MNA Camera guy....

Thanks to David who did a great job filming the video for MNA! Thanks to Curt for helping us remember his name!

Progress...Progress...Progress

This week saw unreal progress on the new Lagniappe Church facility. We signed the lease one week ago today and the pictures show unreal progress. Thanks to friends from Cullman, AL and Brookhaven, MS who worked this weekend helping clear debris and cleaning up. Special thanks have to go to Jordan who has been the foreman of all debris clearing! Great Job Jordy!

Reflection

From the bulletin at First Pres. Biloxi. Silent Reflection. "O serpent heart, hid with a flow'ring face! Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?"William Shakespeare He (Jesus) said to them, "Watch yourselves carefully so you don't get contaminated with Pharisee yeast, Pharisee phoniness. You can't keep your true self hidden forever; before long you will be exposed. You can't hide behind a reliegious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can't whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the days are coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town."Luke 12:1b-3 (Eugene Peterson's The Message)

Lagniappe Regency Resort & Spa

It has been a busy week. Andy, Arklie, Jocie, and Curt were in Atlanta for meetings with MNA Wednesday and Thursday. Everyone returned home except Arklie who brought a videographer to Bay St. Louis. We met at the Lagniappe office and drove to New Orleans, interviewing Ray Canata of Redeemer as well as staff from Desire Street. While we were away Jordan and Conrad coordinated several relief teams with the rehabing of our new property. Jean met with the Memphis Presbytery of the EPC and is returning for his interview tomorrow (Saturday). The groups in house this weekend are Yazoo City, Christ Pres of Birmingham, New City Fellowship (Chattanooga), Faith Pres. Brookhaven, and a Rotary group from Pennsylvania. The groups are concentrating on wiring homes, roofing Troy and Kelly's, and getting our property ready for June 1. Did I mention that full capacity at the Lagniappe Regency Resort and Spa (LRRS) will be 200. At the Regency you will be greeted by valet parkers who will pamper your car while the bellmen escort you into our plush bunk house where you will enjoy lavish amenities, including concierge service and private lounge serving Continental Breakfast, evening cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Spanish-inspired top-floor accommodations pamper you with one king or two queen beds, deluxe Portico bath amenities, plush robes, daily newspaper, high-speed Internet access, and a step-out balcony offering magnificent ocean, pool, or island views. There's plenty to keep you occupied while visiting us. Whether you're an exercise enthusiast, a shopping buff, or a relaxation addict, we've got just the right activity for you and your family. Oh sorry, that was from the Hyatt Regency Aruba. Well things are similar. We have beds, food, and lots of activities to keep you busy. Let us pamper you!

End of a long week

Well, it's almost officially done. We have a contract on a house in Waveland. I'm pretty happy with it, and the final numbers etc. We are going to be finally moving... No more commuting every week. This week has just about worn me out with the travel to the bay, flights to Atlanta and back and tomorrow morning I'll leave Biloxi / Gulfport / The Bay and get back home (I'm not 100% sure where I'll sleep tonight. I've missed out this week Kate has started crawling. I hope Cammie can blog some footage soon. But I'll be seeing it with my own two eyes.

You have new Picture Mail!

Visiting with the Biggs in Jackson on the way to Memphis!

On the road again...soon

Today has been unreal so far. The plans for our building rehab have been 'stamped'- that means approved for all of you PCA ministers out there who aren't contractors on the side. The power pole has been put up. The water is slated to be turned on. Jordan has done an unreal job of clearing the lot. Two men from the OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church) have come to town seen the Larroux Katrina tour and are excited about teams coming in to work with us (thanks for the contact Jocie!). We have had a call about trucks. I am trying to get panels for 4 bunkhouses donated. Packing to go to the EPC presbytery meeting in Memphis tomorrow and will be back in Bay St. Louis Saturday morning to meet with Arklie Hooten. Pray for me as I travel today and late Friday, early Saturday morning. Keep Andy, Curt and Jocie in your prayers as well. As you can see from Andy's blog they are fish out of water in a conference room. They would probably feel more at home in the hotel parking lot next to the grease trap or discarded boxes- it would feel more like the Bay.

