and I was working with them most of the rest of the week. We worked at Rock of Ages mostly, but found our way to a couple other job sites trying to get them ready for this week. They made a lot of connections with the people in the neighborhood around Rock of Ages. They also had some great ideas for bringing what we do here in NOLA back to Aledo. I'm really excited to see how God uses this trip to further His kingdom through this team.
This is the last week of 100+ volunteers. We'll be slimming down to 40's-50's until school lets out, then it'll be crazy again. Please be praying for the staff here as we will have some time on our hands to plan and prepare for the summer. We are also going to be looking to replace about 6 people that will be leaving between May and the end of July. Thanks to all that read this blog for your support, prayerfully, financially, and with your encouraging words. We really appreciate all you do for us!! God bless.
~Phil
Well, Amy and I have been kinda sick again lately. I'm getting over a cold, but I think it's turning into a sinus infection. I've been congested for over a week now and my face hurts when I bend over to tie my shoes. Amy's got strep, along with two or three others here on staff. We've been joking that it's our latest "Staff" infection.
My eyes have been feeling better the last couple of days. After another irritation, I've been wearing my glasses. I got a stye later in the week, but that's gone now, too. I'm hoping to wear my contacts for the rest of the week. My dad sent me some safety glasses that don't fog. I'm hoping that this will help. That way I can still see what I'm doing and keep my eyes safe from debris. I had an appointment with the LASIK guy here in New Orleans. He does 400 procedures a month and did one of my friends eyes. I'm eligible for the procedure and will be doing some additional research on it before I continue with the process. Please be praying for this.
Amy's home church, Grace EFC, was here from Aledo, IL last week. There were about 10 of them here for the week. Amy went out with them for Monday and Friday and I was working with them most of the rest of the week. We worked at Rock of Ages mostly, but found our way to a couple other job sites trying to get them ready for this week. They made a lot of connections with the people in the neighborhood around Rock of Ages. They also had some great ideas for bringing what we do here in NOLA back to Aledo. I'm really excited to see how God uses this trip to further His kingdom through this team.
This is the last week of 100+ volunteers. We'll be slimming down to 40's-50's until school lets out, then it'll be crazy again. Please be praying for the staff here as we will have some time on our hands to plan and prepare for the summer. We are also going to be looking to replace about 6 people that will be leaving between May and the end of July. Thanks to all that read this blog for your support, prayerfully, financially, and with your encouraging words. We really appreciate all you do for us!! God bless.
~Phil
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Another great week
The weather has started to warm up into the 80's around here. It's getting pretty humid. I've started bring extra shirts to work this past week. It turns out I sweat a lot. The work at Rock of Ages is moving along at a pretty good clip now. The sanctuary and classrooms are painted. The fellowship hall downstairs is almost ready for texture and the bathrooms are finally drywalled. Thanks to the team from Midland, MI that worked really hard on getting all that done this week. Amy's home church, Grace EFC, will be here next week. They'll be working on the church and another house in the city. I'm hoping we'll be able to close that house out this week. Our volunteer numbers will be coming down a little over the next few weeks. We need to finish up some of these smaller jobs so we can focus our few resources on the bigger projects we have open right now.
You can be praying for our health this week. I've started getting a cold. Amy's doing OK. We've actually had some of our volunteers getting really sick while they are here. Some have even had to make ER visits. Please be praying for this. We don't know what's causing it.
Finally, I've been thinking a lot about 1 Peter 2:9 lately.
It's just been showing up in different places all this week. First in a couple of songs I was listening to in the truck, then on the backs of the t-shirts the team from MI was wearing. So I thought I would share it with you. Have a wonderful week. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
~Phil (for Phil and Amy)
You can be praying for our health this week. I've started getting a cold. Amy's doing OK. We've actually had some of our volunteers getting really sick while they are here. Some have even had to make ER visits. Please be praying for this. We don't know what's causing it.
Finally, I've been thinking a lot about 1 Peter 2:9 lately.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
~Phil (for Phil and Amy)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Seriously... happy Easter
We had a pretty good Easter. We spent the day with some friends, the Nelson's, Liam, and the Prince's at the Prince's house. It was pretty laid back, which is just the way we like it!
We're finally getting back to a regular routine since Amy's return a couple of weeks ago. Of course, now that she's in the kitchen and her schedule has changed, we'll still be adjusting a bit.
Work at Rock of Ages is going pretty well. The drywall will have texture and primer and will be ready for paint on Monday. We'll be getting ready for final flooring then, too! We have a great group from Oregon this week. The Wisconsin team last week was wonderful as well. They got a lot done, including a final coat of the drywall compound. Not easy to do when you haven't done it before, but they were willing to learn and did a great job. The team this week had never textured walls before (nor had I), but they are doing great. Not real technical, but getting the consistency of the spray right is hard to do. The team this week also had a retired framer with them and he was able to take care of some of the problem areas without a problem.
