Riverbank Apatment Fire. . .

A fire occured early Monday morning and left 8 families without a home in Riverbank. Team Red has risen to the occasion. We helped set up the Shelter at the Riverbank Community Center and staffed it last night for the American Red Cross. We will staff it again tonight and try to staff it Thursday night also. The shelter is set to close on Friday morning. Additionally, other members of the team cooked breakfast this morning. It is a great to be out in our own community doing good work for God! Pray for the folks to find new housing soon. Pray aso that we will continue to be allowed to work with the Red Cross in this capacity.

make a difference for God today,

Buddy

Response Team Info . . .

The American Red Cross has canceled the drill in Visalia for the weekend of March 17th. I appreciate all who have voluntered to go.

We were called last night to be the shelter staff at the Keyes Hazmat incident from Friday afternoon. We were able torespond with four willing all night people. Thanks to Jim and Jackie Cole along with Peggy Martin for responding to make a difference for God in our community. Our team staffed the shelter from 10 pm to 8 am. It was great even though no one took advantage of it.

The ERV will be up and running later this week. I can't wait for us to take it out for some local mission work. The Red Cross called for us to bring it out this week to the hazmat incident because their ERV too was in the Shop. Maybe next time.

If you are willing to staff the ERV for future canteen events at critical incidents please let me know. Otherwise I will start at the top of the list and work down when we need responders.

I am still trying to firm up dates to go to Slidell, it looks like it will be the weekend starting on Good Friday and returning the following Friday or Saturday. I will firm this up next week and then see who wants to go

Thanks for your interest,

Buddy

A Moving Story . . .

This morning the church helped a family move from one hotel to another. Homelessness is a hard. The father spent last week in training classes for a job that was supposed to pay 1600 per month. The catch after a week was it was a commission only vacuum cleaner sales job. Many companies prey on these folks with offers that sound too good to be true and often are. Forty hours of classroom, a family of four with no income for another week. A vacuum cleaner company with a new list of leads . . . The mom and Kids attended church with us on Sunday and the mom was captivated as Mike talked about pruning. John 15 is an awesome story about how God works on us. Pray for this family to start to flourish as God works on them. The kids ages 4 and 5 enjoyed Class and Bible Hour, I hope we can continue working with them.

God is awesome !

pray that we will make a difference as we minister,

Buddy

Desparate... Stories from Central C of C Pascogoula MS

The word of the day is 'desperate' ... and I think it's going to be that way for a very long time. I spent some time talking with some people today who really touched my heart.There was the lady who sat in the chair at the end of the table. The tale she related was not so unique, but her broken heart just crushed me. She sat with an endless supply of tears as she related the first days after the storm having no where to stay. With her first FEMA check she bought a tent for her family to live in. Her in-laws, who had an undamaged home, would not let her family live with them. The agencies that she thought ought to be able to help them turned a deaf ear to her needs. She has a FEMA camper now ... but here she sits ... nearly five months after the storm ... and she is desperate. Her flooded car barely runs. She has turned to every resource she knows and has come up empty. We gave her some food, an electric heater, a bunch of clothes that she picked out, and one of the workers from Pennsylania encouraged her to give her life to the Lord. While I was meeting with someone else, she left ... but she asked someone to tell me 'thank you'. We did so little for her, but she did have the chance to tell her story.Another lady got a nice check from FEMA. She also lived in a tent for a while after the storm. She had surgery on the back of her neck right before the storm. Now it is still giving her pain. Her check looks like a big amount, but once you spend a huge amount of money to secure a rare rent house, buy a few rooms of furniture and some clothing, and pay your bills, there isn't much left. She has bed frames for her children but no mattresses or boxsprings. She wouldn't ask for a bed for herself. Just for her children. We will help them soon. The look on her face tells me she is desperate.A couple has been staying at the building the past few days. We first met them a few months ago. She needed a coat, so we gave her one. They were displaced from New Orleans, had been flown to Idaho, and were back down on the Coast. They thought they could make it, but life has a way of beating you down when you're desperate. Very down on their luck, but willing to work, we allowed them to stay in our building. She is 42, pregnant with their first child - a very unexpected child. Today they got a job in Texas and we gave them a tank of gas and some food and sent them on their way. (Side Note: an unsaved person in another state sent some money in a sealed envelope via one of the Hope Missions guys. It was given to me today and I was told that I would find a good place for it. That was about 30 minutes before this couple needed a tank of gas and some food. God's timing is impeccable.)On the phone an elderly voice said, "I'm disabled and I need help with my home. I'm desperate."A lady in her FEMA camper has been off of drugs for two weeks, but the look on her face tells me it is the struggle of her life.A young couple has not touched their home. They still live in it as if everything is OK. They have a FEMA camper in their driveway, but do not want to live in it. In their world they are desperate and do not know it.Sometimes I feel desperate when I think about all of the needs in our area, and the most overwhelming of circumstances that afflicts people who cannot help themselves.But there were flashes of grace today in all of the desperation.Chris Lockhart came over today and accompanied me on visits, lunch, and the new coffee shop in town. He is a great encourager ... and a superb listener.The Hope Missions group planted a living gift in our church yard today. We will always remember them.The group from Pennsylvania (Hope Missions) had a final devotional tonight. All thirty of them each got up and offered a brief testimonial to what the week has meant to them. Common among the comments were things like, "we were the ones who were blessed" and "this is the best week I ever spent in my life."And then Robbie expressed his desire to be more than just someone hanging around the building - he wanted to be a part of the church. So tonight he was baptized into Jesus Christ, amidst great celebration.Out of the desperation, God's grace arises in the beauty of new birth and brotherhood. Below, Robbie smiles a brand new smile!

