Pics form Rincon

What a great project for the kids to learn how to build a barn. We are working on two small structures, one a goat shed, the other a "kid"pen.


Debbie is the home owner, she and her husband had been living in andbuilding their house for three years before it was totally destroyed. These are Debbie's children who were out at the site today
The rainbow was on the mountain behind us. What a great sign of Hope!

We could get a few more people in this area if we tried!

Pictures of some of the hardest working teenagers I have ever seen.

Tomorrow weather permitting we will finish the project.

Buddy Gray

Trip Two Update. . .

We met the homeowners today and it was a sad feeling to walk their site and the most level place on the lot was where the house formerly sat. The teens are awesome. . . No wasted effort, lots of hard work and a lot of laughs. We were able to get the foundation of the buildings we are building completed today, and we have 21 one holes to knock out tomorrow in addition to putting the sides and roofs on the buildings. Parents if your kids are here stick your chest out and be proud. They gave a great effort today.

I will post pictures later.


Buddy

The Teenagers Made it Safely

The Teenagers made it in safely last night at 2:00 a.m. They are up and eating breakfast. Soon we will head out to the Rincon Indian Reservation to build a barn in the rain. I gotta go eat breakfast.

Buddy

Ramona at last. . .

WE FINALLY MADE IT! We pulled in a little after 8:30p.m. and ate supper then made it into the camp at 9:15 pm after having a fine meal at Moma Rosa's Italian Restauraunt. It was a great meal.

The rest of the group is still traveling they will be in later, much later. Pray for there safety.

My bunk beckons me to it. I cannot wait for tomorrow's adventures.

Buddy

Blogging on the road . . .

Max is behind the wheel, Christie is in the back seat with Brian and I have shotgun. We are 131 miles into a 430 mile trip. It's foggy and cool. It is like this throughout the state today. We are watching the weather, hoping the weather pattern will break so we won't be completely miserable as we work.

David Martin has not missed a day of school in the last eight years, tomorrow he is going to break his streak by coming with us to do relief work. Six others have chosen to miss school to come with us. Lanae Kuensinger hs rescheduled her finals at JC to come on the trip. We have a bunch of Good Hearted people that want the message of Christ to go forward.

Thanks to those who donated to the cause. Your money makes it all possible. A special thank you to the Lakewood congregtion, they have providing funding for this trip also.


Bakersfield is 72 miles away and its 11:45 am.

I will check back in later.

Buddy Gray

San Diego Trip is ready to roll . . .

The load trailer takes off tommorrow at 9:00 a.m. We have14 going on this trip and it should be an exciting trip. We havc seven adults and seven teenagers. We are greenlighted to the goat farm to build a goat shed. Additionally, we will do some fence repairs, our intent is to help rebuild this family's living (income) so they can find life(Christ). Pray for as we travel tomorrow. Pray for good weather and for God to bless this work.

Buddy Gray

San Diego Fire Relief just two days away . . . .

The team total has finally solidified at 13. Six adults(if you count Aaron and Lanae as adults)and seven teenagers. Looks like a chance of rain for the weekend both here and there. If you are going on the trip bring rain gear. We are for sure re-building a goat farm on the Indian Reservation. Other than on the freeway this will by a first trip to a reservation for me. I cannot wait to get to work.

The current plan will be for Max, Christi and I to leave Modesto on Thursday morning after I drop Matthew off at school. It's his birthday and I want to wish him a happy birthday before leaving. That afternoon the rest of the group will leave around 5:00 p.m.

Pray that the rains come slowly in the south so that they will not have to deal with any mudslide issues. If there are any changes I will post more info. If you are on the team going south this week please be at the meeting tonight at 6:00 p.m. We have paper work to finish and critical information to give to you.

For more information on the affected Indian Reservations go to this link.

http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=3542

Buddy

San Diego Trip Countdown

The number of the people going on the trip is still in flux, we are going to have over a dozen people on the trip. It is starting to look like a building work this time. A woman on a local indian reservation lost her goat shelter in the firestorm along with a lot of goats. This was her main source of income. Additionally, she lost her manufactured home during the firestorm. Most likely we will assist her in re-establishing her goat farm. We will help her build sheds and put up fending to keep the goats in the area they are supposed to be in. Should be an intersting work to say the least.
I look forward to working with our youth on this trip. It will be the first time we have included youth on a relief project. Pray for us and them to have patience with each other. I can't wait to be around our youth for a couple of days, I know it will be refreshing.

Pray us as we piece this trip together.

Buddy Gray

Family Promise Upate, San Diego Trip Update

Family Promise Update . . .
It has been a whirlwind of a week. Arriving back from vacation and immediately we were into cooking supper for Family Promise with our small group. Small groups are the life-blood of the church. 20+ people(kids incuded) plus seven from Family Promise made for a loud but fun evening. Jill and Theresa have secured housing and will make the move out on their own next week, stay tuned for information on their needs, while they are starting over.
Deborah the other lady in the program got a job yesterday. Deborah began a bible study with Mike Crowley last night, pray for this study to bear fruit. After the Wednesday adult she had tears streaming down her face and had a lot heart questions that need answers. God will give her answers through His people and His word.

San Diego Trip update. . .

We have contacted the Hilltop Group and let them know we are heading their way with 10-20 folks. I believe we have around 12 going on the trip. Right now the list looks like this

Aaron Scott
Justin Dawson
Lanae Kuesninger
Art Turgeon (?)
Paul Sale (?)
Buddy Gray
Sara Mando(?)
Max Allen

and a host of kids from the youth group.

From all indications the work in the area is progressing from clean-up to rebuilding. The nature of work will focus on the unisured and the underinsured property owners. We will still have cleaning work to do but we will mix in light building projects. Fence building, sheds and such as this. I have not had an update on showers yet, but I am sure something is available.
We need committments from anyone who wants to go.

Come and be the hands in this world for God and Jesus.

Questions contact me : ) Buddy 209-380-3851

Family Promise

We are having a great week with our family promise group this week. Last night the three ladies in the program came to our mid-week bible class. Krista, Matthew and I have stayed over and the air mattresses are not too bad, they are not too good either.

Pray for Jill and Theresa who are in the program and on the edge of getting some housing. Jill is an interview away from a Job with a local retailer. Jill and Theresa are applying to a housing program that will allow them to save money for their own place after they complete the program.

So far we have had numerous members have contact with these three families which is the whole point of the program for us. Christians showing Christ's love for those experiencing tough times. It is always good to sit back and watch as we come through with love for these individuals.

Buddy Gray

San Diego County Trip #2/ Family Promise Week

We will be having somewhere between ten and sixteen people make the trip to SD County next week. We are excited to have this much interest in the trip. Presently we are trying to finalize the decision on where it will be best for us to go. The churches of Christ have to work sites up and running at the moment, we will go to the one where we believe that we can do the most good for the kingdom. I will post the decision on Thursday and at that time begin making final plans. Relief work is always fuid, that is it is ever changing. The work this time may be totally different than last time, but still hard work none the less.

