Jean IV and Jimmy Buffett

Here's the photo of the day- Jean IV (known around Lagniappe as 'T-Jean' short for Petite Jean) and Jimmy Buffett signing his guitar. We'll post a picture of the signature tomorrow, but suffice to say that it was in French and a very fun five minutes. One of the interns said that I (non-petite Jean) looked like a 16-year-old girl meeting the Back Street Boys.

It's 5 O'clock in Bay St. Louis

Imagine my surprize when Curt called this morning and said, "Jimmy Buffett is in Bay St. Louis!" I have had 2 things on my life 'to do' list- 1.) Sail around the world, 2.) Meet Jimmy Buffett. Today I checked number 2 off of the list. I placed an emergency phone call to the interns, "Get signs, get hats, get beachballs, purchase cheeseburgers and meet me at the end of Main Street..." The soon-to-be parrotheads joined me at the end of Main Street with about 10 other Bay St. Louis residents, watched the filming of Buffett's new video "Bama Breeze" and met him, invited him to our catfish fry tonight (he declined) and enjoyed a day that on a scale of 1 to 10 was an 11 (some of you will get that!). The real highlight was Buffett's assistant taking Jean IV and I to meet Jimmy personally. He signed Jean's guitar in French "Play this Guitar with all your heart- Jacque Buffett". He also offered to teach Jean some curse words in French- not kidding, so funny! What a day, look for more blogs about Buffett day in the Bay!

Lagniappe Cheering Team

For lack of a desire to work, the Lagniappe staff and interns found their morning glory in the triple-level pyramid. 

Kalberkamp Pres. Works through the muck and mire

Karl would be proud. Must get this from her older brother (shovel leaning) is a skill that takes much practice.

 

the beautiful work

thank you ryn for working so hard night and day to provide a roof over our heads.

Just Another Day In The Bay

After several pastoral visits Helen, Reed, and I were driving along Hwy. 90 returning to Lagniappe. At a stop light this dog pulls up on a motorcyle accompanied by a man with a helmet and goggles. I asked the dog if I could snap this shot. Ah, just another day in the Bay.

Can't See Me Can You?

The elusive Tom Hart, camoed but captured on camera. A Lagniappe original

Denied Employement or Just Tired?

Exiting the local Jiffy Mart, Jean staggers. Note the Help Wanted sign on the door. A. Was he surprised by being denied employment? B. Is he increadibly tired? or C. Was he startled that his idiot staff would snap a picture while he was exiting a Jiffy Mart? The correct answer is B. and C.

How does God Provide

We've prayed for many things in the last few months, things as big as trucks, and small as an ice maker that makes that awesome crushed ice. God has provided so much that we need. Yesterday, in the kitchen, Eric and Alecia asked me about some pots and pans needed. But didn't want to get them because we didn't "budget" for more kitchen equipment. Well, its much easier to pray for things, expectantly, than to see what we have in the "budget". Here is what they need: Things the Kitchen Needs (Metal) 5 6"deep full pans 10 4" deep full pans 8 2" deep full pans 8 1/3 x 4 " deep pans 8 1/2 x 4" deep pans 8 1/6 x 4" deep pans *Lids for ALL. (Plastic) 8 4" deep full pans and lids (Pots) 2 5 gallon pots 1 10 gallon pot 1 3 gallon pot 2 1 gallon pots (Misc) 1 grid plate for stove 1 electric mixer 1 electric can opener 2 large mixing bowls 10 Metal Serving Spons 2 Wire whips (one 18", one 14") 4 Chef's Knives 10", 12" or 14"

Post from a team here this week.

Dear Church Family, We're having a great time down here on the coast of Mississippi. We arrived Saturday night and got acclimated to Lagniappe Presbyterian Church's accomodations. The bunk houses and the main all-purpose center are air-conditioned and there are hot showers! The food is fine, though we went to an all-you-can-eat buffet today for Phoebe's birthday.Sunday was a day of getting our bearings, worshipping with the other teams, and getting orientations from the Lagniappe staff and interns. After church in the morning we went to New Orleans for sight-seeing. After driving past a lot of the devastated areas, Steve Garnier was insistent that we see the French Quarter, so we parked and walked around for awhile. Bourboun Street and all around it seemed to fare very well. After some beignets and a sudden, violent thundershower, we headed back to Bay St. Louis, which is about 50 miles east of New Orleans and 40 miles west of Biloxi.Monday morning we split up our group into two work teams- Dave and Eva took a shed-building crew, and Butch and Jerry headed up a drywall team. After two days of work, the drywall team has grown quite attached to the little blue house that they're working in. Despite a few heat exhausted adults and after borrowing a few of the drywall team members, the shed crew successfully finished their shed at the end of Tuesday!We've attached pictures:Three pictures of the shed in various stages of completion. The completed picture includes the Goff family (Georgia, Audrey and Jordan). There is a picture of OUR blue house and one of some of the dry wall crew at work.Everyone is in great spirits, and the sickies have completely recovered!Please continue to pray for strength, a strong sense of team and opportunities to reach out to the people of Bay St. Louis. Particularly that we would have an opportunity to invite many to the dinner hosted by Lagniappe Church on Friday night. For His Kingdom, The Bay St. Louis Mission Team  

 

Chapman Pres Checks in.

