Rebuild Lakeshore

March madness, in Lakeshore, had little to do with basketball and much to do with hanging sheet rock, roofing, wiring, plumbing, framing, cleaning, insulating, planting, painting, sanding, tiling, tearing down, building up, working together, and seeing God glorified above all things in word and deed.

The following groups made trips to Lakeshore in the last 31 days:

Berry College – Mount Berry, GA
Chetek Alliance Church – Chetek, WI
Christ American Baptist Church – Spring Grove, PA
Concord Baptist Church – Cleremont, GA
CrossRoads Ministry – Louisville, KY
Dalton State BCM – Dalton, GA
Decatur Baptist Church – Decatur, AL
Emmanuel Baptist Church – Forrest City, AR
Emmanuel Christian Church – Pittsburg, PA
First Baptist Church of Senatobia – Senatobia, MS
First Baptist Church of Tullahoma – Tullahoma, TN
Georgia Highlands College -
Glade Baptist Church – Laurel, MS
Grace Chapel Church – West Liberty, OH
Heartland Community Church – Overland Park, KS
Limestone Baptist Association – Limestone County, AL
Mercer University – Atlanta, GA
Middle Georgia College – Cochran, GA
Redemption Church – Olathe, KS
The Grove Baptist Church - Madison, AL
The Ridge – Columbus, IN
University of West Georgia BCM – Carrollton, GA

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This week we have folks all over the new bunk house. Electricians are pulling wire, plumbers are fitting pipes, others are installing the hurricane straps, carpenters started setting the rails around the porch, and guys are tacking down the last few shingles before the rain starts. Coast Electric came out today to mark the spot for the new transformer to feed the building and the county sewage gave us the “go ahead” to tie into our existing grinder. Pledges and donations have been coming in, but we know we still have a ways to go to finance the entire project. You can download the Sponsorship Form (pdf) if you would like to contribute.

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Several churches in South Jersey have pooled their resources and made multiple trips to Lakeshore since Hurricane Katrina. Bob Thomson shares the following recap of their most recent trip. I post it here because it gives a glimpse of a typical week in the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. You can also see pictures from their Lakeshore #7 trip.

Bob writes:

Jeremiah 32:42, “this is what the Lord says: as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them. (NIV)

A week ago we entered a van going to the Phila. airport as individuals and soon became the 7th Alliance Mission Team heading for the Mississippi Gulf coast. This was no vacation as we entered into a flood ravaged land during the annual gnat plague. Unbelievable. Daily rain hampered our start to what became a bonding and sharing opportunity with spring breakers from across the fruited plains. What a blessing it was to share with young people who could be sitting on a beach somewhere in the sun.

Don’t ever think that this is a mission to the members of the Lakeshore Baptist Church. Not. We took turns going into the community to do whatever needed to be done. While others of us prepared meals and kept the compound shipshape and did maintenance. Our team hung air conditioners, hooked up appliances and ordered bathroom fixtures for a homeless man’s new construction. We did extensive repair on a home and shed of a family where the elderly mother took care of her two mentally challenged daughters. We were able to be involved for two days in the new bunkhouse raising which will house future volunteers. We took our turn at running the kitchen and helped other teams with menus. Work in the free store and church grounds beautification project kept the team busy. Our young people went with other teams to clear land for the church expansion.

It was an experience. You had to be there to get the blessing. We plan on going back. Do yourself a favor. Save a week of vacation and join us this fall.

Bob Thomson coordinator for the
Alliance of Christian Churches in S. Jersey for Katrina Relief

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Our friends from Oak Grove Baptist Church, Monticello, Kentucky, just launched a new web site. They have several pictures from some of their mission trips to Lakeshore. Check them out.

btw, If you have any pictures, news, or videos of your trip to Lakeshore posted on the internet anywhere, please let me know and I’ll be glad to post a link to it.

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We have seen great progress on the bunk house in the last couple of weeks. They have begun setting the pilings for the wrap-around porch this morning. Please pray that this project continues to move forward smoothly. Don’t forget, we also need sponsors to fund this project. Lord willing we will house mission trip teams there very soon.

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We saw a great month in February. We thank God for the following groups who worked with us this past month:

• Buckeye Baptist Builders – Ohio
• Carlisle First Church of God – Carlisle, PA
• Central Baptist Chapel – Waynesboro, PA
• Central Baptist Church – McComb, MS
• Cumberland Gap Baptist Association – Harrigote, TN
• Decatur Baptist Church – Decatur, AL
• Green Valley Baptist Church – Birmingham, AL
• Limestone Baptist Association – Athens, AL
• Madison Baptist Association – Huntsville, AL
• North Delta Baptist Association – Clarksdale, MS
• Riverside Fellowship Church – New Port Richey, FL
• St. Lukes Lutheran Church – Ann Arbor, MI
• Seneca United Methodist Church – Seneca, PA

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last week a great group of guys from Tennessee’s Cumberland Gap Baptist Association dug the holes, set the pilings and poured the concrete for another new house in Lakeshore.

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