Monday, September 28, 2009

NOLA 3! Getting ready to go!

Hello everyone!  We are gearing up for our next trip to New Orleans to help restore people into their homes.  We leave on October 10th and return on October 18th.  There will be 15 people on our team, mostly repeaters, but 3 new faces to the mix.  

The Go'ers:
Rod Sc.-  7th trip
Howard N.- 7th grip
Lewis W.-  6th trip
Corrine M.- 6th trip
Bob N.- 5th trip
Rod St.- 4th trip
Ginger St- 4th trip
Ali St- 3rd trip
Jeff S.- 3rd trip
Matt S.- 3rd trip
Carolyn W.-  3rd trip
Jim P.- 2nd trip 
Kim O.- 1st trip
Donna G- 1st trip
Pete D-  1st trip.  

We will be staying on the edge of the French Quarter at North Rampart Community Center.  One of the challenges for this trip involving where we are staying will be parking.  There is no off-street parking for this facility.  I think I have found a place to park our van and trailer, but I am still waiting for approval (from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation).  

Six months ago, they told us that the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain was 85% "done," and that the greater New Orleans was only 10% "done."  We are looking forward to going and serving in this area that still is a long way from being restored.  

We had our mega-fundraiser at the Outback Steakhouse in InverGrove Hts.  Numbers are not in, but I would guess we made about $1500.  Thank you to everyone that came out and had a steak.  

Some things to pray about for us as we continue to get ready for going:

1.  Notice that Barbara S, Erin, C., and Darold S. are not coming on this trip.  Darold is in Korea working for the next two years, Erin is traveling around the US with a music ministry, and Barbara had some things come up that she just couldn't get out of.  We will miss them and their energy on this team.  

2.  Pete and Kim and Donna are our new members.  Pray that God uses them in ways that surprise everyone.  

3.  Pray for our parking and transportation situation in New Orleans.

4.  Pray for us to be able to see what God would want us to see, and respond in a way that glorifies Him. For those of us that have been on these trips since the beginning or close to the beginning, for us to be able to have the same awe and wonder at seeing God at work.  

5.  Pray for Kim's family's heath.  Her seventeen year old son has been exposed to H1N1 and is now starting to show symptoms.  

6.  Personally-  I will be taking a week unpaid from work.  Others are also leaving obligations and financial responsibility and loved ones behind.  Pray that God fills in the blanks.  He is God.  He will provide.  

If you are getting this email and would rather not, please shoot me an email and I'll take you off the list.  I'll probably send out one more of these before we go, and then each day (or close to each day) while we're gone I'll send updates.  You can always keep up with us on our blog:  www.rodscof.blogspot.com  I would encourage people to "follow" our blog (when you visit the site, look for a small box near the top left that says "follow" and click on it.).  I honestly don't know if that means you get a note in your email box when someone posts or not.  

Ok- I think that's it.  

As my friend Carol says, 
Til He comes or I go...

R






--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey