Rebuild Lakeshore

June flew by with about 600 volunteers here over the course of the last 4 weeks. Teams cleared property, set the pilings for a new house, framed another, ran electrical and plumbing on others, hung sheet rock, painted, laid flooring, built pump houses, decks, porches, and stairs, hung siding, installed doors and windows, and just about everything that goes into building a house. We also had folks doing jobs all around the church property, working in the distribution center, visiting and praying with folks in the community, and all sorts of other things. Trying to list every single thing that every team did would prove an impossible task, but I do want to thank everyone for their generosity, service and hard work. The following groups worked in Lakeshore this month:

• Cedar Creek Baptist church – Aiken, SC
• Church of the Nazarene – Augusta, GA
• Crosspoint Church – Bellaire, TX
• Damascus Baptist Church- Augusta, GA
• Damascus Baptist Church – Hazelhurst, MS
• Ebenezer Baptist Church – Dacula, GA
• First Baptist Church – Crystal Springs, MS
• First Baptist Church – Ellisville, MS
• First Baptist Church – Jonesboro, LA
• First Baptist Church – Laurel, MS
• First Baptist Church – North Augusta, SC
• First Church of God – Carlisle, PA
• Flemming Baptist Church – Augusta, GA
• Friendship Baptist Church – Ellisville, MS
• Glade Baptist Church – Laurel, MS
• Grace Baptist Church – Baragould, AR
• Indian Springs Baptist Church – Laurel, MS
• Lake Park Baptist – Augusta, GA
• Lebanon Baptist Church – Hartselle, AL
• Magnolia Baptist Church – Saline, LA
• National Hills Baptist Church – Augusta, GA
• New Heights Baptist church – Louisville, KY
• Oak Grove Baptist Church – Monticello, KY
• Parkhaven Baptist Church – Laurel, MS
• Pleasant Home Baptist Church – Laurel, MS
• Salem Heights Baptist Church – Laurel, MS
• Silver Run Baptist Church – Augusta, GA
• St Luke Lutheran Church – Ann Arbor, MI
• Tuckers Crossing Baptist Church – Laurel, MS

2 Comments »

We saw a lot of work accomplished in Lakeshore this week. Much of it came through the great group of folks from Saline Louisiana. They chronicled their trip through their Magnolia Baptist Church Youth blog, which you will want to check out. they have a lot of great pictures and comments about their trip.

3 Comments »

Last week a team from Jones County Mississippi dug the holes for the pilings at the Dahl house. This week a team from Houston Texas has been concreting them in. Next week a crew from Pennsylvania will band it and, Lord willing, hang the floor joists. All our rebuilding since the storm has been a walk of faith, but this project required a leap. The generous folks from the Livermore Reformed Baptist Church in California contributed the money for the foundation, but we do not yet have funding for the rest of the project. Two potential sources dried up, but we received encouraging news yesterday from a third. Please join us in prayer as we seek to minister to this single father and his two boys.

2 Comments »

Since we do not have municipal water in Lakeshore, everyone has their own well. That means part of rebuilding someone’s home involves also building them a pump shed. Many of you who have been to Lakeshore recently, should have no problem guessing which house this shed belongs to.

No Comments »

We have a great group from Houston working with us this week. Nearly 90 strong, they have teams all over Lakeshore on about a half-dozen or more of our ongoing projects. One of them has been finishing up a couple of bunk houses to add more sleeping capacity for volunteers. I told them that those working on this bunk room will have a hand in every house built by every volunteer who sleeps here.

No Comments »

We have hit the 400+ church mark of those visiting Lakeshore in the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. Actually the number probably hovers closer to 500 since I know we have missed a few here and there and we do not have any records for about the first 6-8 months or so. This number represents many many churches who have been down multiple times. For example, Harvest Community Church will be with us next week for their tenth trip. We only count them once in that 400. I have no idea how many unique individual trips we would have if we took the time to try and tally them all. God continues to boggle my mind with the outpouring of his grace through thousands and thousands of fellow believers who stand along side of us in this overwhelming ministry of mercy. I praise God for each one of you. Thank you so much, for your generous Christ-like sacrifice and service.

No Comments »

Hurricane Katrina hit on Monday August 29, 2005. That Saturday my dad, brother, and I made our way back to Lakeshore and snapped a few hundred pictures. I posted 100 of them to Facebook. To see them, you will need to sign up with Facebook and become a fan of Rebuild Lakeshore. You can then upload any pictures of your own from your mission trips. We have 34 “fan photos” added so far. I’d love to get as many of your pictures posted as possible, to show the progress and document your experience here. You can also sign our “wall” and don’t forget to add me, Don Elbourne,” as a friend.

1 Comment »

No Comments »

“The greatest cause in the world is joyfully rescuing people from hell, meeting their earthly needs, making them glad in God, and doing it with a kind, serious pleasure that makes Christ look like the Treasure He is.”

- John Piper (from Don’t Waste Your Life)

No Comments »

This week we have nearly 300 volunteers from the Jones County Baptist Association working here in Hancock County. About 150-180 are staying here at Lakeshore Baptist and the others are split up between Shoreline Park Baptist Church and FBC Bay St. Louis. I think they said about a dozen churches are represented in the crews working all over the place this week. Things are going smoothly and a lot is getting done.

3 Comments »