I have changed the look of the blog, I hope for the better. Let me know what you think of the changes. I am trying to make the sight informative for the various types of work that we do. I will add more elements to the blog as time allows. If there is any info you would like to see as a part of the blog let me know and I will try nto add it. I am trying to add a sldie show feature and hopefully that will come about in the next week or so. . .

Family Promise is in full swing with the third night coming about tonight. Presently we have seven guests. Three families with a total of 7 people(4 adults and 3 children). Things are running smoothly and the food has been good.

More Fires burning in Southern California

This Link will get you to the latest info on what is burning in Southern California. Pray for the people in this area tonight. Pray for the vigilant firefighters. Remember to call for prayers that God's Great hand can be seen through His People duringthis time of need.

http://www.malibu-ca.gov/download/index.cfm?fuseaction=download&cid=11426

Ramona was spared today with only a small fire that was quickly extingushed. I will keep watch on these fires in the coming days.

I look forward to being home.

Buddy Gray

Getting Ready to Go to San Diego County. . .

Right now I am enjoying time with family. The break has been good so far, I started it out with a whopper of a cold, sniffles, coughing and the works. The bad news is that I spread the germs throughout the world by traveling through several airports. The good news is that the cold is all but gone away.



Trip Info. this trip will be a sprint compared to any other trip we have ever done. We will leave in the afternoon on Thursday, roll in very late and get up around 7:00 a.m. on Friday to go to work. We will work all day Friday and all day Saturday. We will leave after a devotional on Sunday morning. Please confirm you are going on the trip by Tuesday November 27.



Paul Sale and Larry Long have committed to going thus far. Aaron is rounding up a bunch of youth to go with us. We should have a fairly large group. I am excited about the return trip and look forward to going back to the area to help.



We are having a special contribution to help with the costs associated with the trip and to purchase equipment for the response team's future missions. The Lakewood congregation in Colorado has taken up a contribution for us(Community Response Team) and raised over $4500.00 God has blessed and we are humbled by all that he does for us. We are grateful for their willingness to give to this effort. As we assemble more of the team I will post more information. As I find out more information from Hilltop and others in the area I will pass the information along. Please be in prayer as we get ready to take the message of Christ to San Diego County one more time.

Family Promise/ Return Trip News

Family Promise group will show up this next week as the Thanksgiving Holiday is concluding. My heart goes out to these people without a home at this time of the year. I have many fond memories of holidays in the comfort of my home and the homes of my family. For those in the program our building becomes their home and we the members become their family for a brief time. I know it is not easy to give up the comforts of your home, because I know how much I enjoy mine. We need a couple of families still to finsih off the list of night hosts. It is a blessing everytime for Krista, Matthew and I. Matthew enjoys the time with the kids. Let Jesus be demonstrated by your love for others as we host the week of the 25th of November.

We are still planning on leaving December 6th for the areas affected by the fires in San Diego County. If you are planning on going let me know as soon as possible so that I can let Hilltop know how many of us they can expect.

A Time of Respite. . . A Time for Work . . .

Krista and I have snuck away for the last three days. We are on Lake Tahoe, watching the flames in our fireplace and enjoying the scenery. Two days ago they had a light dusting of snow, which makes everything nicely accented with frosted white tips. What a nice way to spend our twentieth anniversary, at one of the most beautiful places in North America.

It is our intention to try to leave for our next Ramona trip on December 6th around 5 pm. Our planned return will be on Sunday. This would give us two days of good work. Again we will be working with Hilltop if they have Room for us. Contact me if you are interested. Comment here or e-mail me or call 209-380-3851.

look at these pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19978632@N05/

Home AT Last . . .

We rolled into Modesto tonight at 10:00 pm. A conclusion to the past couple of weeks helping people rebuild their lives. We arrived about five hours later than anticipated, bad planning on my part for not checking the trailer tires, a blowout on the R.V. etc. God took care of us and got us home safe and sound.

For those that are wondering the foot is healing very well. Most of the soreness is gone and there is no swelling. I have been trying to follow Doctors orders and stay off of it and I am taking my antibiotics.

Two items I wanted to mention about the Ramona Response:

1. At lot # 48 Krista found a nativity scene character fully intact and unblemished. It was a ceramic baby Jesus. The baby Jesus made it through the fire and arose out of the ashes to be used by its owner again. Jesus can endure in lives of everyone no matter what trial they are faced with.

2. At lot# 5 Christie Sipes found a ceramic cross in pristine condition and gave it back to Peter the friend of home owner. His comment, "The Cross survived, just like it has for all these years."

The reason we went to Ramona was to represent Christ. Christ was already there and working, I am glad he allowed all of us who were on the team to work for him for a few days.

Mark your calendars for the second weekend in December. If there is work still there, we will return to Ramona!

Buddy

An Interesting End . . .

What great trip we have had. People who needed help recieved help they desparately needed. I was blessed by people whom I came to bless. My hats off to the members of the team. We worked them hard and they finished the jobs we were assigned.

Jobs completed on Black Canyon DR.

# 5, #8, # 17, 48

Boxing Club, hundreds of pieces of tin straightened, pulled and stacked

One Large truck of supplies unloaded.

Numerous lives touched by the hands and hearts of our team.

At the beginning of the day we (Glen and I) talked it over and decided it would be in the best interest of the team, to finish the projects we had started and go home on Friday. We quickly finished the jobs on Black Canyon and moved to the Boys and Girls Boxing Club. (The boxing club was a place in Ramona for kids at risk to learn discipline in sports.) The property was full of nails. After several near misses, I finally got my puncture wound. I stepped on the nail, Rick pulled it and we walked to the truck for first aid. Rick decided that I needed more than first aid so we went to the church building and set up a medical office. Then he and Dr. Glen fixed me up. I screamed like a little girl when Rick cleaned out the wound. All seems to be going well today.

I will make more comments later

Buddy

Change of plans

In the middle of last night around 3:30 a.m., I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. The nagging thought I had was this...we've subjected our crew to 4 full days of physical labor with a fifth to come and sixth if we let it and we were pretty banged up. I talked to Buddy this morning about my uneasiness and we decided to start "winding things down." Y'know, finish out the 2 jobs we had and do our best to help out Fabian, a man who was running a Boxing Club for at risk boys and girls and lost his Boxing Club to the wildfires. I figured our bodies couldn't take much more and this would be a good way to finish off a week doing disaster relief work.

As is the case with most disaster relief work, things don't always (or usually) go the way you hoped or planned. Being flexible and making decisions on the fly are part of the deal. The Boxing Club is a job that required taking sheet metal (the walls) and then folding them up and dragging them to the front of the property. The building was big so there were lots of nails, screws, and metal.

Well, as I drove up to the site after lunch, Rick was driving Buddy's truck with Buddy in the passenger side. Strange, something wasn't right. Turns out Buddy stepped on a rusty screw that "went down to the bone." Bad. Very bad. I followed Rick back to the church building to work on Buddy. We have the capacity & supplies to handle most minor medical emergencies, and today was no exception.

Rick irrigated the puncture wound and we watched Buddy squirm and say publicly "I'm scared like a little girl." Graciously, we anesthetized him. After the anesthesia took effect (1 year old expired Lidocaine....again) Rick probed the wound to see if he could feel any metal fragments. No luck. We irrigated the wound even more with saline and betadine and wrapped it up.