Ahh meetings....

We are meeting about MNA stuff.... talking about blogs... I figured we'd make a new post. That's Fred Marsh in the background. Tater graces the forground on the laptop.

A day is like a thousand years...

I spent a good portion of this evening talking to a friend who I have not spoken to in almost 5 years. We last spoke when her young son was diagnosed with a hearing problem and ulimately deafness. She has lived what many would understand to be the life of 'Job'. It was inspirational and concurrently heartbreaking to hear her story. I tried to call her almost a year and a half ago after she lost her second child at 36 weeks, that was preceeded by her husband's job loss 3 weeks earlier. She mentioned that while I had tried to contact her she didn't have anything 'to give' to anyone and never replied. I understand. She found Lagniappe on the web and called this week to catch up. There was something of a kindred understanding in talking to her now- seeing pain, suffering, loss, brokeness with NO end in sight. To talk with someone who lives with the real tangible loss on a day to day basis was like talking to someone who has lived through/is living through their own personal Katrina. As we spoke I related so easily to her 'longing for heaven.' To hear her comments was redemptive. The old footprints poem came to mind, but in a much different way. Here was a woman who never saw 'two' sets of footprints, as far as she could see she could see only one. Jesus carries her ALWAYS. She and I laughed alot and marvelled at God's 'sense of humor'. She said, "I don't know why God entrusted these things to me- He should have picked someone more together...I was weak before all of this...I wasn't the one who was equipped to 'handle' all of this." She added, "but I always say 'entrusted' because that's how I see it- it is something He has given to me, for me, for good- a good I cannot see right now- sometimes it's hard even to brush my teeth." So real. So honest. So human. So beautifully weak. As we chatted I asked for her prayers for me personally. She assured me she would be praying. I asked this 'Jobish' friend if she had any advice. She said, "Just wake up and push your butt through the day and have alot of people praying." Solid advice. There is something powerful about suffering isn't there? It is a profound teacher, but not a profound 'answer giver'. It is like that favorite teacher who never TOLD you the answer, but always got you to delve into deeper questions. Longing for the anwser is a cruel exercise in futility. Longing for Him is better. Jesus said to Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." Blessed indeed, but often that blessing is wrapped in messy knots which, in this life, have no ends.

Vatican City Here We Come

As you know Atlanta is the headquarters for the PCA. Andy and I (Curt) are flying to Atlanta today. Pray for our safety. We have meetings tomorrow to discuss the PCA's response to disaster weather it be hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes,etc...

Fantastic new relief website...

Have you ever wondered what to wear on a mission relief trip? Katrina designer JORDY Sikkema takes his exhaustive fashion experience and helps you accessorize. What do you wear for drywall in the morning and then an afternoon of house gutting? JORDY knows. How 'bout a roofing job in a mild afternoon breeze? JORDY knows. For those really tough decisions like a trip out to Sonic, ask JORDY. You never know when you might bump into a FEMA official and you want to look and feel your best. JORDY.com- for the relief worker in you. (p.s. this is just a little fun for the LPC gang...)

