Foundations

Months after this post, and after a group of 20 of our church members went down to New Orleans, Beulah Land Baptist Church officially opened its doors today, Sunday February 1st 2009. 3 members of the team and I drove down to attend the dedication ceremony. I have never experienced anything like it. The word "foundation" came up over and over during the weekend...

The pastor of the church, Michael Zachary was telling us about the final building inspection. The pastor was surprised to find out that the foundations of the church consisted of 86 40-feet pylons. Not 4, like he originally thought, but 86! The need for solid physical foundations became more apparent after Katrina. It's easy after a while to take our foundations for granted.

When Pastor Zachary was finally able to come back to see his church 3 years ago, he was devastated. The foundations had failed his church. The building sunk into the ground. Water covered the entire church. Only the steeple was visible from the sky. The first decision he made was to rebuild the church, not just replace the existing building. He had little money, little resources, but he knew he was serving a Big God!

He decided to rebuild his church on a rock. Little did he know of the plans God had for him and his church. Little did he know of the generosity of his relatives, congragation and strangers. Little did he know that a group of 20 strangers from Ohio would be a part of God's plan to rebuild Beulah Land. I find it so amazing.

It reminded me of Joseph's struggles in the last part of Genesis. When I looked back and saw the hand of God through all the tribulations, and struggles Joseph experienced; I began to understand the concept of God's plan for our lives. I don't understand it fully, of course, all I know is that He DOES have a plan for each one of us. There was absolutely no way for Pastor Zachary to know how his church would be rebuilt. He had a vision, and a promise from God. Most importantly, he trusted His Heavenly Father, even on the darkest of days.

The spiritual foundation of the church is clearly stated in the theme of the dedication ceremony: "a house founded upon a rock", based on Matthew 7:25:

"The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."

The guest speaker, Pastor Melvin Washington, also talked solid foundations. With a solid foundation, I am not scared of the rain, the wind, or ANY storm. With a solid foundation, I look forward to tribulations. With a solid foundation, I give thanks in all circumstances.



EED

Welcome to the 9th ward...

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words... I have taken a lot of pictures on my current trip to New Orleans, but I could not pick one that can describe what has happened in the 9th ward.

My pictures are not able to describe the helplessness, the emptiness, the devastation... 3 years after Katrina. My pictures are not able to capture the sparks of hope in the midst of the emptiness. There are blocks and blocks of empty houses, deserted parks, vacant lots, and abandoned schools... Suddenly in the middle of the nothingness: volunteers cleaning lots, construction workers on their lunch breaks, strangers from Connecticut on a mission trip to rebuild a pastor's home.

My pictures don't speak a thousand words. They tried to capture the spark in the darkness, the beginning of hope...I am not sure they succeeded.


EED

Genesis 9:15-16

"I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." Genesis 9:16

As I read these verses, my mind went back to the first day we worked at Beulah Land Baptist Church in New Orleans. At the end of the workday, while pastor Michael Zachary was delivering a great sermon, and sharing some promises with us; it rained for a long time... I have to admit that I was a little scared being inside the church, the weather forecast called for all sorts of warnings.

At the end of the service, we all went outside and saw not one, but two rainbows in the sky. We all intuitively knew that God was smiling down on us. It was such an incredible moment. Reading these verses just took me back to that day, and I am so grateful that the church was not only protected from hurricane Gustav, but Ike as well.


So faithful!

EED

I am back!

A group of us came back to Dayton on Sunday morning around midnight. As we were unloading our luggage from Jon's van, a car pulled into the Church parking lot, and the driver asked "Is the first service at 9:00am?" We all looked at each other, and said "Yes". The two people in the car said thank you and left. How strange...

Almost every thing about this trip was strange, and amazing! I have learned a few lessons and met some great people. We would get to the site at 7:00am, have breakfast, and work until 6pm or later, with lunch and dinner breaks of course. I spent most of my time there on either a scaffold, or a scissor lift (or just ladders sometimes), insulating, mudding, taping, sanding ceilings or high walls. I even learned how to operate a scissor lift! My body was covered in fiberglass for 2 days...ouch!

My lessons started as soon as we started driving down to New Orleans. Here is a list of a few of them:

• Lesson: Don't judge people by their appearances, we all have different stories.

I should know this by now, but I am sometimes caught off guard when I meet people who seem to have it all together, only to realize that they also carry their own set of problems. All I could so in most cases was to offer them my undivided attention, but I am always amazed to realize how a few words of encouragement can make a difference in someone's day. I could tell that some people were not used to sharing their problems, but it was as if being stuck in the same car for 15 hrs, working and sweating together made it safe for us to talk freely about our lives.

• Lesson: humility.

We all needed a good dose of humility to survive the week. We all had so many different personalities, but we all tried to remember the reason why we were down there. Of course, it made me feel good when Rick, my partner in crime, started calling me "Boss", but I tried hard not to let it get to my head. I started joking and called him "My best employee ever!". I think we did pretty good overall.

• Lesson: stop when you need to stop. Listen to your body.

I learned that the hard way. We started working on Sunday, and by Wednesday afternoon, my body decided to shut down for the day. It just shut down, and I simply could not do anything! It felt really scary, but my body is not really used to 4 straight days of manual labor under the hot Louisiana sun. I had to take it easy the rest of the afternoon, and came back stronger the next day.

