See what gets put in the shelves when we run out of needed supplies? We need paper towels! Anyone have any?

These adorable people are "Lake Valley", a great group that come to us about once a month from Hot Springs, Arkansas. Not only do they come once a month, they bring about 60 folks with them each time, and have servants hearts as big as the world! They have been an inspiration to us as they come and work hard out in the community, but also around the Lagniappe facility, helping in the kitchen, cooking, cleaning, and anything else we ask them to do. They also genuinely enjoy each other's fellowship, and often bring their own entertainment in the form of a banjo player! Please come back soon. We miss you already.

Don't think it is ALL work and NO play around here! Once every blue moon, we MAKE ourselves escape to the beach for an afternoon of sunning and fishing. Of course this is the ONLY fish that has been caught so far, much the chagrin of our beloved intern, Sarah Denton! Come on back, Sarah. The fish are biting!

this is the way it oges.

Kitchen Wrap Up

Jean Larroux IV Mike Bloom and Kim Larroux Dave Horodecky, Ryan our new addition to staff, and Cheryl D'Avy For those of you who have been here recently you may have noticed that our kitchen has been gutted. Through sand-blasting, buffing, painting, trimming, tear-out and all sorts of other tasks we have been trudging away to get this thing done before we have higher numbers here this Wednesday night. This Sunday afternoon project was particulary exciting becuase even if you were not here recently you may recognize Mike Bloom, Cheryl D'Avy, and Dave Horodecky. They worked alongside of our Lagniappe staff to get this stuff done so the installers could come Monday in the AM and put in all our new equipment. For those who do not know the story the camp that we got all of our first equipment from is coming back so we had to restock our kitchen. The exciting part for the chefs Eric and Alisha is the new equipment, the exciting part for me is Lagniappe functioning as a normal church. Given we are not normal but we had folks from the congregation, folks whose houses we worked on, folks who still have plenty of work to do before they can move into their homes and out of FEMA trailers here helping Lagniappe out with the most vital parts of the operation. Volunteers have to eat to work and these folks gave up an afternoon to put in time here to help us out. Both Mike and Dave have been around quite a bit and it was very exciting and encouraging to work alongside of them here especially knowing that they would be going home to a FEMA trailer.

Mercy has a Name

Julie Skinner, Helen Buckley, Kelly Moore Gene and Brian, friends of LPC from New City Chattanooga.

Notice the Pray for the Bay stickers. Kamilia and Jocie. Allen Mclean and Curt Moore Ready for home.

Mercy Ministry Conference

Loading up on the Coast. Six staff traveled to Atlanta for the Mercy Ministry conference. It was a great opportunity to promote the work in the Bay with people who have a similar passion. Starbucks in Montgomery Modern Art Hamming it up in a real mall. Outside of a Godiva's. Curt and Kelly in the lobby

Okay, the shirts are ALL the wrong colors, but hey, we take help from wherever we can get it! John has become a Furman fan, and is seen sporting his new sweatshirt the FurmanRUF group mailed him after they left. (Where's mine?) And the two folks in Tennessee orange? Well they just can't help it that they came with the Tennessee Cross group and they made them wear orange! Just Kidding, Mike and Vivien. We can't wait for you to come back and critique the new kitchen!

Anheuser-Busch

To anyone who has been down here you will appreciate this beer water can plane. Our first shipment was of 2100 cases of these water in a can and this may be the most fun we have had with these not so tasty but necessary cans. So thanks to Anheuser-Busch for keeping us actually hydrated and thanks to the volunteer who sent this gift, it is being stolen from office to office as we speak.