I'm your Huckleberry

There are many things seen here in this picture that speak to what goes on with the Lagniappe Church folks. First and foremost I would like ya'll to observe the window in the background, dark thus it is late and Andy, the focal point of this picture for more reasons than one, is still working as normal. Jean is off to the side jumping from one task to another keeping us all up until he just disappears to bed. Conrad is also in the room but is not seen, behind the scenes as usual. As I write this blog I'm asking Conrad of all the organizations that he has guided and funded and helped and given direction to. We are one the many organizations that are blessed to have his help. Often being there but not pictured or behind the scenes as you might say, Conrad has been directly invovled in getting millions of dollars of aid to those who truly need it. Moving back into the picture you may notice a bright orange level looking thing-a-ma-jig. This is a pitch-finder, a great tool that Craig McCallister created to measure the pitch of a roof; simply place and read rather than measure this and that and do that math. Check his time saving device out at pitchfinder.net. Getting back on the point this is just one of many signs of the help that we have recieved from many different people. Craig is a designer who did all of the blueprints for the reconstruction of our building and set our buildings up to code, and did it for a fraction of the cost while working into the wee hours of the night. Four more quick points. 1. Also noticeable is the clutter on the table. Yes, this place is not clean, there are no women here at this time. Andy misses his wife Cammie and daugther Tater, Conrad is missing Melissa and his family in North Carolina, Jean's family is still in Memphis anticipating their move, and I, well I feel right at home in the mess after living with guys in apartments for the past five years. 2. If you would notice the projector in the corner of the picture that is often used for presentations but at this moment is helping us relax by showing an episode of "The Office." Work and play is all intertwined down here, its all a good time. 3. Can you also see the carpet, we finally have carpet, its the small things that you learn to appreciate down here. 4. Finally, everyone please notice Andy's great pj pants. This is the whole reason I blogged, just to post a picture of Andy in his cowboy pants. Ain't they adorable. Please come down and be a part of all that goes on down here, pictures are worth a thousand words and sorry this blog is about that long, but its hard not to get carried away talking about all that the Lord is doing. O, and come see Andy in his giddy up gear.

The Men of LPC on a skid steer

Curtis "Chainsaw" MooreAndy "the Ax man" Chapman

Jean "Let 'er rip" Larroux

Conrad "I actually know what I'm doing though my face doesn't show it" Velasco Jordan "Jordy" Sikkema Today may have to go down in the history of LPC as one of the best 'guy' days ever. Jordan, Conrad, Jean, Andy and Curt all knocked off of work around 5:30 p.m. and headed to the new property for a little 'therapy' i.e. using a RSV50 skid steer to tear down sheet metal and wooden debris from the property. They say that you never see a motorcycle parked outside of a psychologist's office...we will tell you definitively- you will see 10 motorcycles before you ever see a skid steer...How do you spell 't-h-e-r-a-p-y"? S-K-I-D S-T-E-E-R.

Lagniappe Church has a building!

Lagniappe Presbyterian Church now has a home! Today we enacted a lease on a 2.5 acre property in Bay St. Louis. It includes an 11,000 square foot building that will house showers, a kitchen and worship facilities- it is very exciting! We'll post more photos of the building later. Click here for more information at the LPC website. Please consider coming to help rehab the facility in the month of May- we need all the help we can get because we are going to be hosting upwards of 200 people per day in the summer. Thanks to everyone who has been praying. Special thanks to the Morreale family who are pictured above. They were unbelievably generous to LPC and truly made this possible. (left to right) Jerry Garriga, Patricia Morreale Garriga, Martin Morreale, Angelina C. Morreale and Jacob Morreale.

Nashville Relief Team

Special thanks to Christ Presbyterian in Nashville, Tennessee led by Bill Scott (the young guy on the far right, not the good looking one on the far left....) who spent a great couple of days with us working with one family in Waveland, Ms. They have 'adopted' Cecile and are helping to make sure that she has all she needs from the cleaning out of the home, to the roofing, sheetrock and electrical. What a great witness and model of ministry.

Living Water...