Welcome to the yankees and others from "Chapman Pres"... a para-church ministry from all over.

Almost 11 months later

  I took this picture 7/14/2006, this is not something unique to those who live in Bay St. Louis. There are thousands of places like this. I can't imagine what it was like for the owner of this house to come home and find a strange boat on their crushed roof. It was probably very painful. Fortunately there are tons of volunteers coming down everyday to help rebuild the community. I pray they don't stop when summer is over. There is a huge need down here and if you are reading this and you haven't been down. Talk to your church, organization, temple, whoever. Organize a group to come down. It's easy and it will change your life forever!!! 

One very busy Team from Wicheta

Not a graffiti artist or vandal. Just one student whom God used to build long-term housing for relief teams. The capacity for Lagniappe will now be 308.

Several adult leaders from Heartland Community Church of Wicheta. Their group of 27 broke into two shed teams and one bunkhouse team. A great week of interaction with families and an encouragement to Lagniappe staff.

Heartland House. The end result of a great week. This youth group from Wicheta, KS, led by several adults, brought this bunkhouse to a near finish. It will be completed and ready for teams tomorrow.

Lagniappe Salon and Spa

Bring a team. Help a family. Plant a church. Get a facial, manacure, and coif (look it up).

Why we are Here....

After the many awkward blog picture that have been put up of me (with a fair amount due to this man pictured above) I had to put this picture of Curt up. However,this may be one of the most encouraging pictures of Curt yet. This is Curt, not cooped up at the coffee shop or answering way too many emails but a picture of Curt out and about in the community doing what the Lord has gifted him at. Jean is back from vacation, general assembly has come and gone, systems for intern work are in place, and our bathrooms for the most part have paper towels when we need them. This has freed up Curt to be able to be out in the commmunity ministring to those we have met. Visiting, filling me in on work needs for those that truly need it, and being a pastor to those hurting in Bay Saint Louis. This is a testimony to how far we have come. Curt's encouragement to me is that God would not be meeting all of these physical needs and answering all of these prayers to get us up and running and able to do so much work in the community if He did not have an even greater plan of advancing His kingdom. Please keep praying for this most important work that we are all blessed to be a part of, being broken and sinful believers used to share with others the hope in Jesus Christ that was given to us. 

the lagniappe crew

 

the ice machine is here

Getting teams out

View from the new side door of LPC. Teams getting ready go out. Photos taken at 7:34 AM July 12th. 

Sunsets in Bay St. Louis

Ah, another hard day of work is completed. Over 165 people were out today sweating and showing God's love in the ravaged land of Bay St. Louis. We had 5 teams working on houses and 3 teams building Sheds of Hope and 2 teams working on completing our 7th and final bunkhouse . They worked in 95 degree heat with the sun shining on them. The teams are in our air-conditioned church enjoying time together in the cool air. Another good days work is finished. 5 families are closer to having a house again.

someone has a case of the mondays

I put this photo up for Alice (when are you coming back to visit, thanks for the cookies), not because Jordan is cranky today. Just wanted y'all to know that we still are here, we still need your prayers, and a big thank you to all of you who have prayed, given and driven to help the cause of the Gospel going forth from Lagniappe. 

Sunday: A Day of Rest

 

Early Service

This morning we went to the "early service" of LPC. It was really the only service, but it was at 8:30 am. Kate was in the "nursery" in the back of the church, doing her thing that she does at 8:30, eating some food, and getting her morning started. Jean preached on Luke 15, again a message that I wish we had recorded. MP3 recorder anyone? We only have one mic, and a small sound system, but soon we'll need more than that. As you can see, this morning we had a pretty big group. There were many MNA folks in for the Disaster Response Training. Arklie & Fred and the gang let a great set of meetings this weekend. It's great to see the guys that do so much as first responders, and to see & hear their stories. Incredible. Henry Hart spends some quality time with KATE (Mrs. Regina did you notice I called her Kate??) Remmy listens intently... Or is he thinking about someone else???