New Lagniappe Church Video

Thanks For Coming

This last weekend my parents were in Destin, FL and were able to come out for a Saturday. My pops had been down last year in March and we with the help of a team from Ohio roofed a house. My mother was here last July so she had seen the property unlike my dad but both hadn't seen the church for some time. Showing people around that you know is when you actually realize how far Lagniappe has come. Rob and Lisa Walcott, two friends from Holland, MI were down the week before and did the same with a one day visit while being in Destin. Both Rob, Lisa, my Mom, and Dad get quiet as you show them around. Rob asked me what it is like, that it seems pretty romantic being down here and doing what we do. It really isn't. Half the time we joke about getting out of here but in the same sentence you can't deny that you absolutely love it here. Lagniappe is different in that we do live outside of what we can do, it is just to obvious that it is not us. In that regard it is romantic, in that God would love us so much to use us to advance His kingdom. It is so good to be able to see family and friends that you love especially when it is hard to keep up with folks outside of the bay because it does take it out of you here. It ain't easy trying to keep up with new volunteers each week who are excited to be here but it is fun, mostly. O, and by the way, Batch, I would like you to notice if you read this that our haircuts are not the same.

Westminster Presbyterian Church of Greenwood, MS, my home church, was recently well represented in the Bay by two of its' finest, Melanie Stiles and John Coleman. Melanie and John are shown building our newest bunkhouse designed for permanent intern staff, and those staff actually moved into this bunkhouse last Sunday! They especially are thankful for your work here, as they now have their own personal bedroom with a sink and a closet in it, as well as restrooms and showers down the hall, all in the same building! Still shared facilities, but not with 350 other people! YEAH! As you can see, Melody wasn't scared of nothin!

Meet an Intern

Meet our Wake Forrest intern, Lindsey Perea (on left).

Basketball Halftime

T-Jean and some old friends from Tuscumbia,AL. Jean served there years ago as a youth minister. True dat g

Dancing with the Stars

Having fun at lunch

Hello. My Name is Haley

This is where I work when I am not working at Lagniappe Here I am making Curt's 10th shot of espresso for the day. My friend Lane comes in daily with her guide dog Kai. We met Lane at the Mockingbird and she is now a part of Lagniappe. I am truly a part of the church planting efforts of Lagniappe. I love my job.

U.S. Military Expands

In recent news, the United States Armed Forces has expanded their membership to include Lagniappe Presbyterian Church in their ranks. When asked about the induction, Robert Gates responded, "We decided it's finally time to wage war against Alaska. Much deliberation has lead us to see that if anyone is capable of defeating Alaska it is a group that is based on the coast." Curt Moore is also in on the plan: "Our summer interns are actually our new troops. They train from the end of May through the middle of June. Then we ship them out to conquer our Northern brother."Hummers and ladders have been distributed to LPC. (hummers for driving to Alaska and ladders for hopping the walls when passing into and out of Canada). (Ben was the winner in the create a caption contest. He also wins a trip to the Bay. Thanks Ben.)

Meet an Intern

Danielle Temple is a student a Bellhaven College in Jackson, MS. We are excited to have her. We are currently receiving application and have already selected 10 interns from across the country. I will post their pictures as I receive them. This one was taken at the Velasco wedding. Danielle brought a group of approximate 20 students who spent Easter weekend with us.

PrayfortheBay.com

Self Portrait at Home

"How to Eat Pudding" by Andrew Thompson

1. Get one of the small containers of pudding (as shown)

2. Put spoon in mouth

It Seems Like Yesterday

OK. It's only been one week but we still miss you guys.

Kenley and Sarah Leslie left the Bay last week for northern-most parts. The Leslies continue their ministry developing a camp in Virginia.

"We'll leave the light on."

Creativity Redeemed

While I might question the redemptive qualities of LSU colors it is true nonetheless, in Christ the things of the fall are claimed for Christ and restored. That includes art, business, marriage, everthing touched by the effects of the fall. This includes RUF students from LSU taking a broken, rusted out roof vent and making a sign for their group. I love the way Albert Wolters describes this work of Christ in his book "Creation Regained."

Wolters writes,"The original good creation is to be restored. The practical implications of that intention are legion. Marriage should not be avoided by Christians, but sanctified. Emotions should not be repressed, but purified. Sexuality is not simply to be shunned, but redeemed. Politics should not be delcared off-limits, but reformed. Art ought not to be prounounced worldly, but claimed for Christ. Business must no longer be relegated to the secular world, but must be made to conform again to God-honoring standards. Every sector of human life yields such examples. In a very significant sense this restoration means that salvation does not bring anything new. Redemption is not a matter of an addition of a spiritual or supernatural dimension to creaturely life that was lacking before; rather, it is a matter of bringing new life and vitality to what was there all along."