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a load voice, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. John 7:37 Last week I was in Bay St. Louis with several of the teams assisting those flattened out by the hurricanes. You would think that the folks that live in the region run over by Katrina have had enough water for now. They haven’t. They are thirstier now than ever, but in a way that they didn’t realize before. You see, the folks here have seen with their own eyes, felt with their own hands and tasted with their own mouths, the goodness of a compassionate and caring Body of Christ. I am most often asked, ”how long is it going to take” or “how is the recovery going, are you seeing any progress”? Let me say this, If the recovery were finished tomorrow, we would miss many opportunities to advance the Gospel. We have before us a work that we should be thanking God for providing. Open access to hurting people has been unparalleled in North America. Almost everyone we help wants to tell us their story, and we are given this great opportunity to tell ours. Oh God!, please let the recovery take a long time! For those you read this Blog, I thank God for your partnership in this ministry. To date MNA has mobilized around seven thousand volunteers that have given significant time, talent and treasure from Moss Point to Baton Rouge. By sending Jocie, Curt and Me (the MNA team partnering with Lagniappe) on your behalf, you are helping supply Living Water to those who are thirsty and have been waiting on someone to show them how to get the Eternal Thirst Quencher. More water Please! Your Servant in Christ, Arklie Hooten MNA ShortTerm Director

The Restoration behind the relief work...

Feeling a bit nostalgic and contemplative this evening...Why a church? Why relief work? Why do what we do? When faced with endless debris, needs, work orders and families it is tempting to think of the futility of even a large effort, though ours is small. When considering the scope of the need there are indeed others more skilled, more able and more prepared. So why is the church doing relief work? Very simple: behind the broken down walls and Katrina soaked sheetrock there are broken lives. Though the church may be inexperienced at construction we are experienced in destruction. We are a mess. We walked into the kingdom, more aptly we 'washed up' into the kingdom just like the debris of Katrina. There is a beachcombing God (NOTE: I preached a message in 2003 by this title "Beachcombing God" which is still available on the IPC Memphis website. This link will take you there: http://www.indepres.org/templates/cusindpres/details.asp?id=30618&PID=277387 The series is on the Prodgial Sons of Luke 15- the 'beachcombing God' was the first in the series) who sits on the throne of heaven taking home the washed up, broken down and sin soaked to make them His own. There is nothing original about 'relief work' it is an idea borne in the mind of God pre-Genesis. The woodcut above was done by dear friend, Carl Fox- the Reformation phrase "Simul Iustus et Peccator" means "SIMULTANEOUSLY JUSTIFIED and SINFUL"- Larrouxified that means "washed up and loved!" How profound! Washed up and Loved- NOT washed up and cleaned up, NOT injured and rehabilitated, NOT broken but better- Washed up AND Loved AT THE SAME TIME- simultaneously! We are washed up people combing the beaches with God himself looking for other washed up people because there is a God who sits on the throne of the universe who does Relief work. Washed up AND loved, Jean. Isaiah 54:5

He's Baaaaaaaaaaack

Jordan Sikkema, coordinator, team leader, man of mystery. He's known by so many titles yet to us he's simply our little Jordy. Don't know what we'd do without him. Welcome back Jordan!

Prayer Request for Lease

Urgent Prayer Request: We need your prayers for the completion of a lease that we are working on. The building will be the site of our relief work and worship. We are very close, but need to get this completed and get work started so that we can get housing for teams, and a place to meet for Sunday Morning services. Pray that God will speed this process along.If you would like to sign up to be a prayer partner with the ministry, please click here. We are also praying for:

• Additional interns
• General Contractor help in May with remodeling
• Pastors who will come and do pastoral care/follow-up with families

On another Coast...

I think my blood has thinned- Seattle was freezing by Mississippi standards! But it was great seeing the family and getting away, to a seemingly put-together city in another world. Bay St. Louis seemed like a strange dream looking at the city sky line and feeling the energy of a population accustomed to their lives functioning as planned.

