Day 50 Update
Dear Praying Friends,
Hello again from Southeast Louisiana!!! I'm sorry for the LONG (11 days I think) delay in updating you. Lots of things going on ... in addition to my e-mail crash ... UGH! I'm still trying to put the mailing list back together, so if you haven't replied to the "FIX MAILING LIST"e-mail that I sent out on Oct. 12 please do so. Until then, I'm doing this in kind of a make shift manner so I hope it is working!
Well, we've had a GREAT couple of weeks! Praise the Lord for His goodness and grace! The Chapel's School is open and operating! The Chapel's Day Care is open and operating! These are CRITICAL issues, not only for the ministry and evangelism that goes on in these, but also for their impact on the economy and community. They allow the parents freedom to work on their homes and go to their jobs which helps them get their lives going again! We've continued to have groups of men coming into help with the recovery effort. They have had all different abilities and skills and the Lord has worked it all out to provide JUST the right people at JUST the right times of need! What a great God we have ... and how intimately He is involved in our everyday lives ... again ... PRAISE THE LORD!!!
Can you imagine, we have had OVER 120 men come down to help us up to this point. Some have come individually. Some have come aspart of a team. They have come from WI, MI, OH, NC, TN, IA, PA, AL, IL,NY, MO, ND, GA, FL, KS, WA, and SC (forgive me if I've missed anyone). They have ALL worked HARD and LONG ... and the progress is showing it! We are SO thankful for those who have come ... and for the wives and children and loved ones who have stayed behind and allowed them to come... and for those who have not been able to come, but have stayed at home and prayed or encouraged or given or any of a myriad of other things that are necessary to make such a thing as this succeed!
Our last local people have finally gotten back here and everyone is alive and safe! To our knowledge we have lost NONE of our people orANY of their family members or extended family members! One of these late returners finally got into their home in East New Orleans (12 feetof water for 6 weeks) and it goes without saying that it is a real mess! I'm not sure whether it will be salvageable or not ... we'll see! It is hoped that he will be able to find some technical advice both on the structural integrity of a home that has been under water that long and on whether or not the mold now growing on ALL the surfaces of the home is"cleanable" or not ... this will then determine whether the house is even possible to reclaim. In the meantime, they are living in a FEMA trailer at Exit 4 - I-59 Picayune, Mississippi ... so we're thankful that they could get into this temporary housing arranged by her employer! Then we had a motor home donated and brought down from Minnesota ... Praise theLord!!! It, and they, arrived about 5 A.M. on this past Sunday morning, got it hooked up, caught a couple of winks nap and came out for Sunday meeting! This will provide "temporary" housing for the last of our families! They've been driving 160 miles round trip to work each day from Camp (at $2.77 / gallon for gasoline). We're setting the motor home up in the Chapel parking lot (Slidell Bible Chapel KOA) and it will cut the driving by way more than half as well as give them their own little place to call home for the foreseeable future! So, praise the Lord, ALL of our families are now in their own "temporary" housing units ... and "temporary" will probably be until spring or so 2006!
In addition to getting this housing in place, we've been making HUGE progress in the homes! They are going back together and it is moving ahead wonderfully! We are SO thankful for all the men who come and work SO hard to make this happen! Sheet rock and other supplies have had to be trucked in from as far away as Kansas in order to get us the materials we need ... an incredible effort ... and what a GREAT example of the Body of Christ working together to get the job done! A living example of the first century church operating in modern times! What a fantastic family to be a part of!
Another WONDERFUL accomplishment is that we met for the first time since Katrina in the Chapel Building!!! Was it ever nice to be back in that building! It still isn't done. There is no carpet, the pews are not bolted down, a good bit of trim and paint still needs to be done... and a HUGE amount of CLEANING! I know .. I know ... it's NOT about a building! But ... !!! It IS SO good to have the chapel building going back together again to the point where it can be used ... the Ladies are pleased because the restrooms actually have WALLS and DOORS ... WOW~!!! We're trying a little rearrangement in the pews to arrange them in a square around the remembrance table (my particular favorite) but we'll see how everyone feels after we try it a few weeks ... it does create some logistical problems in seating. As usual, the time of remembering the Lord was wonderful ... after all, HE is Wonder-full! How can you not enjoy telling the Father about what a wonderful Son he has ... and what His Son means to you ... and what a wonder-full Son / Savior / Lord he is! We had a GREAT time with the Lord in the midst! I could almost see the rest of you there as well ... maybe the tears hindered my view! The angels stood in amazement as sinners saved by grace poured out their hearts to the One to whom they owed EVERYTHING!
Worship on the Lord's Day was again FANTASTIC! We had a wonderful time remembering the Lord Jesus and then asked Duane Brown to bring a little ministry from God's Word at the end! My "most wanted" man who got Saved just a couple of months ago came out and that was a real blessing to have him break bread for the first time with us "postKatrina"! The folks even put together a little "fellowship dinner" for the first time since the storm ... how COOL! We had a WONDERFUL time! They cooked it in the Day Care kitchen which is operating! The menu wasn't spectacular ... a Ham (that one of the teams brought us) and Macaroni and Cheese together with some salad and a few fillers and some great french bread and butter! We had a GREAT time ... you would have thought it was Filet Mignon and baked Potatoes! We all sat (kind of crammed together) at the little, miniature tables in the Day Care with some folding chairs with others standing ... it was really FUN! We all had a GREAT time!
Well, KNOW that we appreciate your prayer. We'll never get a chance to write thank you notes to all of those who have helped and given and encouraged, but please KNOW that it isn't for lack of thankfulness! We are SO grateful for all that everyone has done and continues to do! So, KNOW that we appreciate YOU!