I sent Krista off to the pharmacy to get some pain pills, antibiotic pills, and an antibiotic injection which she kindly administered in his backside. Needless to say, Sheila was on hand (naturally) to document the drama.

Given that our commander in chief was now on doctor's orders to stay off his feet while we watched for worsening symptoms and our injuries continuing to mount, I called our crew and told them to stop working because we were done. When the crew arrived, everyone checked their shoe/boot soles and Brian found 6 rusty nails/screws embedded in his boot.

Change of plans. We decided to come home tomorrow instead of Saturday as our bodies are done and Rick and I are not interested in seeing what injuries another work day would bring.

Pray for safe travels. Looking forward to being home.

2239 Black Canyon RD., Day 5

A view of space #48
Prayer for the job
The master bedroom
Lowering the roof.
Krista, Matthew, Rick, Edwina and Max at the CIA food tent

We started today with a great breakfast made by Sheila Smith. Biscuits and gravy were a great way to start the day.

Next we headed to our worksite on Black Canyon RD. We did the same type of work, shoveling debris, emptying wheelbarrows on to the pile and cutting I-Beams. The work takes its toll after a few days. We are in an isolated spot surrounded by homes where life continues as it was before the firestorm. On one side of the street, the lawn company is doing its mow, blow and go, while we are doing relief work for their across the street neighbor. People are jogging in the neighborhood and walking their dogs around the circle of burned out homes.

The attitudes of some of these people is phenomenal. Irene Neal requested our help because she thought another group had forgotten her. While I was talking to her she told me she could not wait for what God had in store for her next. She said she had faced many trials in her long life and everytime God had prospered her after the trial was over. Strong words from someone whose house of 38 years is all gone. Later in the day I passed by and saw her grinning and asked what had happened. She showed me her 150 piece set of china that had survived the firestorm. She gave God the glory.

Another family has agreed to let us clean their property. These folks were still in shock about the loss, but ready to move forward. The husband reached under his car and pulled a large piece of aluminum(melted). It was the aluminum block from the motor of his car. He thought it looked cool and plans to hang it on his new house wall. He asked me if I knew anyone who had a motor block on their wall.

Tomorrow we have some more homes to work, pray that we can bring God's light to this community.

Mid week blues

I dropped Yvonne off at the San Diego Int'l Airport this morning around 9:15 a.m. She was returning to Modesto to be with our girls. (Maya and Ani were ready for Mommy to come home...they were getting tired of not sleeping in their own beds. Mid week blues.)

Got to the work site around 11 a.m. and found the cutting crew getting finished up at lot 17 with the help of a bulldozer and dump truck. The rest of the crew was at Lot 5, the home of Victoria, a Hispanic lady who had lost everything and who had no homeowner's insurance. I saw her yesterday as we were leaving the mobile home park and I jumped out of my truck to talk to her. Peter, a young man who was with her was going to help her remove the debris from her burned down home (by himself!). I explained to them what we do and how much we charge. We would clear the debris and do it for the nominal charge of nothing. Free, nada, nunca. She said "Really?" because free sounded suspicious to her. Once I finally convinced her that we would do the work at no charge, she looked at Peter and asked him "What do you think?" Peter thought about it for about 0.1 seconds and said with a big Cheshire cat grin, "Yeah, I think that's a good offer." Smart young man.

Lot 5 is about 83.4% complete, give or take, after just one half day of working on it with our crew, bolstered by the addition of Rick Kelley and Krista Gray. One was additional muscle & one was additional brains...I'll let you figure out who was which. Rick and I took apart the incredibly large aviary cage and the metal shed that was blown off its foundation and thrown over the chain link fence into the small ravine behind the lot, Oleta sifted ash for valuables, Max and the guys (Paul & Art) worked the metal cutting chop saw, and the rest of the crew shoveled, lifted, and wheelbarrowed debris, metal and otherwise, close to the front of the property to be picked up. During one of the breaks, I found a bike and rode it around the block.

Toward the end of the day, the injuries started to mount. Tina scraped her leg and reinjured her back, making it difficult for her to move. Max's arms were getting torn up by touching sharp metal. (I asked Max to stop working around 3 p.m. to rest his body. 10 minutes after sitting down, he was back shoveling ashes and debris. Go figure. The oldest guy here happens to be one of the toughest.) Krista's back stiffened up and required prescription medicine to help unstiffen. Art often asked, "So how much Ibuprofen can I take?" We were going through Ibuprofen like candy. The aches and pains were definitely taking its toll on our crew. Must be our collective advancing age.

The last hour or so of the work day dragged on and on. The dust from the ashes was more than usual. Everyone's patience was a little shorter than usual. We were getting kind of punchy with each other. Low energy coupled with extreme fatigue and body aches makes for a testy crew. Just in time, 4:20 p.m came around and it was quitting time. Loaded up the trucks and headed for the showers. Nothing helps the mid week blues like a hot shower.

Everyone's been sleeping like bricks. Well deserved sleep, I'd say.

What

More Pictures. . . .

Maui shower

Dr. Glen and Yvonne
Mad Max and his cutting crew
Tina and Yvonne hauling steel

Black Canyon Road, Ramona, CA Day 4. . .

Max cutting some I beam













Max, Tina and Edwina working













The Tide Trailer - free washing of clothes













Looking down Black Canyon ST.













Saving a carport roof to move to camp.
We had an awesome work day today. We went back to Oak Tree Ranch, where 41 homes in one area burned down. Everyhone of the homes in this section burned completely. Jewelery in boxes was reduced to molten metal. Dreams of the future there have ended and new dreams have to be made.
We finished our first job today. Mary Ann's house is now complete. Max, Arts, Paul and I joined together and cut the I- beam structure apart. We used a 14 inch gas powered grinder. It was indeed a manly job. Glen could not operate the heavy duty machine because he had on his girly looking capri pants. Max's pant caught on fire at one point, no real flame, just alot of smoke. Max had some hot pants on, Jeanette knows what I mean.

Shelley's lot is almost complete. We have about six more cuts on the I-beam and then we will be finished. We sifted more of her property today and found several former pieces of gold. Shelley is ready to move forward. May God bless her.

Sue's house is next on our list. I walked the property with her, she is still in shock as she looks around at what she thought would be her retirement home. Her husband and her have made some of the most beautiful landscape features I have ever seen on one small lot. There were water falls, plants park benches and many other items that made the place their dream home. Now they are looking at moving to a senior mobile home park in Ramona, in town, not in the country. Sue could not believe that we would do the work for free. She kept commenting, how much is this going to cost? She also would ask what the catch was. I told we were here because Jesus Christ had sacrifed life and blood for each of us, we felt it was the least we could do to clear a lot full of fire debris for his glory. She started crying and sobbing. She composed herself and said she knew Jesus and God, and knew that better days were ahead and someday she would be able to see the good God had brought to Ramona through all of this.

We actually got a referral today from a group of Chaplains with Billy Grahmn's Crisis Group. They had visted us earlier and came back with a job that Samaritan's Purse could not do. We will help a boy's and girl's club position themslves to rebuild.