One of the greatest things about Seattle are the book stores and coffee shops, and you get into some of the best conversations in either. A man sitting next to me in a coffee shop noted that I was reading Desiring God, and asked if it was any good. Trying to explain Christian hedonism to him, I watched him nod and say, 'well yeah, I feel the closest to any kind of creator when I'm skiing. The mountains are my temple.' Smiling, I agreed that the beauty of creation does point to our creator. But the conversation left me wondering what a hurricane, or more plausibly, an earthquake would do for Seattle. I have to trust that God is building His kingdom and working in the hearts of men, with natural disasters or quiet conversations. They both can convict; the Holy Spirit doesn't need the aid of broken homes to make men vulnerable enough to listen. Lord, make me vulnerable enough to listen. ~Isaiah 62:4

Smokys and Nooga

Due to a low flow in teams for the past week I had the chance to escape to Chattanooga, Nooga, and the Great Smoky Mountains for a week. I got to meet new friends and see the family. I got to see the family dog one last time as unfortunately after 15 or so years she had to go to the garden. I got a trip with my best friend into the Smokies for three days and all in all have had a great week. Hiking and being in the mountains was the plan for this week. Hebrews 12:28 says "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 'for our God is a consuming fire.'" Being in God's general revelation, especially such a place as breathtaking as the Smokys, makes it easy to comprehend an unshakeable kingdom and to stand in awe. As I got back home and looked at the Lagniappe blog and began to think of all the work to get back to I was overwhelmed very quickly and began to feel very inadequate for the task. How quickly doubt can seep in. This doubt is not trusting that a God that created the Smokys, that sent His son for me, that has brought all of us together down in Mississippi will give us a kingdom that cannot be shaken. I stand in reverence and awe at what He has done in Bay St. Louis especially since I know myself and I know the people that the Lord is using. We are all broken and weak and yet still the Lord is advancing His kingdom, an unshakable kingdom. The Lord makes it hard not to stand in awe of what He does and yet I still doubt. Pray that I will stand in awe of the work He is doing and continue to rely on Him.

Reporting from Canada

Just wanted to say thanks again for all you did for us during our time down in Mississippi. The Lord truly did great things, wherein we are very, very glad. It was a privilege to join y’all in serving and in sharing the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Know that we will continue to pray for you, your wife, and others as you continue to minister to folks there…and especially as you carry on with the Bible club at the Y. It was definitely a highlight for me to be able to participate in that and to get to know some of those precious little ones.

If you don't do anything else please do this

Many of you have asked, "How can I help?". While there are many, many physical needs the one that we need most is prayer. We need, and COVET, your prayers. The money will come, the equipment will come but only with prayer will lives be changed and will the people in working on this ministry survive. I would love to have 100 people signed up to daily pray for the church, and we will send out specific prayer requests if you sign up here. If you think about it, 100 people isn't that many, but you 100 people praying will make a huge difference. I'll go ahead and give you 3 to start with. 1. Building: We are working on getting a lease on a building signed and work started on getting it ready to house folks for the summer (and the next few years)... We need that to get finalized soon so that teams can get in there. Pray also for both the church, and the other party to have their interests protected. 2. Family: Jean is on the road, I'm on the road, Curt's on the road, etc.... We need your prayers as we seek to both work with the kingdom, and with our families. I'll go ahead an say specifically, pray for patience from my spouse. (I know you'll read this and I love you honey...) But we both need an extra measure of patience and grace as we try and move. I'm sure the others would echo these requests. 3. Housing: Jean has a house for sale. I have a house for sale, I need to find a house to buy in the Bay. (if anyone's interested in a good deal in Louisville, now is the time). Pray that those transactions can happen smoothly, and that Cammie and I can find a suitable house for our family. Ok, so now you have some things to start with. If you want to be on our prayer list, where we can send you specific requests, and you can also pick an individual to pray for please click here.

