Mississippi Gathering!

Hey friends!!! Sunday Sept 14th at 1130...we the Mississippi Team are hosting a luncheon and report on our trip... and perhaps the current happenings post Gustov. Please join us at NPC following the service! We would love to share with you stories and pictures of our experience!

home again home again

Hey friends...we made it home safe and sound... 

stay tuned for more pictures and stories!

Few more pics!

This is the a tree right on the beach front that 5 people clung to during Katrina for 14 hours. The tree was then carved into angels.

Jeff swimming in one of our cups

Part of our group finishing up today 
Some of the boys siding the house...

Its a good day!

Hey friends!

Lots of good news! Harold is back with us and feeling MUCH MUCH better...even had cake and ice cream with us tonight... It's also Dan Kelley's birthday.... so we celebrated with singing, singing cards, gifts of sporks, etc.

We finished our week of work today--Fran Daly and Tom MacInnes stayed at the house they were working at all week till 8 tonight to finish the plumbing that they began on Monday.  Amazing!  The rest of us made incredible progress at the houses we worked at and we've all been amazed at how much of a difference our blood, sweat and tears made.  I've also been amazed at how God's been working in our midst in so many ways--the obvious being the physical healing he gave to Harold.  But the Lord was also at work in our group in uniting us as his body, giving us endurance to work in the hot hot hot weather, and showing us the importance of being his hands and feet in the world.  Clyde, our Lagniappe staff leader working at the site I was at all week, left us with this parting exhortation as we wrapped up our week:  there are mini Katrinas happening in every part of the country every day and we can all do something back at our homes that is just as important and hopeful as the work we did this week.  It's definitely gotten me thinking about what the mini Katrinas are in our neck of the woods and what part I should play in them.

-Jes Kelley

Harold is on the mend!

Harold is doing so much better. This evening he was able to eat!!! He looks better, sounds better and even took a walk around the floor in the hospital. Continue to pray that he will gain enough strength to make the trip home with us. It looks good so far!

The Same God....

Sunday night we watched a short video about the history and purpose of Lagniappe Presbyterian Church. I was impressed by two things. The first was that, in all the times that I had looked on their website and read their leaders' guides, I missed the fact that Bay St. Louis/Waveland was ground zero for Hurricane Katrina. Hearing that sent chills down my spine. Knowing that we were sitting in a place that was the epi-center for one of the worst disasters in our country's history made me realize that we are not playing down here. Our work here is serious business.

We've heard lots of stories of how barges were found sitting on highway 90 over a mile from the bay. We've seen the evidence of the waterline that was 40 feet above the ground at this woman Donna's house house where Tom and Fran have been working faithfully everyday. We've heard story after story of devasting losses and unthinkable tragedies that were caused when nature's fury arrived in the form of wind and rain.

The second thing I heard was what Lagniappe's mission is. It is late at night and it has been a stressful day (I'll get to that later...), so I will probably not do this justice, but here goes... Lagniappe exists to let people know that the God that could allow such a terrible tragedy to happen is also the same God that will bring about restoration. Pretty cool, huh?

Carey led us in a devotional on Tuesday and reflected with us about how God meets us in our times of crisis. About how He often uses that hardest times in our lives and our greatest times of need to reveal himself and to draw us into his presence. The very same God who allows us to struggle meets us right there in the midst of it. Given the context of where we are and what we are doing, it seemed at the time to be a very relevant thought to share with the group.

This morning we discovered just how relevant it was. Harold left here in an ambulance and was taken to Memorial Hospital in Gulfport. He spent the day there with Debbie, Amy and his son David. After hours of tests, phone calls and lots of praying (thank you all!!!!), he is resting more comfortably in a room there and we are glad to tell you that there is nothing seriously wrong. We are relieved tonight but, all day long, it was a different story as we waited for them to rule out all kinds of bad things.

I fielded lots of phone calls and was asked a few times how I was holding up (as if that sort of mattered, but thanks to those who asked). I could honestly say that I had that peace that surpasses all understanding. I kept thinking about Carey's words and about the mission of Lagniappe. I kept telling myself, " Kevin, it's the same God. " The same God who is allowing my dear brother Harold to suffer and his amazing and wonderful son to struggle is right there in the midst of this. He is there in the throws of this crisis revealing himself to them, being their source of strength, answering our prayer of intercession that Harold keep medicine down, comforting David and Harold with two angels of mercy and forcing us to give the whole situation over to him, to acknowledge our need for him and to rejoice that he is with us in all things. The same God... doing what He always does... And though I wouldn't wish Harold's troubles today on a monkey on a rock, I think we all recognized that God was right there and the day had it's own kind of sweetness.

The same is true of many of the stories I've heard here. They are terrible and tragic, for sure. But they are triumphant too, because many people can testify that God is alive and well and living right here in Bay St. Louis. They know that because, at their greatest time of need, when there seemed to be no reason to hold out hope, God arrived in the form of Lagniappe Church and the thousands of people that God has sent here to be his hands and feet. Katrina brought horror to many for sure, but there sure is a great deal of evidence that "same" God is using this for His glory.

Thank you all for sendong us out. It is an humbling privilege to be here.

Prayers for the Jones Family

Hey Friends, many of you may have heard by now, but Harold Jones was taken to the hospital with abdomen pain. He's pending further tests, and treatment. Please pray for healing of Harold, peace for the rest of the family. 

Everyone is in good spirits and otherwise healthy... We're off for a night on the town...good ole southern cooking tonight! We'll keep you posted on Harold. 

Day 4 Getting into Rhythm

Tuesday August 5th

Everyone had the same assignments today. The majority going to the house that is being built for the 2nd time. Destroyed by Katrina first and then a fire caused by a lightning strike. This family is determined !! Painting, roofing and siding were the tasks at hand and as we know many hands do make short work. Especially impressive today was the determination and teamwork of our youth group!! Talk about on the job training.

