After we visited Ed Phillips, we drove to Pascagoula, MS to follow up on some of the contacts that teams from Morning Star Baptist Church made during their trips to the area to help rebuild. Anouk and I tried to contact four individuals that were helped by our teams however, only two were home so we left notes for the other two.

It was a privilege to meet Della. She took us into her home to show us the progress that has been made so far. She was very excited that the new drywall had been hung and other improvements have been made. I was pleased to hear that she had been thinking about our team that came down to help her. She is still very thankful for the work that the team did on her behalf. She was glad to hear that another team from our church will be coming down to help in January.

She is living in the FEMA trailer that is parked on her front lawn but is anxious to get back into her house. Please keep Della in prayer as she is working a lot trying to make ends meet. Click here for an “essay” written by our assistant pastor who was on the team that went to help Della.

Today we drove to Mobile, AL to pick up some supplies for the ministry here. Why Mobile? It is because that is where Ed Phillips of Seedline International lives. Mr. Phillips was gracious to provide us with copies of John/Romans and Romans to give to the evacuees here in Lafayette.

As I talked with Mr. Phillips, I was intrigued by the ministry and impressed with his desire to see copies of God’s Word distributed thoughout the world. I was also impressed that he is part of a small church that is doing big things for the kingdom of Christ. As a member of Meadowlake Baptist Church, he and the Sr. Citizens sort, staple and cut portions of God’s Word to be spread all over the world.

As I talked with Mr. Phillips, he showed me the cutter that he rebuilt and operates (a 1948 model). He then showed me a map where they track all the places that they are able to send copies of God’s Word. Seedline International is responsible for printing the gospel into 420 languages and last year alone printing 5.5 million copies of the Scriptures.

Mr. Phillips has been serving in this ministry for the last 10 years - he tells me it is a good way to spend his retirement. I was thankful to have met him because it reminded me of a couple of truths that please God.

1. Size doesn’t always matter. Meadowlake Baptist is only a church of about 120 - 130 people. I know first hand that smaller churches can do a lot for the glory of God. Being small is not an excuse to not be busy doing tangible things for the Lord.

2. Retirement is not a spiritual gift. In his “retirement”, Mr. Phillips is busy organizing the cutting, binding and distributing of God’s Word. Oh, by the way he also has, with his “small” church, helped rebuild 4 homes and 3 churches after the hurricanes caused so much damage. (In one day, he hung 64 sheets of drywall by himself).

I am thankful to have meet this man and hope that when my “retirement” time comes, I can too continue to serve God with the same zeal he does.

Do you remember the family from Louisiana that our church (Morning Star Baptist Church) was able to relocate to Rockford? Well Emmett and Haley welcomed their newest little girl, Mayah Marie on December 8th. Click here to see pictures of the cutie!

Also, Emmett and Haley were interviewed by Jason Janz of SharperIron - click here to hear the interview. The Lord is doing a great work through the effects of the hurricanes! Praise Him!

‘Twas a chilly day – well, for Lafayette Louisiana that is! ☺ I’m turning into a wimp as far as cold goes!

Today we were able to put out 68 boxes: 30 in mobile homes that will be occupied next week and 38 in travel trailers that are going to house people starting the middle of December. Once again, our friends with the government helped us out by opening the doors to every home! Becky, one of the ladies, was even helping us carry things in! What a blessing!

Here are some pictures: some of the van FULL of boxes (70 of them, plus 70 laundry detergent bottles); Anouk writing on the boxes: “Welcome to your new home”; Becky and Jeremy carrying things to a mobile home; a mobile home being dropped off and “secured”; and an unusual sign on the side of the road.

The two ladies we have been working with the most are now leaving! ☹ Becky and Diane are going back home after more than three months of work down here. We’re going to miss them! They were great to work with and are sad to see them go . . . but we did get to meet their replacement, Vickie, who seemed just as nice. We had lunch with them and another worker today. It’s great to see how the Lord works in the hearts of these workers to help us help out the evacuees! Becky and Diane wanted to get a picture with us, so we included it here.

Later in the day we were also able to go back to one of the trailer parks and give people some specific things they needed. One lady needed some cat food (she had just gotten back her cat the week before) and was happy to get some. A young mother needed diapers so we brought her a bag with diapers, wipes, ointment, etc. Her eyes lit up and she smiled big when she saw me with the bag of “goodies.” I don’t think she expected us to come back! It’s such a blessing to be the bearer of these physical blessings! Thanks for all your support that makes it possible. Please pray that there will be fruit from the bearing of the Gospel too!

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.

Thanks to Edith Webster, our ministry was featured in yesterday’s edition of the Rockford Register Star - the local paper of Rockford, Illinois. We appreciate the article: now more people can be praying for the ministry down here!

Click here to see the article.

Today is Dad’s birthday. I just wanted you to know that I love him and wish him a happy birthday.

Thanks for all the example and encouragement to do what is “pleasing in God’s sight”.

Love,
Jeremy

Just a quick note – we were able to make 50 boxes of food today for distribution. The reason I tell you this – we did it in 72-degree weather. We are thinking of all you back up north and on the east coast! ☺

Follow up day! We went back to the Countryside Mobile Home Park to give Victoria her extra supplies. In addition to extra food, we were able to give her a large-print Bible to make Bible studying much easier. Victoria claims to know Christ as her Savior – pray for her as she is having a difficult time with her health.

This evening we visited the Faith Baptist Church of Lafayette. Some members of their church wanted us to thank those who sent us down to their city in efforts of seeing people saved. The church situation here in Lafayette is a heartbreaking one. With so many people there is a need for another healthy, gospel-preaching local church.

Today, we were able to distribute 48 boxes of food to the Countryside Mobile Home Park here in Lafayette. These people have been living in their FEMA trailers for about a month now - everyone we met welcomed the groceries and supplies!

As we handed out these food boxes we met a lady named Victoria. Victoria has her son living with her now, but more family is on the way to move in with them – 10 more family members. It will be a crowded house! Tomorrow we will go back with extra supplies to help with the extra family that will be moving in shortly.

Please pray for these contacts. While we give the food out, we are also giving the gospel to these people. We often pray with these people and challenge them with God’s Word. In addition, there is a New Testament and other literature inside each box. It is our desire to see people repent of their sins and accept Christ as their Savior.