• Lesson: perseverance

Perseverance almost came easy for us because we were working to rebuild His Church, a gathering place for His followers. When we realized that only a very small group was able to come down for the second week, we unanimously decided to stay and work an extra day, some people even stay 2 days! It was really amazing!


I will try to post some pictures later...technical issues with Blogger...

EED

My New Orleans friends

Thank you God for all the wonderful & inspirational people I have met and got to know better on this trip:

Thank you for honest Darlene,

Thank you for sweetest Peggy and her faithful Mike

Thank you for soul searching Victoria, hard working Janet and curious Emma

Thank you for wonderful Rick,

Thank you for supportive and unstoppable Josh, Jon, Ralph, Ron, Jim, David, Derek, and Terry

Thank you for talented Pat and Gregg's leadership

Thank you God for using Mark to send me these words of encouragement:

"You can do it all! I've seen you do it all week. You can do anything you set you mind to, and NEVER let anyone tell you otherwise"

$15.97...

...is what I spent on Sunday for:
- 4 pairs of shorts (the current temperature in New Orleans is close to 100 degrees!)
- 4 short sleeved shirts
- 1 pair of comfortable pants (recommended during the insulation process)

The Goodwill store is a wonderful place! I am almost done packing.

We had another meeting on Sunday, and we went over most of the final details. 4 women (including me) are going for the first week. 3 of us were at the meeting and agreed to share a hotel room (55 bucks divided by 3= cheaper than 55 bcuks by myself!). We are also driving down together.

This is the schedule so far:

Saturday, July 26: Meeting at 6:30 AM at the Vineyard.
Drive down to New Orleans: Approx 13 hrs
Sunday: First day of work- Insulation
Monday- Thursday: dry wall/ mud taping/ paint, tile
Friday: drive back to Dayton

I am sad about missing the last segment of the never-ending (jk) emotional roller coaster series, not working with the kids, missing a ministry training class, an outreach event, and the WOW service while I am gone. I am also a little nervous, but I am more exited than anything else! I cant wait to see how God will use me and each one of us during this trip. Plus, it turns out that hanging dry wall MAY not be as difficult as it sounds...

EED

Faith vs. Reason

One of the homework questions for the next Knowing the Voice of the Lord class is to define the difference between faith and reason. There are tons and tons of books written on the subject… and I don’t think I have the time (or desire) to read each one of them. Instead, I am going to use the example of the most recent (rather important) decision I have made. I actually made it today, so it is still fresh. I will use MY understanding of both faith and reason to explain my thought process.

It all started when I received the weekly church newsletter a few weeks ago, with the following announcement:

“We have been making preparations for a New Orleans Mission Trip, and we finally have some details available. We are planning to go to New Orleans July 19-31 [NOTE: dates were later changed to July 26-August 9]. This means we need people up who are able to go and work, and we also are asking for monetary donations to supply materials. Maybe you cannot go to New Orleans, but you would like to help financially so we can purchase materials.
As we help Beulah Land Baptist Church rebuild, we will be making a big difference in the spiritual climate of New Orleans. If you would like more details about this trip, are interested in going to New Orleans, and/or would like to make a donation please contact…”

REASON: I start doing the math, and realize that I probably will not be able to help financially. I have so many things going on, so many things I need to prepare for. Besides, I have already made other financial commitments that I don’t think I can get out of. As far going down to New Orleans, same issue, how am I going to pay for transportation, sleeping arrangements and stuff like that???

FAITH: I start weeping right then and there in front of my computer at work. Not sure why… I need to figure something out.

I get home and talk to my sister about it. I tell her that I need to find a way to help, somehow. The conversation then turns into: “Why do YOU have to do it?”

REASON: Why indeed? I am sure there are lots of volunteers who probably are more able to help financially, or any other way. I don’t have to feel guilty about not being able to help; I would if I could…

FAITH: I don’t want to do this out of guilt! It just feels like the right thing to do… I can’t possibly explain it. I need to figure something out.

After weeks of praying, and working with numbers, I decide to go to the informational meeting for the mission trip. I also realize that my last day at my current place of employment is less than a week before the start of the trip.

REASON: It’s probably a coincidence. You have to watch your spending…

FAITH: Coincidence? Really? I doubt it… If this is a coincidence, then my life the past few months has just been a continuous series of coincidences...

I get to the meeting today (after a rather interesting series of events AND a free lunch from the Cheesecake Factory! YUM!), I sit down, and GH talks about the details of the trip.

REASON: Hmmm… It doesn’t sound as expensive as I first thought… It’s actually doable. I might be able to go down there for a week. I need to check this out…

FAITH: I am weeping during the entire meeting… Actually weeping! This guy across from me is looking at me, probably thinking: “Great!!! Just what we need…a crybaby!” I need to add here, that I VERY rarely cry in public.

After the meeting, I walk up to GH and sign up on the spot! Does it make sense? Actually, I don’t think it’s supposed to. By the way, what did GH mean when he talked about hanging dry wall? Just kidding!

I am SO exited!!!!

EED