Fran and Tom went to a house that was totally destroyed by Katrina The owner is rebuilding and has hit a snag with the plumbing. The yard is covered with thick, sticky mud. You know the kind that pulls your shoes off. The water line from Katrina is 40 feet high on the trees. The original house actually floated away and landed in the trees. Donna lost everything and it has spent the last three years trying to get her life back on track.

The NPC community here at The Bay are truly living the passage from James 2:

14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

It is by example that God's love will truly shine through. Please continue to pray for the team and all of the families here. We thank you for all of your support.

Leslie Hilton

Tom's Blog.....

Today has been an amazing day in Mississippi and hopefully we're in for many more days just like today.  The weather was very accommodating and we had groups in two different locations.  A very large group that was roofing, siding, painting along with other jobs at one location while a smaller group was doing some plumbing for a woman named Donna Skinner.  

It was an interesting day for me as I got to get a plumbing 101 lesson.  Unfortunately we determined that much of the work that had already been completed in the house needed to be done again.  Thankfully we think that we'll be able to fix it and hopefully have it done by the end of the week.  

I have tow "Show and Tell" memories from my day in Mississippi that I'd like to mention, first was that the woman who's house we're working on (Donna) spent the day with us telling us all about Katrina and the days, months and now years that have followed.  It's truly amazing how resilient she is and I think that it's prevalent among the people who are still down here.  She showed us on the trees outside her house where the water line from the flooding was and it was very easily 30 feet in the air.  I'm hoping to get some pictures that we can post on the blog but it is unfathomable that the flooding was this significant.  The flood actually lifted her previous house over the peach tree that was in her front lawn and dropped her house in the middle of the street that she lived on.  It really is amazing the stories that the people here happened.  

My other show and tell item from my day in Mississippi is that Donna was telling just how grateful she was for the people who had come down or supported those who came down to assist.  She was saying how humbling she found it to ask for help from others because by nature she is a giver and that it really has been a challenge to accept help like this from others.  She also has been very surprised to hear volunteers thank her for allowing them to come and participate in the rebuilding effort, Donna really couldn't understand that perspective and I'm glad to say that I really do see that type of mentality in all of the people who are representing NPC.  The group is very giving and very thankful for the opportunity be able to assist in this rebuilding effort and I think that this mind set is going to make for a great week.  

That's it for now.....good night! 

Haiku's by Bethany's Van

"It's only 9:26am on Monday"

by: Bethany's Van

        Peed behind a shed

Confiscated a cell phone

And built a dance floor.

"Hairy Wolf"

By: Bethany's Van...again

O hairy shrimp...YUCK

       Clicky clickaty clack clack

Our feet smell like wolf

Work Day 1

Today was our first day working. It was pretty cool. I got to help roof house and it was fun. It was slow at first, but we got the hang of it after a while. We put the shingles down and shot nails into them. Boy, it was really hot on the roof. We got to take breaks which I was thankful for. I needed to chill for a while. We almost finished, but we will continue to work tomorrow. I was happy to help people out. Without people volunteering to help, they would have to pay tons of money to build the house. I'm happy to give some people a break. Its really living out what Jesus called us for, to help out our brothers and sisters. 

- Tyler Scionti

8/3 ~ A Day in the City!

Talk about easy going.  Is this really a mission trip?  We woke up, had some breakfast, participated in a worship service and than headed off to New Orleans.  Dan and I headed to the airport (with a little getting lost in the middle) to pick up Amy and Nick Sellke (fresh from Europe) and than headed to the French Quarter.  What a different world with voodoo, taro cards, palm readers, and than the church right in the middle of it all.  Sad to see the devastation in some areas but neat to see the vibrant streets in others.

Sort of getting antsy waiting to get to work.  I guess I am not doing a good job preparing myself for the week ahead.  I would hope I can slow down, listen, think and contemplate on the graces God is giving me in all situations... even the bad ones.

The sermon today was on the rich young ruler who was still holding on to his riches even though Jesus told him to let go.  What am I holding on to?  I can't think of anything materialistically speaking.  What I am holding onto is security.  I don't allow myself to count on God for security but instead to count on what God has given me (my possessions).  I don't really understand what this means but that's what comes to mind right now.  Perhaps I'll hammer this out through the rest of this week.

-Jeff Carnes

Downtown NEW ORLEANS!

French Quarter

Great marketing for one of the art galleries! Who could resist!

Signs of Katrina

Cafe Du Monde

Amy Sellke and Jes Kelley

Sat Aug 2nd: Justice Cash

Today was the day of the airplane flights! I'm sure that everyone had a great time. As for me, I was taught the game cribbage, by the help of Mr. and Ms. Hilton. At first I didn't really understand it, but after a while I finally got all the rules of play. The second flight was best of all for me. It was short, smooth and easy!

After everyone had gathered their baggage, we went along in several (5) minivans to the church/ campsite. The journey in the cars was very enjoyable. Tim, Jim, Tyler, Caleb, Alex, John and me were all in one minivan. We told jokes, and listened to music. When we arrived at the church, everyone unloaded and packed their stuff into their rooms. Then, it was pizza time! I ate my share and talked with the other guys. Almost everyone proceeded outside to play some games like basketball, baseball, and frisbee. Next we had a meeting. Our group sang some songs, read some verses, prayed and discussed what the future plans for the week were to be. When the meeting came to an end, many people went to the store to buy a few more things. And then the best part came...we all crashed on our beds.

WE'VE ARRIVED...

Hey good folks back home...Sorry for the confusion, we're having massive MAC Blog issues down here, so we've switched the site to BLOGGER....our apologies. Here's the day 1 log!!