KATRINA UPDATE ... PRAISE REPORT ... DAY 266 (almost 9 months) ... SUNDAY - MAY 21, 2006
Dear Praying Friends,
What a GREAT day! The Lord's Day ... Sunday, May 21 ... we gathered together this morning to remember the Lord (Communion) as we do every Sunday morning and enjoyed a little over an hour of listening to the various men "remember Him" as he asked us to do ... "This DO in remembrance of me!" Each, in turn, recounted how wonder-full the Lord Jesus really is, and how very much He means to them! How pleased our Father in Heaven must be to hear his children speak well of his beloved Son! It was a great time ... a little oasis of time in the midst of the chaos!!! We have come to appreciate the times of meeting together with the Lord as never before ... if there was apathy in a person before Katrina, there surely is none now! I don't think that we (either individually or corporately) have ever been closer to the Lord or appreciated him more! What a blessing!
Tuesday evening we took JoAnne and Jen (Josiah's Fiance - Josiah is the young man from Wisconsin that has been here since September helping us with the storm reclamation) out for their (Joint) Birthday. It was really a fairly "normal" evening ... restaurant open ... short line ... nearly a full menu ... really quite amazing!!! We had a great time and I think the ladies appreciated the little "island of normality"! Then on Thursday evening we went out again - this time to Applebee's ... only to find a limited menu presented by a limited staff ... they didn't open until 11:30 am and the doors were locked behind us at 8 pm!!! Back to reality! In Slidell, most things are getting opened up now, but many of these businesses have had to severely cut back on their hours and services due to limited staff ... including the chapel Day Care! There are just no people left to hire. And if someone was to come in to work, there is no place for them to live ... UGH ... a very complex situation! A good example is that we normally have 2 Super Walmart stores (open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). They are both open now but only from 7 am - 8 pm and the lines remain pretty daunting!
Mostly mail / UPS / FedX services are back to (pretty) normal ... you just can't count on it being that way. Power is the same way.
New Orleans had their Mayoral "run off" yesterday ... Ray Nagin won again! He and the Governor veiled miserably in the "heat of the moment" but I think most people thought that this was not the time to "change horses" ... so we'll see how he does in a more controllable situation! In the meantime, Slidell and St. Tammany Parish (that area hardest hit - North of Lake Pontchartrain) with great government, great populace, and great overall leadership has been coming back very steadily. This Parish also probably has the highest percentage of real Christians! God is good ... "His eye is on the sparrow and I know He cares for (us)!"
Well, the homes continue to progress! We've made tremendous progress and the progress continues ... thank to the Lord and His wonderful people ... you!!! We've begun working on Mike & Yee's home in New Orleans ... probably the worst damaged as it was in the area effected by the "overtopped" levees. They have two houses, their original home and a rental duplex. We don't think that the home is work fixing and the duplex is questionable, but the duplex is the one that we've begun working on. We replaced the roof, soffet and facia last week and began stripping and gutting it. Once we get it down to the frame, we'll clean it up and disinfect it. Then we'll make a determination as to whether it is worth fixing or not. It may be better to try to sell it "as is" and try to buy a home in Slidell that wasn't damaged in the storm. We'll see what happens as we progress. Please pray for us in this matter that the Lord will give us wisdom in the decisions that will need to be made!
Sharon & Lee got their counter tops Thursday ... that's why we went out to Applebee's that night! We should get the sinks, dishwasher and disposal hooked up in the next few days and their home will be ....... DONE!!!! Praise the Lord!!! Working our way down the list and little by little ... doggedly ... getting there! Again, Praise the Lord ... AND each of you that has had a part in helping us along the way! We are all eternally grateful! There's not a day goes by that we don't thank the Lord for each of you!
Please continue to pray for the Chapel School & Day Care ... Teachers and Care Givers are in critical need!!! We're also looking at ways that we can reorganize to make it work! This will probably be an ongoing problem until the population stabilizes!
