Columbus Mission to Mandeville, Katrina Relief

All new posts are now only on the new blog

2005-10-26T10:08:00.000-04:00

This is the last posting to this blog. It will remain, however, for reference and as a record of our history.

http://servantsunite.blogspot.com is now the official blog and new postings like today's are to be found only there.

John McGuire

Promo Video available

2005-10-24T15:45:00.000-04:00

Dear Relief Supporters:

Just wanted to let you know that we have created some DVD's designed to assist a group in taking a special collection for the ongoing efforts in LA (remember we need an additional $50K), and one to assist in recruiting volunteers to go to LA on one of our work weeks. Both videos are on one DVD and there are both a cappella and instrumental background song version available.

The purpose is to use in the collection of money or the recruitment of new workers. Our efforts are losing momentum but as those of you who have been there know the work is still great. Please, if you can get these in front of some new audiences send me your request complete with your name and address for sending.

Thank you

Brad Hayes

Three New Things...

2005-10-21T23:05:00.000-04:00

The first I posted the other day is the new URL for information: http://www.servantsunite.org

Second is the new blog site: http://servantsunite.blogspot.com I may only copy minimal information over from this blog to the new one, but will leave it as an archive of what I hope are only our initial efforts. Please note that you can post comments to blog postings for others to see. Look for the link at the end of the posting.

Third is a new communications feature, the Yahoo group or listserve. Click here to join servantsunite listserve. Clicking the link will take you to the yahoogroups site where you can log in or create a new account which is relatively simple and painless. There are three steps:

Enter your information and choose an ID and password
Click an additional link in the confirmation email that is sent to your email address
Login to yahoogroups to set up your preferences. Be sure to turn off all the advertising preferences.

If you've never used yahoogroups, it is a forum you can join and submit postings by email that are distributed to the other members. You can comment or reply to each other's postings and share files or pictures from the group. When setting up your preferences, you can choose to receive an email for each posting to the group, receive a daily batch of postings, or only check postings from the web interface.

The iMarketing term for all this is a "virtual community" and these three features along with bulk email have served this effort well in that regard. Please pray with me, "Lord continue to bless or efforts with the time, people, and other resources needed to do the work you have called us to. We thank you for the opportunity to serve and for inspiring in us the creativity to invent these tools we use, and the passion to answer your call. Please grant us wisdom and the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit as we endeavor to serve. We ask you to bless the multitude of recovery organizations helping to shine your light in the gulf coast and other places darkened by sin's evil touch and please bless those we are working to help who have suffered many personal tragedies. In Jesus name, Amen".

Update from Brad

2005-10-21T09:27:00.000-04:00

Hey Team:

See below posting for pictures. It is the best I have seen to tell the story of the "de-mucking" with pictures. They are taken in a sequence that give you a good sense of the Totalness of the mess. Enjoy and realize that there is still much to do!!! These pictures were taken less than a week ago!

I am sad to tell you that to date we have no volunteers signed up for our Nov 5 trip. We need at least 8 people to send a crew. I realize vacation time is short, the holiday's are upon us, and there is much for everyone to do. Please consider you schedule and this opportunity for service. If you can participate on the November 5 trip please contact me before Weds. The 26th as we will have to make a determination regarding the first trip at that time.

Suggestion from John: Lets wear our red T-Shirts Sunday morning and ask about making a very quick appeal at our respective church services. I did get two volunteers for other trips at Westerville Christian last week with that small effort. More beneficial long term is to work with our church eldership/leaders to build their support, participation, and focus on this project. Let us know if we can help you with this.

Praise for the day is that Tammany will be positioning more than 200 volunteers in various works beginning today and through the weekend. Praise God for He is good and He is faithful.

Brad Hayes

John Carden Pics from Last Week's Demucking

2005-10-21T09:25:00.000-04:00

As some of you are already aware, David and I went back to the Gulf coast to help in the relief effort again. I took a few pictures while we were down there and I have them ready for your viewing pleasure - if you are interested.

They can be viewed at http://home.comcast.net/~thecomputerdoctor/Katrina2

Note that he capital "K" is important - the server at Comcast is case sensitive. Also note that the Comcast server is somewhat slow.

I noticed that I had "fat fingered" the URL for the first set of pictures in my original message. In case some of you had a problem getting that set to load properly the correct URL is http://home.comcast.net/~jwcarden/Katrina

Enjoy,
John C. (Pop)

Servants Unite!

2005-10-20T07:20:00.000-04:00

That's the name were using for this ongoing effort. Hope you like it 'cuz the new domain name is registered and the site is copied over to www.servantsunite.org ;-) Nothing new there yet today, but there will be soon. This name was chosen as we believed it to be both descriptive of our work and a call to action and cooperative effort from all of the body of Christ as well as those with a servants heart who haven't claimed Him yet.

We're watching hurricane Wilma as I'm sure you are. Be watching here, on your email, and on servantsunite.org for announcements. Best guess is that it will hit St. Petersburg or points south as a major hurricane. Be praying that away and at the same time prepare for the eventuality that we will need to respond quickly with water, ready to eat food, and that all important Gatorade. If we do, we'll need the supplies, trucks, and drivers on short notice this weekend or early next week.

Everyone involved in this effort has been so responsive, those who have funded trips, the first 160 people to go, those at home, who during the third week filled half a semi trailer on 24 hour notice... I am so personally impressed with the hundreds of people involved in this project who are letting God use them freely. May He bless all of you.

John McGuire

Letter to Bruce Willis Foundation - Janet Hines

2005-10-18T13:50:00.000-04:00

Editor's Note: Janet is becoming legendary in this work. This letter is directed to the Bruce Willis Foundation, but is informative for all of us who have contributed to this effort and continue to. Pics and the supplies list she mentions are on the picture site: http://www.therenos.com/katrinaPictures/Janet/

There are times in our lives that God shows us how big our world is without making us feel small and insignificant. In our state of feeling perpetually frustrated and helpless, He constantly reveals Himself to us over and over again.

My name is Janet Hines and I am the director of the disaster relief program that we are conducting here at our church in Mandeville, LA. At our first meeting on the first Saturday after the storm, we decided that we were willing to take on the project of helping our community in a time of desperate need. We made it our goal to become a beacon of hope with Jesus as the source of our light to our neighbors.

At that time, none of us realized how God was going to use us in the way that He has. In the last month, we have housed over 800 volunteers here in our building. Let me explain that our building is really new. We had only met five times for worship prior to the storm August 29, 2005. Over 3,200 families have received relief supplies through our front doors. Services such as tree removal, yard cleaning, and house cleaning/gutting has been provided for over 200 households at no cost. This is ongoing in our projects daily.

We are no longer providing supplies to individuals directly from the warehouse as immediate needs in our community have been met. Our focus has shifted to serving the outlying communities with the items that they need. We are acting as a distribution center for incoming donations, which we sort, pack and distribute to areas in need.

Communities are still in crisis. Grocery stores are now open but often shelves stand empty. Schools have homeless teachers living in tents, without access to running water. These selfless professionals have returned to serve children without having their own basic personal needs met. Families who were blessed to experience no damage find themselves housing a dozen or more survivors.

Homes, which were flooded, stand stagnant with mold and toxic waste. These residences must be gutted. This process has been labeled “de-mucking”, and reduces a home to its skeletal framework. Often the elderly or the ill have no means to accomplish this daunting and emotional task. Shelters have been emptied forcing these individuals to return to unsafe living conditions.

Medical clinics and hospitals have been slow to return. Our program provided immediate medical services through a team of doctors, a nurse practitioner, a pharmacist and nurses who offered donated prescription medications and over the counter pharmaceutical items throughout the shelters and communities. Makeshift clinics were set up in fire halls. Nursing teams met before dawn to provide vaccines to the National Guard and other members of the armed forces before they entered New Orleans to search for survivors and victims.

We are so appreciative of your participation in the “Got Your Back” program sponsored by Nickelodeon. We are praying that you would be able to provide further assistance to facilitate our efforts here. Following this letter are photographs and categories and listings of items that are crucial to continuing the recovery. We thank you for considering further participation in our efforts as we continue serving our community.

God Bless You,

Janet Hines
Director

New Orleans Area News

2005-10-17T20:07:00.000-04:00

Several people have asked where to find news about relief/recovery in the storm damaged area since the national media has found other topics. Here are a few links that should help keep you informed. I'll also add them to the left bar of the blog.

The Times-Picayune news site is http://www.nola.com/t-p/
Think it says something when the paper's archives are divided between pre-katrina and post-katrina. There is a link to news in each parish that is handy.

WDSU is a local TV station at http://www.wdsu.com/news/index.html

The Sun-Herald covers the Biloxi, Gulfport area from http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/

Lake Charles is represented at http://www.americanpress.com/

The Mobile Register covers southern Alabama: http://www.al.com/mobileregister/

The Beaumont Texas/Port Arthur area are covered by the Beaumont Enterprise at http://www.southeasttexaslive.com/site/news.asp?brd=2287
and the Port Arthur News at http://www.panews.com/

Absolutely heartbreaking...

2005-10-17T15:10:00.000-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/katrina/green.family/index.html Something of what happened to many families has happened to this one. This is hard to read, but illustrates the long term and permanent pain this disaster has wrought.

In Case You Haven't Heard Yet...

2005-10-17T10:55:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Wilma is the season's 21st named storm and is projected to be a hurricane tomorrow and make its way into the Gulf of Mexico after crossing the Yukatan later in the week.
Even if it doesn't hit the target area of our relief efforts, it is going into the area that Stan already soaked with rain causing mudslides, flooding, and many deaths in Mexico and Central America.

Pray hard and pray often!

Romans 12

2005-10-16T08:55:00.000-04:00

^{Stumbled over this section of Romans 12 today

4}Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.

And isn't it amazing how the body of Christ has come together in this effort! Thank you Lord and Amen!

⁶God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. ⁷If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. ⁸If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

All of us who have worked on this project have continuing responsibilities listed in verses 6-8. Also important, not everyone is called to each task. Some of us are called to serve. Some are not, but are called to other functions in the body. Some have funding to give, while others do not. We have to keep this in mind when the accuser tempts us to judge others by our own calling.

⁹Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. ¹⁰Love each other with genuine affection,^[b] and take delight in honoring each other. ¹¹Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically.

Our emotions about this project, the people we have helped, and the people we have worked shoulder to shoulder with are God given. Revel in them and use them to show others the passion we have found in this work. It helps to illustrate the fulfillment they can find in devoting themselves to work in God's Kingdom.

As of this Sunday morning, there is no-one scheduled to participate in the next trip. We need to be working with our friends, coworkers, family, and churches to build groups going forward.

Current Needs List from Louisiana

2005-10-14T17:08:00.000-04:00

I built a consolidated list and ran it by Tammany Oaks today. Here is the up to date list of requested items:

Water and Gatorade (still needed for areas just opening up to residents)

Food boxed to feed a family of 4 or 5 for a day. Some "MREs" (requires no cooking or refrigeration)

As many volunteers as possible to go for a week beginning on these dates: Nov 5, Dec 3, Dec 26th – Jan 2, Jan 14, Feb 4, Mar 4, and April 1 (no foolin :-)

Additional $50,000 in donations to fund the trips so that the volunteers have 0 financial pain
Gatoraid and water to cover volunteer's needs

Skilled trades people to go for 1 month trips with funding to cover their lost income and expenses

Cleanup supplies like:

Utility knives
Work gloves
Rubber gloves
Rubber boots
Disposable shoe covers
Safety goggles
Heavy duty wheelbarrows
Shop vacs
Cleaning chemicals (bleach, toilet bowl cleaner, general detergents)
Cleaning brushes
Cleaning rags
Dehumidifiers

Construction supplies like:

Roofing supplies (shingles, tar paper, nails)
Sheetrock supplies (drywall, tape, mud, knives, screws)
Wall studs
Electrical outlets

Odd request - Church pews. At least one Church in Slidel and one in New Orleans have had pews destroyed by flooding.

New Gallup Poll of 463,000 Red Cross Aid Requestors

2005-10-14T07:16:00.000-04:00

This article on CNN.com this morning outlines the results from a Gallup poll of people who were effected by huricane Katrina and have requested aid from the Red Cross.

Interesting excerpts:

Most said they had been able to get through the difficult time with the help of family and friends as well as their faith in God.
Roughly 60 percent said they had trouble sleeping and felt depressed; about two-thirds reported feeling anxiety.
Half the poll's respondents were separated from family members for at least a day. Seven percent said they still didn't know the whereabouts of at least one family member. 6% of parents were still separated from their children, and 16 percent said they had been separated but had since been reunited with their children

The poll, taken by telephone between September 30 and October 9, had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, unless otherwise noted which is frequently 5-6%

Week 4 Experience - Gary Robbins from Centerville, Ohio

2005-10-13T16:54:00.000-04:00

My personal experiences there tell me that normal will never be the same in New Orleans. The poor have been replaced and their twice-flooded homes and neighborhoods will be bulldozed and replaced by commercial development a city insider told me. While the mayor and others say the city is up and running, don't believe it. In the French Quarter they were somehow able to reopen bars with in a few days, but even though some areas do have water and electricity back on, I was told by this same city insider who lives next to the church we gutted, not to eat or drink anything in the city. While we did have running water in the minister's home next to the church, we didn't see any food establishments open.

Basically what you see each day is a stream of contractors, some hired by the city or FEMA others there trying to make a quick buck, insurance adjusters, people with signs "We Buy Houses" and very few clean up volunteers like our group that stream into the city after dawn from the outlying regions that have some services. They work in the city until almost dusk and then stream back out. Everything you need to work and survive that day you have to bring with you since everything is ruined or looted. Very few stay in the city at night at this point.

While you are there you will see huge piles of trash and debris at the locations of the few lucky owners that could get back in their neighborhood and salvage what little was left and try to start the massive undertaking of removing every part of their home or business that was damaged. Where we worked the water was 5 feet 8 inches high, which you can see frwater marksrks on the buildings. Everything has a putrid odor from decaying garbage, rotting food, and dead animals in the trash or beneath the structures were they apparently went for shelter and died.

While we were in the city I never saw a police car, Red Cross, or FEMA organization member delivering any services and we were 1 block from the cities highest traffic intersection at Carrollton Avenue and Canal just 6 blocks from the French Quarter. We saw no living dogs or cats and on my last day in the city I met 2 ladies from Chicago SPCA who were leaving food and water in strategic locations so the animals terrorized by the storm and hiding under homes and buildings during the day could eat at night. They told me that a looted Winn Dixie down the street has been turned into an emergency Vet Clinic. They estimated that 90% of the animals they are able to catch are so emaciated they have to be put to sleep and the others are being held until October 18 trying to match them with their owners on a website www.petfinders.com. After the 18th they will be shipped all over the US to try and find shelters that will hold them for adoption, but they assume that most will eventually have to be euthanized.

As you can probably tell by my rambling this was a very emotional and eye opening experience being there. While you can watch CNN or some other network and get a general understanding of what is happening, it's just not the same as experiencing it yourself. Now that it is 6 weeks old news and being replace by the Pakistan earthquake and other "new' news items it could easily be forgotten by most Americans, except for those whose lives were turned upside down by this disaster.

I hope to go back to help numerous times in the next year. The work a 150 volunteers did the one week I was there is like a grain of sand on a beach as to what still needs to be done. If you can make the time to go and help I urge you to do it as soon as possible. There are many tasks to be done, from hard manual labor to just being willing to let one of the storms victims talk to you about their experience to help them get closure. If you can't go personally send money to people who can go and you know it will be used for the right purposes. I need to thank those individuals who provided us with financial support and supplies and encouragement for are trip. If you have any questions or want to know more about how to volunteer and what is involved, please call me at 937-885-9494 or email me. We should have a DVD available early next week and I would be happy to show it to you or a group of people who are interested.

Gary

Another Blog on the Louisiana Effort

2005-10-13T13:33:00.000-04:00

Brett White (aka "Hippy" aka "ministry hobo":-) is working at Tammany Oaks coordinating volunteers. He's been putting up postings at least once a day with ongoing activities and kewl stories. Check it out at brettwhite.blogspot.com.

Normal to who?????

2005-10-12T20:42:00.000-04:00

News outlets are discussing parts of New Orleans approaching normalcy.

Dear Friends, don’t you believe it. While Bourbon Street is open, the French Quarter, and people are being allowed back in to most areas, the southern gulf area of the United States is nowhere near back to normal. People are still in shelters, camping in their front yards or living with friends. Restaurants and businesses remain closed. Semis line the streets picking up the waste of peoples lives ruined by the storm. I was just there and Slidell, Mandeville, New Orleans are nowhere near normal. I understand that Gulfport, Biloxi and other areas in Mississippi are worse yet. Just because the governor of LA and the Mayor of New Orleans need tourist traffic for the city to survive or revive, do not believe that things are “normal”. People are still suffering and need our help. And for the record the floods, winds, and other storm activities paid no attention to race, health, wealth, or other standards we like to use. It devastated entire communities. Rich, poor, black, white, Hispanic, and all those others that make America what it is have been affected.

A client of TTG’s is a hospital in Lake Charles hard hit by Huricane Rita. The hospital today remains only partially open, services are limited, and many many people have lost everything to Rita. We as a nation, as Christians, people of faith, or whatever you may call yourself can not just turn our eyes to the next disaster. Our help is needed and there are things all of us, all of us, can do!!

The following is a list of our needs for the area over the next 6 months and we need your help to make them happen. We are setting up Ohio as a central area to coordinate volunteers, supplies and services to Tammany Oaks and their outreach. Because of their success and your response they are beginning to branch out and act as a central warehouse of supplies and services for areas all over the affected Gulf Coast region. You have and can continue to make a significant difference. We cannot do it alone however so please pass this along to all those you know!

Volunteers – We have trips planned beginning Nov 5, Dec 3, Dec 26th – Jan 2, Jan 14, Feb 4, Mar 4, and April 1. We need people who can volunteer to go for a week of work. The work will consist of packing and distributing goods for other shelters and individuals, de-mucking houses, cutting trees, roofing, dry walling, and general construction. There is a great need for people to just be able to walk the streets in the areas where teams are working and hand out water and listen and encourage others. Everyone who can afford the time or get free will be able to find something to do. We need you. We will deal with the logistic and transportation headaches and God will use you to fill the needs. I recently went with my family and we will never be the same, consider taking yours. Email me or call 614-288-5825 to sign up for a week.

Money – We need to raise an additional $50,000 to cover the costs of these trips. We would also like to raise some additional funds to be able to sponsor some individuals to stay for up to a month and perform specialty construction work such as the dry wall and roofing needs. There are not enough contractors to go around, many homeowners had no insurance, and the insurance companies are in court trying to get out of paying these claims. In the meantime, we are needed. Donations can be sent to Spring Road Katrina Fund at 74 S. Spring Road Westerville Ohio 43081. Praise God and know that He is working on funding. Just today I had a church in Tuscaloosa AL volunteer to cover the costs of one of our 7 trips. If you want to earmark your funds for a specific purpose please send a note with your check. It can go for supplies, transportation, or for sponsoring workers. Please know that the Red Cross and other agencies are doing a great job with your entrusted donations but the affected people need more than food and encouragement, they need our help!!!!!

Supplies – while this list is ever changing and being met by God daily you can keep up with the needs by checking at the Tammany blog. If nothing else we will need food and supplies to take care of up to 100 people per week for each of our 7 trips. Donations are still being collected at the Spring Road Church Building.

There you have it, my shortest update in weeks. We simply need you! God needs you! The people affected by this tragedy need you! Read the testimonials on the site. The most common comment from those returning from trips is that they will never be the same. They are touched in a way by their service to these people that they have never before experienced. Find out what they are talking about and sign up!!!

May God bless you as you consider this need,

Brad

Doctor's Stories from the days after Katrina

2005-10-12T19:25:00.000-04:00

These stories were published today in the current edition of the New Englland Journal of Medicine and are available free here: http://content.nejm.org/current.shtml

Week 4 Day 3 - Providence Road Member's Comments

2005-10-11T12:21:00.000-04:00

Editor's Note: Around 20 members of Providence Road Church of Christ in Charlotte, North Carolina met up with us to join in Team 4's effort.

This past Sunday, I heard a powerful lesson from a man named Jodi Vickry from Campus Church of Christ in Atlanta. The title of the lesson was “A Perfect Storm” and he began by telling us myths about what to do in a storm, and how they are nothing more than myths. He went on to tell us that the greatest myth about storms is that the ‘storms of life’ Build Character. He clarified this by stating that “the truth about Storms of Life is that they reveal character rather than build character”.

There have been so many different reactions from individuals down here along the gulf coast that have illustrated the point of Jodi’s lesson. We have seen and/or heard about some of the worst behavior played out in the news. We have also heard about how many opportunists have taken advantage of others in desperate need, for their own personal gain. However we have also seen the great character of some wonderful Godly people that have sacrificed so much to rebuild, and give to others that have lost everything.

I can not think of many first hand examples that I have witnessed that have impacted me more than what I have seen down here in Louisiana. The character of these people has been revealed through this storm that has literally taken everything away from them. Luke writes in chapter 3 verse 11 “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none and the one who has food should do the same”. To see neighbors that have lost so much helping one another and offering such hospitality to those of us who have come to serve them is very humbling.

-- Ryan Preston

When we were on our trip “down on the bayou,” we had the opportunity to help an elderly gentleman, Mr. Paul. The floodwaters had filled his trailer home and rendered all of his possessions useless. The contents of his home were outside, covered in a foot of mud. We had to throw everything into trash bags and haul them away. One of the things I had to throw away was his water soaked, mud caked Bible. I noticed that the Bible was opened to the end of Psalms 119 through Psalms 123. That night I read through those passages and found in Psalms 121: I lift up my eyes to the hills- Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

-- Terri Jeltrup

Next Steps - Brad

2005-10-10T18:27:00.000-04:00

Dear fellow volunteers, associates, clients, and friends: Please see website for additional info and pics at www.springroadcoc.com/Katrina

Well I am fresh from the field in Louisiana and let me tell you God is at work. There are many relief organizations at work there as we speak providing food, shelter, and other essentials. So far the only group we have come in contact providing any wide scale physical assistance is the Tammany Oaks group we have associated ourselves with. This is essential because there are people without insurance, people fighting insurance companies, and contractors who are charging outrageous sums of money to perform work. Even if money is no object there are not enough contractors to complete any work in a timely fashion.

I want to share with you that the vastness of the devastation is beyond comprehension. Yesterday, we posted an email my daughter sent to her school teacher as to her thoughts on one of the days we were there. Please read it. It catches the essence of what we were trying to do. She was given that assignment from one of her teachers as Westerville South High School.

I have never been more personally touched than to work side by side with my wife and daughter in the work of the Lord. We serve often in various church capacities but never before like this. Each evening at the devotionals teams would share where they saw Jesus on that particular day. He was always evident in many places but I shared on Tuesday night that I saw Him in my wife and daughter as they worked in ways and in conditions that we would never consider doing for ourselves here. We would hire it done. But here we were among mold, dust, fallen trees, water, smells of all kinds and destruction beyond our comprehension working for someone else in a way we would not consider for ourselves. If you want to spend some quality time with your family sign up for one of our trips, I guarantee your family will not return the same.

With this email I am informing you that our team has committed to sending at least 6 more teams to LA. We are also beginning to look at areas in Lake Charles where we have contacts. The area was very hard hit with Rita and the loss of property, business, and homes is substantial. Our current plan is to leave on Saturdays and return on Saturdays for these next 6 trips which should allow for an additional half day of work on Monday. The proposed dates are as follows: Nov 5, Dec 3, Jan 14, Feb 4 and Mar 4. In addition we are looking into a trip over Christmas break leaving on Dec 26th through Jan 1. This trip will have to be coordinated heavily as work may be tougher to find with families potentially being gone for the holiday. If you want to sign up for a trip please email me or call at 614-288-5825

Please understand a few things about what is happening down there:

Things are not getting back to normal – in order to rebuild the infrastructure and business community it is important to “sell” that things are getting back to normal. Well it’s not. The fact that the French Quarter is open only reflects massive amount of moving of junk and displacing it. And besides open for who? Things will not be back to normal for a long time. To put it into a sad perspective I couldn’t even find a drive through for a hamburger at 9:00 at night!!!!!

The work we are doing is only a drop in the bucket – however, it is much more beneficial to us and those who go and work and experience how God is working through this event than it will ever be to the overall impact of the hurricanes. One of the Tammany leaders told the story of the boy who came upon a beach full of washed up starfish. One by one he threw them back in the ocean. A stranger observing him stopped him and said “little boy don’t you realize that you can never save all these starfish, there are far too many to even matter” The boy looked at the stranger bent over picked up a starfish and threw it back it the ocean and said “it mattered to that starfish”. Thanks for that great illustration Brett. And I would venture to say it mattered even more to the little boy. Know that you can contribute and YOU can make the difference in someone’s life.

There is something for almost everyone – there is a wide variety of work to be done in Mandeville from cutting downed trees, to de-mucking houses, cooking, warehouse work, organization and more. There are food boxes to deliver and people who just need to talk. If you can go and not need entertained then there is something for you to do.

To date we have accomplished the following:

We have sent over 100,000 lbs of goods and supplies
Sent over 160 workers to help families
Collected just over $41,000 in monies or specific donations

In order to continue we will need significant additional funds to support these efforts. The cost of fuel and appropriate tools is significant. Donations of protective gear will most likely slow as other donations do. We however can not let what God has started slow within our hearts and minds. We will continue to need your help as we plan and organize these trips.

Here is what we need you to consider:

Talk to your church family – We have developed a DVD that is designed to be a self contained request and special offering. It contains images from the disaster set to music as appeals are made.

Promote – We are going to need additional volunteers. If you are students talk to your teachers about what it would take to be gone for a week. My daughter was able to do it and my son who goes to a different school was given permission but we decided he was too young (10). We also need promotion for additional funds. Promotion is not limited to central Ohio. I intend to visit some churches in Nashville soon hoping to secure volunteers and funds, send info to your families and friends in other states.

Pray – Pray for the safety of all those involved. Pray that God’s plan in this disaster will be clearly seen and followed, and pray that lives can continue to be changed as a result of the efforts being put forth.

We are in the process of setting up a separate organization to handle the administration of these items but for the time being continue to make donations payable to Spring Road Katrina Fund. They can be sent to 74 S Spring Road, Westerville Ohio 43081. May God bless you as you consider how you can make a difference in this event?

Because He first loved us,

Brad Hayes

Week 2 "Angel April" story from Denise Rickard

2005-10-10T09:31:00.000-04:00

I had fully intended to write updates while there, but between long hours of work and only seeing a laptop one time (and someone else was sending their story), I didn't find the opportunity.

Here is more complete information about a previously mentioned situation:

I had an opportunity to work with a young woman, probably mid 20's, named April, who came in to receive aid for 28 families. It was told in a previous update that she had come in to get supplies for 28 people, but it was 28 families ranging in size from one person to 18 people!

April lived in a trailer, and knew these people from church. She told me that if she didn't work, she would just fall apart. So here she was, notebook in hand, collecting things for people who had no way to get out themselves and get provisions.

There were two diabetics among them who April had checked three days before. One of them had 2 test strips left and the other had 3. According to one of the nurses, that was very bad and without checking their sugar levels could possibly be dead. I know that sounds melodramatic, but that surely could have been the outcome. It is something we probably will never know.

Another woman in her group was an elderly, grossly obese woman who wore Depends. When April found her, she had been sitting in the same Depends diaper for five days. She had no plumbing and no supplies. Needless to say, that was one of the things provided by the generous donations that pour into Tammany Oaks Church every day.
There were three infants, many 2 and 3-year-olds, and every age in between. We were able to give her food, toiletries, cleaning products, blankets, books, toys, shoes, dishes and water. These things could in no way fit into her little 5-seat car, so they were packed into a large Penske truck and several men followed her to her trailer.

She had cleaned out one room already, and was planning to clean out another to try and fit some of the things inside. The men took her some wooden pallets to stack things outside, and tarps to cover them.

The reason she didn't want the things delivered to each home was that there was not enough room to stack the boxes, so her plan was to drive the things to each family, or group of families (one home had 3 families living together, I think that was the 18-member family) so that they could actually use the stuff and still walk around.

This was an incredible undertaking for one person and one of the volunteers at Tammany Oaks called her "Angel April." Well, you would think that was a pretty exciting story, right? Well, April was wearing a large back brace over her clothing and when we were all finished loading her car and the Penske truck, I asked her why she had it on. She said she had been in an accident and was 100% disabled and was supposed to be in a wheel chair. She said she spends most of her time in bed. And here she was hauling heavy boxes and cases of water to 28 families.
And now you know the REST of the story!

Denise Rickard

Sharing Pictures from your trips

2005-10-09T13:30:00.000-04:00

For those of you who've been on work crews I'd like to encourage you to share your favorite pictures of your trips with everyone else and those who have contributed to make our trips possible. A friend of mine, Dave Reno has a server available on the Internet and has made space for us available. If you would like to post pictures, please send me an email at john.n.mcguire@jpmchase.com I can then get you instructions and help you around some of the pitfalls people have had, such as Macintosh machines and AOL ;-)

You can view the pics that are already out there at http://www.therenos.com/katrinapictures. There is a folder for each contributor that lists the files. You can click on each one in your browser to view the picture. These are actual resolution and some of them are quite big, especially if you have a dial-up link. I've found a way to build a "gallery" page for mine using Photoshop Elements which you can find at http://www.therenos.com/katrinapictures/johnmcguire/gallery/index.htm. I will be happy to help others build galleries as well. The gallery is good for simple viewing and is much smaller and more compatible with dial-up. It is interesting to look through the full resolution pics though as sometimes you see interesting detail. I found an airboat working a bayou in one of my pics behind the Citgo station at the St. Bernard Parish border checkpoint that I hadn't noticed while standing there taking the pictures.

Weak 4 - Whitney Hayes Contributions

2005-10-09T13:11:00.000-04:00

Editor's Note: Whitney Hayes is 15 and a Sophmore at Westerville South. I'll add additional notes to this posting when I get them.

10/3/05 11:17:05 PM
Ms. Shankle and class,
Today we drove four more hours to our final destination. As we headed into Mississippi we began to see tree damage. We saw an area where we believe a tornado hit. The houses had whole sides ripped off of them. It looked like they had been hit with a wrecking ball. The closer we got to Louisiana the more damage we began to see. Trees had been snapped in half or uprooted. The interesting part was that many of the trees looked as though they had been snapped from the north side. More and more trees began piling up the further we pressed on. When we stopped for lunch we saw signs down and a church across the street had multiple holes in its roof. If the damage was this bad and we hadn't even hit the storm surge yet I didn't want to know what awaited us in Mandeville.

When we finally arrived my time was spent playing with some kids at the church and packing up cleaning supplies and toiletries. Emma and Christian are 2 and 4 years old. Their parents are working here and they were very grateful to have someone to play with. We ate dinner and had a devo. Tomorrow I get to go out and de-muck houses. I'm really looking forward to getting to come in contact with these people. I can't wait to hear their stories and be able to make an impact on their lives.

I'm also very anxious because I know there are dangers out there, but I feel that the positive outcomes greatly out weigh the negatives. Hopefully the updates will be more exciting as we get out into the work field. Hope everything is going well back in Ohio.

-Whitney

Tue 10/4/2005 6:08 PM
Today was amazing!!! A crew of about 20 of us left at about 8:00 and drove for 30 minutes to Slidell. There was the previously seen tree damage but nothing could prepare me for what we saw once we took our exit. Businesses were gutted and trash was piled along the street. There were several parking lots full of boxes of clothing that people could go through. Almost everything was still closed. We pulled into a neighborhood, and I sat speechless. Fallen trees were everywhere; almost every house had been hit by one. Trash was piled up to 10 feet high on either side of the road. A large semi and a machine with a large claw were working on the street we were on to pick up the trash and take it to a landfill. I put on my boots, mask, and work gloves and headed into the house to get my assignments. The house reeked. The walls were covered with mold. We had to move some furniture and other small items out before we could start tearing down the walls. Once we got started everything went pretty quickly. Our instructions were to tear down everything: walls, ceiling, and floor. I started hammering at drywall and using a crow bar to take off door and window frames. Mold was everywhere. All the walls were covered with green, black, and brown blobs. There was a room that still had carpet in it and when you stepped on it water and mud would rise up around your feet. We cut it in to strips and hauled it to the curb. It was extremely hot inside the house, especially since we had to wear masks. As if we weren't sweaty enough, the mask created a greenhouse effect around our noses and mouths. The sweat just poured from our brows. The mold was so bad in some places that many of the walls would come down just by kicking them. They were very soggy. E

Everything smelled like waste and sulfur (rotten eggs). The area we were in was hit by a 30-foot wave of water.

The hardest part for me was having to see the homeowner help tear down her own house. She mainly worked with the crew on cleaning up the outside of her house. She still had photo albums in the house and we had to throw them all away. How a woman could be there as people ripped up her house and threw away everything that was left of her life is still a mystery to me. I mean, its not like you can say oh it’s just my house I can live somewhere else. Well I guess you can say that but there are still memories that were made there that can't be replaced.

We are now back at the church. My dad and I are making dinner for all of the volunteers tonight. I am so worn down after all the hard work that was done today. I just feel like crying. Not really for myself, but for the woman we helped today, the people we will help the rest of the week, and all the other people whose lives have been affected by this horrible tragedy. Their lives will never be the same. Today, many people would stop and walk outside to take in some fresh air, but something in me kept telling me to keep on going. I couldn't let myself stop working. I had to help this woman who had nothing left. I have been blessed with so much and yet she has everything taken away from her. Somehow she still had a smile on her face and thanked us for our work. I have great admiration for people who maintain their faith in times of trouble. She could have been angry and ungrateful, but instead she was kind and loving. I gripe and complain because of the littlest things and here this woman's house was completely destroyed and yet she was thankful. I can't even comprehend what this woman has been through and I don't think I ever will be able to.

Until tomorrow
-Whitney

Wed 10/5/2005 10:12 PM

Today we went down to New Orleans. The most amazing part was driving on the 23-mile long causeway. It was the only bridge out of 3 that had survived the hurricane. As we crossed Lake Pontchartrain, you could not see anything but water on either side. In front of us, we could see the misty outline of downtown New Orleans. We could see a couple of high rises' and the pancake shaped Superdome. Once we were off the causeway the devastation hit me. We passed by many businesses that were gutted or yet to be gutted. Many had boards on the windows and tarps on the roofs. We ended up taking a detour that turned out to have been completely unnecessary but it gave us an opportunity to see things we would have missed. As we got into the neighborhoods everything began to hit home. We saw several people emptying their homes. There was so much trash piled everywhere that the streets were completely blocked. All the houses had the neon orange spray-painted "x's" that meant the house had been searched. You could tell that many of the homes had once been very beautiful. They had little gardens and decorative metal fences. We worked at church today. Because the damage was so bad we had to wear respirators, double-layered gloves, and the ever-lovely marshmallow suits. We were covered head to toe. Nothing could get in and nothing could get out which meant that all the sweat was trapped inside. The result was a sauna effect. Later we were able to escape that prison and took down some more walls in a duplex down the street. The inside of the house was very beautiful with a large staircase and oak and tile floors. There was molding around the chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.

We came home early again because dad had to cook dinner. I slept for a while because I was exhausted. I've decided to take this time to tell you about the wonderful showers that we have at our facility. There are five plywood stalls for girls and four for guys. PVC pipe and the garden hose is our source of water, there is no heater. Every shower is cold. The curtains are made of tarps and the stalls are outside. The cold water feels really good when you're all sweaty until the breeze blows. Then the tarps blow up and you are in full view of anyone on that side of the stall. I've also got to meet some children here at the church. Emma and her brother Christia. Their parents work her at the building helping the relief effort. I played with them for several hours yesterday. They are so adorable. They love the attention and their parents really enjoy not having to worry about them. We played several games of pretend including batman, castle, and hide and seek. At one point Christian wouldn't stop giving me a hug and when I asked him what he was doing he said, "I'm loving on you". They are just the cutest kids and so sweet. That’s pretty much been it for today. Last full day of work tomorrow. It'll be really depressing to have to leave.

Until then,
Whitney

Team 4 on the Home Stretch

2005-10-08T14:25:00.000-04:00

At 2:25pm Saturday, Team 4 had just crossed the Ohio River. Look for them at the church around 4:00, assuming no more stops.

As this first phase of this project ends, let me offer a sincere thanks to everyone who supported those of us who have gone down to serve. Thanks to our families, contributors, employers, coworkers, churches, friends, and all those who have made this mission possible. Thanks especially, to those organizers and handlers who have been closest to this effort, donating many hours of their time.

Team 4 Headed for home, Next steps

2005-10-07T23:31:00.000-04:00

Talked with Troy at 11:30 and they were on the road. They'll be staying in Nashville tonight and returning tomorrow afternoon.

As this trip ends, it's time to start planning our renewed effort, both personally and collectively for the gulf coast area. There are now several weeks till we expect to have a team going again. Please consider the following:

Tammany Oaks has recommitted this week to organizing cleanup efforts for the foreseeable future in the entire Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding area.
Residents were just allowed into most parts of New Orleans Wednesday to examine their homes and businesses. People are just now finding how much work there is to do.
56,000 (FEMA estimate) are still in shelters
FEMA opened its first trailer park near Baton Rouge yesterday which should hold 2,000, but only an aggressive few have found their way there.
While we have ripped out a lot of moldering materials, walls, insulation, flooring, carpeting, and furniture must still be replaced in the houses that have been cleaned out.
Insurance companies and FEMA are not prepared to pay out replacement costs to homeowners except in what appears to be rare cases until the court cases are settled.
People like one we discussed last week, will continue to be displaced from their environment by rising rent and redistribution of the population into lesser damaged or undamaged areas.

Satan still has a lot of work to do in this area so as front line soldiers, we do as well. Please be in prayerful consideration of how you can continue supporting this effort for people who's lives have been wiped away with nothing other than us to fall back on. We have to continue to let God use us to support them to the best of our ability.

Hurricane damage photo essay @ time.com

2005-10-07T14:20:00.000-04:00

This is VERY good stuff:
http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/kadir_katrina/

Thought I had some pretty good shots till I went through this. In particular, notice the message in number 15. We've seen many examples of this phenomenon in the disaster zone.

Team 4 Wednesday - from Brad

2005-10-06T07:06:00.000-04:00

Hey all:

Today was a beautiful day. We had quite a procession. All of our team, Over 40 people, 7 cars, a Bobcat, a pressure washer, all kinds of other stuff. We went to the Carrollton Church of Christ. The church has put out a plea for help. When the water inside the church receded the church pews literally exploded into a twisted mess of wood. The building was in terrible shape.

The picture of the suits show temporary HAZMAT suits for working in the terrible moldy conditions in a lot of areas. We had many wearing them and carrying out all kinds of stuff. We also put a group next door and 8 down the street to a duplex. The duplex only had to have the bottom four feet of drywall removed and no ceilings. It made the work easier until the hardwood floors had to be removed. It got done but it was very hard work for the team.

We had a great meal tonight and everyone is bonding well after a hard day’s work all together. We are sitting in the hallway now as we speak and everyone is exhausted but feeling so good. It was nice helping the church today, but yesterday’s work with Dee still is so powerful in my mind.

I want to encourage all of you reading this to consider coming here with as much of your family as can be here who can be productive and safe. It has been so wonderful working with my wife and daughter in this work for the Lord. Most of you know that Amy and I are active in many ministries at the Church but truly I have been blessed by seeing Jesus in her and Whitney’s hands and feet.

It is time for bed as we have a big day of finishing the church tomorrow and I hear we are taking on two more projects as well. This week has been an experience we will remember as long as we are alive and able. Please know I consider it a privilege to have been here to sweat, hurt my back, ache in my shoulders and receive some of the best hugs I have ever had.

I look forward to returning and begin planning future trips.

Brad

Week 3 Thoughts from Greg Raterman

2005-10-05T12:17:00.000-04:00

I’ll remember this week forever and it’s not just the massive destruction that was seen but also the bonding of fellow Christians in a common effort to serve those desperately in need. Nobody turned down the offer to pray with them.

On one street hit hard in Slidell- Moonracker Drive which was the second street in from the beach, there was a “man of the world” (he admitted he lived a wild life) who was helping a neighbor clean out his house to the ceiling. It was a house our team showed up to help. His appearance was that of a pirate. We named him Dave The Pirate (we don’t know his last name).

He was a hard worker and as we worked side by side he asked our team that if we had time, the single mom next store could use some help. Later that afternoon we went over to tear out the drywall/installation/flooring to the 4’ level that remained to be done in her house. During the removal of the drywall we found termite damage in a small area. Dave came over and told Mary the owner that he would replace the studs for her. One of our team told Dave that if she ever had a disaster hit her neighborhood she hoped she had a neighbor like him around.

The next day the team again stopped by with bibles to present to the families with our names signed in the front. When we gave Dave his bible addressed to “Dave The Pirate” he almost started to cry. It is our hope that God used us to touch this man’s heart and everybody else we came in contact with while in the area.

Greg

Prayer in Storms

2005-10-05T10:20:00.000-04:00

Did all of the prayers sent up cause the major degredation of Hurricane Rita before it made landfall? Scientifically, there hasn't been a good explanation for why the storm didn't do what was expected, weakening, rather than strengthening, impacting lesser populated areas rather than high population cities. I'll choose to believe our petition to God was answered in this way.

Here's another one to pray about. Tropical Storm Tammy has formed off the Florida coast. There is not a reliable prediction for its movement or strength as it is moving parallel to shore like Ophelia did, heading up the east coast. Lets all pray for this storm to weaken and head out to sea.

Many of us are suffering personal storms. The people impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are, as many of us have seen first hand. Also, everyone who was in our team last week that I have talked to since returning is suffering a personal storm about returning to our day to day lives rather than continuing to focus on work in God's kingdom. Even someone I consider my rock of rationality and responsiblilty has felt drawn to seriously consider going "full time" out of this. Finally as we've seen with our new friends, Mr. Alexander and the Robinson family, there were storms before Katrina added her insults.

Paul says, in Ephesians 6:18 at the end of my life verses on the full armor of God, "Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere." (NLT)

It's easy for me to forget this. I felt drawn to remind us all of the power of our prayers and the Holy Spirit in our lives and how much they can impact the lives of others. Please pray now for those of us who are feeling called so strongly to mission work to find an outlet or the peace to be patient for God to reveal the path to us. Or, as frequently happens, to find what He has behind door number 3 that we can't even concieve of. Please pray for the people we've been helping. And please pray for all of God's people to continue to come together through these efforts without avarice to execute His plans here on earth.

John McGuire

Effects of Week 3 - Alicia Shrewsbury

2005-10-05T08:18:00.000-04:00

There is so much to say about what God did last week and what God is doing in my life since the trip. One thing that happened last week that I would like to share is that on Thursday I witnessed the Robinson family receive their van that one of the Ohio volunteers brought to give away. As you know, the family had been living at a shelter and maybe out of their car some since Katrina. They were brought to the church building to be fed and for us to take them back to their home with a clean up crew. After they ate, Mike took them out to the parking lot and showed them the van that they got to take home. They were absolutely ecstatic. I had to walk away because I became very emotional just watching the excitement in the children and their parents' faces.

Once we made it to their home, it was awesome the way everyone went to work to clean their house so they could call it home again. When we were leaving, Ray Robinson told us that his kids didn't want us to leave. It was an awesome day.

Since i've been home, God has been speaking to me very loudly. It's a little fuzzy, but I know that God is moving me from West Virginia(what I have always called home) and probably somewhere south. My first thought when I walked into Tammany Oaks Church was, "I wish this were closer to WV; I'd be here all the time." Since I've been home, the Lord has been slowly been revealing his plan to me. I began sorting through my things Sunday and I began packing yesterday evening.

I have always been afraid of moving and even the idea of some kind of full time mission work; but now, I'm not afraid and I am crying out, Here I am Lord; send me!!

Alicia

Week 4 Tuesday - Brad

2005-10-05T07:10:00.000-04:00

What a day again. Back out to the first house we were supposed to do yesterday. We took 17 people with us and it took every one of us. This house had only had a few pieces of furniture removed. It had been drenched with over 6 feet of water. We removed everything except the 2 x 4's. Everything, drywall, countertops, cabinets, ceilings, carpet, tile, yes everything. We also remove two trees from the yard, one of which was huge.

I actually got a good sense of the exhaustion others have experienced today, as there were times I looked at my watch and wondered if I would last the day. I did and so did all the others.

I have attached a couple of pictures of the work in progress. Tomorrow we go to Carrolton down below New Orleans to work on a Church of Christ building and the preacher’s house. Should be interesting.

All I can do is encourage you that this is an experience that you will gain far more from than you could ever accomplish for the people here. We are going to continue the trips on a monthly basis until the work subsides or God tells us to stop. Plan to be a part of one them and I would encourage you to do this with your family. Today I worked side by side for the Lord with my daughter and my wife. It was touching to watch them work so hard for someone they don't even know, especially when Whitney won't even bring in the garbage cans without complaining at home.

Jesus and God are with us always. Things happen in our lives that make their presence more prominent and this is one of them. They are everywhere you turn. It’s a great opportunity for you to come into confident contact with them and let them interact in your life.

No more for now tooo tired and I have to make it through two more days. I am such a wimp but I know God will see me through.

Brad

New Posting on Tammany Oaks Recovery Blog

2005-10-04T15:55:00.000-04:00

This is worth reading and responding to so I wanted to make sure the readers here have seen it.

http://toccrecovery.blogspot.com/

We also need to keep in mind that at some point, Tammany Oaks' new "church" will need to become that again rather than the warehouse, dorm, urgent care, and cafeteria it is now. For those who don't know, they only had this building for three weeks when the storm hit. Sunday church services are being held among the boxes. Some things are still not complete. The carpet and tile they had installed have been trashed by the usage God had for the building. These will need to be replaced and walls and doors repaired and repainted. Please be praying and thinking ahead to how we can help them when the time comes for that task.

John McGuire

Week 4 Monday - Brad

2005-10-04T12:58:00.000-04:00

Monday, October 3 pm - Wow, wow. I don't know what I expected but it was not this. As we drove our last four hours today we began to notice some signs of Katrina. Tarped roofs broken trees. As we got closer I felt a little relieved maybe a little disappointed as I thought it would be much worse. You could hear in everyone's comments that they were gonna be OK and this would not be too bad.

Then wham, we arrived at the church and within 15 minutes I met Janet Hines and had an assignment. We got an address, some shovels, and 9 team members and off we went. No pep talk, no prep, just go and if this person is not home go find another home in the neighborhood. What we saw on the way brought sounds and moans from the people in the car, Oh my gosh, what are they gonna do, this is 4 weeks later, were the comments being heard. We turned into a neighborhood and all we could do was stare. The entire street was full of appliances insulation furniture everything from every house. I have never seen anything like it.

We found our house - no one home. We walked the street and found a lady and her brother working on her mom's house. They were about to quit when we stopped and offered help. We proceeded to gut the house, I mean gut, all the drywall, all the insulation, the light fixtures everything gone and taken out into the front lawn to complete the row of garbage on the street. It was unbelievable. We got to know our new friends Troy and his sister, we had fun laughed and prayed with them.

Tomorrow is a new day and lots to do. Teams going everywhere. I will write more when my daughter hasn't eaten my battery sending email,

Brad

Week 4, Monday - from Troy

2005-10-04T08:21:00.000-04:00

How awsome it is to be back here again. Sorry no note last night, but the church network in Tuscaloosa was not Mac Compatable. It has been quite an eventful two days. We left nearly on time yesterday and were making great time through Ohio and Kentucky. When just somewhere near Bowling Green KY, one of the trailers blew a tire. We stopped for a short while, and it was decided that Brad and his vehicle would stay with the truck and trailer and the rest of us would continue to Tuscaloosa. About 15 minutes farther down the road an ambulance got on the freeway ahead of us running hot. They were about .2 miles ahead of us and suddenly traffic started to slow and the ambulance crossed the median.

As we approached, there was a car in the North lanes on it's top and multiple victims in the median. I radioed to Corey that we were stopping and for him to meet me in the median as he is a paramedic as well and there were only two technicians on the ambulance that had arrived. In the mean time, Lisa was explaining to the other passengers in the van that this was just how life with Troy was and not anything out of the ordinary.
Corey and I helped load two patients from the median into the ambulance that was there and sent them on their way while firemen cut two victims out of the car that was on it's top. As the first ambulance left, a second one arrived and we quickly got the remaining two victims from the median into the ambulance and off to the hospital after starting an IV on a young man.

The firemen had cut the driver out of the car but he was deceased and they were removing the other passenger who appeared to be a little unstable. They called for a helicopter for him. I finally had a minute to look around and saw that during this whole time, Lisa was directing traffic in the South lanes. (I guess you never loose it).

While we were waiting on the Helicopter, I was holding the IV bag (quite possibly being the largest IV pole in medical history) and decided to talk to the victim a little. As it turns out, his name is Mohammed and he along with his brothers and father were returning to Slidell, LA to see their home for the first time since Katrina hit. It was their father who died in the crash. I shared our mission with him and said a quick prayer with him and the Helicopter landed. Please pray for this family.

We then proceeded to the University CoC where we had an awesome reception and meal with them. We then had a small devotional and shared communion together as a team and off to bed.

We arrived without incident in Mandeville today and as usual went right to work. Our team was immediately given jobs to tend to and split up. I wish that I had another cool story to tell about the family we met, but they were not home, so we did the work and left.

Back at the church, we met the group from Providence Road and as it turns out, one of the members of their team is originally from Ashland, Ohio and I grew up playing football and going to NWOCYC with his sons. Small world. It has been three weeks since I have been here, but it seems like there is more than ever to do and never enough time or energy to do it all. I guess we just do what we can and God will take care of the rest. As I think about what a small dent we seem to be making, I am reminded of the little boy on the beach throwing starfish back into the ocean.

Keep praying, God is Good

Love 'Em Like Jesus,
Troy Blair, Youth Minister
Northland Church of Christ
www.ncocfamily.org
tblair@ncocfamily.org

Editor's Note

2005-10-03T11:34:00.000-04:00

If you've already seen them, take a sec to go over Wednesday's pics again. I added come commentary to them and cleaned up the formatting. Thursday's dispatches are now complete. Check out Mark McGiffin's account of his relationship with Mr. Alexander

John McGuire

Mr. Alexander

2005-10-03T11:11:00.000-04:00

Mr. Roy Alexander, is an eighty year old man, born Sept 1926 (guess that makes him 79). He told me he was going to live to be 500 yrs old. Kim Skaggs and I met him last Monday night, Sept 26th. He was laying on his couch. Not much of a couch though. There were no cushons, springs poking through what little material that was left. He had a small piece of plywood over the springs so he could keep his legs elevated. It appeared that both of his feet and ankles were swollen.

Kim and I spoke with him briefly, took him a box of food, and made sure had plenty of drinking water. Kim had asked him how he was doing and if he needed anything. He insisted that he had all he needed and wanted us to keep what we had to give to others who were in more need than he was. He told us about his heart surgery that he had about 2 years ago. Showed us his scars, and told us he had stents inserted along with a defibulator.

He mentioned that he had stayed right there on the couch all during Katrina and Rita. Kim asked how high the water had come into his house. He said it was about a foot high in his home and he road the storm out right there on the couch. It was the worst he had ever seen. He told us how the water came up through the floor boards and the whole time wondered how it was coming in. He looked out his window and saw a river rolling through his front yard. The entire time more and more trash and debris flowed past.

This man touched me in a way that no one ever had. I finally made it back to his house on Weds. and took my wife Becky, niece Ashley, and Connie (a nurse) to meet him. His house is a terrible mess. Black mold growing on the walls, ceiling in the bedroom falling in, the bathroom floor caving in, he had moved things from his house to the front porch (apparently trying to clean it up as best he could). Trees across the back of his house, the kitchen even more a mess than the bedroom or bathroom. He talks with us, tells us about his life there, he was in the Army, Korean War, heavy artillery. He has lived there all his life (with the exception of being deployed while in the Army). My niece Ashley asks to take his picture, she's very artistic and wants to paint his portrait. He tries to charge her $300 for taking his picture and laughs. What a character!

Connie checked him out to make sure he was ok. He showed her a wound on the back of his left calf and said a doctor had checked it out a couple weeks before. Thankfully no infection. I told him that I would be back later that afternoon to bring him some antibiotic cream for this leg. Connie told him to continue to take his heart medication.

On Thursday morning a group of us showed up to "straighten up" what little we could. I walked in the front door and his first words were "I took my medication". I told him I brought a few people to help clean up for him. In 3 hours, we made little more than a dent in what really need to happen. His house needs to be condemed. It's in an uninhabitable state. The"crew" talks with him as we clean up inside, and out. He tells us that there's a flag on the front porch and not to throw it out. It was his brother's "honor flag", and he wanted to hang it from the tree outside his house. Dana has her recorder and interviews him for a project she is working on. He wants to know if he'll be on Televison and agrees to the interview but it would cost her $300 a minute! Every time we turned around he was making slight jokes or pulling someones leg. He touched us all!

Of course, before we left we hung his flag for him, but not until I talked him into helping. I told him that the women there didnt know how to hang the flag, and that it was up to us "military men" to make sure it got hung properly. At that point he eagerly agreed.

Before leaving, around noon, I went to the front porch where he was sitting, put my arm around him and said that I'd be back to check on him later in the evening and for him to get plenty of rest. He reached up, grabbed my arm and said "your a good man". I felt as though I was going to choke. With a tight knot in my throat I said "I'll see ya later Granddad" and turned away with tears in my eyes. Thank God for the heat and sweat so no one would notice!

I showed up later that afternoon with Emery (a counselor). He tried to talk Mr. Alexander into leaving with us, telling him that his wife would not have wanted him to live in this condition (she died 5 years ago). His house is so bad that is not repairable. He's a stuborn old man!

GOD, I WISH THERE WAS MORE I COULD DO!!

"The Crew" in the write up I did, consists of:

Nick McGuire
Kevin Dill
Kim Skaggs
Dana Skaggs
Ginny Daugherty
Becky McGiffin
Ashley Anderson
myself
(my appologies if I missed anyone)

Please make an "honorable mention" of all these people who helped. I know Granddad appreciated everything they did. I saw more than one tear swell up in his eyes for what they did.

One last note. His bible had started to mold and I had to throw it out. I went to the book store and bought him a new one. I wrote a special note to him inside, thanking him for touching my life.

--mark (McGiffin)

Article Worth Reading...

2005-10-03T10:45:00.001-04:00

CNN.com currently has this article posted. This is indicative of the government infighting, fingerpointing, and lack of action that is taking place down there.

The 1,170 mobile homes FEMA hopes to place in St. Tammany Parish will only be a drop in the bucket of need. I personaly saw hundreds of destroyed apartment units and thousands of houses have been made uninhabitable though may be occupied due to lack of alternatives.

John McGuire

Team 4 Travel Update

2005-10-03T07:28:00.000-04:00

Greetings All:

Well our first day on the road is complete and all are beginning to settle down for the night. We arrived at University Church of Christ in Tuscaloosa AL around 8:30. We had a meal of bbq chicken salads and desert. The food was excellent and the smiles welcoming. What a beautiful facility for this 700 member church to open up and share with us. We owe a debt of gratitude for their sweet hospitality.

Our ride was quite eventful. About 25 minutes into the trip one of the trailers dropped its loading gate at 60 miles an hours. No one hurt, nothing lost, all well and back on the road in ten minutes. Between Cinci and Louisville one of the trailers blew a tire. It tore the fender up pretty bad on the trailer. I decided to stay behind with the trailer and we sent the other 4 vehicles ahead. We had quite a time freeing the tire tread from the frame and then the lug nuts as well. During our struggle with the tire, Mike Benedetti looked up at me and said" I already lost one prayer for the day, Prayed for safety and the trailer to make it ok" I looked at him and said who knows what this spared us from. God has had a plan all through this and this may have resulted in God staying faithful to your first prayer. A little over an hour and we were ready to go. When we took off I called a head to let Troy know we were back on the road. He did not answer. I called Lisa. She answered and said there was a terrible accident that happened right in front of them. A car had crossed the median that was headed south and got into the northboud lane and a collision happened. Troy and Cory ( EMT's) stopped to help. Lisa warned me of the traffic and asked that we pray as a helicopter was just landing to med flight out one of the victims.
I thank God and prayed for the victims, Troy later told us one life was lost and at least one was critical. I am not sure what the 10 minute slowdown of Troy and the rest meant or us staying behind an hour to fix the flat but I know God had a plan.

We arrived at the University Church at different times to warm welcomes. After we ate we had a devotional and the group here had prepared communion for us. Some nice thoughts were shared, we sang, prayed and shared in the supper. After that all began to settle down for the night and here I am. Its off to sleep and then on the road again to our destination in Mandeville.

I encourage you to go to the website and pray for our team. Pray that God speak to them, direct them and keep them safe. Pray for their families who are without them this week. I am one of the lucky ones as I have 3 of my family with me, I only had to leave Jackson (10) behind. If you see him tell him his dad misses him and he told you so. Thank you to all of you who have worked to make this possible.

To Troy and Robin thank you for being brave and fearless leaders. To Kenny, Carl and Steve thank you for all the help keeping everything running and loading the heavy stuff. Thank you to all three of you for teaching me humbleness and servitude. To Steve and Michelle Fuchs, thanks for sacrificing so much time to insure that all the stuff made it, To Spring Road and Northland Elders thank you for stepping out in faith and letting the vehicles be used for this trip. To Randy and John thank you for being soldiers of the Lord. To J Haver, thank you for keeping our company together so I could focus on what the Lord wanted me to do.

To Providence Road, Centerville, Soma Church,Central Church, Westerville Christian, Northside Fellowship thank you for being so forthcoming with funds to support this effort and being right on time with your support and encouragement. To all the other churches who have sent people, money, resources, and items, thank you for working for Him. For all who have worked to make these things happen thank you for hearing God's urging and doing something about it.

And finally for my family for showing me love encouragement everyday. It was Amy who first showed me Gods love for her so that I could find it for myself.

Pray for us as we carry the light tomorrow.

Because He loves us

Brad

Supplies and Volunteers away for week 4

2005-10-02T09:57:00.000-04:00

Praise the Lord, this thing is working! On 1 day notice, the Columbus area collected, palletized, and loaded 12 pallets of water, juice, food, shampoo, and other items headed to Tammany Oaks on the half semi trailer we found available. Let me tell you, these supplies are badly needed and are so greatly appreciated by those that receive them.

You can't understand, the three incredible things in this situation without seeing them yourself.

First, the amount and the area of destruction. As far as north of Hattiesburg, we drove miles of State Route 42 that looked like a wall of tornadoes had moved through.

Second, the success of working in the kingdom of God in this relief effort. No person is in charge. Really! Things just happen. Boots end up on a trailer of water heading to a neighborhood where people really need them. Crews hand out water to people in an affluent neighborhood next to a decimated trailer park and a family is so touched that they donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to the relief effort. The whole thing is managed and directed by God himself and executed by people willing to listen to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.

Third, is the gratitude of people of the area for our help. We stopped for bus repairs in Meridian Mississippi and ate at a Western Sizzler (Great Mississippi Cooking!) A lady sitting at a table near ours saw our shirts and thanked us from the bottom of her heart for coming down to help. She said we couldn't understand how much it means to the people hurt by this storm.

Thanks to all of you who are backing those of us who have gone for the experience. This is so amazing.

This morning's contingent, week 4, left around 8:20 this morning. They are the biggest yet! This team includes 20 people from North Carolina who learned of our effort from the web sites and emails. So many people want to help further and only need a venue to do it. Please continue to pass word around about our rapidly expanding group. The disaster zone will need our assistance for months or years. The failings of official organizations and our successes without human organization are our assurance from God that this is our task he has put before us.

You have all been so effective at spreading the word, just keep up the good work. It's such a pleasure working with all of you executing God's plan.

Week 3 Thursday

2005-09-30T20:52:00.000-04:00

Thursday was the culmination of several week of work for the team and for me in particular. Several people developed "special projects" to followup on. For the McGiffin's and their adhock crew it was getting 79 year old Mr. Alexander off his moldering couch and onto a new cot, cleaning up his house to the extent possible and hanging a flag for him from when his brother was in WWII. They were directed his way on Tuesday by some concerned neighbors when they were out delivering water. He had lain on his couch through the storm, floated up with it when his house flooded, and was still laying on it when they knocked on his door Tuesday. He was an old man thinking his time had come, but it didn't. He thought nobody cared about him with his wife gone and kids and grandkids living away, but Mark, Becky, and the crew loved on him Tuesday and Thursday and he'd been in a better humor when they left him. This is the kind of ministry we are doing there.

Aimee Fox from Reynoldsburg CofC and the girls found a new project for next week's crew. It's on the GetRDone Board. A whole neighborhood that was very needy and very bad off.

God has something special planned for the Robinson family we met this week. They've been several people's special project. Some have heard part of the story about the donated minivan, but here's the whole thing, from the source.

Renice and Ray Robinson, and 5 of their 7 kids, Sugar, Jackie, Smokey, Holly, and Magic (didn't meet Sunny or Shakay) fled the storm in their 1981 Olds Cutlas 4 door and were living out of it when they were found by someone from the community at the Mandeville post office. Renice was crying because she didn't know what to do. The woman asked what was wrong and took her to Tammany Oaks for help. Janet Hines talked with her and got them set up in the Red Cross shelter in the community Center in Folsom.

The Denny's from Dayton who were in our team had sent Brad a couple of emails about donating an Astro conversion van they had and he'd sent an email to Janet. She found it when she returned to her desk after talking with Renice. I met the family on Monday when I took clothes to them at the shelter while making my food run and she told me then she was the lady getting the van. It was a real pleasure to meet them after the story I already knew, but the real treat came on Thursday.

We picked up the Robinsons from the shelter and brought them to the church to eat breakfast before taking them home to Algiers. The Denny's pulled in from a short work detail and got to meet them and give them the van. While Ray drove their car home and led us to their house, I got the honor of driving Renice and the kids home in their van (she doesn't drive).

We cleared a tree top from their yard and cleaned it up. We also set up a trampoline that was upside down in the yard. Ray trimmed everything.

My heroes, the ladies with us, cleaned out the kitchen. Brett cleared out the refrigerator and deep freeze and we bleached these out. They can't afford to replace them. After that treatment, there was only very little smell left and it was not the noxious indescribable aroma that others have described. Better yet, nobody barfed in the process ;-) Eugene tarped their roof where the storm had ripped off shingles and let rain in.

You wouldn't believe the change in them coming home. They do not live in a neighborhood most of us would feel comfortable in. The house next door was falling in before the hurricane. But, they were so happy to be home and the kids were so happy to see the few friends that were there. They were telling us stories and taking pictures with my camera. They were home.

Robin took a crew down to Waveland Mississippi to drywall and spackle a house he'd been trying to sync up on all week. The Dayton contingent went back out Friday morning, leaving late to come home, in order to finish roofing a house they had started on Thursday.

Friday morning the rest of us headed out before 10:00. We all commented that it would be hard to leave so much work undone and to work on our normal "work" that was so much less important. Please pray with us for all those we met and helped this week and for the hundreds of thousands we did not who are hurt by this disaster. We're passing the torch to Team 4 till we can return.

Week 3 Wednesday Pics (Reloaded)

2005-09-29T23:22:00.000-04:00

Remember also that these are taken after 4 weeks of recovery effort.

Here are some pics taken in the area highlighted on the map above them:

This is a pile of donated clothes
Trash piles contain anything you may find in a home or business

The water and wave action stripped the siding, drywall, and contents away and left only the 2x4s and other wall supports

Residents in Slidell have been in and able to clean up for several weeks

The debris here is the awning from the Shell station

The Baptist Church has piles of donated clothes under tents to keep them out of the weather

This view through the windshield gives a better idea of the extent of the piles and wasted "stuff"

The next set of pictures is moving out into what appears to have been an affluent neighborhood on the lake.

Houses on the swamps around the lake were built on stilts and many of them are now gone, or jumbled up with boats.

I took the next set of pictures in St.Bernard Parish on the way to Chalmette to deliver crutches and walkers to the make shift medical clinic.

This sign and crucifix are at the checkpoint for entry into St. Bernard Parish

The temporary medical clinic that had been run by some docs from the local hospital was replaced by the FEMA DMAT (MASH unit) in the endzone of the high school football stadium. They were moving the supplies they had to a new location where they were needed.

Across the street from the DMAT was a good example of things being out of place in the flooded areas.

If you didn't see this in the middle of the boulevard on E Judge Perez Drive, you'd think it was a...

The local Chase bank branch. Between here and the boat was a house that had floated into the road and been chopped away to allow traffic flow.

The mud is everywhere.

Just outside of St. Bernard Parish, there were boats where there should be cars and vice versa.

This boat "sank" in what appears to be a natural gas relay station.

There were three car lots on this stretch of I-10 into New Orleans that had been flooded. Each had better than a thousand cars at a glance.

Brad's Update, Thursday Week 3

2005-09-29T23:11:00.000-04:00

Alright Team. Here we go. We need your help today and tomorrow. I have 1\2 of a semi truck stopping by the Spring Road Church of Christ building tomorrow late in the afternoon to pick up whatever supplies we can have. We need you to go right now and do what you can to help. We have arranged this truck at a cost of only $500 and we need to take advantage of it. The following are the current needs in order of our understanding of the demand and importance. Please do not be ambivalent. Please do not sit back and leave this for someone else. Please do not think someone else will do this. FEMA is not doing it, the state government is not doing it but we must. God can be glorified by our continuous rising up to meet the needs and challenges of his people in LA. Thank you in advance for your response. Take you lunch hour and go to Sam's Kroger's or wherever and bring you stuff by 74 S. Spring Road in Westerville.

Bottled Water - preferably by the case - there is a desperate need as there is still no healthy drinking water available in the area
Sport drinks
Bed linens- new - all sizes- blankets sheets and pillows.
Fruit cups, crackers, juice
Diapers size 1,2 and 5
Pasta and pasta sauces - canned is best for sauce
Canned goods in general.

You get the supplies and we will get the volunteers to get it on skids and ready to go. Come on people we need to continue to rise up. Please if you think the need is over go out and read the info coming in from the field. This weeks team has done an awesome job updating the blog. Go to www.springroadcoc.com click the Katrina banner and then the blog button on the right. They need our help!!!!

We are counting on you to send this to anyone you know, and everyone they know. We need to help restock the warehouse and keep the relief going. Corporate America is beginning to see the costs of these efforts and their help is slowing down, please lets not let our pocketbooks rule our hearts. Many have given so sacrificially already, so don't feel like you need to give again, just feel the need to pass this on, get the word out. Help us keep people aware.

Brad

2005-09-29T01:06:00.000-04:00

I can’t show enough pictures or write enough to describe where we went today. Everyone sat around tonight well after others were (trying to be) asleep checking out each other's pics and vids. Much of it seemed the same, but mainly that's because there is so much of it.

Dana Skaggs and I took a pickup truck load of crutches and walkers to a makeshift medical clinic in St. Bernard Parish south of New Orleans. We went to Chalmette by way of Slidell where we picked up a doctor to go help in the clinic for the day. It took us two hours to get the few miles out of Slidell and onto the bridge across the southern tip of Lake Pontchartrain. Part of the wait was for a drawbridge, but a lot of it because sections of the I-10 bridge were taken out in the storm.

On the Slidell side of the lake, we saw mounds of stuff piled by the road. Stuff is the only way to describe what is there because in the mass of rubble ripped out of or off of peoples homes were trash cans, baby walkers, storage bins, shredded plywood, boats, cars, copiers, desks, paper... stuff. Certainly all of this is valuable stuff by itself, but is less than worthless now. Kinda like taking a nice $50.00 Filet Mignon, Caesar salad, and an imported wine, running it through a blender, and dumping it out on the edge of the table... In fact the scene was so unappetizing, we didn't eat our lunches we took.

This scene is several miles of State Route 11 from the bridge back into Slidell. It is everywhere you look in the populated areas within a mile or two from the lakeshore. There are also piles of donated clothes filling large sections of the parking lots of strip malls. A Baptist Church has two very large tents set up in their lawn with clothes piled 6' deep.

As bad as it was, the St. Bernard Parish side of the lake was worse. Some buildings are half collapsed from wind and tide and mud is everywhere drying into a fine dust with flakes of unknown composition and piles of sand. At first, it doesn't look as bad as Slidell because there isn't much that's been removed from the buildings. In fact we talked with an ambulance crew that was still working on a team that was removing bodies.

Dana only saw 1 door marked with a death, but on the way back home through New Orleans, we saw many houses and apartments that were not marked, or marked not entered or not checked. The ambulance crew who I so diligently asked what they had been doing, could barely tell me without breaking down and then only with the word "recovery" and this made me quite ashamed to have asked.

You really can't grasp the scale of this from our words or pictures. You can't see the vast neighborhoods that were all flooded and are uninhabitable from the vantage point of a highway overpass. You can't feel the dread as the highway drops down to ground level just past the Super Dome with its pealing roof. You can't experience the shock when route 11 descends into the flooded end of Slidell and you are all of the sudden confronted with the walls of debris on either side of the road. You can't feel the creaps as your foot sinks through the crust of that mud up to your ankle in a neighborhood where some of Katrina's victims still reside.

People have only been allowed back in there this week and only with a permit. The medical types are worried there will be a lot of injuries when people come back in, but the DMAT we visited (tight security for an end zone) wasn't getting many patients when we were there. Our supplies went to some local docs who had set up a temporary medical clinic in an office building in an oil refinery that was 1 of only 2 not flooded.

We left them with Lisa Ingargiola who had been working in the hospital the night of the hurricane. She came home and got some things when her shift was over and went to her father’s office to weather the storm. From there, she went by boat and has been there pretty much the whole time. She was happy to find her dog had survived 8 days in her house that had 5 feet of water.

Our other work crews made a major accomplishment today. The GitRDone Board was empty at 4:00. Now here are about 8 jobs posted for tomorrow thanks to Alisha's diligent telemarketing ;-) She followed up with some of the people who have been coming here for supplies and on needs they had listed on their intake forms to get specifics and basically spec the job.

Two 24' trucks left fully loaded at 5:00 this morning for Lake Charles Louisiana which was so badly hit hurricane Rita. They returned at 8:00 tonight. Dana Lewis reports conditions there are similar to what we have seen here. That area will need the same support of supplies and workers as this one does.

I met William Watson, a social studies teacher here this evening. He's been helping out in the warehouse yesterday and today. His family has been away in Austin since the Hurricane and since school starts here again on Monday he's going to get them back this weekend. They were fortunate in only having a few lost shingles and piece of facia on their house, but many of his neighbors have a lot of damage. Out here away from the flooding by the lake it's mainly a pine forest with houses in it. Some of these trees are 2ft thick and hit very heavy when they fell doing most of the damage.

The school board is going to determine whether there will be layoffs after they see how many kids come to school in the district now. Some will have left and will leave as parents find new jobs out of the area. Others may come in from more damaged areas.

As is the way, there is a change taking place today that will effect those of you coming next week. The need for pickup of items at the church here is dwindling this week, and so to is the supply. Tammany will continue to take and distribute food, water, and other supplies, but will not need "customer service" or have packers to build food boxes or "MREs". MREs are food boxes that do not need cooking or preparation and are in easy to open packages. Each box feeds a family of 4 for a day.

The optimum support those of us in the world can give the people here is to ship food pre-boxed for delivery to a family like it is being repackaged here. This would be much more efficient and adjust the workload back to the sending community where it is much more convenient for people to volunteer.

A note on what not to donate is in order. I saw first hand today how clothes are distributed if at all. There is no easy distribution method for donated clothes, nor stuffed animals, or kids toys. We've seen some strange things donated this week: a bin of miscellaneous shoes, a bicycle, long sleeved flannel shirts, things that are really in the way of getting people fed, hydrated, and cleaned up. Donating a pack of Wal-Mart gift cards serves the same purpose, allows for choice, takes up significantly less space, and is much cheaper to ship.

So here's whats needed:

Water
Food (best if each box is packaged to provide meals to a family for a day)
Personal care items (out of deodorant and shampoo)
Clearing brush and small trees to the curb for removal
Removing wet material from "mucking out" houses (crews have been largely made up of women ;-)
Rebuilding houses (Plumbing, Electrical, Roofing, Drywall, etc.)
Finding people in need (you'll hear about Mark McGiffin's project tomorrow)
Finding neighborhoods in need (and about Amy Fox's)
Cooking for volunteers
Trucking supplies to where they are needed in the Penske rentals (my personal favorite)

Sorry, but I can't stay up any longer to do pictures with the recounts of our stories here from today. I'll have a little time to post them (later) in the morning...I think...things change...

Notes from Team 3 - Tuesday

2005-09-28T01:12:00.000-04:00

It's late, and unlike last night, I'm beat, so this will be short (I hope). Start the timer, it's now 12:13 Central. I have a few comments and then there are a couple of stories others have added that are all in this dispatch.

We still need basics - food and water. We are nearly out here at the building this evening. Shipments inbound have slowed dramatically this week. The only thing that came in today were two 24' Penske's of miscelanious, but needed items from Christ the King Church here who had extra.

I took a truck to Folsom again today, but could only give them two pallets of food, three short pallets of 2ltr bottled water, and a pallet of baby packages built by a CofC in Nashville. They had 2 gallon jugs left when I got there and were down to the food I trucked up there yesterday with no new inbound trucks other than ours.

We are once again a very large contingent of the volunteers here, roughly half. A few from Kentucky left last night and a couple from Talahassee are leaving in the morning. We still can occupy more than twice the volunteers here with GitRDone jobs and only had enough in the warehouse today because we didn't get enough in to package and stock fully for tomorrow.

Everyone here keeps talking about hundreds, literally, of stories about God things (where there is no other reasonable explanation). Dozens happen in this effort every day. We have to help build support for this effort and get some more food, drinks, people, and other essentials down here.

This church is supporting their locale and other relief groups in this area, like the church in Folsom, the National Guard, and the Red Cross who is sending people to us to help. They have two of the three 24' Penske trucks packed and leaving for Lake Charles, LA at 4:00 in the morning as it has just been opened up to aid after Hurricane Rita. They have unbroken pallets of food, water, several of our chain saws, fuel, and a 100 gallon tank of diesel as they don't expect they can refuel till they return. We still can't always get diesel here though we did today.

Our medicos all left with Tracey (manages the logistics, like what's coming, what's going, what's being packed up) this morning to administer 100 donated tetanus shots to FEMA contractors that were working down here without them. Not ideal conditions, but effective. Tracey is REALLY amazing. I don't understand how she keeps going. She's the one filling the syringe in the purple shirt. She left tonight around 9:00 after finally eating for the day when the Lake Charles trucks were packed.

To me, God's message that this is our task could not be clearer now that I've experienced the need and the worry that we won't be able to meet it tomorrow without something, a lot of something coming in. We really have to mobilize the massive assets in our churches to make sure they don't run out. Many people here are still and will continue to depend on us to eat, and have clean water, listen to their stories, and pray with them.

Our gang kept very busy today. One crew had cleared three yards by lunch time. Two crews were out with trailers of water in some very hard hit areas. A trailer park other residents directed them to had them close to tears. The falling trees had caused so much damage and people were without jobs and finances. They gobbled up the water and most of a second run.

We had some good stories to tell tonight. I got a couple people to write theirs out, but won't get some till tomorrow.

From Alicia Shrewsbury – Norway Avenue Church of Christ
These past 2 days have been awesome! God is truly working here at Tammany Oaks Church of Christ. Today I worked around the warehouse doing various things. The Lord led me outside the church building loading boxes of water some time after 3pm. The hours at the church are 10-2pm for people to come and get things they need. A woman approached me from the parking lot and began asking me about the hours at the church and explaining things that she needed. Even though it was after hours, I invited her inside the building where others began ministering to her spiritual needs while I gathered baby supplies for her family. She truly needed to talk with others, share her story and know that there are people that care about her. Thousands of other things like this are going on here. Continue to pray about this week and what God may ask you to do to help.
Here's one of these God things...

From Tom McClanahan – Spring Road Church of Christ
When passing out water to some tree trimmers we found in one of the neighborhoods we ran across a group of tree trimmers clearing trees for the power company. We had happened to put a pallet of boots on the truck to deliver some place else the following day. We asked the men if they needed a pair of work boots and one worker said yes. We gave him his boots and went on our way. As we were turning the corner the group started yelling for us to come back. Robin went around the block and returned to the area and a new group of men on another truck called from a cell phone started to yell out there sizes and we handed them out one after another. The men were very appreciative and a lot of smiling faces (click picture to enlarge). God does work in mysterious ways. Who would have thought that we would take a load of work boots into a neighborhood while we were handing out food and water?

Kevin Dill - Westerville Nazarene added that they left cleaning supplies with a guy helping clean up at a relatives house. He was wearing a fire department search and rescue T-Shirt who's boots were coated inside and out with wet drywall dust. They'd been trashed working so he ended up with some upgrades too. He said a lot of guys at the department could use some as well so they bundled up a couple of pairs each of common sizes, a dozen or so in all for him to take.

Who'd have thought to send us boots and how in the world did they end up on the trailer with the water? 1 guess only!

I also made a delivery with pickup and trailer to a neighborhood two exits north/west. Tracey's friend Michelle sold her house yesterday after a pre-hurricane deal fell through. The new buyers, a couple caring for their 80ish old aunt while currently living in a tent have nothing left. They asked Michelle to leave anything she would throw out moving in case she could use it. We took a good load of supplies and houskeeping items and left them in Michelle's garage. When she moves out a crew will unpack all that stuff into the cabinets and drawers and closets of the house for them to discover when they move in. I'm telling you, the light of Christ people!

To end, if you've talked to anyone who's been here and read the blog, you've gotta wonder about these "love bugs". Well since nobody else did it, I've come all the way to Louisiana to study this not so elusive species. Here's what they are....and what they do. Out of all the unhappy endings on our vehicles, these two dodged a bullet and landed lightly on the side window of the Penske truck. Lets all wish them well.

There are three main messages in all of that. We are working hard, making some awsome relationships, and need more. The hurricane is nowhere near over here and nobody else is stepping up to take care of the problem. It's all ours. Lets roll!

John McGuire (1:22am... oh well)

Come Together...

2005-09-27T21:39:00.000-04:00

I am cleaning the kitchen and put Third Day on. I listen to them all the
time and it hit me this morning how much this song spoke to what we are
doing in LA.

Melinda McGuire

Come Together

Lyrics by Mac Powell /Music by Third Day
From the recording: Come Together, Track #1.

You can all call me crazy
For the things that I might say
You can laugh all you want to
I know there will come a day
When we all will come together
And learn to set aside our hate
If we could learn to love our neighbors
Just like we would love ourselves

We've got to come together
'Cause in the end we can make it - alright
We've got to brave the weather
Through all of the storms
We've got to come together
'Cause in the end we can make it - alright
We've got to learn to love

You can call me a dreamer
But these dreams will come true
Yes, I am a firm believer
In the things that we can do
If we would all just come together
And let the Lord lead our way
There is nothing that we can't do
There is nothing we can't face

I know that there will come a day
When the Lord will call His own away
To a place that He has made for all of us
But until the day of His return
There's a lesson that we've got to learn
We are brothers and we're sisters
We are one

Downloadable Louisiana Video

2005-09-27T21:26:00.000-04:00

You can download, ONLY if you have broadband, a quicktime version of a video Troy made for the Northland at http://therenos.com/katrina/. If you have dial-up, you won't live long enough ;-) The video is 27mb. We will have a smaller version available shortly.

Thanks Dave for hosting this for us.

Notes from Team 3 - Monday

2005-09-27T00:29:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Rita was still playing the spoiler in our trip to Mandeville Sunday night. The downpours of rain were massive, especially while we were unloading luggage in Tuscaloosa at University CofC. The volunteers there were excellent hosts for our overnight stay. We had heard of reports of Tornados in their area while coming into Birmingham, but the warnings had all expired by the time we got there.

This morning was a different story, however. Aside form the heat and oppressive humidity, the only downpour we had was lovebugs stuck to the windshields and overheating 1 van by plugging the radiator.

The storm damage showed up in an obvious way as we crossed the Mississippi state line on the way into Meridian, but it's spotty, even here in Mandeville. The picture is of a heavily hit section of the median of I-59 in southern Mississippi. We saw houses on 5 acre or so lots on the way to Folsom that looked worse than this. There are large stands of trees down in some places. Heavily forested areas that are, but for a very few trees flattened, and there are other areas where you wouldn't know anything as extreme as Hurricane Katrina had happened.

Most highway signs have been blown down but appear to be built with breakaway's to allow them to fall with minimal damage to the sign. Some were trashed anyway. This picture taken by Alicia Shrewsburry also shows part of a large lot full of new house trailers and campers. Presumably this is one of the FEMA lots that haven't been distributed.

Kevin, Nick, and I drove a 24' Hertz truck full of palletized "family food boxes" (enough food for a family of 4 for 1 day) to Folsom Baptist Church in the one stoplight town of Folsom Louisiana today. They have a feeding relief program going where people can get a hot meal, food to take home, and supplies, much like what Tammany is providing. Their warehouse is about the same size, but their demand has outstripped their supply. There have been days they have not had food to hand out and they were VERY thankful for what we took them today.

Tammany had been getting 5-6 semi truck loads per day, but that has slowed to 3 the last few days. I asked how they were getting that food, whether it was ordered or just turned up. Like so much in this effort where God is showing his work so blatantly, it just shows up.

Most mornings the National Guard stops in and loads up on supplies. They leave things with people who need them that they come by during the day. They can go places that we can't yet. We spoke to a couple of National Guardsmen from California who were assigned to a Red Cross shelter in the community center in Folsom. The shelter was a large gymnasium that was wall to wall cots.

A group of healthcare types is leaving at 5:15 in the morning to give vaccines someone donated this week to 100 ATF workers. Like we have posted for our volunteers, people working in this area need Hepatitis A and Tetanus. There are a lot of "official" relief workers who haven't been vaccinated. The water is still not safe here in Mandeville. The church has put up signs on fountains not to drink, and on bathroom doors, not to brush teath with the water. Fortunately this effort is well blessed for bottled water. It moves fast, but has been coming in ahead of demand.

We send trucks out into neighborhoods loaded with food boxes and people come out who need them. Robin took one of these out today, but was only out for about 3 hours. He emptied half a 24' truck. He said it was a nice neighborhood, but was just getting electric and other services reestablished.

Mark, Kim, and her daughter stopped in on an older gentleman this afternoon who was in questionable condition. He had a badley swollen leg and didn't really know how much water and food he had. They talked with him and prayed with him, but were very concerned about him tonight and want to check up on him tomorrow. Please pray for the victims and those who are meeting them for the strength, courage, and right words that only the Holy Spirit can provide.

Thought everyone would be impressed to see the map Tammany is keeping with a dot where volunteers have come in from. Most groups have been couples or small teams of four or so.

There is so much more work to do here than there are people to do it. They have a Git R Dun board that has a project sheet and map filled out with people in the community who need work done. These are cleanup of houses, clearing trees and brush, and other tasks. A group can form up and grab one of these to go work on. A lot of the guys did these today and came back absolutely drenched and exhausted. Their the ones who are snoring in the warehouse now while those of us who drove air conditioned Hertz trucks around in heavy traffic all afternoon are still up blogging ;-)

They also have a Bin Dun board that resides on the opposite side of the church secretary's door. So you have photographic evidence of how much more we could help people here.

Thought this was worth posting. This sign is in the hall between the "warehouse" sanctuary and the Git R Dun board and absolutely exemplifies the attitude of the local staff after 4 weeks of this nonstop, heartwrenching, work in Jesus' name.

More Tomorrow!
John McGuire

Update From Brad

2005-09-26T23:35:00.000-04:00

Hey all,
Well yesterday we got almost 40 people ready and out by 8:30. They were really ready at 8:10 but we needed to lighten a trailer load a bit so we had a little unpacking to do.

Our team had quite a stressful night last night. Tuscaloosa had 5 tornadoes touched down last night but our leader - Robin Weier actually followed instructions and had called ahead to our host church to let them know of our arrival. Thank you Lord for protecting your team of workers.

This morning God spoke and I got an email with a referral from Worthington Christian Church. Our 29 pallets of goods will be picked up today or tomorrow and be delivered before the end of the week to LA. Our only cost is fuel. Praise God for His faithfulness to His tasks. Now Mandeville and the area will have some much needed supplies for the victims and workers.

Team 2 we need some more pictures for the website. Please get some to me.

Well as team 4 readies (over 60 strong right now) please know we are working on plans to determine how we will continue our efforts. We need you and God to speak to us. Should we continue trying to send teams? Can we keep a supply of workers and supplies on a monthly basis. Financially we will continue to need support is there more areas and resources we can tap into?

A few things I want to praise you all for By the end of next week:

We will have sent more than 160 workers to the area to help in the clean up
We will have collected more than $20,000 in cash
We will have sent more than 50,000 lbs of goods to the area to be distributed

Central Ohio is to be commended for its response to this great need. These were not sent by some large corporation or government office. These were just everyday people ....... Christian people who know the love of Christ and therefore want to share it. The need is not over. We still need your donations so watch the website and get the word out to your friends and co workers. Post the website at work and send it out to all your friends and lists. While we may slow our efforts, we can not forget the people in LA who so depserately need our help.

Do not believe the media who are congregating in the large cities. Each week there are new pockets of small communities uncovered by our teams who have had no help yet. They need supplies and support.

For those of you who might be able to get your church to consider a special contribution for these efforts please know we have a short 3 to 4 minute CD with pictures from LA and a request for funds. It is supposed to be up on the website but I have not seen it yet. If you would like a copy sent to your church so you can support these efforts please contact me and I will forward you a copy.

May God bless you as you consider your role to date and in the future. He has called us to support our fellow borthers and sisters and to insure that He is glorified through the dissaster.

Brad Hayes

Melinda's Pics from Week 2

2005-09-24T22:18:00.000-04:00

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Keep area around the dumpster clear of trash and large items at all times. Please do not overfill dumpster with branches.

On the left is a kitchen chair... fridge...Tiki Torch?

Several pictures have come back of houses still standing without any material in the walls, but the 2x4s and beams like this one.

James' flooded house before cleanup.

After cleanup. Removed flooded drywall, carpet, furniture, and insulation.

James Richardson of Slidell Louisiana who ownes the house above.

Nancy from Tennessee takes an obviously well deserved break in Jim's garage.

Casey from Cincinnati

"I will go where you send me..."

Pics from Bev Vath

2005-09-24T12:32:00.000-04:00

The first picture is in the Tammany Oaks church building/warehouse. The lady there is Beverly, a member there who was assembling cleaning supplies to be handed out.
The second picture is the front of the house our team of 5 basically gutted in Slidell. It had taken on 3 feet of water and the owner had no insurance.
The third picture is me (Beverly), Bill (Vath), Karen Dorman (from Columbus), and Mr. Gaines, the owner of the house, at the end of the second day of work. Mr. Gaines worked along side of us the whole time.

Week 2 team exit status

2005-09-23T17:20:00.000-04:00

This entry will update as we get news from the team returning and stay at the top of the blog.

@12:59, Saturday, most of the team is already in their beds after arriving at about 12:25am. I'll point out that ETA stands for Estimated Time of Arrival ;-) Thank you Lord for returning our loved ones, friends, and family to us safely. We appreciate their heart and are so satisfied to do this work in your name. Tonight, we lift up the people we have been and will continue to meet that need us to be your hands and feet on earth. We pray for their safety and recovery as they weather yet another powerful and malicious storm. We ask that you use us to do your will and be salt and light to them. And we thank you for the opportunity to serve. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

@12:03, Saturday, The boys (and girls) are back in town. They'll be at the building in minutes. WOOHOO!

@7:40, Friday, the team is passing Louisville.

@5:30, Friday the team was 76 miles from Louisville, Kentucky. Current ETA is 10:30pm.

@2:15pm, Friday the team has crossed into Tennessee and trucking their way home.

@12:30pm, Friday the team left Birmingham iHop after a tire repair on the bus.

@8:00am, Friday the team was up and around repacking and then heading for home. Birmingham is normally 10 hours from Columbus, but given the pace of the caravan, they should arrive sometime after 8:00 tonight.

@1:20am, Friday the team arrived in Birmingham to spend the night.

@10:52, Thursday the team is now 56 miles from Tuscaloosa, 15 mile inside the Alabama State line in I-59. Current ETA for Birmingham is near midnight Central Time.

@ 8:45, Thursday they had made it to Hattiesburg, Mississippi and were on Interstate 59 headed for their overnight in Birmingham. They took on gas on their way out of Mandeville and avoided the highway backups by taking side roads. North of Hattiesburg, they have found no traffic problems. If their pace is good (and bladder capacity) they'll make it into Homewood Church of Christ aroung 11:00 central time.

God Working in This Effort Today

2005-09-23T17:00:00.000-04:00

I wanted to pass along some occurrences today that illustrate God at work in this project. They have encouraged me and I hope they do you too.

Tammany Oaks has asked for help getting an Audio Visual system up and running (AV for short). My first utilitarian/overly practical assessment was that this request seemed almost frivolous (sorry Tod ;-) But, thinking about it, there are around 100 people from across the country worshipping there nightly. Let me tell you it has to take some major inspiration to volunteer to "muck out" someone's house. Without a sound system and projection it's difficult for everyone to have the words to unfamiliar songs or hear the message.

And, given the following, this side project is obviously very important to Him.

While I asked for the engineered specs for the system that Tammany had designed (these things cost tens of thousands of dollars), I hadn't had time to scrounge for the second hand stuff I thought practical to obtain this week as an interim solution. I got an email, however, from a week 4 team member, Mike Benidetti from Delaware. Not only does he have access to a used sound board, amp and speakers, but he feels called to lead a mission effort much like the one we have running; full time after his last hatchling leaves the nest next spring. Tomorrow, he's setting me up with the gear he has and showing me how to hook it up in Mandeville. And he's nearly arranged for a moving van to take equipment and supplies we have to go down!

So, except for speaker wire, Microphones and 1/4 inch cords, the Audio portion is taken care of. Anyone have a couple to donate?

Right after hanging up the phone from arranging this with Mike, I got an email from David Taylor from WORD Fellowship in Centreville Michigan asking how he could help with the AV solution. He is among 4 members of that Mennonite church (the diversity of this Christian effort absolutely inspires me) who will be coincidentally (right!) at Tammany Oaks volunteering this coming week with me and the rest of our team. David offered a PC and two monitors to project lyrics and verses on Tammany Oak's screen and is bringing them with him.

David (from Michigan!) found the new link on the Tammany Oak's Recovery Blog pointing to this blog and emailed me to see what help we needed to get them an AV solution. He found Tammany Oak's blog in his web search to find somewhere to physically pitch in and help.

Now while I don't expect a long throw lens (hint hint) I'm still expecting a 2000 lumen projector to materialize before we leave on Sunday, though that's my timing. He usually picks his own. You see, God appears to want this to happen and I'm trusting he'll use me where I can help and he'll provide where I can't. My part is writing this to let you know of the remaining need. His will be to draw the right person to the effort who can provide. And, while He's at it, I fully expect the wireless G network adapter and extra video card I'll need to complete the solution with Dave's PC ;-)

A quote from "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" by Stephen King keeps ringing in my head today describing God as a closing pitcher working for the save. "...It's God's nature to come on in the bottom of the ninth, .... Especially when the bases are loaded and there's only one out." A friend of mine, Larry Chiounard, once explained this phenomenon using the Lords Prayer. "Give us this day our daily bread". Not tomorrow's bread, not yesterday's bread, not bread for the next month. He provides what we need for today, today. And tomorrow he'll provide what we need then.

In this effort we get to be the bread. God is providing us to the people of Louisiana and missive devastated by the storm. They are coming into Tammany Oaks and being found by our workers in the bottom of the ninth in their lives. And we're the save. It's such a pleasure to serve Him with you. I thank God for all of you.

John McGuire

Beth Vath's Experience this Week (#2)

2005-09-22T20:50:00.000-04:00

I'd like to share a little of our experience in Louisiana this week (week 2) and let you know the money and supplies sent are both desperately needed and appreciated by the people. Bill and I spent some time working in the church/warehouse. We unloaded trucks bucket-brigade style, then sorted and pre-packed boxes of cleaning supplies, while others did the same with food and toiletries. As people started coming in we gave them pre-packed boxes, plus any other needs we could supply such as diapers, etc. We talked with them as we loaded them up and the vast majority had lost everything - lots of moist eyes and some still in shock. Especially sad were the young children - they just looked dazed and sad. We offered to pray with each family and sometimes shared tears and hugs. All we worked with were extremely grateful.

Another day we worked together with a couple of new friends from Nashville for about 6 hours in the yard of a 94 year old lady cutting fallen trees and carrying the logs and brush to the roadside. (Side note to Week 3 - scrub pants worked well in the upper-90 heat)

Next we spent 2 days in a house in Slidell that had taken on about 3 feet of water. The owner was about in his 70's and his wife was disabled and in a wheelchair (she was in GA with a daughter). We removed mildewed drywall, flooring, cabinets, water-soaked magazines and other items. The first day the owner seemed in shock and very depressed. He just wandered from room to room, not saying much. The second day he started working side-by-side with us and by afternoon was telling us what he might do with some of the rooms and teasing and joking with us. The transformation was marked. I believe God used us (and all the teams) to give them " hope and a future" (Jer. 29:11) His teenage granddaughters came by and brought us a plate of cookies. They had made them with the large container of peanut butter the Red Cross had given them. They had sad stories of their own of the majority of their friends from school moving away as their parents had no work. They said, "If we just take it one day at a time it doesn't hurt so bad.”

I know this is long and I could go on and on, but I just wanted to say - if you can, please, please go help. There is more work than people. If you can't work on the houses or chain saw crews, there is plenty of sorting, etc, to do in the warehouse. (and it's air conditioned) In fact they were short-handed there some days. Bill has back problems and I have shoulder problems, and we did all the wrong things as far as lifting and pulling heavy things - but neither of us had a bit of trouble the whole time. We truly feel that God allowed that to happen. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And if you can't go - PRAY. There are so many hurting people there.

Bev Vath

Extending This Mission

2005-09-22T20:31:00.000-04:00

This operation has been soooooo successful. God has graced us with willing volunteers, effective leaders, and pulled together incomprehensible logistics to allow us to serve. He has broken down the walls men use to differentiate their faith in the body to allow people from 12 or more different churches to work shoulder to shoulder. Current participants are as far afield as Dayton, Canton, and Huntington, West Virginia. Our mission has reached so many people in the current disaster zone through God's grace.

As we met at lunch today to discuss the stories, the massive destruction, and the failure of our government and well funded professional relief charities to meet the need it was obvious that this effort cannot just end after 4 weeks of success. It is also obvious that, without major devine intervention, there will be an extended disaster zone after hurricane Rita passes the coast this weekend. There have been many references to Mathew 9:36-38 describing our situation as members of the body of Christ right now.

Our work teams have been half of the volunteer population working with Tammany Oaks to rebuild not just their community of Mandeville, but as far afield as Gulf Port. They have a work board, they call the Get R Done board, with voluminous tasks that need completed by teams. Single jobs may be as extensive as removing all carpeting, furniture, drywall, and insullation from a flooded house. They find new areas who have seen NO assistance every day.

We cannot leave them stranded now and just go back to
our lives when so many are hurt and broken there.

Included in our meeting was Mark Bass of Alkire Road Church of Christ in Grove City in the southern Columbus suburbs. They have a mission providing supplies and some cleanup labor to Van Cleave Mississippi. They will also be sending equipment and tradespeople to help rebuild houses. As our two efforts are the only ones we know of ongoing from the area, we will be joining forces and providing mutual support.

The stricken people in Louisiana and Mississippi need many more of us to come and help. Each week we send larger teams and must keep that going rather than die off. To do so, we need more congregations to join the effort. The body of Christ in the central Ohio region is absolutely massive. We have tremendious monitary, leadership, and volunteer resources to offer this effort. In order to be most effective, we must band together through reliable channels and programs.

The two programs we have running have proven to be reliable, even though they only began a few weeks ago. These operations can direct much more support than they have to help many more people much faster if we can provide them the most lacking resource, people.

People to fill positions in leadership at home sharing duties coordinating the effort.
People to fill team leadership positions in the field.
People to volunteer to perform the work onsite.
People and trucks to transport goods we collect to be distributed.
Many more people in supporting roles at home.
Most of all, people to spend a week to work with the victims of this disaster to rebuild their lives.