We shower at night at the Maui shower. These showers come out of Minnesota. This is a big rig, full of stainless steel showers. Normally the cost is $5 for five minutes, we are using them for free. What a blessing to have a good shower at the end of the day.

Yvonne leaves us tonight for the airport, we will miss her useful therapy of massage, and her hard work behind shovels and wheelbarrows. We all prayed together, she cried and I had a moment of eye watering allergies. We have jobs to do for God tomorrow. Pray for Him to use us and for us to be willing to do it his way.

Buddy Gray

RAMONA RESPONSE DAY 3. . .

Today was a great day of work. We finally got into the field doing the work we came to do. The first house we worked on was Mary Ann's house. Mary is single and has lived in her house for several years. This was the fifth time her and her family have been evacuated for a fire, this time the fire came with vengence and destroyed all 41 homes in this small subdivision. All the homes were manufactured homes, all were burned up completely. In fact nothing was left but the I- beam frame. Mary Ann gave her 60 day notice to the landlord at the park today she never wants to live there again. Like many other disasters I have worked, she has the defeated look in her eyes, her eyes say that it is time to move on and be free from the pain of the present. The only thing we were able to salvage was the melted gold from her jewelery box. We sifted through the ashes on the ground underneath where here bedroom used to be to find the remnants of many good memories.
Shelley's house was around the corner from Mary Ann's house. Shelley works at a local bank in town, she will not return to live in the subdivision again. She has lived throught the evacuations and now the fire has consumed the last eleven years of her life's possesions. Her attitude is positive, she will someday move to Oregon and be near family, right now she has to stay and negoiate with insurance companies for her nestegg that is due her. Shelley walked me around her property and described the beauty of her property, at one time she was caught up in talking about how she had her morning coffee on her back porch that opened out her bedroom. As she described this vividly she was holding her hands as if she was sipping the coffee one last time. Next she walked down the ravine and described the way the fireflighters had explained how the fire consumed the neighborhood. There are two 3ft diameter culverts for the ravine waters to cross the road when it rains. The people in the park were called by reverse 911 and told to leave within five minutes. Shelly's daughter was leaving as the fire was arriving. The fire raced down the ravine driven by seventy plus mile an hour winds. The flames came down the hill in less than five minutes and consumed all the houses in less than fifteen minutes. The charred area by the cluverts shows that the fire was coming through the tubes like fire through a rocket engine. The fire shot out over 150 feet. I prayed with Mary Ann and she asked us to sift her bedroom where her grandmothers jewlery was kept. We found the charred box of jewelry with everything in it melted. Sheila Smith and I took the box to her at the bank. She thanked us for our effort and said she would always keep the box to remind her of these days after the fire. We found one other keepsake for her. 18 years ago her daughter made a vase for her in third grade. I dug it out of the ashes for her, she already had it on her desk at the bank.
We prayed with and for both families today for God to heal the hurts that only he can heal. Later tonight I will post pictures of both sites.

Pray for God to use us . . .

Buddy Gray

All in a day's work

Excellent day today. The team was ready to roll at 8 a.m. after getting our work orders from Corky, the Hilltop camp "El Jefe." We were assigned to an area where 40 plus mobile homes bordering a ravine were completely burned to the ground. The fire came down from the ridge above, and when mixed with the 90 mph Santa Ana winds and the drainage pipes that were at one end of the ravine, it made for a turbo like effect, shooting a torrent of fire through the 3 foot diameter pipes a full 150 feet. With a firestorm like that, it makes total sense that 41 homes were lit up and burning to the ground inside of 15 minutes. The homeowners were given the 911 call to leave and within 4 minutes the fire was down the ridge and starting on the first homes. Twisted metal, melted glass, and remnants of people's lives lay on the ground like scattered leaves. It was quite a sight.

Our assignment was to clear the burned debris close to the street so that it could then be hauled off. After seeing all the burned nails, screws, and metal I'm glad I insisted that everyone get their tetanus boosters! The homeowner, Mary Ann, wanted us to save as many of the paver stones as possible...she was going to rebuild her life somewhere, just not in Ramona. A few months prior to the fire she had invited one of her loved ones to come move in with her...she agreed, moved all of her belongings into Mary Ann's house while she awaited her move and then the fire struck. Mary Ann said to me in tears, "I asked her to come live with me to have a better life and now look. What kind of life is this? I'm just so hopeless."

Hopelessness? That was the opening I was looking for. As she went around to each of us to thank us for all of our help, I asked if we could pray for her. She agreed and we prayed for her. Prayer for not only a place to live, but for hope, support, and something better. The something better we know comes from a saving relationship with Jesus. When the final amen was said, she said "The best thing in all of this is finding out that there are people out there who care. Thank you." She walked off slowly, clutching the bust of a china doll covered in soot, softly crying.

After lunch, we went back to the mobile home park to clear off another homesite. While there, one of the crew members stepped over the metal frame of the home and cut the inside of her knee. As a physician, I'm tasked with providing medical care to our team of volunteers. As it turns out, the one who cut her knee was Yvonne, my wife. I washed her bleeding leg off with some cold water, put some neosporin on, bandaged it, and told her to take it easy until we got back to camp. What I didn't tell her was she needed stitches. (She doesn't really like needles so I didn't want to unnecessarily freak her out....what a nice husband, huh?)

Back at camp, I took off her bandage and told her of my plan. Word got around that I was going to suture Yvonne's leg so Tina, Edwina, Christie, Chrissy, and Sheila all eagerly asked Yvonne's permission "to watch." I've been in medicine for nearly 2 decades and have taught medical students, nursing students, resident physicians, and other medical professionals and I have never had a bigger audience for a procedure than I had today. All for a whopping 2 stitches! Oh, I failed to mention that Gary, one of the other Hilltop volunteers, kept me company talking my ear off as well. (Buddy asked if he could learn how to suture...after some thought of about 0.2 milliseconds, I said no, possibly because this was my wife. More likely, I didn't want to incur the beating that Yvonne would inflict on me had I said yes. He pouted, went in to the dining hall, and refused to participate in the growing debacle...I mean minor surgery.)

So back to the procedure. The lighting in the building was bad, so I did what any sensible physician in the field would do...I lay my patient down on the tailgate of my Toyota Tundra and operated on her in the parking lot. Given that our medical supplies are mostly donated, it shouldn't surprise me that my glove size is 7, but the gloves I had were a 9. Who ever said fit was important? I anesthetized her wound with some 1 year old Lidocaine (she'll never know), sutured her with 4-0 Vicryl, slapped a bandage on it and called it good. After taking a bow, I waved to my impressed gallery of 10 viewing members, including my patient Yvonne and yours truly, and rode off into the sunset.

All in a day's work.