Quiet is Good

It has been a slow week according to the blog. Not much has been reported. That's not to say nothing has happened. While most of the staff is away and no teams were booked this week, that doesn't mean that the wheels of progress have stopped. There have been meetings, phone calls, emails, interviews with summer interns, and much needed rest from the natural flow of life "post Katrina." Jordan is somewhere on the Appalachian Trail, Jocie is working from a secret location on a remote island near Seattle (for real), and Jean has been galavanting around the Southeast promoting the ministry. Andy is trying to move, maintain a business while in Louiseville, MS. Conrad, and I are still here anticipating several teams arriving end of week; Nashville Presbytery and a Rotary group from Pennsylvania. Hopefully we can make more progress on Troy and Kelly's and possibly begin rebuilding of several small homes-roofing, electrical, and drywall. We will also follow-up with families to see how they are doing. It's all good. I can't imagine life that is normal, nor would I desire it now. God is good. He gives us what we need. Someone once wrote, " All that God sends is necessary. Nothing that He withholds can be." I'm holding on to that for dear life.

Back on Monday...

I can't wait to get back to the Bay but I've got to get some stuff done up here in north ms this week. I hope Curt can hold down the fort without me and Jordan being around to keep him straight... Beningos has some really great food for all of you headed in, be sure and get by there and pick up a po-boy.

Heart and Soul Video

Sean and Jean, Thanks for putting you hearts and souls into this video. It gives glory to our loving God and Savior, Jesus Christ and brings focus to our personal experiences while we were there! Go and serve with gladness wherever you are. Pray for the people and workers in the Bay St Louis area. Tom and Lois Armour, Grove City, Pa

New LPC Video Available

Click here to be taken to a web viewable version of a new video filmed and produced by Sean M. Loftin from New City Fellowship in Chattanooga, TN. The quality of the video is excellent and the content conveys exactly what Lagniappe Presbyterian Church is all about. Special thanks to Sean for the time and effort that it took to make this video possible. Soli Deo Gloria. Please post any comments here for Sean's encouragement!

Done and Done

Lt. Dan as we have so fondly gotten to know him as has seen a few teams in the past two weeks. This picture is a culmination of about four or five teams worth of work. Two weeks ago we began with gutting the house. The pile pictured is actually the remnants of its former self. There was so much stuff that came out of the house we it spilled to far away from the road to be picked up. The LSU RUF group gets the joy of moving this pile for the last time but hopefully you can also notice they get the joy of seeing a finished roof that looks good and holds water out. So, to our Altanta youth group that left this massive pile and cleaned out the house, Its will all be hauled off soon. To our Nashville church that tore of the roof and started shingling you can rest easy, it is finished. To Trey, Bain, and Walt, thanks for getting me to a point where I could finish the roof today and leave at a decent time to go home and make it to the mountains, and finally to our LSU group pictured, lucky dogs, you got to see a finished project that took a team effort from folks all over the nation. Thanks to everyone helping us finish this project. Now I can take a break, hit the Smoky Mountains and not worry about rain in Bay St. Louis due to a house that we didn't cover up. Next blog hopefully I will be charged to be back and have a picture of a bear to blog about to go with the bear of a task that we plan on tackling next.

You have new Picture Mail!

Thanks to Craig Mcallester our favorite designer

Maundy Thursday...Good Friday eve...

A quiet night in the Bay. Teams are wrapping up before the Easter break as the staff prepares to head home for the weekend. Home seems far away. My heart is strangely turned toward Christ himself on this "Maundy Thursday". What would life have been for our dear Savior this night? On the eve of Good Friday- longing for home, knowing what lay before Him- what sorrow, and yet the Scriptures declare that 'for the joy set before Him he endured the cross...' What unimaginable grace- the joy of having the likes of us to be wed to a bridgroom like Him. Jesus shines fairer. Jesus shines brighter. Pray for the Bay that even though 'homes' are being restored that we would all would stay restless until our rest is found in that uncorruptable HOME. Psalm 62.

Mirrors or Carriers of Christ to Other Men

Mirrors...

...or carriers of Christ...

"He (Jesus) works on us in all sorts of ways:...through Nature, through our own bodies, through books, sometimes through experiences which seem (at the time) anti-Christian...But above all, He works on us through each other. Men are mirrors, or "carriers" of Christ to other men. Sometimes unconscious carriers."