Our love to each of you,
His servants and yours,
Bob & JoAnne Brown Slidell, Louisiana
What a GREAT day! The Lord's Day ... Sunday, May 21 ... we gathered together this morning to remember the Lord (Communion) as we do every Sunday morning and enjoyed a little over an hour of listening to the various men "remember Him" as he asked us to do ... "This DO in remembrance of me!" Each, in turn, recounted how wonder-full the Lord Jesus really is, and how very much He means to them! How pleased our Father in Heaven must be to hear his children speak well of his beloved Son! It was a great time ... a little oasis of time in the midst of the chaos!!! We have come to appreciate the times of meeting together with the Lord as never before ... if there was apathy in a person before Katrina, there surely is none now! I don't think that we (either individually or corporately) have ever been closer to the Lord or appreciated him more! What a blessing!
Tuesday evening we took JoAnne and Jen (Josiah's Fiance - Josiah is the young man from Wisconsin that has been here since September helping us with the storm reclamation) out for their (Joint) Birthday. It was really a fairly "normal" evening ... restaurant open ... short line ... nearly a full menu ... really quite amazing!!! We had a great time and I think the ladies appreciated the little "island of normality"! Then on Thursday evening we went out again - this time to Applebee's ... only to find a limited menu presented by a limited staff ... they didn't open until 11:30 am and the doors were locked behind us at 8 pm!!! Back to reality! In Slidell, most things are getting opened up now, but many of these businesses have had to severely cut back on their hours and services due to limited staff ... including the chapel Day Care! There are just no people left to hire. And if someone was to come in to work, there is no place for them to live ... UGH ... a very complex situation! A good example is that we normally have 2 Super Walmart stores (open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). They are both open now but only from 7 am - 8 pm and the lines remain pretty daunting!
Mostly mail / UPS / FedX services are back to (pretty) normal ... you just can't count on it being that way. Power is the same way.
New Orleans had their Mayoral "run off" yesterday ... Ray Nagin won again! He and the Governor veiled miserably in the "heat of the moment" but I think most people thought that this was not the time to "change horses" ... so we'll see how he does in a more controllable situation! In the meantime, Slidell and St. Tammany Parish (that area hardest hit - North of Lake Pontchartrain) with great government, great populace, and great overall leadership has been coming back very steadily. This Parish also probably has the highest percentage of real Christians! God is good ... "His eye is on the sparrow and I know He cares for (us)!"
Well, the homes continue to progress! We've made tremendous progress and the progress continues ... thank to the Lord and His wonderful people ... you!!! We've begun working on Mike & Yee's home in New Orleans ... probably the worst damaged as it was in the area effected by the "overtopped" levees. They have two houses, their original home and a rental duplex. We don't think that the home is work fixing and the duplex is questionable, but the duplex is the one that we've begun working on. We replaced the roof, soffet and facia last week and began stripping and gutting it. Once we get it down to the frame, we'll clean it up and disinfect it. Then we'll make a determination as to whether it is worth fixing or not. It may be better to try to sell it "as is" and try to buy a home in Slidell that wasn't damaged in the storm. We'll see what happens as we progress. Please pray for us in this matter that the Lord will give us wisdom in the decisions that will need to be made!
Sharon & Lee got their counter tops Thursday ... that's why we went out to Applebee's that night! We should get the sinks, dishwasher and disposal hooked up in the next few days and their home will be ....... DONE!!!! Praise the Lord!!! Working our way down the list and little by little ... doggedly ... getting there! Again, Praise the Lord ... AND each of you that has had a part in helping us along the way! We are all eternally grateful! There's not a day goes by that we don't thank the Lord for each of you!
Please continue to pray for the Chapel School & Day Care ... Teachers and Care Givers are in critical need!!! We're also looking at ways that we can reorganize to make it work! This will probably be an ongoing problem until the population stabilizes!
Our love to each of you,
His servants and yours,
Bob & JoAnne Brown Slidell, Louisiana
posted by Shawn Abigail at 4:46 AM
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