More Pictures

Ramona Pictures

Ramona Response Day 1

After arriving yesterday we went out to eat at Mama Rosa's Restaurant, which I had pegged for a fairly nice place for Mexican food. To my surprize it was Italian. While at Mama Rosa's we met a couple who were still recovering from the previous fire here a couple of years ago. I told them what our group was doing and they nodded and thanked us for caring and being here in Ramona. They left soon after that and within a few minutes we were told by the waitress that the couple was paying for our meal and that we could add anything else we wanted. What a blessing for us. A couple we had never met decided to pay for 12 meals. It was cool and we all were greatly blessed by the event.
Today we made the obligatory tour of destruction as we traveled to Escandido, CA. The fire swept through the valley and burned most of everything in its path.
When arrived in Escandido we helped offload a 53' trailer from the Disaster Relief Effort of Nashville. I was extremely happy to see the back wall of that trailer when we finally finished.
Tonight we ate at the Mountainview Community Church, they are hosting a group called Christ in action(CIA). CIA is from VA and is currently providing our morning and night meals. CIA also has shower trailers that are out of this world. Tide detergent is providing a trailer of washers and dryers.
Tomorrow we go to work at our first site. We are eager to go work and be the hands God wants us to be.
Glen (Dr. Glen) was wearing his capri pants that he wore during the Katrina relief effort. The only thing missing was his robin's egg blue crocs that he wore as we arrived in Slidell. Funny how he seems to fit in so well in CA.

Ramona Response

We arrived last night after an eleven hour journey on the road. We arrived safely and all is well. Today we will help unload a truck load of items from Disaster Relief out of Nashville and set up camp at the Ramona Church of Christ. We have homeowners ready for us to work at their places and we are ready to roll. We will blog more later today.

we seek your prayers,

Buddy

Homeward Bound. . .

I walk away from San Diego tomorrow morning and head home. For the most part SD seems to be moving forward well. We are eager to move on to the next phase of service delivery. Going home to home and making life a little better for people who have lost a lot.
I was out in Ramona today with Savita and Corky from Hilltop. We had a very good meeting with Dave Ash from the Ramona Church. We had 50 cots delivered by the Red Cross along with blankets. We are in need of a shower trailer if anyone knows someone with one.

I will post more tomorrow. . .

I am ready to see my dear family and my brothers and sisters in Christ.

may the lord bless you,

Buddy Gray

San Diego Fires Day 6

We (Wayne and I) continued working at HQ today. It is apparent the Red Cross has plenty of people on this job. Today the Damage assesment crews hit the road to determine the extent of the relief dollars to help the people of San diego County.

Ramona, CA is the site of the Hilltop Rescue and Relief push to help in this event. The Ramona church of Christ is the staging area. This little church of 30 is ready to reach out to their community. They have opened up their building and their lives for the next 90+ days. Hilltop has a video interview on their website. Wayne and I visted the area where the interviews were conducted. There is a great need for the hands of Christ to arrive in this area and work. Look at your hands and see if yours are the ones some person who lost their home needs to help them recover from the loss of a home and then find Jesus Christ.

Here is a copy of the list from Hilltop that are their and ours needs for this effort.


VOLUNTEER AND LEADER FACILITIES
Trailers for long term volunteers 4
Sleeping cots 50
Hand washing stations 2
Port-o-let facility 4
Large garbage cans 7
Large dining table 8’ 2
Folding chairs 50

COOKING FACILITIES, SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT
Large ice chests 4
Warming oven 1
Garbage bags 70 ct. 10

OFFICE FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT
Office trailer 1
Printer 1
Copier 1
Computer and monitor 1
Leadership notebook computer 1
Portable hard drive 1
Badge machine 1
Satellite equipment 1
Wireless router 1

VEHICLES
15 Passenger vans 2
Full size work truck 1
Covered work trailers 2

OPERATING EQUIPMENT
Washing machine 1
Dryer 1
Computers (for volunteers and victims) 2
Printer 1
Telecom software and equipment 2
Power supplies and misc. 2
Chain saws 2
Shovels (scoop) 8
Shovels (square) 8
Hoes 2
Sledge hammers 4
Wheelbarrows 8
Tool Boxes 2
Misc. tools to fill boxes 2
Large crow bars 2

MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Large first aid kit 1
Fire extinguishers 2
Fire hose 1
Small first aid kit 2
Power strips 4
PA equipment 1
50’ extension cords 5
Video projector 1
Jacks and spares for vehicles and trailers 5

MISCELLANEOUS MAINTENANCE AND REFRESHMENT
Chains saws (sharpen/oil/replace) 2

The needs can be met by in kind donations or with cash sent to Hilltop.


Buddy Gray

Firestorm work day 5

Today I worked out of headquarters with Wayne Smith doing special assignments. The nature of this emergency caused some mass confusion and alot of information was lost. Wayne was put in charge of finding the information and bringing it back to headquarters. Once that was completed we went to the closed staff shelter and helped close it down. The cots were scrubbed, rinsed, dryed, folded and boxed for future disasters. All 800 of them. Luckily we had 25 other people helping.
We surveyed the damage in Ramona today and conferenced called with Hilltop. What a great group they are. Ramona will be the target of the work the response team now we will establish where the work camp will be. If you can take time off work start looking for time off, we will try to be in Ramona from Nov 3- Nov. 10th.
The damage there is much different from Katrina, but from the sounds of things was frightening in its own way.

Buddy Gray

San Diego Firestorm Day 4. . .

The community of Poway is getting back to normal. Most of the people at our shelter were gone by the time we arrived at 5:30 a.m. this morning. Today we spent the early part of the day cleaning and saying good bye to our friends in Poway. We develop a bond with the LDV's everytime we enter a community andwwork at a shelter. Sheila the tireless worker, whose kitchen we used in the shelter was a great volunteer with a lot of heart. Her boy friend has cancer and is undergoing chemo, pray for him when you can spare the time. Greg, Crystal, and June from the City of Poway were great to work with. Greg and his family were displaced for three days and finally found out their house was OK. Belinda also with the city was great to work with. All in all the City of Poway people were great to work with. Their outpouring of love and service was overwhelming. One day we had over 300 volunteers while only having 120 shelter residents. Right now I am working with our own Wayne Smith. Wayne got me and nine other people a job working with HQ this afternoon. Wayne is a great asset, today he wore his Team Red T-shirt.

We are going to try to go to Ramona, CA to check out the need for a response. We are going to meet with Kevin Wise and attempt to come up with a way to honor God in this community. Pray for us as we prepare to bring the message through hands on service. I am worn out and need to get some rest.

I miss my wife, my son and all my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am praying for all of you.


Buddy

Community Response Team Alert

If you are interested in doing relief work here is some information.

We are considering a trip the starting the week of November 3 - November 10. If you are intereted please email me. I am somewhat busy before 6 pm if you call call after 7:00 p.m.

We have talked to Hilltop and are trying to gear up. More Info tomorrow.

Buddy Gray

San Diego Fires Report 3 . . .