Participating in the Restoration is our mandate, our calling, our joy. Even a sign with LSU colors displays the beauty of Christ's restoration in the Bay, however, garnet and gold might be more redemptive. Go NOLES.

Clyde Baker, "A Reflection"

This is a reflection by Clyde Baker. He asked that I post it for him.

Following is a reply to my ex-wife, to an e-mail to me about Josiah's situation. I started writing, and the first three paragraphs are "what happened." I am planning on being in VA the third week in May, for a week. It is our break before the very busy summer season begins. Starting the first week in June, we will have 300+ volunteers per week thru the end of July, and there won't hardly be any time to even think. Then it tapers off until Sept 1. We will close for a week then to recuperate. I started the first new home of the 2007 a few weeks ago, with a goal if 15 - 20 this year, and that doesn't include the folks whose homes were heavily damaged, but salvagable who we are helping with restoration. We had 49 volunteer groups in March, mostly campus fellowship groups, with three weeks of 200+. I have never done anything in my life so meaningful and rewarding. Most of the folks we help are at the bottom of the food chain, and unable to get anywhere at all without our help of materials and labor. You should see the expressions of joy and gratitude when we finish one up and have a dedication ceremony for their new or "new" home. We have the most remarkable people on staff here. With pastoral, admin, social workers and construction management (four of us,) we have 15 working here, with two or three part time local volunteer staff as well. In staff meetings we laugh and cry and pray together. It is the most incredibel group of folks I have ever been around, and each one left a "normal" life to come here and do whatever they could to help. The Lord put the team together and showed His sovereign wisdom in bringing just the right people for the work of running perhaps the largest volunteer facility on the Gulf Coast. Jean Larroux, our pastor, was raised here in Bay St. Louis, went to the Catholic high school, came to Christ in college, then to Reformed Seminary. He lost an aunt and uncle in the storm, and while here helping his family recover their remains, etc., the Lord called him to "return to the land of his fathers (four generations) with the message of grace. He gets it. A year ago, this place wasn't in anyone's imagination but the Lord's. Now it is a 2 1/2 acre facility with the ability to house, feed, and direct up to 350 volunteers at a time in the reconstruction efforts, "No, we aren't recovered yet." Our thoughts are that it will take about five more years to meet the rebuilding needs here, and to have a viable church planted and organized when done. We also hope to take the lessons learned here and apply them in other situations in other places. This would be to get churches to have this kind of ministry in their own localities, I know of two that have, and response to other disasters whenever and wherever they occur. I didn't intend to write the above, but the longer I am here, the more deeply committed I am to the work and the concept - extending a practical hand of mercy and grace in the Lord's service, thereby earning a hearing for the message of grace that He Himself brought. Jesus Himself earned a hearing by His healing and feeding, etc, and told the Jews, "If you can't believe my words, then believe me because of my works."

Ferry at Sunset

Maureen "Meaux" Gatto of Bucksmont relief sent me this photo. She and I happened to cross the Bay together at the same time yesterday at about mid-day on the ferry and she came back at sunset. As we talked she commented that she wasn't a 'water person' but that there was something about 'this place' that had gotten in her blood. I understand. The people, the culture, the water- there is something, an odd something that gets in you down here. Curt calls it the 'Lagniappe magic'. I think it is sitting front-row, center to the beauty and the tragedy that is presently the Bay-Waveland area. There is a duality here, something tragic AND beautiful concurrently. The water draws people here. I know that is a statement of double ontondra (sp?). The hurricane waters drew us here, but those same waters shimmering at dusk draw us too. It is a privilege to have such 'good seats' in the theater of God's redemptive history. It is beautiful and tragic. Thanks for the photo, Meaux and especially for the reminder.