I’m going to be perfectly blunt, I don’t like cigarettes. I don’t like the smell, the fact that people believe throwing them on the ground isn’t littering (I don’t get this one), and probably the cancer they cause.

But sometimes, I don’t like people who smoke them (just sometimes). This is bad and that is why I am confessing it now. Its not really that I don’t like them, but I do judge them and look at them differently.

Let me give you an example of how my judgment led to my shame on the mission trip. The church had a no tobacco/alcohol policy on the site due to the scores of youth participating in the restoration in Bay St. Louis. Fine with me, I could live without a beer for a week.

But the problem was that even some of the Lagniappe staff workers and interns smoked cigarettes on site. I just noticed it a few times. And so I thought to myself, “I guess they are not too picky about who they bring on staff here.”

And then one night I had a conversation with one of “The Smokers.” Wow. It was the most encouraging and challenging conversation I had the whole week. He spoke of how God had called him there, how He had graciously supported him (all the staff are on support; but this guy didn’t ask anyone for a dime-all the money came from 2 unsolicited resources!), and how it was the hardest work of his life and yet he was “having the time of his life.” Even further proof that there is a supernatural joy that comes when you lay your life down.

I was ashamed at myself for judging this man. I should have looked at the planks in my own eye. While I still think smoking is not a good habit, I hope to be less judgmental toward smokers. There seems, at least in my own heart, a stigma toward smoking. But in reality, gossip and sins of the tongue are way worse-and actually mentioned in the bible. In addition, I have plenty of stuff in which you or they could be judgmental toward me. I hope I can remember that.

I’ll admit, I’m on a ‘missions’ fix right now, with all posts being related to missions. Well, this may be it, for the time. Below I’ve posted an article I wrote for the Bradenton Herald before I left. Since the circulation doesn’t get past Bradenton, I’m posting a link here to direct you to the article should you want to read it (I’m not going to be presumptuous and presume). Of course they changed my title again, but this time the title is ‘doable,’ and doesn’t take away from the well crafted article. There is a mistake with the website listed for the church; the correct link is gohope.net

Anyhow, the trip was a blast, further proving the point that we find more joy by laying down our lives. Someone on staff at the mission church told me that, “You’ll never work so hard, be so tired, but have more fun in your life. ” In that one week, I could agree with him and the articl I wrote on an existential level. That’s always a plus.

Article in Herald

Many people have a bad picture of the church. They see TV preachers asking for money, saying “Go to the phones!” or see Pat Robertson representing the Christian voice in politics. However in the Mississippi gulf coast area, there is currently a more positive picture of the church.

The government as entirely pulled out of the reconstruction effort. Entirely. The only people coming and leading the effort to help rebuild the area are churches. The people there are so thankful that the churches haven’t forgotten.

The church in America has fallen short in many areas over the years, but they have been ‘on the ball’ this time. And Christ is being honored. In other centuries, the church has been quick to dispense mercy. They used to take in babies bound for the dung heap (Romans weren’t very nice to unwanted babies) and they were the ones who took care of folks (and died trying) during the European plagues. It was the Church, not the government.

So Katrina relief is just following a pattern laid down by brothers/sisters of previous generations. And Christ is getting glory down in Mississippi. And that’s pretty dang cool, eh?

We’re are now currently done with our our house. We left it in much better shape than we found it. All in all, we ‘demolitioned’, cleaned out a ton of debris that was still there after 2 years, insulated, cut/hung/mudded/taped, dry-walled the whole house. There are just a few places that didn’t get taped.

The Lagniappe people couldn’t believe how much was done, and done well. Thanks again for praying.

We turned in time sheets for hours worked, which will be turned into FEMA, and the debt of the town will be reduced. So we have actually not only helped the Favre family (remember, no relation to Brett-but she did go to high school with him and next year is the 20 year reunion), but also the town.

I’m off to go help Johnny paint the wooden manatee that we cut out. Each team makes some sort of wooden ‘memento’ to leave at the church. Marla suggested a manatee for Manatee County, and Steven suggested we leave “Hope Pres” in boat scars on his back. While scars may be a stretch to accomplish, the manatee looks good. We made our county proud.

Have a good one, and please pray for our drive home tomorrow. It’s long, and we’re tired. Peace.

Sorry we don’t have any quotes. It was a silent day. We worked like monks.

Today was really a great day. We got a ton of stuff done, having gone through 21 sheets of dry wall. That’s a lot, it really is. The Lagniappe staff can’t keep up with us, and they act surprised everyday when I request more.

More than that, its quality. The interns overseeing the project spend very little time at our house. They just stop by, give us a popsicle, and tell us everything looks really good. One group had to redo all of their mudding and taping, but we’ve been doing it so well. That’s a praise to God who grants wisdom and skill and all kinds of knowledge. Daniel once said the same thing about his dream interpreting ability. But this is no less amazing.

The kids are getting some skills down and doing quite well. The adults aren’t half bad either.
I hope you can tell how much work is getting done through the posted pictures.

Some of the pics are from our trip to New Orleans last night. We saw the mighty Mississippi. It couldn’t have been muddier.

Keep praying. One more day of work, and then the drive home Saturday. Peace.

Quotes of the Day:

• “These lights of (New Orleans) are nice but they don’t have the WOW of Las Vegas.”- Micheal Bouwer
• “These containers smell like Tad Poles.” -Jessica Terry

Wed, June 13th, Workday 3

The day was originally supposed to be a half day of work, ending at 2 pm (although that really wouldn’t be half). However we did end a little earlier today, at 3 pm. Today was a day of screwing around (literally). We put up a ton of screws. In addition, more dry wall was added and mud after that, and tape after that. And then some more dry wall mud.

We finally got to meet the family today, and that was a blast. They couldn’t be nicer. Really, they couldn’t.

The team is looking forward to dinner in New Orleans, as we’ll be leaving the compound shortly. Please pray for grace and patience. Grace is slow to be given and patience only shows up every so often when you get really tired. And we are tired. And our reward that we’re all looking forward to when we get back from New Orleans is this: bathroom duty!

The guys will be short handed, so we ought be up for a bit tonight. So, keep praying the 3 fold prayer mentioned on the Tuesday blog. And for the part about US, please pray for grace and patience with each other. That’s one way we ‘resist the devil (James 4:7).’ Peace.

I just figured out that the computers here at Lagniappe take the storage cards in our cameras. So I thought I’d post some more pictures today.

One thing that I haven’t mentioned much of is the relational component of the ministry here. Yesterday we met the homeowner’s father. It turns out that he is a big fisherman and loved to share his secrets on trout and redfishing in the area. Unfortunately we won’t have time to try them out. But just listening to this man was truly a blessing for him.

In addition we talked with some plumbers who had to ride out of their house on a boat during Katrina. They eventually came back to their house, and just rebuilt it one room at a time. There are so many stories and so little time to share. Hopefully we’ll get the chance when we get back. The kids have done a great job, and of course the adults as well. I’m blessed with this crew; I really am. Hope these pics give you an idea of what you’re praying for.

If not, then here is the standard prayer outline we’re following. Thanks!

1.) Us-needs of the team
2.) Lagniappe church-that operations continue, and ministry increases
3.) Kingdom-God’s Kingdom=His will and reign through reconstruction efforts and humble Christ centered community, and all of life and culture here

By the way, that’s Budweiser water we’re holding. Relax, its just water!

Tuesday, Work Day 2

Today is Tuesday, a great day for work. We put up some lovely sheet rock, and tore down some unlovely sheet rock. Jerusha, Johnny, Courtney, Sam, Hannah were part of the demolition squad. They left a huge wake of destruction in their paths, which was quickly hauled out to the corner.

In addition to putting up the sheet rock, the ladies laid some delicious mud on the dry wall, covering the disgusting nails. They also taped like it was nobody’s business. And it really wasn’t.

This morning Johnny got a chance to pray with a lady who was deeply upset about her housing situation. She was very happy to pray with someone, and to know that someone cared enough. She said, “Jesus Christ, thank you so much for this kid!”

Heads bumped a bit, sparks flew (so I’m told-I witnessed no sparks), but God’s grace prevailed.
We were visited by some trusty interns who showed us the way to more effective mud and tape dry wall. The girls thanked God for sending them.

Dave Bouwer’s constrcution prowess has shined. He’s been leading a good ship. It’s been getting rather warm lately, so please keep praying for strength. Thanks again. Talk to you tomorrow. More camera trouble now, so hope to post some more pics next time. Peace.

Great News. I used Steven’s camera and Johnny’s camera USB cord to connect to my computer, so here are some pics. We spent a lot of the time doing demolition of the inside of a house, cleaning debris, and fully insulating the house. It happened to belong to a Favre, but no relation to the interception prone quarterback that the Bucs usually eat for breakfast Brett Favre.

We started at 8 this morning and ended around 4:15 or so. Thanks for your prayers. We got a ton of stuff done, and tomorrow we will commence dry-walling. We only did one piece today.

Pray for our safety, physical stamina, skill, patience with each other, and if time-Sam’s cell phone to work! Thanks again! Peace.

Quotes of the day:

“My mom said my IQ was 20/20.”- Johnny Weichel

“What’s 37 + 38? 39?” – Micheal Bouwer

“I don’t know what they call this hear, but in Florida its called a Violation of Child Labor
Laws.-Jessica Terry

“There’s something about sandwiches that’s just Oh so scrumptuous!”-Jessica Terry

Worship this morning was, well, quite worshipful. The funny thing was that we opened our service with the same exact song people at Hope Presbyterian opened with: better is one day. The service was very laid back as the pastor actually wore shorts (my dream one day is to preach in shorts), but the mood was still reverent. We sang some of the same songs that we sing at Hope, and even had a prayer request time.

After lunch, we went to the beach. Nothing to write home about.Ugly sand. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the chords to connect to the computer with the camera. I know I spelled chords incorrectly but the computer I’m working with doesn’t delete very quickly; its like a type writer. Anyhow, I’m trying to get pictures up, but have had some computer troubles so far. If I can, I’ll get you pictures.

Tonight we received our ‘orders.’ Unfortunately the dude said, “You’ll have to see Ruth tomorrow at 7 am, because I don’t know anything about this particular house.” Great. So we’ll be doing some gutting and cleaning and repair. Probably.

I’ll update tomorrow with what we did exactly. Thanks for praying. Peace