Tonight I am writing from a hotel room. I feel guilty about leaving the shelter people behind and coming to an ocean side hotel. This is just a reminder of how it is so real for the individuals who have lost so much, and yet just a temporary event for me. We have seen many great acts of kindness and blessing during this event. People offering all kinds of aid, from housing to catering food for the whole shelter. We have also seen the other side of the coin. The City we are working in gave us 48 hours to vacate their senior center today. We still have over 100 people staying with us with no place to live . Our hope is that the city will rethink their position tonight and allow us to stay until the people from Ramona can go home. I beseech your prayers for God to change their minds.
Dr. Bennie Cisek has put together an excellent medical facilty at our shelter. He was waiting at Qualcom to find some people to help. He came and put together a fully functional medical triage place in a matter of hours. My hat is off to him. He has blessed many lives with his work at the shelter. Its 10:30pm, I have been up since 430am. Pray that God will continue to energize me for His work.

Buddy Gray

San Diego Fires Report #2

The transition from city shelter to Red Cross shelter was the work of the day. We rearranged the set up and added some more services. Poway did a great service to their citizens with the shelter. Alot of excitement with two heart attacks by clients and one slip and fall. Three trips to the hospital in one day for our clients. Everbody survived. Thanks for the prayers. . . It looks like this will be home for a few days.

Hilltop is gearing up and has asked us to partner in a project to be named in the near future. Start lining up vacation and get ready to roll. Team Red is on stand by.

Only 2 hrs sleep in two days. Time for bed. Pray for the fires to end! Pray for God to Reign in the hearts of the people.

Buddy Gray

San Diego Fires

I am writing from Poway, CA just north of San Diego about twenty miles. The shelter that is operating is being run by the city. The Red Cross has flown me in and I am already at work. Pray for us as we figure out what the needs are for the people in San Diego. Hilltop is trying to assess and figure out whatt their response is going to be in the next few days. As they make decisions I will keep you informed. They may be in need of using some of our equipment and we may need people to work with them in the near future. Everything is very fluid and changing as we speak. The coming days will tell what the needs will be. Pray for the people of San Diego County.

Buddy

Family Promise

We are past half-way on this turn for Family Promise. The families are good people trying to get past a bd place in their lives. The program is a no-brainer for a church group. We get to live out Jesus' for these people for one week. We provide food, shelter and drink, 24/7 for a week. We have had over seventy members invloved in the program so far. Most of the people are here for there small group and provide support service from a distance for the people. 5 couples stay over night. The night portion is the easiest, you show and sleep. Have you ever thought about serving God while sleeping? These people have a roof over their head for a night because a few people leave their homes and come to the church building for a night. The sacrifice is not much, but the benefit for the people in the program is great.

serving Him,

Buddy

The Cross and the Towers/ Family Promise

The movie night was an overwhelming success. We had a good crowd for The Cross and the Towers and The Wizard of Ha's. It is always incredible to see so many guests in our building at one time. Many got to hear an inspiring message concerning the Living Message of Jesus Christ. Over 30 visitor families were in the Veggietales premier. Pray that we continue to have fruit from events like this.

Family Promise, a coalition of local Modesto Churches that provide services to displaced familes has come to Davis Park. We are having our first rotation since the re-start a couple of months ago. We have 3 great familes that we are working with this week. Pray for them to find jobs. . . and housing.

Buddy

The Cross and the Towers . . .

On September 29th at 6:00pm we will be showing the movie "The Cross and the Towers". This movie is a documentary that tells of the story of how the Cross impacted the workers at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. This movie demonstrates the power of Jesus and God to work through the hate and sin of men and provide lives changed for the good of the Kingdom. More on this later

Buddy

The People of the Park. . .

The first book project of the Davis Park Church of Christ is now complete. We have published our first 250 copies and have ordered our second printing of 500. The book is a compilation of Christ Stories specific to the people who are members at the church where they allow me to minister. These stories have a broad range of struggle, from children who have wandered into homosexuality, children lost in a rafting accident, a little girl who had to deal with the molestation of her and her sister by their father. These stories allow us to demonstrate how non-perfect we all are even though we put on a grand facade for Sunday morning. I cannot wait to see the impact for Jesus that this book has in our community. If your reading this and desire a copy please contact the Davis Park Church of Christ, 209-522-7226 and we will send you a copy.

Suicide. . . .

Of all the things that I do not understand, suicide is very high on the list. To be so very far down in the hole of despair and surrounded by darkness that the only way out is to kill one's self. My last four chaplain calls have been suicides. Suicide knows no boundries and and seems to not care about gender or age. I have seen a young mother, a young teenage boy, an older man and a man who was in his thirties. All of these had one thing in common, the people left behind were left wondering what they did wrong and they felt like they could have done more to stop the event. Guilt mixed with grief = horrible pain. Pray for those who have lost loved ones to suicide today. Pray that God will grant them peace.

The Worst Is Over. . . .

I am presently reading a book by the same title as this article. It is a book about ministering to people in crisis as the crisis has just occured or in the midst of crisis. The book is exciting for me because it helps with the language to use and not use. Words are important in the face of crisis, words can cure and words can crush. Still, presence is the most important part of ministering in times of crisis.

I just finished my week as Chaplain on-call with MPD. Two call outs and one service project. . . Both calls were extreme trauma calls, on the death of a young mother and the other the death of a teenage boy. The same question always arises "why". I do not have the answers, I can only tell people that I will help them throught the moment. Sometimes I wish I had more answers, but I am not sure if I could handle the answers, so lack of knowledge is blissful.

The service project was to provide a respite center for officers working X-fest. X-fest is a night that Satan declares war on Modesto and for 8 hours makes an attempt to own downtown. At the end of the night Satan is driven out to the shadows once again. X-fest is pure debauchery, nothing more, nothing less. It does provide a good way for me to have more time seeing and meeting officers that I will sometime work a call with.

The Movie night is coming up on August 11, 2007 at 6:00 p.m.

Buddy

Back in the saddle again . . .

Much has happened since I last blog, all of which is mostly water under the bridge. Some of the events are still unfolding and only the future holds knowledge of what they will mean.

Outreach is fast and furious with many events on the horizon. VBS is coming up this week and then on Aug 11 we will have a movie night at the church. The last Sunday in August is our annual Back to School Bash. These events are designed to invite our neighbors and friends.

I would like to set up an Outreach Committe for planning future events and deployments. If you are interested please contact me.

Buddy

Homeless Count 2007

On Friday we had a great day at Garrison Park here in Modesto. We helped the local county with their bi-annual homeless count. We set up shop in the middle of a park and offered free food(chilli and hamburgers) and comfort kits. It was a day of blessing for me, the outreach minister who watched as the people of God reached out to the homeless and less fortunate neighbors of our community. We served over a hundred meals from our post and gave out numerous comfort kits. We also had food items with us and made up special bags of food for those who were willing to take them. The biggest blessing to was watching the care that each individual on the team gave to precious people who came by for what we had to offer. Many times during the day we had multiple people being served at the same time and being guided through the surveys we had to fill out. All of us were blessed to here the stories of how or why these individuals live where they live. We have many great plans for this year. Our next event for outreach is Feb 10 when we host a night of comedy. The word for this event is invite, invite, invite. Then we will need to follow-up . . .

share the love of Christ

Buddy

It's a New Year!!!!!!

It is our turn with Family Promise again. So far things have gone on without a hitch. We presently have one family, a mom and her two kids with us. Pray for them as they look for a new home and mom looks for a job.