We've met a lot of people at Rock of Ages. Many of them were members of the church before the storm. We found out that the original pastor's wife, who's 100 years old, is holding on to see the church completed. One man was driving past the church. He saw the doors were open and saw one of our volunteers walking out with a bucket. He stopped, walked in the church and was stunned by it's condition. He made a comment, through his tears, that he never thought it would be rebuilt. He was quick to leave to get his father. His dad, Edmond was a deacon at the church. His brother-in-law was the first pastor of the church. We learned he was s plaster wall and drywall installer for fifty years. He was there for the ground breaking and said his shovel was the first in the ground. His son, Clarence, said that the church is all his dad talks about. He was so happy to see the church drywalled and can't wait to come back for that first service. We had a good time hearing Clarence's story from the storm, and how he had to fool his dad into thinking they were going to church so Edmond would leave. Truly a moving story, Clarence was again led to tears as he told his story.
When I first set foot in the church, I felt like this was going to be an awesome project, we'll be able to keep a lot of people busy in our busiest time, and I'll learn a lot about drywall. I've realized this is a lot bigger than just a normal project. I'm not talking about the size of the building. It means more than I can understand to the people of the church, that this church gets back up and running. I know we talk about getting the church outside of the walls and that the church is the body, not the building. And that stuff is all great, but for this body of believers, it's really important that they get their building back. I can't wait for that first service. I know I'll be there.
Bad news medically for me. Turns out I've got a small scratch on the cornea of my right eye. The eye doctor (who goes to our church here) also saw a small ulcer on my eye, which is a known complication with the contacts I wear. It's pretty painful and my eye is really sensitive to light and air. It's a little better right now, but the numbing medicine she used in the office is starting to wear off. I'm really considering Lasik eye surgery. With the nature of the work I'm doing now, it makes a lot of sense. Dust and drywall particles are getting behind my contacts and causing all these problems.
Please continue praying for us. We've made it through the heavy spring break time, but we will still have volunteers in 120's for the next couple weeks, then we'll slow down again. Pray that we'll have the right jobs for the right people and that we'll get the jobs done that we start before the volunteer numbers drop again. Pray for the homeowners we're working with, the people in the neighborhoods we're working in, and specifically the members of Rock of Ages. God bless.
Phil (for Phil and Amy Stokes)
We're finally getting back to a regular routine since Amy's return a couple of weeks ago. Of course, now that she's in the kitchen and her schedule has changed, we'll still be adjusting a bit.
Work at Rock of Ages is going pretty well. The drywall will have texture and primer and will be ready for paint on Monday. We'll be getting ready for final flooring then, too! We have a great group from Oregon this week. The Wisconsin team last week was wonderful as well. They got a lot done, including a final coat of the drywall compound. Not easy to do when you haven't done it before, but they were willing to learn and did a great job. The team this week had never textured walls before (nor had I), but they are doing great. Not real technical, but getting the consistency of the spray right is hard to do. The team this week also had a retired framer with them and he was able to take care of some of the problem areas without a problem.
We've met a lot of people at Rock of Ages. Many of them were members of the church before the storm. We found out that the original pastor's wife, who's 100 years old, is holding on to see the church completed. One man was driving past the church. He saw the doors were open and saw one of our volunteers walking out with a bucket. He stopped, walked in the church and was stunned by it's condition. He made a comment, through his tears, that he never thought it would be rebuilt. He was quick to leave to get his father. His dad, Edmond was a deacon at the church. His brother-in-law was the first pastor of the church. We learned he was s plaster wall and drywall installer for fifty years. He was there for the ground breaking and said his shovel was the first in the ground. His son, Clarence, said that the church is all his dad talks about. He was so happy to see the church drywalled and can't wait to come back for that first service. We had a good time hearing Clarence's story from the storm, and how he had to fool his dad into thinking they were going to church so Edmond would leave. Truly a moving story, Clarence was again led to tears as he told his story.
When I first set foot in the church, I felt like this was going to be an awesome project, we'll be able to keep a lot of people busy in our busiest time, and I'll learn a lot about drywall. I've realized this is a lot bigger than just a normal project. I'm not talking about the size of the building. It means more than I can understand to the people of the church, that this church gets back up and running. I know we talk about getting the church outside of the walls and that the church is the body, not the building. And that stuff is all great, but for this body of believers, it's really important that they get their building back. I can't wait for that first service. I know I'll be there.
Bad news medically for me. Turns out I've got a small scratch on the cornea of my right eye. The eye doctor (who goes to our church here) also saw a small ulcer on my eye, which is a known complication with the contacts I wear. It's pretty painful and my eye is really sensitive to light and air. It's a little better right now, but the numbing medicine she used in the office is starting to wear off. I'm really considering Lasik eye surgery. With the nature of the work I'm doing now, it makes a lot of sense. Dust and drywall particles are getting behind my contacts and causing all these problems.
Please continue praying for us. We've made it through the heavy spring break time, but we will still have volunteers in 120's for the next couple weeks, then we'll slow down again. Pray that we'll have the right jobs for the right people and that we'll get the jobs done that we start before the volunteer numbers drop again. Pray for the homeowners we're working with, the people in the neighborhoods we're working in, and specifically the members of Rock of Ages. God bless.
Phil (for Phil and Amy Stokes)
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