This coalition is being formed through relationships. Please encourage your church leadership, your friends, and coworkers to become involved in this effort and join us in marveling at what God can do when we let him use us to our cooperative potential.

Poem from stephen’s dad about the trip

2005-09-22T20:00:00.000-04:00

Katrina threatens and comes ashore
Properties devastated, but so much more;
Lives uprooted, shock and awe -
Governments tested; human flaw.
Humanity pictured in deep despair;
Hearts across the country ignite with care.
Calls come in - "we're going down;"
"Come with us - we need you now!"
Spring Road is coordinating groups to leave;
My son calls and makes his plea,
"Come with us Dad, we can work together."
"We couldn't spend our time much better!"

With chainsaw tuned and sharpend chain;
Supplies loaded and volunteers gained,
We head to Mandeville as a mobile train.
Driving all day and through the night
Resting a couple hours and at morning light
We reach Tammany Oaks Church of Christ.

Walking in to see what needs to be done;
"I need you and you, can you make a run?"
To a hospital we go with much needed supplies;
We are greeted with weary, but cheerful eyes.
"Can you drive a truck with a standard shift?"
"It's a big one now, but we've got to go quick."
Delivering supplies, clearing debirs;
Praying with families, we share our strength.
Working hard from morning 'till night
Worshipping with brethren our hearts unite,
There was no better way this father and son
Could have spent their time under the sun!

-Steve Fuchs (father) Stephen Fuchs (son)

From Beth Duffy – week 2 work crew team

2005-09-22T15:35:00.000-04:00

Wed., 9/21 Ok, where do I start?!? It's 7:30 a.m....we're having a group meeting (about 100 workers...from Calif., Colo., Canada., Ohio, etc.). Just took a "cool" shower in a "mash" type of set up outside...it's actually awesome showering outside...it's warm down here (even at 7:00 a.m.)! Volunteers are a huge blessing here (older youth/adults)...AND YOU can be one!!! Pray-ers, sorters, organizers, kitchen help, nurses, social workers, counselors, physical laborers, (tree cutting, clearing brush, tearing down houses, unloading/loading boxes to hand out). You name it, the jobs are endless.

TR, 9/22 10:00 a.m. We received the sad news this a.m. that we have to leave this afternoon because of the unpredictability of Hurricane Rita. This is sad news to our team because there is SO much work still to be done and this team is FULL of hard workers...working from 8 a.m. until dinner and then some. We don't want to leave, but need to for our safety, they say...we have a very large group. We've met awesome people that will be hard to leave, also. I think that Jed Duffey and his friend, Ben Smith, will be staying to continue helping and come home with one of the next Spring Rd. COC teams that are scheduled to come next week and the week after. Please be praying for them...safety, stamina, and for God to further move in their lives through this opportunity to serve others.

My favorite part...talking and praying with the hurricane victims. God's heart for these people is manifested quickly as you spend time with them. Many of them say they are holding up ok, but then break down while praying with them and need and want to talk. They have held alot in. They need to know that God is real and close to them. They need to know he is in control. They need to be filled with hope. They need to know there's a place to go for help. One woman came up to me and said, "You prayed with that other woman, why didn't you pray with me?" So, of course, I did. There's just not an opportunity to pray with everyone, unfortunately. One woman I prayed with came back later and brought 2 men who needed help with her. She said she felt so much better after the prayers that she decided to reach out help others. Another man who came to the church for help, sat somewhat despondent for about an hour. He said he's never had to ask for help before and he just couldn't accept "handouts". We talked and prayed, but he said he just had to leave and might come back. The situation here, as you can imagine, affects each person differently. Their lives have been turned upside down and laid out before everyone. Each responds and copes the best they know how.

Your prayers right where you are invaluable...not everyone can be here, but God hears and answers your prayers....and EVERYONE here desperately needs them (volunteers AND victims)!!! Please continue to pray for stamina, good sleep, safety, God's healing touch for minds, hearts, bodies, and however else God leads.

There are MANY ways to help...keep in touch with this website AND go to the Tammany Oakes church link for updated items they need contributed. Workers and prayers are ALWAYS needed. There are MANY, MANY stories and testimonies that you will be hearing later...as well as pictures to help you further understand what is going on here.

Thank you SO much for any and every way that you have made it possible for us to be here. We are extremely grateful.

We LOVE you and are VERY thankful for you.

Beth Duffey (Northside Fellowship)

Stephen Fuchs Diary and Thoughts

2005-09-22T15:32:00.000-04:00

I did not go to Mandeville, LA for any personal gain, but I write this report a richer man. I was enriched spiritually. I saw how much God is in control, and how little I am. The enrichment started the evening of Monday Sept. 5 when I found out we were sending people to LA to help. I had been wandering ever since the storm was over, “What can I do.” I was excited that there was an organized effort to put people on the ground to aid the victims of Katrina. The rest of the week I kept busy searching for donations of the supplies we would need to support our team, and again, the experience has made me richer. Donations were made by businesses and individuals that had been in my same position wandering what they could do. In the interest of keeping this report brief I will now relate highlights from my time on the ground in LA.

Monday Sept. 12: We arrived at Tammany oaks mid morning and the place was humming. Busy busy busy. I stepped through the front doors and was immediately asked to help load medical supplies onto a truck. I had not even “signed in yet”, I didn’t even have a t-shirt. How could I say no, that’s not what I came to do or I’d rather do…. The coordinators there needed to here YES. I helped load the supplies and then agreed to deliver them to a hospital in Slidell. The hospital was in very real need of the supplies and was so grateful for the delivery. Even though I had not “envisioned” being a delivery boy, it was humbling to see the need and be asked to take care of it.

Tuesday thru Thursday: I worked on a chainsaw crew. I worked with men from Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Ohio. I was just kind of numb to the sheer enormity of the disaster at this point. Everywhere I looked I saw work that needed done, so every thing was kind of blurred together. Only as we began clearing trees from driveways and felling trees away from houses so as to keep it from more damage did things begin to sink in. I could see the look of near hopelessness on the homeowners face when we would pull up and survey the job, change to a look of hopefulness when we were done. It was a huge burden just lifted from their shoulders. I can’t imagine facing such an enormous task alone. They were just relieved and thankful. We prayed with each family. We shared the love of God.

I know this report is short, and choppy, but there are so many things that made an impression on me. I know that there are things that really meant something to me at the time and now I cannot remember them, or cannot put them into words. Some experiences I will remember later on and be blessed over and over again by them. Working with the men from all over the US was a blessing as well, and a joy. Working with our team from Ohio was a blessing and a joy. All of us worked together, no one worried about who got the credit, other than to praise God in our prayer at the end of the job.

Stephen Fuchs

Stories from the Field, Week 2

2005-09-22T09:40:00.001-04:00

Tim hines led the devo Wednesday morning talked about helping a homeless man/group of them and going home to give them his second hand things but on the way God convicted him of the first fruits concept where the Israelites were commanded to give the first of their crops before they took any, so Tim ended up loading up his truck with the new tents, camping stuff so they got the best not secondhand stuff. Tim encouraged the group to give of our first fruits. I’ll tell the rest of the story later. Kenny

Tim Hines also told about a couple days ago about some of our people helping a family that had lost their entire mobile home and belongs—they were very poor and no insurance and lived in tents and had no hope of anything better. Our people left there and not far away was a million dollar house with no visiable damage the relief people saw them out and asked them if there was anything they needed anyway. They said they could use bleach so the relief people gave them a couple of gallons of bleach. These people were so impressed by the giving attitude that they came to the church a few days later and said they had purchased a brand new motor home and they wanted to help by giving it away to someone in need. It was a 300,000.00 mobile home. You can guess who got it. The family who lost their mobile home and had been living in a tent! That is what God is doing here!

Kenny

Gettin' the heck outa Dodge...

2005-09-22T09:40:00.000-04:00

As of a few minutes ago, the decision has been made for the Week 2 team to leave Mandeville this morning, a day early. Though they are very safe for the forseeable future, there is new concern hurricane Rita will change direction to a more northerly course and their area is being evacuated. By leaving now, they have plenty of time to work their way out of the area and head for home.

Arrangements are being made for an overnight stop in Birmingham, Alabama, well out of the storm's path. Thanks to Homewood Church of Christ for hosting our team on short notice.

The team will also be pulling as much of our campers and gear from Tammany Oaks as possible and leaving it in Birmingham for the next team to collect to protect it from the storm.

Pray hard and pray often. Especially for the people at Tammany Oaks.
John McGuire

Wednesday Week 2 Update

2005-09-22T07:08:00.000-04:00

Week 2 has been busy thus far boxing up supplies, cutting down trees, and hauling debris. Many are "demucking" houses trying to get them cleaned up to the point that they are livable.

Our team has been encouraged to spend time with the people they meet, to pray for and with them and encourage them before moving on to the next families in need.

Kenny said a disabled lady from a community that just got power back and roads opened came in today with a complete list of all the needs for 28 people in her community "Pickbar". She had a list of all needs from medicine (insulin and the like) to food and supplies. She was so organized and put together that the crew packed up a Ryder truck and took the supplies out to this area that had just opened up for people to come in and help. They unloaded them in front of her house, covered them with a tarp and she is setting up her own little center right there for her community. God is working through so many people in so many ways.

Janet Hines is a Tammany person we have coordinated with. She and her husband Doug are owners in a company called Bumble Bee Tuna. Tonight they shared that several of their employees who were at their company when the hurricane hit are still unaccounted for. Please be in prayer for these people and Doug and Janet. I will try to get the missing employees names tomorrow and post them for prayer.

Know that Central Ohio is making a difference in this tragedy. God is using us to touch peoples lives and assist in His plan for recovery. Many people are digging in and helping. Today the warehouse got behind in completing its care packages and Toni and some of our experienced Honduras Missionaries dug in and helped to catch them up after returning from a long day in the field. Thank you Lord for willing spirits and strong bodies to do your work.

You too can be a part of this work. We have 2 work teams left to take down to LA. Sept 25 and Oct 2. Sign up to be a part of one of these teams today! Check the supply list on the Spring Road site or the Tammany blog for updates on needs and bring them to the Spring Road building by noon on Saturday for packing to be included in the week three delivery. Please if you can try to provide only needed items so that we can get them what will be most helpful at the time they need them. www.springroadcoc.com

A new friend of mine (ours) brought forth as a result of Gods work here, shared this verse with me today:

It in from Mathew 9 beginning in verse 35 and following:

Jesus went through all the towns, villages, and synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples. "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

You might be one of those workers in His harvest field!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In closing, another great hurricane "Rita" is building and traveling through the gulf. Take a moment and pray that the God who created nature might stop it in is path or diminish the destructiveness of its power. Pray for those who are glued to their TVs watching for updates out of fear and concern. Pray for those who have evacuated already and are traveling, and those who will be affected in anyway by this storm.

Traffic is expected to be high out of the area on Friday so our team will be leaving Friday morning right after the devotional. They will travel to Nashville where they are being hosted at the Hendersonville Church of Christ. They plan to leave Nashville around 8:00 on Saturday morning and should arrive here around 4 or so. Pray for their travel.

Thank you all for your prayers for these continued efforts. We can not grow weary, tired, or discouraged. There is much work to do. Won't you find your calling in all this disaster and put your hands and feet to his work?

I pray God's richest blessings on each of you reading this and his activity in your hearts. May your families be blessed and safe and may He give you strength and wisdom.

Brad Hayes

New items requested by Tammany Oaks

2005-09-21T10:13:00.000-04:00

Their blog link is on the left column and here. Last night's posting adds requests for the following items that should be to the Spring Road building by Noon on Saturday if you wish them to go down this week:

respirator masks (the kind w/ charcoal filters that work w/ mold)
wheelbarrows
appliance dollies
110v household outlets (white & almond) (all outlets that have gotten wet must be replaced before the power companies will turn power back on to a house)
children's backpacks filled w/ school supplies (most school systems that are opening in Oct will be overrun w/ new students who evacuated to this area but have not resources)Wal-Mart gift cards (this is a great way to help families get back into their homes or temporary homes)

Special need:

industrial chippers & operators
If you read their blog, know that Randy and I have offered help on their AV system. If anyone else would like to work with us on this, please mail john.n.mcguire@jpmchase.com

Yesterday's requests are also still valid.

Needs for Weeks 3 and 4

2005-09-20T14:56:00.000-04:00

We will most likely need one or two trucks to pull goods down to LA this week. If you have a truck for this please email me with the size and year, people it can carry, the size of tow hitch it has, and the electrical hook up. Your help here is appreciated.

Currently the needs for your trips have changed so for those of you who are leading collection efforts take note. It will be my intent to contact the Spring Road Web master and see if he can set up a button labeled supply updates where you can go and regularly check for these and I won't have to send them out. (See link to Spring Road Katrina Relief in the left pane of the blog)

Cleaning supplies - bleach, rubber gloves, masks, brushes, sponges etc.
Garden Sprayers
Hand sprayers
Brooms
Mops
Drywall and Keyhole saws
pry and crow bars
framing hammers
Utility knives and blades.

If you collect these items they need to be to the spring road building before noon on Saturday to go on your trip. Also if you have a sizable quantity of any item please let me know so that I can be sure to arrange transport.

We no longer are in need of food for our trips. The host church Tammany Oaks wants us to share in their food program. Please make a note of this.

Please only collect the items above as it is getting very difficult to coordinate getting all the items we have collected down to LA. Trucks are very hard to come by.

As a team we are seeking the use of a large 20 to 24' panel truck to haul items. We can drive it down and back in two days. If you can help with this it would be much appreciated.

We also are seeking a 12 to 14 foot enclosed box trailer for hauling goods.

Please contact me immediately if you can help with those transport needs.

In closing, momentum seems to be slowing down. Let me assure you of this, the need is not. In fact people come in everyday needing help. Some having just gotten back to the area to see what has really happened. We took 21 in week 1, 40 last week, I want 50 in week three and lets see if we can take 75 in week 4. Talk to your friends, your neighbors, send this email and the web addresses out.

Lets keep moving for our brothers and sisters in need in LA.

Brad Hayes

Evolving "NEEDS LIST" for Mandeville

2005-09-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

Toni just got out of her briefing at Tammany:

They desperately need deodorant – THEY HAVE NONE! They currently have other personal hygiene supplies.
They also need Bibles (small pocket types if possible) – they are handing them out every chance they get and including them in each Family Care Package.
PRAYER – Toni said they are seeing people who are coming into Tammany for help who are flat breaking down – they feel overwhelmed or they feel that nothing is getting done to help them - even after 3 weeks, or they are just now being hit by Post Traumatic Stress.
THEY DON’T NEED MORE FOOD. ALL cooking is being done at the church now. We sent all our food over there when we arrived and there is plenty for the time being. Tammany also takes care of recruiting the cooking volunteers.

We need to stay plugged into the Tammany Relief Blog (left frame of the blog page under links) for current listing of things needed (that’s where the list above came from).

Randy Rhodes

Week 2 Team arrives onsite in Mandeville

2005-09-19T15:31:00.000-04:00

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

Week 2 - Day 1 Report from Tuscalussa Weighpoint

2005-09-19T10:20:00.000-04:00

Good Morning!

Day 1 included: traveling.

After several fuel/potty stops, and one wiring problem with a truck,
we arrived at the Tuscaloosa Church of Christ at 10pm CST to a crowd of
open arms and hearts.

The wiring problem set us back about an extra hour, but the additional
delay was probably because of the larger group and the fact that we
overload the bathrooms. (Today we will try to find places with multiple
womens restrooms!)

The people at this church are very hospitable. Many adults and many
college students ( they have about 100 ) waited on us and then served
the meal and other needs. They even restocked our coolers with drinks
and ice and gave us snacks for the road. It is really amazing how they
put up with 'Buckeyes' since they are right next door to the U. of
Alabama. Most of all it is encouraging to see God's people working
together to help others. (Web site for the college students is
www.ucmbama.com )

Most were to bed in various places by midnight. 6am wake up call. Bags
to the trucks by 7:30 and leave 8. Will travel a ways and stop for
breakfast and fuel. We will do the same for lunch and then get to work.

Have to go. Roll call in 5 min. Thank you to everyone who is
supporting this mission effort in so many different ways. From praying
to donating to helping here or there. You are a valuable part of this
thing that God is doing. May he bless you for it.

Have a great day!

Kenny Nichols

Week 2 Team Arrives at Overnight Stop in Tuscalussa

2005-09-18T23:00:00.000-04:00

This week's team arrived at University Church of Christ in Tuscalussa, Alabama who is putting them up for the night. The church has beds and showers for them and will send them off in the morning to continue to Mandeville and their mission field. They got in at 11:00 EDT (they are in the central time zone) without incident.

Team 2 Hits the Road

2005-09-18T18:52:00.000-04:00

Team 1 returned Saturday evening and Team 2 (organized into 3 seperate teams which is going to be confusing) left the building around 10:00 this morning with more campers and gear, more supplies, and more people. At 8:00pm after 10 hours on the road, they are about 60 miles north of Birmingham. They will spend the night at University Church of Christ in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Go Tide!) before continuing to our camp across the road from the new Tammany Oaks church building in Mandeville.

Interesting to note: According to Troy from Northland CofC this building is only 3 months old and the church members haven't even really had a chance to use it as a church building. Now it is a warehouse processing 3 trailers full of supplies a day, temporary shelter, and base of operations for the relief effort. By God's plan (which we seldom can fathom) the only damage to the building during the hurricane was a gutter torn off the roof. In the middle of mass destruction, He left a haven and has staffed it with dedicated servants. God is good!

Request for team 1 members - Please send your thoughts, stories, and favorite pictures from last week to john.n.mcguire@jpmchase.com to be posted on this blog and the Spring Road Katrina site. Now that you've had a chance to rest and sleep, the rest of us would love to hear about your mission. We'd also benefit from a simple narrative on the setup at the church, our camp, and the job that has been and needs to be done down there.

Team 2 has a computer with them and we have a good wireless Internet connection at the Tammany Oaks church so check this blog regularly. Team 1 did an excellent job keeping us up to date. Team 2 should be better equipped to report back and hopefully even more prolific.

Request for every reader of this blog - Please pray, right now, and regularly for our team, their mission, and the people of the gulf coast. This afternoon a new tropical depression became tropical storm Rita, the 16th named storm this year. Current projections indicate this storm will become a hurricane and pass the Florida keys into the Gulf by Wednesday. Really. Pray Now!

Thanks to the first team and their families for their sacrifice of time and convenience. Also, thanks to the ever growing members of this mission who support it through their time and financial investment. And thanks to the team leaders who are allowing God to use all of us so very effectively. Thanks for guiding us to be his hands and feet. And, we all thank God for this body of believers and the opportunity to reflect Christ's light in the darkness of catastrophe. Amen.

John McGuire

Ephesians 6:13-18

Some Pics from this morning:

Team 3, Week 2

Teams 1 & 2, Week 2

Making it work...

Many hands make lite work, but this fridge wasn't... It goes next week.

Wagons Ho!

Friday Week 1 Mission Administration Update

2005-09-16T14:29:00.000-04:00

On 9/15 I had a conference call with some of our on the ground leaders in Mandeville. Its unusual me but I was a little quiet. I did not know quite what to think, these friends of mine, brothers and sisters in Christ, were exhausted, some frustrated, and yet joyous at the work they have been allowed. I just had to take a moment to take it in and evaluate it all.

All in all the work has been great, people have been busy, and from all the reports fulfilled. It has been a good work the Lord has put us to. The report is we need to be more self sufficient that we have been. We need more campers as there is not much room in the church and the road is dangerous to cross at night. We need more workers, and we need to get more supplies for what our team needs so we do not have to buy so much.

They confirmed that there are more supplies there and coming than the teams can distribute. They need workers and our workers need to be able to take care of themselves.......... That is our immediate need.

If you are sitting saying I can't get off work saying, "what can I do", well here’s a list:

Make a donation of some of the needed items
Write a check to the Spring Road Katrina fund
Speak to your churches about a special contribution for the effort
Talk to friends who may desire to go and work
Write a note to send that will encourage workers and or victims
We can all do something

You would be amazed at how God has worked. Yesterday Amy got a call out of the blue from Catholic Social Services saying they had a semi load of supplies with no where to drop them off. Did our group want them. By the time she was able to respond with a yes it was gone, but she was referred elsewhere where we have a truck of supplies to go to our site. Its 3\4 full so we need to fill the last 10 to 12 feet but then it will get driven down there at no cost to us what so ever. I will need some help coordinating this for a Monday departure so if you can help contact me. Every roadblock I have hit, He has removed. Every time I wonder what to do, He has shown me. This is not our effort; this is the effort of the Lord. Won't you be a part of it?

I also am amazed and bless to be at the center of this effort as I watch people of different backgrounds, faiths, and beliefs come together. Not one group has asked me what I believe on anything. I guess some of our predetermined qualifiers have gone out the window .......... I wonder if it will remain that way. I want to thank Randy Rhodes of the Northside Fellowship for answering God's call to pick up the phone and call me. He and his team members there have been a blessing. John McGuire and his family from Westerville Christian have established this blog and encouraged and helped at every turn. Beth Duffey from Northside has jumped in and helped everywhere she could including recruiting workers from half her neighborhood and friends. There are many many more.

I simple praise God for the work He is doing. Not Himself with the mighty swipe of His hand but through ordinary willing, moveable people.

OK OK I am done preaching, God Bless and thank you for reading and helping.

Brad Hayes

Friday Week 1 Testimonials

2005-09-16T14:27:00.000-04:00

What an amazing week! It took quite some time to get to Louisiana (seemed like forever) but as we started getting close to our destination, words cannot express all the emotions I felt. I saw debris everywhere, treetops were gone, boats/cars in or against houses, unbelievable.

When we arrived, we got right to work. Things of course have been very hectic since we've arrived. There are many truckloads of items to be sorted daily, and then packaged into boxes for distribution to families in the community.

It was really hard for some people to accept the few items we had to offer because they never had to ask for any help before. It was so rewarding though to see those accept these bare essentials and smile and say, "Thank you, God Bless You". We traveled out to deliver boxes as well and people were excited to get Sunny Delight because they were tired of bottled water.

As we went into the housing development near the lake, the odor in the air was horrible and there was dust on the roads and mud everywhere else. We were covered in dust by the time we were done.

One house we stopped at, the gentleman there said no one had stopped at his house at all since the hurricane, that we were the first. He was very appreciative of the food and water. It's been refreshing to see how a box of food and a case of water with a smile and a hug can brighten someone's day. One lady just started crying as the guys gave her a hug as she had lost everything.

The people are just lost. Some just don't know where to start. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to lose everything. I am thankful that God has given me this opportunity to serve these people and hope that everyone in some way could experience the same as we have this week. We've also met some wonderful people from California, Miami and Tennessee who have also come to help in the relief effort. Thanks to all who contributed in any way to make this mission a possibility.

Lisa Blair

PS - Thanks again Brad so much for all of your hard work. We really appreciate all that you do. :)

For me, an experience like this is unexplainable. I sat down and tried to think and think of how to explain it to people when they asked but nothing I thought of could even began to describe how I've felt this past week or even began to explain the things we've seen.

We took millions of picture and unfortunately I still don't think it was enough for everyone to truly see how bad things are. People are living on the streets, some with their families and others without. They don't know whether they’re dead or alive and aren't even sure if they will have contact with them any time soon. What's horrible is that some people are still trapped in there houses and there’s nothing we can do about it. That bothers me so much and I wish that I could stay much longer since it’s the least I can do.

Tonight me and a friend were looking up some scriptures and came across the book of Lamentations which seemed to sum up the whole story of the storm, and how people who lost there houses might be feeling right now.

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:21-23
Amanda Evans

Thursday Week 1 Mission Administration Update

2005-09-16T14:23:00.000-04:00

We had a conference call with our team in LA tonight and the following needs have been listed as a major priority for our trip:

Campers - we need several
Chairs for outdoors at the campsite Picnic tables- foldable
Portable lights for campsite
Stuff to fight bugs specifically misquitos and "love bugs"
Cordless tools
We need 450 foot of garden hose to hook up our own showers
As for food items we need large industrial cans of vegatables, pasta and sauce, and other items to feed large groups.
Strongly recommend a lot more gatorade.
Several small portable coolers.
Small fans for the campers to keep air moving - they said the heat is not bad at night
other items - if you are not in a position to make a donation of items or cash you or your kids could write notes to encourage the workers and or victims.

Please have all donations over to the Spring Road building by 10:00 AM on Saturday and email me if you are making a purchase so we don't duplicate purchases. We need the above and it will have to come out of our cash commitment if we can not get them donated.

Our team sounds exhausted. Plan to work long hours and be in the heat. I would like to recommend that anyone who can make it plan to be at the building to encourage them on Sat when they arrive back here. We are expecting them between 4 and 5 in the afternoon and I will try to let you know a more exact time later. They said 3 to 5 semis arrive daily with supplies that need unloaded and sorted to be distributed.

There seems to be a great demand for tradesmen. Right now electricians and plumbers, soon to follow carpenters and roofers. If you can make it, please do.

May God bless you as you consider your role in this dissaster. Sunday in bible class we were discussing tragedy and dissaster and we talked about the verses in I Corinthians where it discusses that these things happen so that God may be glorified. We He is being glorified and you are a part of sharing the blessing He has so richly given us.

Because He love us first,

Brad Hayes

PS
I need a favor tomorrow. We need a pick up at Wendy's International in Dublin. Its two pallets of paper goods for our teams. It will take at least a full size pickup or equivelant trailer. Between the hours 9:00 and 5:00 they have a pallet jack or forklift and I am told they will load it. I have to go to Mansfield tomorrow afternoon. If you could handle this for me please call me by 10:00 AM and I will give you the details.

Thursday Week 1 testimonials

2005-09-16T14:17:00.000-04:00

Before I came here, my entire idea of this place and all of its
destruction was limited to what I saw on tv and heard on the radio.
But after being here and experiencing the sights of destroyed house,
the families who have nothing to go home to and aal the chaos that has
been caused, it has really opened my eyes to the "bigger picture".
When i'm working in the warehouse or carrying boxes of the trucks, I
feel that i'm not doing anything to help those who really need it, but
when I deliver food and water to people who are homeless and have none
and they just break down in your arms and say "God bless you" and
can't thats when I know I am helping make a difference in someone's
life and to me, that makes being down here helping worth it.

Morgan Yates

Being down in Louisiana has helped me change my perspective. Yesterday
the group went Gulf Port. As we were walking through the street in the
surrounding neighborhood, I kept on thinking how we in America take
everything for granted. Here in Ohio we have homes to live in, food to
eat, our houses have not been flooded to where we have to take our
furniture out to our curbs for trash. But the people in Louisiana have
nothing now in their home, no jobs most likely now, in fact they have
to start a whole new life.

So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life- whether you have
enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than
food and clothing? Look at the birds. They don't need to plant of
harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them.
And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Can all your
worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not.

Matthew 5:25-27

-In Christian Love,
Nater J. Barnhardt

I am a senior at Westerville North Highschool this year. The
pressures of applying to colleges and wondering whether you will be
accepted or not. The reoccuring question of what do I want to be?and
what do I want to major in continue to be asked and my constant answer
is dissappointingly "I don't know."There are so many things that I
have the opportunity to be and to do with my life. I am horrible with
decisions.The kind of person who needs help deciding what they want to
eat when they go out to dinner-the more options i am given-the harder
it becomes for me to decide. So as i wonder what it is I want to do
with my life,and how it is I want to spend it,I seem to be getting
more and more confused. I love helping people, working with my own two
hands,music,art,science,understanding how things work,and am
interested in cosmatalogy.So in my head none of those things seem to
fit together to fit into one solid occupation for me.So making up my
mind about what to do with my life is a constant question hanging in
my mind and a steady question that I have been sending up to God
patiently awaiting an answer.

The past five days of my life have been spent living and doing the
ways of Jesus. I am down in Mandeville,Louisianna volunteering with
the disaster relief from hurricane Katrina. Nothing in my life has
ever felt so sure and right. Nothing. While down here we have been
given the chance to organize and pack up supplies for hurricane
victims. We have gone out into the neighborhoods and hand delivered
food boxes,bottled water and juices to people out in their houses
trying to salvage their belongings and save what they have left. It
has been amazing to hear survivors' stories and just to be there for
them and to listen to them talk. I love knowing that every single day
I have been here I have had the chance to make a difference, to help
make a change, and to make a person's day. Seeing a child's face light
up as you hand them a coloring book and a box of crayons is worth
our "14 hour" car ride down here!Just the knowledge of knowing that
you helped someone lets you rest peacefully at night,and gives you
just as much strength and more to rise up the next morning to have the
chance to do it all over again. I have never known what i want to be
when i grow up, but at least now i know what I want to DO. I want to
help people,and by doing so help to spread the love of Jesus Christ,
our Lord. He has never failed me and He never will....for if He leads
you to it, He WILL lead you through it.

Thankyou for this opportunity and God bless!

-Katie Cogswell-

Thursday Week 1 Pics

2005-09-16T09:05:00.000-04:00

The first pictures are from the home next to the church that we worked on and cleaned up.

The military folks are from Canton. They let us in on the road to New Orleans. We did not go to New Orleans, but went to a couple of subdivisons well out side the New Orleans area. We gave the guys some Snickers bars and some cold drinks.

One of the police men that was there needed food for his family and we gave him some food, water and sunny d.

The boats that you see, were more than a mile from the water....

a mile...

Keep praying!
Robin

News from the Field, Week 1, Day 4

2005-09-15T17:24:00.000-04:00

I think Robin is
sleeping in Troy's bed right now. We'll let him know about the e- mail.

If at all possible, the food needs to be packed in plastic tubs
(preferably clear for ease of finding things). We lost a lot of food
this week to ants eating through packages. The meat worked
wonderfully and I think we've secured a refrigerator (if I understood
Troy & Robin correctly) to use for the teams until we're done. Our
cooks have been outstanding! (Steven & Steve Fuchs)

Most of our crew is resting at this point in the day (except Lora -
She's helping give sponge baths for nursing home residents). We are
all extremely tired from the heat & all the work we've done. The kids
packed quite a few boxes today but said they felt like they hadn't
done enough. They really want to go out to pass out more food boxes,
but we'll have to wait and see if that materializes.

We appreciate so much all of your hard work at home. I know things
have been crazy & we aren't always the easiest to contact. Thanks
again for all of your hard work.

Lisa Blair

Wednesday Week 1 Update from Mandeville, LA

2005-09-14T12:38:00.000-04:00

Today, we serviced about 250 families at the church. That does not include the homes where we were cutting wood, fixing up problems and visiting and helping neighbors.

Lee Ann, one of the workers with us, went to see her son's home in Kiln, Mississippi today. He and his son and family escaped the storm by going to Tallahassee. When they returned, they found their home good, but the front was off of its foundation. It has been repaired. Tim's neighbor's mobile home, no more than 50 feet from his own home, was obliterated . Tim was very thankful for the Lord sparing his.

Across the street, there was a beautiful brick home that was spared, but their son's mobile home was destroyed. They had bought a newer one and were renovating it no more than 20 feet from the one they were living in, and it was destroyed. As you can see in the picture, the walls and roof were taken. In their bed room, the trophies were still on the shelf. Unbelieveable.

We delivered supplies to the the families in the area and prayed with them.

On the way back to Mandeville, we stopped by a place where the Jourdon River flowed...that is the picture where the whole end of the house is gone. We then drove through Waveland, where beautiful manisons were a pile of sticks. It was very very sad.

The flag picture was one of the plantations that were destroyed. It was very touching.

Our people have been working very hard. God has touched us all in so many ways.

I held the baby at Kiln, he was very cute....10 months old. His name is McCaden. I was able to have prayer with he and his parents. I hope that we can do something to help them get their home together.

Thank you for your prayers and love and encouragement.

We are all healthy and doing well, especially after a good nights sleep on Monday evening.

We are in a devo right now, some awesome praise to the King.

Until tomorrow,

Love Robin

Wednesday Week 1 Update from Columbus

2005-09-14T12:32:00.000-04:00

Dear team members:

Attached is a field update from Robin Weier with the first pics from the area of some of the devastation of homes and property that they are seeing. Know this, there is much to do and your are much needed.

Once again the teams are so hard at work that info is difficult to come by but they are all working and all making a difference. They moved out into the field a little more yesterday in their clean up efforts and were able to help many families.

Momentum Apprears to be slowing down ............ Don't let Satan do that to us The needs of the Lord's Army remains great!!!!

We will be in need of the following as we prepare for this weeks trip:

$$$ We need money to support the trips down and back. Please don't let money interfere with God's work here. We have a huge expense of gas for the vehicles and we need your help. Send donations to Spring Road Katrina Fund. Also email me so I know its coming.

We still need to gather as much food for the teams as possible. A local church in the area has agreed to provide money for food for the teams, however, whatever we can send will lighten that burden. So please get food donations to the Spring Road building by SAT AM. We need water, gatorade, chips, crackers, snacks, Tuna, chicken canned, canned goods,etc. It will be put in a pantry to use by the teams down there.

Cleaning supplies, rubber gloves

We are still in need of large appliances, dishwasher, refrigerator, stove (electric), freezer. Because of the need and the masses working from this center we are currently focusing on commercial appliances.

Field reports say that disease etc are not an issue for us in this area but cuts and scrapes may happen.

Reports back from the field say take some shorts to wear so when you are working around the building you can be more comfortable.

Teams will be leaving from the Spring Road Building at 8:00 AM on your assigned Sundays. Please don't be late. If you need housing on Sat please let me know.

Thank you all for your support and let me know what has been overlooked.

I will update worker lists and weeks by tomorrow night so do not worry about you not being listed if you get this email I have you listed.

Brad

First Pics

2005-09-13T21:20:00.000-04:00

Team 1 - Day 2 in the field from Troy

2005-09-13T20:45:00.000-04:00

Everyone arrived safely to a mass of products moving in and out of this place. We first set up base camp and got everything set up. Steve and Steven Fuch immediately went to work cutting trees and cleaning up homes. Gary's sister from Slidel was waiting for him and he spent the day helping them clean up their property. Robin and I unloaded the big pick up and the big trailer and got established with Todd. Robin was sent on a mission I am unsure of and will let him tell you about. Our ladies and girls went right to work handing out "family boxes". These are boxes of items that have food supplies for a family of five each weighing around 60 pounds. They packed and handed out around 120 of them. They also handed out personal need items, cleaning supplies, and linens. When they closed the doors, they stayed and packed another 75 or so boxes for tomorrow. Justin, Morgen, Chris and I took a truck loaded with medical supplies and made emergency deliveries to area hospitals and rehab centers in the area. The people here were excited to see Jimmy as he is an electrician and spent his day going out to members homes restoring their power and making their homes inhabitalble again. Needless to say, nobody was for want of something to do.

After the work ended, everyone headed for the showers and cleaned up. With our delay in travel, this was the first time in over 36 hours. We ended our day with a devotional. Chris and Morgen and Chris lead a few songs, Justin lead a prayer, and I shared a devotional thought. With so much to be done, it is hard to tell if we are making a dent, but the faces of the people we are seeing assure us that God is doing a great work here. Looking back on the day and some to the conversations with the "leaders" of the operation, it is evermore apparent that the most flexible and needed commodity here is cash and manpower.

Tomorrow will be another day with the possibility of going out to see some of the more effected areas. We'll keep you posted and please continue to pray for us as we pray for you.

I think that about sums up the message from last night and I will have the teens redo their bloggings when we get together tonight.

Love 'Em Like Jesus,
Troy Blair, Youth Minister

Team 1 - Day 2 in the field

2005-09-13T11:06:00.000-04:00

Good morning. We arrived here about 8 am on Monday...

We set up our compound and unloaded our supplies.

We we went into the church to get an orientation....and boy did we get one! On our way in, they started picking off our people in groups to start to unload trucks, fill orders...deliver medical supplies, sort, and the list goes on and on. We worked till 8 pm....

The devestation is just unfathomable. I helped to drive some supplies to a family, who has 8 families living with them....25 minutes away...because of traffic, downed trees and more, we arrived to the house ..in the woods...a very poor family who had taken in there friends....we arrived there an hour and 15 minutes after leaving the building....

Steve and Stephen were sent to take medical supplies to a church. Troy took supplies to a hospital. The trucks and supplies are coming in....and have to be unloaded and sorted..

We are having a devo here in a few minutes.

Everyone here is working hard! Keep us in your prayers...and more news later today.

love ya

robin

Spring Road Katrina Relief Site Published

2005-09-13T10:34:00.000-04:00

You can now find concise, well organized, and up to date information at the new Katrina Relief site Spring Road Church of Christ has put up. This is the authoratative source for such information. This blog will now transition to updates from the field as they come in.

May God continue to bless this effort and bring the body of Christ together through service.

Week 1 - September 11 Team Info

2005-09-12T15:30:00.001-04:00

Robin Weier	rlwe96@aol.com
Gary Carmichael		740-965-2137
Steve Fuchs
Steven Fuchs
Troy Blair		614-937-1681
Lee Damron	cdamron@ccad.edu
Lisa Blair	lblair@insight.rr.com
Charlie Cramlet	cramlet@1st.net 740-989-2262
Adrienne Bradley		614-218-4777
Lora Bradley	azureoptics@hotmail.com	614-218-2777
Nathan Barnhardt	natedogg67@aol.com	614-394-3400
Jean Newberry	jnewberry@yahoo.com	304-863-3825
Lee Ann Maul	leeann@lasere.com	304-863-5816
Janice Lynch		304-863-6008
Todd Mullin
Amanda Evans	mlevansbh@cs.com	614-425-5639
Christopher Smith	trn2dend@hotmail.com	614-506-9228
Lauren McVicker	lmmcvicker@hotmail.com	614-899-0944
Kalee Barnhardt	dadezgirl4@aol.com	614-394-4544
JustinYates	jtastic06@yahoo.com	614-425-0032
Morgen Yates	lilhotchocolate12@yahoo.com	740-927-3399
Jimmy Patterson	ljpatt2003@wideopenwest.com	614-882-3188
Kasey Dunkin	agustus07@yahoo.com	614-337-1558
Kair Kogswell	gemini9821@aol.com	614-783-7829

Consolidated Information Update

2005-09-12T15:30:00.000-04:00

Dear Teams:

Well its been several days in coming but here it is. I am a little scattered, just to tell you how scattered, my original intent in this email was to have you call me if you "don't" get it so I can get your email address correct!!!!!!!

Anyway, attached is a team list and contacts. I would like to add your home church to the list so please email that to me. If I don't receive it by tonight I will be calling because I will assume you did not get this. Aha I figured it out. Also if you see someone you know and I have the wrong contact info email or call me. If you see I am missing some info for you please forward it to me with your church affiliation.