Two calls for the recent month with Modesto P.D. Both were tragic accidents of sorts involving Children. Nothing worse for a hard nosed first responder than a lifeless child. Even worse is a Chaplain trying to help make sense of the tragedy and not having words to soothe the situation. Loss of a small child hurts worse because it looks like they have been cheated out of the time they need to experience life. Maybe God has spared them from the pain we all experience living in this world.

Pray for our community as we bring Christ to it!

Buddy

Outreach . . .

We are in a very busy month for outreach in Modesto. The Nativity Story event has come and gone and we are still glowing over the success of this event. The way everyone embraced this event made my heart feel good. Individuals young and old invited their neighbors to the movie. To see our congregation name above the door of the theater was cool. My hats off to all those wo were busy inviting but unsuccessful in getting someone to say yes. It took a lot of no answers to find all the yes answers that filled the theater.
The push to help fifty familes has begun. We are adopting fifty families with needs for the holidays. Help is meal boxes and presents for the kids. Over 200 kids will get presents for Christmas because of this program. All of these families are touched by the hands of someone extending Jesus to them for the holidays.
We launched our "book" program this past Sunday. Davis Park is heading toward publishing book concerned with how Jesus has touched the lives of our members. We are seeking your life story, and how the path has changed since you bumped into Jesus. This book will be used as an outreach tool for people in our community. We want people to be able to see how active Jesus and God are in the lives of people at Davis Park.
Family Promise is coming!!!!! December 31 the Families will be here. We will bring in the New Year providing care and serving families in a special way this New Years Eve. If you want to celebrate the New Year with us at the church building let me know. It should be exciting!!!!

make a difference for Jesus today

Buddy

The Nativity Story . . .

All of the planning is over, most of the tasks associated with the project are about complete and now we sit and wait for the event. This is one of largest evangelistic efforts we have attempted. Tomorrow we will pack in 355 people into the Riverbank Galaxy theater. 250 of these people will be our guests. Most of these guests are not Christians. Neighbors who are close enough for our members to ask to come and watch the movie with them. We will invite them all to our services on Sunday. We hope and pray that many of them will come. We hope and pray that many will hear the gospel message for the first time in a way that will cause them to act on it. Pray hard for them, that God will start working on them today for tomorrow and Sunday.

Parents Tears . . .

I was called out to a scene yesterday afternoon that broke my heart. A house caught fire and a young child perished. Two of us from the MPD chaplaincy were there to serve the family for a couple of hours. Both parents are torn up as you might guess. Pray for them as they begin to feel this loss and recover from it. Pray for the first responders, police, fire, paramedics and chaplains as all of us deal with this loss. No words of wisdom, today only thoughts about promises of the hope of glory that awaits all of us. May God grant this family peace and comfort in the coming days.

The Nativity Story . . .

We are excited about the release of the movie "The Nativity Story". This story has the ability to impact our community for Christ, like no other movie since the "Passion". This story is told from Mary and Joseph's point of view. This story line is developed very well and is the best quality.
Davis Park Church of Christ has purchased the seats of an entire theater for December 2, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets for guests of members are free, members cost $6.00. Make sure you invite your friends and family. The trailer for the movie may be seen at www.thenativitystory.com. If you live in Modesto and would like a free ticket to this screening please contact, Buddy at 209-522-7226.

NOC 2006 . . . National Outreach Convention

The national outreach convention has come and gone. Three days in gorgeous San Dieago. Lots of vendors with good outreach stuff/ideas. Classes that fire you up and make you want to slap yourself for not thinking of the idea sooner. No heavy theolgy to contend with, just practical ideas how to get people to Jesus for the first time or to learn to share him.
Good ideas . . . The Nativity Story will be coming to a theater near you, why not get excited about it and bring friends to see it and then invite them to church.
Publish a book with the great stories of transformation from you congregation. We will be work on this in the near future. Work on your stories now, be ready.
Comedy night! Christian Comedians come to the church to put on a show, we invite people who want to come and laugh. Many other great ideas were shared by those attending. It was good to be involved in the convention and to learn so much more about outreach.

Harvest Festival, aka Trunk or Treat

Our largest outreach event of the year has come and gone. Awesome! What a night, over 1000 visitors were on our property. This year we had many incredible stats, like 1000 meals served, 500 hot dogs and around 500 bowls of stew. The food crew did a great job of keeping the food coming until it all ran out. Candy, around a half ton of candy was handed out by the 38 decorated trunks. The most decorated trunk was Frank Munian's Pig house (three little pigs), he actually built a house that went over his car, 2x4's and shingles. Our 6 kids games handed out over 1200 prizes plus candy. Our goal of course is to win souls for Christ. This year we added invitations and goody bags to hand out from our info booth (250 were handed out), which was the only place to get hot chocolate and coffee. Over 10 gallons of hot chocolate and 3 gallons of coffee were given out.
All of this took alot of effort on the part of the whole congregation. Thank You Davis Park for Reaching Out to your neighborhood!

An unmistaken sound. . .

Sunday evening a few minutes into Dave Ramsey' FPU, a phone rang in the auditorium. My eyes rolled back in my head, thinking about the disturbance that had been created(much like the one I created on Wednesday night with my phone). The disturbance was followed by a look of tragedy on the face of the one who received the call. Pam Gonzales had just been notified. Notified that her son had been in an accident and not survived. Tragedy visited the meeting place of the Lord's people.
When I saw her face I new something bad had happened. She yelled to Lorenzo that they needed to go. I got there and grabbed her and hugged her. She looked me in the face and said, He's seeing God's face now. I nodded and said yes. Then the sound happened, a sound I have heard as a chaplain many times, the sound much like a wail and a sob combined. A sound that comes from deep within a mother's heart. A sound that means a part of the mother has left this world and gone on, thank goodness for Pam and family, gone on to be with God.
I was proud of the response of God's family Sunday. Many wept for the loss of Pam and her family. Many associated this event with one they had experienced in their own family. Many asked what we needed to do. We have to let Pam and Lorenzo experience the loss, that's what I repeated over and over. There are no words that fix this, all words seem trivial or even trite. We held them, hugged them, paced with them. We took them to a private room and let others come and speak their condolences. We called their family for them. Finally, we helped them get home, make arrangements to go to their son's and daughter-in-law's home in the mid west. We washed their dishes and helped them pack their clothes. By the way I did not do this alone, many people helped them in this time of need. Thursday we will lay Sean to Rest, then,Pam and Lorenzo will try to sort it all out. Thank God for the church who will support them through this tragic event.

I do not look forward to hearing that sound again, I am sure I will as I serve God and this community as a law enforcement chaplain.

Family Promise final comments for this Rotation. . .