Our very special love in Christ,
Bob & JoAnne Brown
Slidell, Louisiana
Hello again from Southeast Louisiana!!! I'm sorry for the LONG (11 days I think) delay in updating you. Lots of things going on ... in addition to my e-mail crash ... UGH! I'm still trying to put the mailing list back together, so if you haven't replied to the "FIX MAILING LIST"e-mail that I sent out on Oct. 12 please do so. Until then, I'm doing this in kind of a make shift manner so I hope it is working!
Well, we've had a GREAT couple of weeks! Praise the Lord for His goodness and grace! The Chapel's School is open and operating! The Chapel's Day Care is open and operating! These are CRITICAL issues, not only for the ministry and evangelism that goes on in these, but also for their impact on the economy and community. They allow the parents freedom to work on their homes and go to their jobs which helps them get their lives going again! We've continued to have groups of men coming into help with the recovery effort. They have had all different abilities and skills and the Lord has worked it all out to provide JUST the right people at JUST the right times of need! What a great God we have ... and how intimately He is involved in our everyday lives ... again ... PRAISE THE LORD!!!
Can you imagine, we have had OVER 120 men come down to help us up to this point. Some have come individually. Some have come aspart of a team. They have come from WI, MI, OH, NC, TN, IA, PA, AL, IL,NY, MO, ND, GA, FL, KS, WA, and SC (forgive me if I've missed anyone). They have ALL worked HARD and LONG ... and the progress is showing it! We are SO thankful for those who have come ... and for the wives and children and loved ones who have stayed behind and allowed them to come... and for those who have not been able to come, but have stayed at home and prayed or encouraged or given or any of a myriad of other things that are necessary to make such a thing as this succeed!
Our last local people have finally gotten back here and everyone is alive and safe! To our knowledge we have lost NONE of our people orANY of their family members or extended family members! One of these late returners finally got into their home in East New Orleans (12 feetof water for 6 weeks) and it goes without saying that it is a real mess! I'm not sure whether it will be salvageable or not ... we'll see! It is hoped that he will be able to find some technical advice both on the structural integrity of a home that has been under water that long and on whether or not the mold now growing on ALL the surfaces of the home is"cleanable" or not ... this will then determine whether the house is even possible to reclaim. In the meantime, they are living in a FEMA trailer at Exit 4 - I-59 Picayune, Mississippi ... so we're thankful that they could get into this temporary housing arranged by her employer! Then we had a motor home donated and brought down from Minnesota ... Praise theLord!!! It, and they, arrived about 5 A.M. on this past Sunday morning, got it hooked up, caught a couple of winks nap and came out for Sunday meeting! This will provide "temporary" housing for the last of our families! They've been driving 160 miles round trip to work each day from Camp (at $2.77 / gallon for gasoline). We're setting the motor home up in the Chapel parking lot (Slidell Bible Chapel KOA) and it will cut the driving by way more than half as well as give them their own little place to call home for the foreseeable future! So, praise the Lord, ALL of our families are now in their own "temporary" housing units ... and "temporary" will probably be until spring or so 2006!
In addition to getting this housing in place, we've been making HUGE progress in the homes! They are going back together and it is moving ahead wonderfully! We are SO thankful for all the men who come and work SO hard to make this happen! Sheet rock and other supplies have had to be trucked in from as far away as Kansas in order to get us the materials we need ... an incredible effort ... and what a GREAT example of the Body of Christ working together to get the job done! A living example of the first century church operating in modern times! What a fantastic family to be a part of!
Another WONDERFUL accomplishment is that we met for the first time since Katrina in the Chapel Building!!! Was it ever nice to be back in that building! It still isn't done. There is no carpet, the pews are not bolted down, a good bit of trim and paint still needs to be done... and a HUGE amount of CLEANING! I know .. I know ... it's NOT about a building! But ... !!! It IS SO good to have the chapel building going back together again to the point where it can be used ... the Ladies are pleased because the restrooms actually have WALLS and DOORS ... WOW~!!! We're trying a little rearrangement in the pews to arrange them in a square around the remembrance table (my particular favorite) but we'll see how everyone feels after we try it a few weeks ... it does create some logistical problems in seating. As usual, the time of remembering the Lord was wonderful ... after all, HE is Wonder-full! How can you not enjoy telling the Father about what a wonderful Son he has ... and what His Son means to you ... and what a wonder-full Son / Savior / Lord he is! We had a GREAT time with the Lord in the midst! I could almost see the rest of you there as well ... maybe the tears hindered my view! The angels stood in amazement as sinners saved by grace poured out their hearts to the One to whom they owed EVERYTHING!
Worship on the Lord's Day was again FANTASTIC! We had a wonderful time remembering the Lord Jesus and then asked Duane Brown to bring a little ministry from God's Word at the end! My "most wanted" man who got Saved just a couple of months ago came out and that was a real blessing to have him break bread for the first time with us "postKatrina"! The folks even put together a little "fellowship dinner" for the first time since the storm ... how COOL! We had a WONDERFUL time! They cooked it in the Day Care kitchen which is operating! The menu wasn't spectacular ... a Ham (that one of the teams brought us) and Macaroni and Cheese together with some salad and a few fillers and some great french bread and butter! We had a GREAT time ... you would have thought it was Filet Mignon and baked Potatoes! We all sat (kind of crammed together) at the little, miniature tables in the Day Care with some folding chairs with others standing ... it was really FUN! We all had a GREAT time!
Well, KNOW that we appreciate your prayer. We'll never get a chance to write thank you notes to all of those who have helped and given and encouraged, but please KNOW that it isn't for lack of thankfulness! We are SO grateful for all that everyone has done and continues to do! So, KNOW that we appreciate YOU!
Our very special love in Christ,
Bob & JoAnne Brown
Slidell, Louisiana
posted by Shawn Abigail at 6:10 PM
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