Energy Buidling

I am excited about all the work God has placed at our feet. The churches of Christ and many faith based groups continue to do a large amount of good works for God because of the good works put in progress after Katrina. In addition to our regular around town work it appears that there is opportunity for us in other places in California and the United States.
The Red Cross is having a drill the weekend of March 17th. Jim Money has asked to cook for the operation simualtion. If you can be a part of this please let me know you are interested. We have a lot of work to do on the revamping of the equipment out in the storage yard.
I also would like to toss out the idea of a trip to Slidell for Easter Break/ Spring Break. New Orleans still has a lot of opportunity available for us. Again If you are interested let me know.

make a difference for Christ,

Buddy

Family Promise . . .

A few hours after my last post we had a turn of events . Two of the children had a scuffle(brothers), one of them could not let it go. His rage would not subside. Unfortunatley the network had to exit the family from the program. The family will have some post exit counselling and assistance from the network.

Life is messy. People and families have problems. Taking care of families in crisis is hard work and not without risk. Remember, where there is risk there is reward. God has blessed us with a great opportunity to serve him.

This morning two of the small children cried before leaving. It was cute. They refused to get in the van, one of them cried out and said they did not want to leave, they liked it at Davis Park. Who would want to leave a bunch of loving caring people?

make a difference,

Buddy

Family Promise Update. . .

It has been an uneventful week with the Family Promise guests at the church. We have had two families all week long. Both are unique in their own way. The children have been a joy to have in the building. I appreciate our volunteer corps who have been serving throughout this project. I know that this stretches many of us. Sleeping at the building is outside our normal routine, especially when there are nine other people in the building with you and you do not know them very well. The food has been good all week long, I appreciate everyone who has been involved in the food process. Today we will recieve 5 new guests into the program. Tonite we will have nine children and 5 adults as our guests. It is exciting for God to allow us to do His work.
Sunday the guests will move to a church in Ripon for the next week. The building will be quieter at night, however, I think I will miss the laughter of the children. In ten weeks they will be back . . .

make a difference

Buddy

Pic from Hilltop volunteer in Chalmette - January 9, 2006

I found this picture at a Hiltop volunteers blog. The ADT van is still on a house 4 months later. Hard for me to comprehend. . . the amount of damage there, even though I have been there.

Buddy

Poem by Lucie, a Hilltop Volunteer . . .

Lucie a volunteer at Hilltop penned these words after going to St. Bernard Parish the other day.

There wasn't a bird in the sky;
no children laughing;
no cars running;
no train whistles;
no dogs barking;
no cats meowing;
no lawn mowers running;
no one washing their car;
no TV,
or radio;
no music;
no sirens;
no fire engines blaring;
no one talking;
no sound at all.......

Katrina won't let go. . . 4 months later . . .

pray for Hilltop and its volunteers,

make a difference

Buddy

New Link added. . .

Notice the new link added. Out Here Hope Remains. Go there and read today's post

Buddy

How to evaluate success of a Church . . .

Charles Roesel (68) pastors First Baptist Church of Leesburg, FL., was recently profiled in "World" on August 20, 2005.Roesel says, "For too long we've evaluated a church by how many people stream in the front door on a Sunday...Evaluate a church by how many people serve the Lord Jesus by serving the hurting all week long."

make a difference,

Buddy

A New Year. . .

Some would say that it is good that 2005 is behind us, some would say Good Riddance to what seemed like endless tragedies lined up back to back. I guess I am glad that we have a new year to work with, but not because of the bad that happened last year. I like the idea of a fresh start. Approach the tragedies from another angle. Look at all the good that has happened because of the tsunami and hurricane season. People who would not have thought about it before have taken a leap of faith to respond to people in crisis. How great is that! Many people left the comfort zone of home and spent time in tents. Many people at home helped raise funds for others to go the hot zone. I feel renewed starting a new year . . . I am excited to move forward with more opportunities to respond.

let us all continue to make a difference,

Buddy