A seven day stretch is all each of the visits lasts. Sometimes it seems shorter, sometimes longer. Our guests this time were very subdued. One family has the routine down pretty well and were very helpful. One family seemed to follow well. One family overwhelmed as they were just entering the program.
The families left a thank you note on the fridge in the multi-purpose room thank us for our hospitality. I hope they saw Jesus at our building. I cannot imagine what it like to go home to a different church building each week. But the church building is better than a place by the river or sleeping in a car.
One of the families left a prayer on the whiteboard in one of the rooms. A lot of fear eminated from the words of the prayer. I pray that God will give them peace.
I want to thank the 7 couples/families that stayed over as night hosts. Also, I want to thank those who provided the meals. Glenn's group, the Cowan's group, the Natzke family, Corey Long, My Wed night fellowship/dinner group, the Higganbotham Family, the Cobleigh Family and any others who provided food.
This is a great team effort to pull off. I thank God for everyone's continued interest in serving the homeless population through the Family Promise Network.

Give God the Glory,

Buddy

Family Promise . . .

So far we have had an uneventful week. Uneventful from the coordinators point of view that is. For the families involved in this process/program it has to viewed as an adventure. The rooms that they call home will be classrooms tonight and then later their home again. The dining room will become cluttered with many people looking for their classrooms for this evenings bible study. I am sure its difficult for them, however, they are not by the river or in some alley. In fact they are in God's house, a place where we attempt to create a safe haven of rest for them.
We have had two different small groups provide evening meals, both smelled and looked wonderful. Thank you to the Cowans' group and to Dr. Glen's group for a job well done. Sheila and Jennifer have done a great job, my thanks to them.

We have three familes and a total of ten people. 5 Children and 5 adults. One family just entereed the program yesterday. Pray for all of these individuals. Pray for them to find jobs, housing and that they will find or remain faithful during this struggle that they are in.


Buddy

Family Promise Rotation # 4

It always seems like yesterday we were delviering the beds to the next congregation and then here the beds are being delivered again. Here is how it really happens . . . Two weeks out from when our new guests arrive I notify our food and overnight coordinators that FP is coming. They start recruiting so that we will have all our bases covered. One week out I always wonder if it will be covered. Then it happens, everything fills up and we wait for people to show up. I am always excited for each rotation to occur. Pray for the seven individuals coming our way. Pray that we will be a blessing to them. May Christ be seen in us.

Buddy

Sister Holly. . . .

The greatest gift God gives is eternal life. Ranking next to that is how He lets His followers to work in that process. What an awesome blessing it is to be a part of the birth of a "new" Christian. Holly has been seeking God for a long time and has lifted up many of her families struggles to God in the past few years. Last during our opening prayer time she requested a prayer for her bosses' wife who has been stricken with and aneurysm. She asked after services why she (Holly) was not addressed as Sister Holly. The discussion that ensued ended up with her wanting to become a sister in the faith by putting on Jesus in Baptism. Praise God!

Welcome to the family Sister Holly!

Buddy

Change for China

Martin and Marcus Rodriguez brought the word of God in tandem this past Sunday at Davis Park. These young men are on fire for God and spreading His message in multiple languages. Just 3 years ago they left Californinia to "go and teach" in China. Even when their Chinese skills were limited God's word convicted people of their sin and many come to know Jesus as their savior.
Their work continues, as they spend time in language school learning more and more about China and the language of the people there.
The message was insightful and direct to us in the American Church. The China Team is approaching evangelism through the use of stories. Each person is changed when they come in contact with Christ and must decide how He will impact their life. Will Jesus be your savior or your judge? The new Christians in China are taught that it is OK to tell your conversion story. They are taught that the conversion story will be upsetting to some and hurtful to others. However, no matter how someone reacts to the story, you still tell the story. Martin's comment, If it means going to jail for telling the Christ story, thats OK, because God wants His story told. Arrested for the gospel means only one thing. Prison Ministry!
Here is some information regarding telling your story. Learn to tell the story of how your life is different because Christ has become a part.

Remember when God came to you in your deepest need and reconciled you to Himself. Forgiveness and Salvation were given to you, this message that changed you, will still change the world. God calls you to bear witness about Christ in everything you do so that the truth of the Gospel of Christ may go out to the rest of the world.

What should my story include?

Gratitude to God for His ability to reach you.

A brief bio sketch about yourself.

Talk about how you bumped into God or how he bumped into you.

Learn meaningful scripture to include in your story.

Talking about what it felt like when you realized you were saved.

Make a brief statement of belief.

Remind people that God helps people survive the problems of this world.

Thank you God for changing my life and allowing me to have Christ in my story.


Buddy

This Week. . .

So far we have no activity in our as on-call chaplain this week. One of the items brought to light by being on call is how active our police are in keeping us safe. This aint Mayberry, Andy and Barney would not be able to keep up in Modesto. My hats off to all the officers everywhere who are "just doing their jobs". Even though doing the jobs may at some point put them in danger, they still do it. In our city calls are qued up and waiting for the officers to work them. Higher priority calls when safety and welfare at risk are pushed to the top of the list. A lot of good men doing good work for all of us.

Family Promise is coming up! Don't wait make sure you have signed up for a night at the church as a host or come and enjoy a meal and an evening with our guests.

Phillips, Craig and Dean were at Big Valley last night. These guys lift their voices up to the heavens and praise God. Many of their songs touch your heart. BTW, this group did not hurt my old ears. It was also good to hear the sweet sounds of Texas dialect. Two of the group members are from the Great State of Texas. Amen.

Highlight of the week this week. Covers Apple Ranch. I went with Matthew's Kindergarten class to the apple ranch. Matthew loved the train ride. Matthew's comment, this was not like a regular day at school.

make a differernce for God today,

Buddy

Local Ministry is Community Response . . .

Sorry for the dry spell in posting to the blog. I may have had blogger block. Last Saturday I was allowed to lead a celebration of life for a dear friend. I have only known Rubye Long for 6 years, butn in that time she became very dear to me. She was a Christian wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and great grand mother. Her family will miss. The Ladies who meet on Thursdays will miss her too.

I am presently on call with MPD. Pray for peace in the city. Pray that if peace is disrupted I can bring God's light to it.

Coming to a church near you. Family Promise is going to be here Oct. 8. What a great time we will have with the families that arrive.

Congrats to Leonard Higginbotham. He earned a promotion at work. County Probation has a new Christian Supervisor. Praise God!!!!!!!

The tropics have been quiet, what a blessing for the Coast(Gulf) to have a year to rebuild.

A lot of scattered thoughts. Keep working for God.

This week in my Sunday class we will talk about listening. I know I can improve my listening skills.

Family Response . . . Wedding in Central TX

I spent the better part of last week in central Texas with my sister and her family for the wedding of my niece. The wedding was different than most weddings that I officiate. Usually, when I perform a ceremony it is in a Christian context. Sadly, my sister and her family are only nominal Christians. It hurts to think about it or talk about it very much, so I pray about it, that is their relationship with God.
I was raised in a non-Christian home, one very committed to alcohol and its ability to numb the senses. Watching the events of the wedding unfold reminded me of why I worked so hard to not follow in the footsteps of my father in regards to drinking. Helping the newly married groom to a sofa to pass out on, reminded me of carrying my father to bed when he had too much to drink. Driving the bride and groom reminded me of doing the same for my father, once I learned to drive at 12 years old.
I love my sister and her family. If they read this post I want them to know how dear they are to me. However, I am forever grateful for God and Jesus taking me away from the drinking and all the ill affects it has on one's life.