Some quick updates in terms of work etc.

We currently have 4 men out with chainsaws, one electrician being taken around to peoples homes who desperately need help, and one running medical supplies. From 10AM to 2 PM the rest of the team is working on handing out much need supplies.

I have been told dress and other items may change before the end of the week, so don't go buy anything yet.

Also the Red Cross has said only new clothes can be handed out so please no more clothes unless you are in a position to donate new clothes. As I get updates from our team I will let you know.

I need to get a vehicle list together as well as begin coordination for the next trip so please see below and let me know if you can help:

We still need:

10 air matresses or cots

food for the teams - no perishable stuff to take with us

20 cases of water for the teams per week

Gatorade or the like for the teams each week

Snacks for the teams each week.

$$$$ We have raised around $5,800 so far but the gas costs of transportation and generator use will eat that up before week 2 is over.

Also there seems to be much concern for the news reports ect discussing disease and the like. The area we are in was hard hit but did not have standing water and toxins all over so we believe at this point they are not an issue for our teams.

Also because of questions we have recieved we are asking that no one under high school age go with our groups.

We need trucks, did I say trucks??? we need to be able to haul away debris. Trailers too.

We could use campers (preferably with air) and preferably one's that could stay the month. It just takes less coordination this way.

Donations can be dropped at the Spring Road Church of Christ 74 S. Spring Westerville OH between the hours of 10 AM and 3 PM or with special arrangements. Again no clothes at this time.

Just some praise for you all:

We were able to secure a commercial ice maker and it is down there along with a regular size washer and dryer. we are still seeking a commercial washer and dryer.

We took down 8 chainsaws, 2 generators, lots of food, some clothing(it got through), Camping supplies for the month, an RV, shovels, buckets, 2 cases of clorox bleach and lots lots more. I will send out a supplies request by Weds of this week.

And you can see for yourselves the number of people who have responded to go work.

I hope this helps you all as you prepare for your time of service either by going to LA, collecting items, coordinating workers, sending money or however you are answering God's call.

Bless you all

Brad Hayes 614-288-5825.

Don't forget to send my your local church affiliation!

Week 2 - September 18 Team Info

2005-09-12T15:28:00.000-04:00

Carl Brown		614-778-0600
Kenny Nichols	kdnichols@copper.net
Karen Dorman	kdorman@childrenshungeralliance.org	614-447-0405 614-256-3718
Patti Ringle	patiwagn@hotmail.com
Bill Vath	vaths@fuse.net
Bev Vath	vaths@fuse.net
Emily Duffey	bduff123@yahoo.com	614-893-4877
Melinda Mcguire	melinda@securingbiz.com	614-523-3996
Steve Deel	skdeel@worthingtonindustries.com	740-9655232
Dean Meadows
Kitty Stephens	dkcdd@earthlink.com	614-464-2873
Chris Orecchio	chrisopta@earthlink.net	937-642-8087
Kelly Childs	kchilds@cinci.rr.com	513-367-2809
Casey Oakes	casey_Oakes@urscorp.com	513-419-3425
Carolyn Wiley	cjwiley@auditor.state.oh.us	614-901-0567
Doug Nichols	danichols@voyager.net	614-899-1153
Sharon Oakes	soakes@zoomtown.com	513-772-3599
Toni Rhodes	trhodes@columbus.rr.com
Carol Morrison (RV)		330-738-4051
Carol 2
Carol 3
Carol 4
Denise Rickard
Natalie Rickard
Cheryl Shirk
Tiffany Shirk

Week 3 - September 25 Team Info

2005-09-12T15:25:00.000-04:00

Tom McClannahan	trmemt@insight.rr.com
Becky McGiffin	samsmom@insight.rr.com
Mark McGiffin
Bill Zimmerman	blzim@onlyinternet.net	260-726-6456
Bill Wright	wright8683@verizon.net
Susan Wright	wright8683@verizon.net
John McGuire	john.n.mcguire@jpmchase.com	614-523-3996
Bob Eckleberry
Providence Road C of C	pkmassey@bellsouth.net

Week 4 - October 2 Team Info

2005-09-12T15:20:00.000-04:00

Jim Taylor	jjtay@loganrec.com	937- 592-1769
Greg Hunt	greg.hunt@officemax.com
Shawn Pittman	slpittman04@yahoo.com	937-586-7035
Laura Ross	polarbear1957@hotmail.com	330-634-1686
James Ross
Tommy Ross
Shannon Carlton	scarlton@columubus.rr.com	614-891-5721
Brad Hayes	bhayes@ttginc.net	614-288-5825
Amy Hayes	amy@ttgagent.com	614-288-5833
Whitney Hayes	whitney08@ttgagent.com	614-406-0502
Shanda Cheney	shandacheney@yahoo.com	614-471-2115
Randy Rhodes	rrhodes@jacadis.com	614 406 5295

Regarding Kids...

2005-09-12T15:11:00.000-04:00

A quick announcement -

There have been several request regarding what age children can go on the relief effort to LA. At this point we have set an age of teenager for the youngest. We have done this for the following reasons:

1.) All reports out of the regions are saying that it is no place for childrem

2.) We need our workers to be able to work, not have to look out after kids

3.) We love your kids

So, even though I originally planned to take Jackson (10) with me to LA, he will be staying home and my mom is coming to take care of him.

We love you all for your desire to contribute and work in this effort God has put before us.

Brad

First Contingent Arrives on Site

2005-09-12T14:47:00.000-04:00

9\12 – Heard from the team. Late last night they had members too tired to go on so they stopped for the night near Hattiesburg. They arrived at the Tammany Church of Christ in Mandeville, LA at about 9:30 this morning to cheers, hugs and tears. I have only been able to get through once since but they are active and working like bees. Everyone seems to have a chore and all are making a difference. What an awesome God we serve to bring all this together.

First Contingent Leaves Columbus

2005-09-12T14:46:00.000-04:00

9\11 - What an appropriate date to be sending out our first team. 21 people left the Spring Road Church of Christ building this morning in 6 vehicles towing 5 trailers full of supplies to work for the week. What an awesome blessing to see God’s work for the week come to fruition with this first group gathering for prayer at 10:00 and then heading out to LA.

News from the Field

2005-09-11T20:15:00.000-04:00

From: "Hines, J. Douglas (BB)"

Subject: Update from SE Louisiana

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 08:14:26 -0700

Good Morning to All the Saints and Friends;

Today coming in to the Church you could see the Mandeville area coming back to life, We have approximately 25% of the power restored, gas stations are opened, hardware, some food and people returning to the area.

What they are returning to is homes with trees on top of them, jobs lost, uncertainty of the future. In the surrounding towns the situation is not as good or as clear as we have here. Our groups are still out to these areas and yesterday went to Waveland, Kiln, Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Provisions are arriving to these areas now and different needs are developing. S0 much destruction, with so much loss.

I visited Bogalusa, La. yesterday with a group from Columbus, Ms. and what I saw was a truly humbling experience as they were ravaged by wind and most are without power. These people were lined up in cars picking up essentials, ice, and water. There was little in the way of toiletries, diapers, formula, cleaning solutions, BLEACH. We will make another run up there today. However, we see the people coming out of their fear and now facing shock as they deal with the reality of what has been lost. So much pain. However, what amazes me is that those that are working here have not taken time to look after their own homes, but thrown into the battle that we currently face.

We have been so blessed this past week. Groups have shown up to help. We are in amazement when we look at how they get here, armies of good souls that have heard of our plight in SE Louisiana and come to help, some just on the doorstep loaded and ready to help.

The group from Homewood, Ala was one of the first and there coming when they did allowed us so much hands when we did not know how we could get through the day. Provisions from the Red Cross keep coming. One truck came from Pennsylvania from a parking lot and turned into our driveway with food and provisions at the time they were needed the most.

Dardanelle, Ark, Little Hicking, Oh., Russellville, Ala, Lexington, Al; Muscle Shoals, Al; Vestaria, Al, Pottsville, Ark., Denton, Tx; Ferris, TX; Hemphill. TX.; Iowa City, IA;Des Moines, Ia.; Ames, IA; Coraville, IA., Riverside, IA.; Lake Ramsey, IA., Chalmette, La., Lacombe, Lake Charles, La. Lafayette, La. Kenner, La.; Gardenville, Ark.; Oak Ridge, Ten....and others, just coming and coming. We have aid coming from Canada, Honduras, Mexico, people from all over responding to Gods call. We have made the news from Missouri to Seattle, to Phoenix and calls are coming in as well from those areas.

God has a plan, given his instructions and the people here are on the ground taking comfort to the hurting souls.

We still have so many needs and will for a long time, but we are seeing where to grow and go deliver Jesus in their lives.

The people of SE Louisiana are special, they will rebuild. We have to prepare for them to come home. Mandeville is committed to working in the other areas to assist all in need, God is directing and protecting us.

This is the Good news. The Bad news is that areas are still under water, no power, no water, no services. I can tell you that for the past days we have labored in heat and it is not pleasant. Yesterday I talked to the Parish Council in St. Bernard and they will no be able to even get on the streets for 2-4 weeks. 80% of the homes are destroyed, 90% of the people in shelters or other homes. I listened to their tears on the phone and promised to come as soon as we could. We know the churches in New Orleans were flooded and their members spread out. We want to be able to send crews out to repair what they have lost and are preparing. We heard the cries of those around us as we went to the outlying areas, heard their please for mercy. The Good News is that we are organized and ready to bring this comfort to these areas.

God is Good and will direct us.

We will be continuing our efforts to bring food and supplies to these areas, but will now start to move into the neighborhoods to bring help and comfort. Also, to bring prayer, counseling, devotion to Gods plan that could come into their lives.

This is a laughing task that we have in front of us and will be for many years to come, but we Praise God that he has delivered to us this opportunity for those that love the Lord.

Satan has been run out and God has delivered to us this opportunity to take his message to the flock. Shame on us all if we do not heed his calling.

Today is a day of Prayer and we ask that all lift up these our prayers to the Altar of God, thanking him for Son and the grace that he has given to us. !!! and not only us but to all who hear his calling.

Get the word out; his saints are on the ground marching into battle. We cannot do this alone and need your help.

We would like to hear from you even if you cannot help at this time, except with prayers.

Get the word out; tell all that you know...

Listed below is our updated prayer list again. There are some changes.

1. Need to arrange to get a mobile shower and a mobile toilets...Urgently...Tell us where to go...
2. Industrial Size Washers and Dryers.....Urgently...

We can make available our building to stay, but we need to be able to accommodate and need it quickly. HELP !!!!!!

3. We "DO NOT" need anymore clothes for now !!!!!!!!!!! please do not send, but wait until St. Bernard and NO is open.
4. Toiletries, shampoo, toothpaste, even some makeup.....
5. Canned meats, fruits, diapers, formula, energy drinks, fruit snacks.
6. Pick up trucks with trailers and drivers for 2 weeks
7. Winnebago's and pop up containers, self contained
8. Electricians to set up external power hookups
9. Tarps of all sizes, Visqueen
10. 50 chain saws, stihl brand as they are more durable, 100 chains, commercial chain sharpener
11. 1 inch ropes
12. 100 mattresses
13. 15 live bodies, willing to work in in Air-conditioned church to prepare boxes to go out
14. Cases of packing tape
15. 5 empties semi-trucks containers to be used for 2 months
16. 100 gallon gas tank to take to station for refilling
17. Generators
18. 20 people for roof crews
19. 40 people for chain saw crews
20: New Items: Bleach, Mops, Clean up supplies
21. New Item: More bleach
22. Councilors, men to pray with the victims and refugees...Preachers to work with the lost and dying.

We will update this information as available.

Chain Saws crews, electricians, pick up truck with trailers, plumbers, brick layers, and one with this experience.

And, yes we need resources to accomplish this daunting task ahead of us, we need your support.

We have established a special account to manage this effort.

All Donations should be made to

Tammany Oaks Disaster Relief The PO box in this email has changed

Tammany Oaks Church of Christ Disaster Relief
Po Box 22
Mandeville, LA 70470-0022

Or Direct Deposit
Chase Bank
Route # 065400137
Acct # 699495131

To the Account of Tammany Oaks Church of Christ, Disaster relief fund.
Delivery Address: 3700 Hwy 59
Mandeville, La. 70471

God Bless you ALL and may his blessings be on us all.

2nd Letter (More Details)

2005-09-10T14:59:00.000-04:00

9/10/2005 - Brad Hayes

If you are receiving this message it means you are either going down to go on our trip to LA this Sunday or I wanted you to have some of the updated information contained in the attached document. Don't panic if you are going in a later week, I am just sending this to you as an FYI. I am having trouble with one of my computers but I will try to forward a teams and contact list tomorrow. Please read and review.

God has been hard at work and it has been such a blessing to witness Him in action. We have 21 people going to work the week of 9/11 with an additiona 40 signed up across the other 3 weeks.

Your trip will leave this Sunday at 9:00 AM from the Spring Road church. Please do not be late.

Remember you are God's ambassador into an area that has been devastated by dissaster. We love you and appreciate you for your efforts.

We will be praying for you daily as you labor in love for Him who first loved us.

Brad Hayes

In looking back over my letter and notes I forgot one major item. Money ............ we have received approximately $4700 thus far to help support our trips. This is an excellent start and we so appreciate your repsonse however we need to raise the funds to cover the cost of 3 to 6 vehicles to travel approx 2000 miles for the week, run generators, purchase some food and water, and other assundry items not to mention special needs we may run into while there. Please send any moneys made out to Spring Road C of C, 74 south spring road, westerville oh 43081. Please note on the check Katrina funds. Thank you.

Attached Letter:

Katrina Update for 9\11 Team

We currently have all the food items we will need to send with the team for the week. We have an RV, 3 trucks, and a Navigator for transport of our 20 team members. We have one team member meeting us in LA.

We have collected several chainsaws, shovels, trash bags, boxes and tape. I need to update my list on the donors of these items. A couple of churches have drop off supplies for victims they had intended for the evacuees who are no longer coming to Ohio.

Dicks Sporting Goods donated 3 portable showers, 4 cots and two air beds 3 camping stoves, a couple lanterns, and a few other items. Safety Solutions donated a large supply of gloves, glasses, some boots and other items. Wendy’s donated paper goods and many many individuals have donated as well. We got a generator from Sears and we have one on loan. We have hand sanitizer, personal items and other things you may need for your trip.

We could still use the following:

10 cots or air mattresses
Trailers – tow behind- preferably open so we can haul debris with them as well
Additional RV’s, 5^th wheels, or large campers with air conditioning
Pickups for this week and the coming weeks – especially the next couple of weeks.

If we can not get more of these items some team members will need to sleep on the church floor on ground under the tents.

The Mandeville church has put out a request for the following items. We don’t necessarily need these for the first week but please take note.

Industrial size Ice Machine
Industrial Washer and Dryer
Lengths of 1 inch rope
Cots and Mattresses
Empty Semi trailers for storage for the next couple of months
5 gas pressure washers
Packing tape
2-250 gallon holding tanks – on for diesel fuel one for gas
100 gallon portable gas container
50 generators
40 chainsaws
Lots and lots of workers

If you or a church in your area can help with any of these items we will make sure we can come up with a way to get it down to the church.

Things you need to bring with you:

Comfortable clothing to work in
We have 15 pair of hip waders for those going out in the mud, you will need comfortable work shoes
Personal items
Money for food while traveling – we will also have lunches packed and prepared for you
Sunscreen and bug spray
Bedding that can work on floor, cot or air mattress
Pillow
Bandana to cover your face – will work as well or better than masks

The 9\11 team is leaving from 74 S. Spring Road at 9:00 AM on Sunday morning and will make the trip in one day if God is willing for it to be that way. We will have plenty of room on the way down with a little less coming home because we will be leaving the RV.

Please, if you know people who want to volunteer in future weeks have them contact me or send me their name and contact information. We so appreciate your willingness to give of your time, strength, and love. Our God is great and wonderful and we thank you for sharing that with the folks in LA.

If you have other questions please call me at 614-288-5825

Brad Hayes

Initial Letter

2005-09-08T14:54:00.000-04:00

9/8/2005 Brad Hayes

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Robin, Gary Carmichael, and I have met to discuss a coordinated effort from Central Ohio churches. We have been in touch with a church in that is acting as a command center in the area. They have made contact with emergency management and Red Cross efforts and are trying to facilitate those efforts. Their biggest need is people, let me say it again, THEIR BIGGEST NEED IS PEOPLE!!!!!!

After talking it over with them we have decided to try and coordinate a group of work teams to go down for a week at a time to work with their effort. They are setting their church up to handle and coordinate 300 volunteers; so far they basically have none as they are just getting started. Our goal is to coordinate at least 30 workers to go down for a week at a time over the next 4 weeks. Please check your schedule and see if you can be available. This will meet 10% of their overall goal.

We will be coordinating transportation, food, sleeping arrangements etc. Expect to sponge bath in the church sinks, at least they have fresh clean water and toilet facilities. Sleeping arrangements may be in tents or beds they are trying to get to set up in the church. Basically groups that go have to be self-sufficient, the church is a coordination point with local needs. We are going to do all we can take make this as comfortable as possible but we are unsure of what we will have to take with us at this time.

The first group will leave Sunday from the Church building. We are trying to coordinate a send off at this time.

We are in need of the following:

Callers - we need some people to get on the phone to local business to help us get tools, supplies and other items to go with us.

Vehicles - if you have a truck or a trailer they are in desperate need of these down there. If you can't go but would be willing to let it be used please let us know. We also need a larger vehicle like a moving van or semi to haul items.

Tools - they need rakes and shovels mostly. Generators would also be a big help as the weeks go on an portable power for tools become necessary.

Supplies - garbage bags are heavily needed at this time.

All the above would help but we need you. Ask your employer is they will support you in this work and allow you to go without costing you vacation time.

This process is going to be long and difficult and they are going to need help first in cleaning up the unbelievable mess, then there will be significant demolition work, and then the rebuilding and repairing process. We are committing to put teams together for one month but we would like to continue beyond that so please get back to me if you want to go but can't go until October.

I have agreed to coordinate the work teams and help raise funds. I can be reached at this email address or on Cell phone at 614-288-5825 during the work day or my home phone is best in the evening and weekends at 614-891-6887.

Gary Carmichael is coordinating supplies so if you have rakes, garbage bags, chainsaws, or shovels please call Gary at 740-965-2137.

Robin is coordinating logistics. He is leaving with another group to deliver much needed propane and other supplies tomorrow and will go visit the church we will be working with as well as the other items we will need to take into consideration.

The first work team will leave on September 11, (how appropriate) and will include Robin and Gary for sure. They will return on Saturday the 17th.

The second team will leave on Sunday September 18.

Team 3 will leave on September 25

Team 4 will leave on October 2.

Please check your calendars and sign up to work for a week. The church said all ages are welcome but they can not be responsible for small children ect. It will most likely be best to leave any at home who can not work out in the field for at least 8 to 10 hours.

More will follow as we get it together but we need you praying and checking your schedules now. Lets help make our Christianity active and go help if we can.

Because He loves us,

Brad Hayes

Destination

Contact Information

Telephone: 985-626-8360

FAX: 985-626-8366

Address: Tammany Oaks Church of Christ

P.O. Box 22

Mandeville, LA 70470-0022

Web Site: www.tammanyoaks.org

Office Coordinator: bgilbert@tammanyoaks.org

Minister: tvogt@tammanyoaks.org

Family Minister: edavenport@tammanyoaks.org