We wanted to let you know that Anouk and I have finished our term and had a safe trip to Rhode Island. After giving a report to the church, we drove to Michigan to spend time with family (we get to celebrate Christmas!). Lord willing, this Monday we will finish our travels by driving home to Illinois.

We will be posting more details about our final weeks of ministry soon. More to come . . .

Well, we’ve been here a week - and it’s been a very good week! We’ve been able to get lots of painting done at Della’s - over 1000 feet of trim and baseboard! I never realized how much trim goes in a house, but now I’ll never take it for granted again! A team from our home church, Morning Star, is coming in at the end of the week to paint the walls and put up all the trim. Della’s house is coming along! It’s been a long haul for her, but she is so thankful for all the work that has been done at her house.

The other ministry we have had down here is following up on a list of people who have received help from Christ Fellowship Baptist Church. The church has a wonderful testimony in the community of Pascagoula. Jeremy has been able to talk with many people and give them good books (”How to Handle Life’s Hurts” and “Ultimate Questions“) and a “Katrina, Why?” tract. Everyone has nothing but great things to say about the church. The love of Christ is being poured out to very needy people, and their hearts are stirred by it. Not only are houses being rebuilt, but the Gospel is being shared at each one of them.

Let me tell you a little bit about the ministry of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church here in Mobile, AL. Soon after hurricane Katrina hit, church members & staff went down to Pascagoula, MS and talked with people to scout out who needed the most help rebuilding (i.e. - older people, disabled people, single moms, etc.). After talking to many people (and encouraging many along the way), they chose over 50 houses to help, and told these households they would send help as funds and teams came down. We’ve heard testimonies that Christ Fellowship was a “ray of hope” to many of these people who didn’t know where to even begin.

Christ Fellowship quickly became the home base for hundreds of people coming down to help with rebuilding. The church houses the teams in rooms off of their gym. They provide cots, bedding, showers, towels, shampoo, soap, washer/dryer, and best of all, DELICIOUS suppers (more about that later). They have become the channel through which much needed help is being sent to Pascagoula, MS. Danny Chance, an elder of Christ Fellowship and lay worker, has taken on the immense task of organizing all the logistics of the teams and work going on . . . and he’s doing a great job! Whenever we mention his name down in Pascagoula, big smiles come on people’s faces!

As churches sent teams down to help, Danny Chance would put them in contact with someone on their list. The first few teams mostly focused on tearing down all the moldy drywall and flooring in all the houses. Some of the houses were “torn down” from 4 feet down and some were down to the bare studs. Pascagoulans, overwhelmed by the sheer work to be done, were so thrilled with this help.

After the “tearing down,” rebuilding started. One by one, houses started being “adopted” by churches and individuals (some still need adopting, even 5 months later). That’s how we got in touch with Della. Our church decided to adopt her, so every work team we send down and money that is designated is funneled to Della’s house. And the wonderful thing is, it’s almost done!

Jeremy and I are so thankful for this ministry of Christ Fellowship Church. They have housed literally hundreds of workers from all over the country. Their footwork has enabled so much work to be done! They have also been a blessing to both of us: the people are some of the friendliest folks we’ve ever met; the food every night is out-of-this-world delicious (better than most restaurants); and the ministry of the Word has been encouraging and refreshing.

We met up with Mark last night for dessert (Mark is the assistant pastor at Morning Star - he wrote the article on Della). He’s down here for a few days helping at Della’s house. Today, Jeremy and he are working there on different projects . . . and I’m packing stuff up to send back with Mark, so we don’t have to ship it! Yippee! It’s fun to figure out what you can live without for 3 weeks . . . after all, we are going to be downsizing from an RV to a 2-door Cavalier (and don’t forget the cat!). So we REALLY need to send stuff on ahead! Thankfully, we’ll be at different churches each week (in AL, RI, MI), so no one will know if we wear the same thing to each church service . . . oops! I guess the secret is out now!

We are planning on working at Della’s house for the last dozen days we are down here. Mark will be here until Thursday morning . . . then Bill, also from Morning Star, will be joining us. Bill is a carpenter, so Della will have nicely hung trim in her house - I shudder to think what it would look like if I attempted it! We will be doing a lot of finish work like painting, installing sinks, caulking the tub, and such. I’ll try to remember to take pictures!

Here is the itinerary for the rest of the month . . . ready? Hang on, cuz it will take you all over the country!

Feb 19th after church - leave to go to Rhode Island (21+ hours)
Feb 20th - arrive in Rhode Island
Feb 21st, 22nd - return RV to its owners, give a report to Cornerstone Church
Feb 23rd - drive to Michigan (13 hours)
Feb 24th, 25th, 26th - spend time with Jeremy’s family and celebrate “Christmas in February”
Feb 27th - drive to Illinois (6 hours)
Feb 28th - Jeremy flies out to California for a conference

Phew! I’m out of breath just thinking about it! Seriously, we are looking forward to seeing friends in RI, and spending time with family in MI. And, of course, going home! Thank you all for your prayers. They mean so much to us!

First, I want to apologize for the long delay between posts. We were in the middle of a transition time, and unfortunately the blog got put on the backburner for a while.

This past week, we were wrapping things up in Lafayette, LA so we would be prepared for the last “leg” of our journey. The last weekend in January brought about new and exciting plans for our last few weeks in the South. After discussion with Global Grace’s board, we decided to go to Mississippi / Alabama to help finish the work on Della’s house (remember Della? Our church in Rockford - Morning Star Baptist - adopted her. Click here for her story).

So, the first week of January was spent tying up loose ends and finishing up what needed to be done in Lafayette. The storage unit is now empty (except for some literature). We estimate that we passed out over 600 boxes - praise the Lord, that means 600 families got the Gospel! We’re so thankful for all the teams that helped us pass those out (my back thanks them too! :)). Also we said goodbye to some friends we had made: I went out for coffee with Gina (PR manager at the Day’s Inn), and Jeremy and I went out with Felix to, of course, Chili’s! (In case you didn’t know, Chili’s is Jeremy’s favorite restaurant . . . or should I say obsession? :)). We also said goodbye to Robert and Michael, our Bible-study”ees”, as well as Rebecca and her cute kids. It was sad to leave them, but we all said we would try to keep in touch (ah! the beauty of cell-phones!).

Monday came, and we unhooked the RV, paid the bill, and got on the road. I drove the car and Jeremy drove the RV. It’s about a 4 hour drive from Lafayette, LA to Mobile, AL where we had reserved an RV spot. We thank the Lord for safety - we passed 2 accidents on the road, and avoided one when the RV ran over a tall pylon in the road and sent it spinning back toward me. I praise God He made it miss me at the very last second, literally. My heart was beating a little faster after that!

We made it safely to Mobile, AL around 5pm and hooked up the RV at our “new place”. Mobile is about 50 minutes away from Pascagoula, MS, so we’re going to try to find an RV place a little closer; I doubt we’ll find anything closer because a lot of the parks are still full of evacuees and workers. So we’ll probably end up staying here - it’s nice and quiet and has a great wireless internet connection!

I’ll tell you more tomorrow about what the plan is for us in the next few weeks. Thanks for your patience in waiting for a post! Thanks for your prayers!