Conference update- Bunkhouse Gift!

Hey, look what's happening: -MNA has just allocated $60,000 to build bunkhouses at the Morrell Facility (read about under MISSION TEAMS) for groups to come to Bay Waveland. This is going to be a vital part of the work done on the coast. We need teams to come and join us but needed places to house them- this will provide that. Conference update: really profound insight and reminders yesterday. I'm connecting with lots of other church planters and realizing how many 'i's' need to be dotted along the way. Today I'm in seminars from 8 a.m. til 9p.m.- whew. Presently, I'm headed to the hotel breakfast bar for some viddles.

A Picture Share!

PCA Church planting conference begins in Orlando

Good Monday Morning!

Headed to Orlando from the Tampa area this morning. I spent the weekend with the Florida Larrouxs (Jean, Jr. & Meaux) in Indian Rocks Beach, FL. It was great to spend time with them and the dogs... The conference registration is at noon so I will be on the road shortly. I'll send some phone photos along the way- I think I drive by Disney, not sure though....

A Picture Share!

Leaving on a jet plane! I'm headed to Orlando, FL for a week-long church planting conference.

Working from Memphis

Good Wednesday morning- sorry for no updates recently, but we've been doing the 'reuinted family' thing. Got to see T-Jean (short for petite Jean) play basketball and also worship with my family last weekend. Today holds 'details'. Packing up office at IPC. Ordering some business cards/office suppies. Getting insurance, etc. transferred from IPC to the PCA Atlanta office. I've got a meeting with a friend this morning to help determine some of the details of our new home- very exciting! I fly to Orlando on Friday for a PCA church planter conference all next week. Blessings upon you.

@ T-Jean's Basketball game!

Ann Elizabeth and Hannah Grace with Kim and me watching jean 4 basketball game. Home for a few days!

Snail's Pace traffic off of the coast!

The long slow trip north! I'm stuck on hwy 603 in Kiln, MS headed to Clarksdale for an all Saturday marriage seminar. Max speed 20 mph.

Conrad Velasco building a shed!

This is a new friend Mr. Conrad Velasco- I mentioned him on an earlier post. He and Jake Earle have started a ministry which is called "Sheds for Jesus." LPC is going to partner with them and construct storage sheds for people in the community. Most residents are in FEMA trailers with little to NO storage space- 8x8 trailers are being sold all over the coast for upwards of $1,100-$1,400 dollars. We are building them on-site at homes, spending time with homeowners and doing it for $500 per 8x8 shed with treated floors, shingled roofs, drip edge, etc... This is very exciting. Here's the best part- the storage shed becomes our entry into people's lives and our ability to minister to them. LPC's "Shed Project" is going to be "Shed the Love"- no explanation needed. We are thankful for our new friends and partners in ministry Conrad and Jake!

P.S. We also met up with a group in Kiln, MS today (home of Brett Favre) called "Camp Coastal" they are doing relief work in the Kiln area and hosting teams- great folks and should be a good partner in relief work!

P.S.S. Morrell foundation camp NEEDS 80 houshold extension cords- 10 ft. long and 40 clip-on work lights (they look like big silver bowls with a bulb and a 'tong-like' clamp on the back) Can you get some of that? If you can let us know, box it up and send it to us- actually we'll let you send it to Morrell foundation- call me and I can give you an address!!!!

Thursday Morning

G'day from the Bay! Up early and ready for lots of details today. I'm planning to meet with Conrad Velasco and a lady who works with an interdenominational organization called 'International Aid'. They are in the Kiln (pronounced KILL) and working on some sheds for families. I've also got to head to Morrell foundation and make certain I can house all of my college spring breakers. At this point I've got 3 groups overlapping on 2 weeks almost 100 students- it'll be just like herding cats! Blessings-

Trailer Sweet Trailer!

This is the our new home! Jean is living 80% of the time in Bay St. Louis and this is 220 Felicity Street. What a great place! We are hunting for some pink flamingos if you happen to see any!

