What a journey!

Thank you to everyone who supported us and prayed for us! It was obvious from the beginning of this journey that God was with us. We thank Him for safe travels!

We enjoyed much fellowship, laughter, and growth together. Our York team consisted of 27 members. We joined a team of 28 from the Chambersburg area. This group of 55 created an awesome team for God.

I want to thank the team at North Shore Disaster Recovery for their excellent job. They were able to keep us very busy and they did a great job of keeping needed supplies on our jobs. To Dale, Ashlie, Chris, and the rest of your team--THANK YOU!

I also want to thank Charlie Brown for helping me lead this trip, and Dave Fry for doing an excellent job with this blog site. It was his talents that kept you all informed.

I need to thank all of the team members for their excellent expressions of Christian love, their patience, and flexibility. The shear fact that you put up with me all week is a testimony of grace.

This welcome home sign is a great sight to see after a long but fantastic journey. "Val", our GPS, was a valuable tool. She guided us when we didn't know our way.

This reminds me of the greatest tool I rely on-God-because God Provides Security, the best GPS of all. It is for the glory of His Son, Jesus Christ, that we step out in faith to serve!

Hospitality at its finest

Thanks to the folks at Englewood UMC in Englewood TN!!! Your generous meal offer was obviously appreciated by all. Our stop here was a refreshing oasis on the journey back to York. After filling the teams bellies with a homemade hot meal and desserts, we continued on to Abingdon, Va for the night.

Pleasant View UMC in Abingdon is always a welcome and warm host for an overnight stay. Thank you Kathy T and crew for once again making us feel at home. We awoke to 2" of fresh snow on Sunday.

We packed our bags and we are headed home. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. We will see everybody Sunday afternoon.

We made a trip down to New Orleans to see the destruction from Hurricane Katrina. At some portions of the Lower 9th Ward, the water was 22 feet deep. The marks on the building signified at the top of the X the day, to left was the organization whom searched the house, and at the bottom the number of fatalities. Luckily we only saw zeroes. The orange numbers on the sidewalks in front of the houses identifies that the state has purchased the property and the people will not return. Brad Pitt is funding the rebuilding of 150 homes in the Lower 9th Ward.

Homeowners and Workers

Here are some of the homeowners and the workers from the jobs.

The Well Traveled Donation

This generous donation of nails has traveled with us on several work camps. Their purpose and destination have finally been nailed down ! Thanks Ken

Labostria House

Today we worked at the Labostria household. We needed to tear off shingles and repair the roof. We also cleaned up the entire property of debris.

Sager Brown Mission Center

Sager Brown is UMCOR's main hub to the world. Any shipment of supplies shipping any where outside of the U.S., must pass through this hub. We delivered several boxes of basketballs and mosquito nets to be shipped to Uganda. We also toured their small sewing room, where volunteers sew baby clothes, bags, and aprons to be shipped to needy families. The one picture shows 11,000 flood buckets that have been assembled by the many volunteers.

Mrs. Cabalero's House

At Mrs. Cabalero's house we started removing the shingles from her roof. We completed removing half of the houses shingles and laid down the felt on that half of the roof.

Steve Kent Household

At the Steve Kent household, we had to move some furniture to prepare ourselves to drywall. Dale shows us that he had to work in some very tight quarters.

Team Building Exercise

To prepare us for our many journeys this week, we participated
in an exercise in which we had to learn to listen to the one
voice that would lead us on our "journey through the mind field".

Made it to Slidell

After 25 hours of driving we finally made it to Slidell. We are figuring out the facilities at Aldersgate UMC, our host church. We are exhausted but glad to be here.

Greetings Dear Friends

Welcome to the Slidell Louisiana blog site. I am glad you have joined us for this journey and I ask that you keep the entire team in your prayers. As I make the final preparations for our departure, on Saturday morning at 0530, I am amazed at what I see our Great God doing as we prepare for this mission trip. His blessings are already abundant!
Please check back often as we keep you posted on the work, the fun, and the journey. I pray that this blog will help you go with us, and grow with us, as this team of volunteers serves our Brothers and Sisters in need.