Monday, September 19, 2005
Week 2 Team arrives onsite in Mandeville
Editor's note: Just got word that the team arrived in Mandeville at 3:30 Eastern (2:30 CST) this afternoon safely.
Well its a new week and today about 40 additional workers should make their way into the Tammany Oakes relief work.
Saturday our team 1 arrived home at around 5:30. They were all full of smiles and hugs but you could see the exhaustion in their step. When they arrived we were dealing with some issues getting team two ready. Several members of team 1 stayed and help late in the evening to be sure all was good and ready for team two. It was wonderful to be a part of this work on Saturday when over 50 different brothers and sisters came together to pack, load, and prepare. A special thanks to Kenny Nichols for his late night work on getting our trailers shored up to insure the safety of our team.
Sunday brought a buzz to Spring Road as travelers showed up from all over ready to head for their work. We had a little excitement early in the AM. I had a miscue with the church treasurer and found out at 6:00 AM I had no cash to send with our teams. I don't often panic but I did. My humanness took over and I thought somehow I would overcome this obstacle. I got on the phone and called my wife who got out of bed and went to the ATM. We both withdrew our maximums. On my way to the church building my mind was racing with names of people I thought could do the same. How should I contact them, should I let them sleep a little before calling, after all I was responsible and had to handle this. Well, I pulled into the church for a second time around 6:50. There was someone in the parking lot. I saw he was driving a Suburban, which matched up with one of my assigned drivers, so I assumed it was Chric Orecchio from SOMA Church in Marysville. I greeted him and thanked him for all his support. He had informed me a week earlier that the church had decided to support our efforts and he would be bringing me $1,500. I told him how much we appreciated the church support and he handed me the $1,500...
...in cash. Yes not a check in cash. It brought tears to my eyes. Here I thought I somehow was supposed to save the day and as usual God had it well in hand. And just to be sure, Chris was there at the building waiting for me before I could start making the calls to my list. He is so good and has provided everything we need for this effort. The stories don't end there. There are many more which we will try to get written down and out on the website for you.
As the travelers got dropped off it was a time of hugs and apprehension. Parents, husbands, wives saying goodbye to let the ones they love go and work for others while they hold down the fort here. A sweet mixture of joy, excitement, tears, hugs, and smiles were on the palette that day. What the Lord will paint with those colors is yet to be seen in this week to come. Many of you may become aware that they did not get out until 10:00 due to some trailer problems but we all need to be there and ready to leave at 8:00. We will get better and better at this and for that we will need your help.
Well 10:00 rolled around and as the lot started to fill up for church service our team pulled out of the drive with 6 vehicles, two trailers full of supplies, and two campers in tow… It was a beautiful site. The team leaders checked in last night upon arrival at University Church in Tuscaloosa AL. They were greeted at 10:00 with hugs smiles and food. Yes they got fed. The church had prepared places for them to sleep and the team settled down around midnight. My check in this morning showed wake up around 6:30 and they were on the road at 8:00. No more news at this time but I am sure it’s because they hit the ground running in LA. Thank you all so much for your participation in this effort. So many things are happening so fast that it is impossible to thank everyone. Things are just getting taken care of like clean up after the team left yesterday to the numerous unexpected hours spent working on trailer lighting and welding. It goes on and on. Every time a problem pops up someone takes ownership and it goes away. That is all of God's hands and feet participating as a body.
In closing I want to tell you that over 15 different churches are participating in this somehow, from many different backgrounds and belief systems, all working together in response to this dissaster. I can only imagine that at this point He is well pleased. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. I received a call this morning from a client on my list today whose company had taken up a contribution that was going to go to the Red Cross, they discussed it internally and decided to send it to us. God is good.
Please see Spring Road Katrina Relief for more info, from the field updates, and pictures.
Brad Hayes
Well its a new week and today about 40 additional workers should make their way into the Tammany Oakes relief work.
Saturday our team 1 arrived home at around 5:30. They were all full of smiles and hugs but you could see the exhaustion in their step. When they arrived we were dealing with some issues getting team two ready. Several members of team 1 stayed and help late in the evening to be sure all was good and ready for team two. It was wonderful to be a part of this work on Saturday when over 50 different brothers and sisters came together to pack, load, and prepare. A special thanks to Kenny Nichols for his late night work on getting our trailers shored up to insure the safety of our team.
Sunday brought a buzz to Spring Road as travelers showed up from all over ready to head for their work. We had a little excitement early in the AM. I had a miscue with the church treasurer and found out at 6:00 AM I had no cash to send with our teams. I don't often panic but I did. My humanness took over and I thought somehow I would overcome this obstacle. I got on the phone and called my wife who got out of bed and went to the ATM. We both withdrew our maximums. On my way to the church building my mind was racing with names of people I thought could do the same. How should I contact them, should I let them sleep a little before calling, after all I was responsible and had to handle this. Well, I pulled into the church for a second time around 6:50. There was someone in the parking lot. I saw he was driving a Suburban, which matched up with one of my assigned drivers, so I assumed it was Chric Orecchio from SOMA Church in Marysville. I greeted him and thanked him for all his support. He had informed me a week earlier that the church had decided to support our efforts and he would be bringing me $1,500. I told him how much we appreciated the church support and he handed me the $1,500...
...in cash. Yes not a check in cash. It brought tears to my eyes. Here I thought I somehow was supposed to save the day and as usual God had it well in hand. And just to be sure, Chris was there at the building waiting for me before I could start making the calls to my list. He is so good and has provided everything we need for this effort. The stories don't end there. There are many more which we will try to get written down and out on the website for you.
As the travelers got dropped off it was a time of hugs and apprehension. Parents, husbands, wives saying goodbye to let the ones they love go and work for others while they hold down the fort here. A sweet mixture of joy, excitement, tears, hugs, and smiles were on the palette that day. What the Lord will paint with those colors is yet to be seen in this week to come. Many of you may become aware that they did not get out until 10:00 due to some trailer problems but we all need to be there and ready to leave at 8:00. We will get better and better at this and for that we will need your help.
Well 10:00 rolled around and as the lot started to fill up for church service our team pulled out of the drive with 6 vehicles, two trailers full of supplies, and two campers in tow… It was a beautiful site. The team leaders checked in last night upon arrival at University Church in Tuscaloosa AL. They were greeted at 10:00 with hugs smiles and food. Yes they got fed. The church had prepared places for them to sleep and the team settled down around midnight. My check in this morning showed wake up around 6:30 and they were on the road at 8:00. No more news at this time but I am sure it’s because they hit the ground running in LA. Thank you all so much for your participation in this effort. So many things are happening so fast that it is impossible to thank everyone. Things are just getting taken care of like clean up after the team left yesterday to the numerous unexpected hours spent working on trailer lighting and welding. It goes on and on. Every time a problem pops up someone takes ownership and it goes away. That is all of God's hands and feet participating as a body.
In closing I want to tell you that over 15 different churches are participating in this somehow, from many different backgrounds and belief systems, all working together in response to this dissaster. I can only imagine that at this point He is well pleased. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. I received a call this morning from a client on my list today whose company had taken up a contribution that was going to go to the Red Cross, they discussed it internally and decided to send it to us. God is good.
Please see Spring Road Katrina Relief for more info, from the field updates, and pictures.
Brad Hayes
# posted by John McGuire @ 3:31 PM 
