As we have said before, we feel very privileged to be able to be here in Lafayette. The Lord has given us many open doors for which we are thankful. Today, while we were delivering food boxes to a new trailer site, it was great to see Edwin again. I first met Edwin at the Cajun Dome where he was evacuated. We prayed together several times and I was able to help him fill out his FEMA paperwork. It was good to see that he got his trailer and was getting back on his feet.

Here are a few of the other “open doors of opportunity” that my wife and I rejoice over:

1. Contacts with people who make our job easier. The statement, “It’s not what you know in life, but who you know” can be true and it is true for us right now. The Lord has given us several contacts with the people who are in charge of placing and housing the evacuees. We have been able to establish a relationship with them and they are letting us know when and where the evacuees are being moved into their FEMA trailers. This saves us a lot of time and energy so we can focus on getting more done. In some instances, if the people have not moved in yet, our friends are able to open the doors and place food boxes with the gospel literature as well as a copy of the New Testament in their houses. So, the first thing these people see in their new homes is a food box from us.

2. Transportation. If you have ever seen our car, you might wonder how in the world we can deliver all of the boxes. God has used a local church in the area to provide a van that we can use to deliver the boxes to these people. We usually pick up the van on Monday, remove the seats and use it for a couple of days. We then fill the tank up and return it so they can use it for their Wednesday night service.

3. Bible Studies. Right now we have two Bible studies scheduled for Sunday afternoons. While one of them is slow to get started, the other one brought some men hungry for the Word (in fact, they said they didn’t want to wait until next Sunday to have another Bible study. They asked if we could get together maybe Thursday night.).

4. Follow up. After we deliver the boxes, we go back to the trailer court and invite them to our Bible studies and see if there are anymore needs that they have. So far we have been able to help people with leaky faucets, flat tires, providing diapers, wipes, and even means to obtain the medication that they need. Of course, the most important part of the follow up is trying to give them the gospel in a clear, succinct manner.

Please be praying for us as we try to help these people during a difficult yet, Divinely appointed time in their lives.