C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity"

Our prayers are that the ministry of the Holy Spirit would accompany these acts of mercy to visibly display Christ, and that the words of His people, through the Gospel, would bring men to worship the Savior. Please pray with us to this end.

Olds Alberta Canada

Just thought you might like to know about our Canadian brothers who are with us this week- Like where did the town get it's name? We'll try to get an audible blog from the group before they leave. Check out the blog tomorrow for more.

A Village is Born

The year 1890 marks the beginning of the settlement which became the town of Olds. When the rail line reached the sixth siding (Olds) out of Calgary, a section foreman named David Shannon arrived on an open handcar. Mr. Shannon, a native of Ireland, was experienced at railway construction, as he had worked on the building of the Underground in London, England. At the Sixth Siding, Mr. Shannon provided living quarters for his family and established squatter's rights to a quarter section of land. This gained them the distinction of being the earliest residents of Olds. On 27 July 1891, the first through train made the trip from Calgary to south Edmonton. That same month the CPR took over the operation of the C & E Railway and released its official list of names for the sidings and stations along the route. Sixth Siding had already been designated as a railway station point and work started on the building of the station and water tank. A committee of CPR officials, charged with selecting names for the points along the line, suggested "Shannon", but this honour was declined by Mr. Shannon and the town site was named for a CPR traffic manager, Mr. George Olds. He was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1832. He came to Canada as a young man and worked for a number of railways in Canada and the United States, returning to Canada in 1886 to join Canadian Pacific as a General Traffic Manager. He held this position until his retirement 10 years later. Mr. Olds is buried in the Airdrie cemetery. It appears that even before he retired from employment with the CPR, he lived for a time in the settlement that was named for him, running a store.

Arklie Hooten visits LPC

Arklie Hooten, MNA coordinator for Short-Term trips visited with Curt Moore, Andy Chapman and Jean Larroux today about LPC progress and needs. MNA has been a vital lifeline for LPC to the PCA providing support, resources and personnel for every aspect of LPC. Arklie will be bunking with the LPC group for a couple of days and spending time at the various relief sites on the coast. Thanks to Arklie and the MNA staff for help, rescources and behind the scenes work that won't get broadcast to the world- we appreciate you!

Olds' Progress in Pearlington

Resting from their labors. While we consider the temperature to be cool our friends from up north commented that weather today would be considered peak summer temps in Canada. It was in the 70's. They haven't felt the heat yet.

Just stopping to pose

Reporting from day three fails to show that this team arrived on Monday to a house that had walls framed up. What they have done is add siding, tyvek, and trusses. The trusses had to be built on site. Way to go!

Day three and they are making wonderful progress. Vicki is the homeowner in Pearlington, MS. Pearlington is approx. 15 miles West of Bay St. Louis/Waveland. Vicki has two small children, lost everything in the storm, and lost her husband to suicide prior to the Katrina. It is marvelous to witness this teams love for people and their interaction and care. They are making a big impact in this family's life. Tomorrow the group spins off 7 to build a shed. They are still eager and willing!

Vicki is third from the right.

Loving life on the coast...Jackson style

A couple of morning's ago the furriest member of the Larroux family got his orientation to the coast. As Jordan and I got the groups 'launched' for the morning Jackson found his way to the marsh. As if something in his bones screamed 'YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS!' he romped in the muddy marsh, wallowed in the broken stems of water plants and dragged sticks/debris for us to see. Following the 'wallowing' we took him to the beach for a little clean off in the salt water. It was a profoundly deep picture for me- watching Jackson wallow in filth and then rinsed clean in the gulf- doing what he was made to do, yet not seeing all that clung to him in the midst of that. Like father, like dog. May God give us all the grace to see what clings so easily and yet the gulf that awaits to cleanse us!

Zooming in...

Had some folks from zooooooooooom in and out today. Ralph -- nice plane :)