RE: NOLA 6- Epilogue

Hello Rod,

Thank you for always sharing with us…it often feels like we are with you in person…we are however, with you in spirit!  God’s many blessings on all those that served, serve and will be serving. 

And to finish your salutation:  Onward Christian soldiers!

 

God’s blessings

Trish

 

From: Rod Scofield [mailto:rodscofield@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 11:47 PM
To: rodscof.ofcourseitquacks@blogger.com
Cc: Ali Stemme; Barb Adams; Corrine Mahoney; Ginger Stemme; Howard Newton; Jeff Shaw; Judy Miller; Krissy k; Kristen Butler; Leanne Clouse; Lewis Whitehead; Linda Greene; Matthew Sanderson; Pastor Rod Stemme; Rob Warmboe; Robert Newton; Rod Stemme; Sue Letourneau
Subject: NOLA 6- Epilogue

 

We left Slidell around 8:30am on Saturday morning and drove to Kirkwood, MO.  It took almost 11 hours.  

We left Kirkwood, MO just before 8:00am and arrived in Inver Grove Hts. just before 8:00pm.  Almost 12 hours.  

 

Somewhere just north of Waterloo, IA, I followed a sign for Highway 20 instead of the normal highway I usually take.  It added about 15 minutes or so to my trip.  Jeff was driving my car, and Rod St. was driving his van.  They took the normal way and ended up in a hail storm.  And when they stopped for gas, they noticed a tire on my car that was wearing pretty thin.  So they found someone on a Sunday in Iowa that had a used tire that would fit, and had it changed.   Howard had been driving his truck and had fallen a little behind.  We all caught up in Albert Lea, MN where we did our final devotions and prayed together and said goodbye for now. 

 

About the time we were arriving in Albert Lea, we started to hear reports of some pretty bad weather in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis.  As it turns out, there was extensive damage.  It was the kind you can't believe is true when you see it in person, even though your own eyes are telling you it IS true.  For the most part, the only weather we ran into was when Jeff and Rod St. were in the hail in Iowa.  

 

Corrine said that this trip was the best one yet.  There was a lot of work accomplished, and we connected strongly with our homeowners.  For those that have been following, you might remember that after the last trip, (NOLA 5) I was skeptical about the projects we were getting from Disaster Relief agency we were working with.  I had a careful eye on this trip, to see if these houses fit the criteria of "least, last, lost" that we were trying to serve.  People that wouldn't be able to do it any other way.  And I think all three projects we worked on-  or to put it more humanely, all three homeowners we served, were divine appointments from God.  

 

Courtney and Kevin, Bob and Evalynn, and Chanel have changed our lives, and I hope we have touched them, too.  God is good.  

 

There were 22 people on this trip.  About half were from the original "River Bend" Churches, and the other half from other places.  There were 5 or 6 people in their 20's, and 6 people that got the Senior discount at the Golden Corral.  7 people joined us for the first time.  It was a good team that gelled together.  

 

I challenged everyone on the team to read Phillippians a few times before the trip, paying special attention to Chapter 2.  It talks about unity and serving God and each other.  And that's what we did.  

 

What's next?  I have been saying for a few months that this was our last New Orleans trip (for now).  Roma (a previous team member) wants us to go to Tuscaloosa.  Obviously there are floods and tornados all over the country.  And they are predicting a heavy hurricane season again.  We will have to wait and see where God directs us to next.  Wherever it is, we'll get on the bus.  

 

There are more pictures uploaded to the Picasa site (www.picasaweb.com/rodscofield/nola6#)  Or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/River-Bend-Mission-Team/197364267016).  

 

Thank you for riding the bus with us in the way you have.  Your prayers and letters of encouragement are very important and appreciated.  

 

Onward!

Rod

--
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