Lagniappe Presbyterian Office! (not kidding)

This is right outside of the trailer where I'm living in the Bay. Notice the broom- I'm trying to keep the place fairly clean. The two executive office chairs are accented by the orange spray paint and the garbage can (we're not recycling, yet!). That's the laptop in the chair. Trailer sweet Trailer. I'm headed to a meeting at "ICare" Village about the shed project.

Good wednesday morning! 7:20 a.m. and eating bisquits & gravy in Hattiesburg headed to the Bay!

EXACT QUOTE: Dr. Boop, 'You don't do anything to make healthy child better!' Amen

Kim & Ann Elizabeth all done!

CLEAR REPORT! Ann's doctor said there had been no change and he'd see her in a year! This is great news!

Ann Elizabeth getting her MRI

Here's Ann Elizabeth coming out of the MRI machine. She did great and were waiting on the doctor!

The calm, cool and collected patient!

On the way to the MRI... life is good!

Ann Elizabeth MRI

It's Tuesday morning and I'm in Memphis to be with Ann Elizabeth who has a scheduled MRI this morning at the Semmes/Murphy Clinic here in Memphis. She has a syrinx inside of her spinal cord which is a fluid filled cyst. This is our first MRI after discovering the cyst 6 months ago. We are simply trying to see if it has grown or diminished in size. Our prayer is that it would be gone, but as we prayed together last night- whether it is there or gone, God is still God and this is still our opportunity to trust Him. Please pray for us today. I'll update when I can. The appointment begins at 9:30 a.m.

T-Jean's Blog

My cousin Charlie Lucas calls Jean the 4th "T-Jean" short for Petite Jean or Little Jean to most of you or Lil' Jean if you are from mid-Mississippi or the Delta. At any rate, T-Jean has his own blog so you can keep up with the Memphis half of the Larroux family- his address is on the link bar to the right, but I think the exact address is http://tjeanblog.blogspot.com Check out his posts and PLEASE leave him some comments- he's so excited about this and any traffic would be great! P.S. It is good to be at home today in Memphis, spent time with the kiddos, Kim is napping and the dog is sleeping on the couch- ah, good day!

Home Safely

Arrived back in Memphis at around 6p.m.- great dinner from Kimmie!

Headed to Memphis

After a great few days in the Bay I'm headed to Memphis to spend some time with the family. Jean IV has a basketball game tomorrow and lots of stuff to do as we continue to try and sell our home- I'll be on the road today, catch me by cell!

George W. in Bay St. Louis

What a strange day...I spent the morning with Curt Moore and Doug Mallow (Both Mission to the World guys) and we were scouting Bay St. Louis for potential sites and places to house mission teams, feed mission teams, bathe mission teams- basically EVERYTHING for groups coming to the bay- stay tuned for the answer to those prayers- UN-BE-LEIVABLE!!! At any rate, when we met up with some folks from the morrell foundation (www.morrellfoundation.org) they informed us that just about 1/2 a mile from where the camp was set up George W. Bush would be flying in to Bay St. Louis/Waveland! I don't know if words can describe the feeling of being 1/2 mile from where Marine 1- the President's helicpoter lands, but lets just say there were 3 Blackhawk helicopters, Coast Guard boats in the water, more State Troopers than you could count, the Governor of Mississippi and ME! Here's a telling contrast and it says something about the people here- all of the workers took a break to watch the motorcade complete with M-16 toting FBI guys hanging off of the black suburbans, etc... and after watching Dubya speed by at 40mph we walked into the large tent area and ate some soup that the Red Cross had made- all in a Post-Katrina day's work- the Leader of the Free world and refugee soup- WOW! Okay- here's the part better than DUBYA- we drove around the Bay looking for showers, housing, etc.. and I told the guys that we should drive out to Waveland to see this 'tent city' for volunteers which I'd heard of- it is called Camp Hope (as I said run and funded by the Morrell Foundation). Let me try to summarize the blessing of this place- it is a $500,000 tent city with beds for 300 presently, 3 hot meals per day, free washer and dryer facilities, hot showers, toilets, sinks, parking, work orders and it only costs a $10 donation per person/per day. They do not allow anyone to stay there who is working for pay so it's only volunteers. There are Presbyterians, Humanitarians, Unitarians, Octagenarians, Jews, Agnostics, Mormons- you name it- all camped out at Camp Hope just simply helping folks- it is profound and amazing. Reservations can be made for groups and they do all the cooking for you- when you get back to camp dinner is served- it is really unbelievable! We will be able to host large groups of people through this venue. Oh, almost forgot they have an internet cafe so that people can keep up with family & friends! It gets better- Conrad Velasco and Jake Earle are based out of Camp Hope. Who are Conrad and Jake? They are the idea men behind "Sheds for Jesus". What is "Sheds for Jesus"? It is a ministry to the people of the coast allowing minimally skilled labor to come to the coast build sheds, take the sheds to needy families, spend time with the families, share the shed and the hope of the Gospel and love people. The sheds are unreal- the teams write notes, prayers, phone numbers, etc. in the inside and several teams have had follow-up contact with families who have received a shed. It gets BETTER!- Conrad and Jake want to work with the PCA mission groups and particularly with Lagniappe Church to use the sheds as a way to open doors for evangelism and then connect the families to the church plant. Conrad and I prayed together today and it is humbling to meet someone like him who has left his home and family to come build sheds and love the people of the Coast. Jake is supposed to tag team with Conrad next week and give him some R&R. I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds for the church. The Kingdom is on the move! Narnia is beginning to thaw!!!!

Thursday Morning

Well the day is shaping up to be a busy one- I spent the afternoon yesterday with First Presbyterian in Biloxi, quite an operation and it became VERY clear that we needed some location to house volunteers. The other realization is that the coast is in a 'RELIEF TRANSITION' from unskilled labor to moderately skilled labor. I am slated to meet with Doug Mallow from Mission to the World today to show him Bay St. Louis and talk about details. Blessings from the Bay.

Trailer sweet trailer

Well, it's Wednesday morning January 11, 2006. I am sitting at a booth seat in my 'breakfast area' typing on my laptop looking out over my new front yard which is impressed with tractor tire marks which are filling with water leaking from the hose hookup to my trailer. I couldn't be happier. Last evening I travelled to Bay St. Louis following my Presbytery exam and wanted to sleep in the trailer. Call it nostalgia, call it whatever, I love the symbolism- must be the old Anglican in me. My mom met me for dinner and then we came to the trailer, she brought sheets, a coffee maker and some beer- thanks mom! I nestled snug in the queen size bed and slept with more peace than I have enjoyed in quite some time. Today holds lots of questions, but I am still basking in God's goodness from yesterday's Presbytery meeting (see above entry). Blessings and peace.

-Jean F. Larroux III
www.lagniappechurch.com
Jean@lagniappechurch.com

God's Sweet Provision

On the way to the coast I called a dear friend to tell them the story. We laughed and rejoiced. He then informed me of $4,000 he was sending to me today as well as committing with his family to $500/month. I honestly wept. I could not believe my ears. It was Grace upon Grace. God is indeed good!

-Jean F. Larroux III
www.lagniappechurch.com
Jean@lagniappechurch.com

On the road!

Headed back to get some R & R with Trey and Kathleen Biggs in Madison, Ms -Jean F. Larroux III www.lagniappechurch.com Jean@lagniappechurch.com

I PASSED!

I passed! More to come!
-Jean F. Larroux III
www.lagniappechurch.com
Jean@lagniappechurch.com

Grace presbytery today!

Its 7 am and I'm heading down I-55 toward columbia, MS for my final exam to be received into grace presbytery. I'm listening to Handel's Messiah- taking great comfort in the 'rough places made smoothe'. More updates to follow.
-Jean F. Larroux III
www.lagniappechurch.com
Jean@lagniappechurch.com

Working @ RTS Library

I'm killing time at the RTS library setting up my blog and doing some research on the Sabbath- there are some very helpful articles that i'll post- most of which written by John Calvin about the Sabbath day- psalm 62

First Posting

Hello out there- this is my first BLOG post! I am travelling hither and yon this week and wanted to set up someway that folks could keep up with us- blessings upon you- In Jackson, Mississippi and headed to the Presbytery meeting tomorrow north of Columbia, Mississippi- -Jean