Rebuild Lakeshore

For the last couple of weeks Lakeshore saw several teams of college students and church groups celebrating spring break by pushing projects forward on our church property. Among other things they cleared an adjacent lot of remaining storm debris, laid a beautiful sidewalk leading to the Mercy House, tore down the rotting office pump shed, re-painted the shower trailer, hung siding on my new home, built raised beds for our new garden, gave the upper level of the Mercy House its final coat of interior paint, and so much more.

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I want to thank all of our friends from across the country for praying for us as we have been hammering out the master plan for the buildings on the Lakeshore Baptist Church property. As you probably know, when Hurricane Katrina leveled our old church buildings we did not immediately begin rebuilding our permanent facilities. Instead, we quickly erected temporary structures as we moved forward. We had a few reasons for taking this strategy. The one that has received the most publicity has been our strong desire to minister to the needs of our community before focusing on our own needs. At the same time we realized that God’s church buildings deserved more thought, vision casting, and planning than we were capable of while undertaking a massive disaster relief and recovery effort.

Any church facility consultant will tell you that a church needs a clear vision of its future ministry before moving forward with brick and mortar plans. That kind of clarity proved impossible in the immediate aftermath of the storm while we literally dug out from under the rubble and stood in need of temporary shelter. Everything in our community had changed. For weeks and weeks we did not even know whether most of our families, friends, and church members were alive or dead. In the past five and a half years of intense recovery God has begun giving us a long term vision for the ministry of Lakeshore Baptist Church. A couple of years ago, we sketched out the building needs that will serve the ministry for years to come.

The master plan of the Lakeshore Baptist Church property rebuild includes 6 buildings: the church office, a bunk house, the mercy house, a storage building, a fellowship hall and the main sanctuary. The first two buildings, the office and the Bunk House are complete. The third and fourth buildings near completion. The fifth and and sixth buildings, the fellowship hall and sanctuary are on the drawing board. Site plans for the entire church property have already been approved by the Hancock County Planning and Zoning Commission.

1. The Church Office:

The current church office, already completed, houses two main offices (one for the pastor and one for his administrative assistant), a multi-purpose conference room, a closet, a wide hallway, a bathroom, a spacious front porch, and a screened in back porch. The cozy 670 sq’ building serves as a hub for all the church ministries.

2. The Bunk House:

A 1,500 square foot bunk house sleeps up to 38 people in two large bunk rooms. The two accompanying bathrooms have three sinks, commodes, and showers each. A large wrap-around porch surrounds the building that sits 11′ above grade. This structure will allow us to expand our housing capacity as we continue hosting volunteers in our mercy ministry. Long term, the facility will open the door to numerous ministry possibilities, such as camps, retreats, seminars, conferences, and of course visiting friends we have made in the last four years from across the country.

3. The Mercy House:

Lakeshore Baptist Church has a strong desire to continue and expand our mercy ministry of providing food, clothing, and household items to those in need. The 2000 square foot building sits about 11′ off grade. We have enclosed the bottom half of the building, in compliance with the county’s flood mitigation policy, and use this area to store the items distributed through our mercy ministry. The upper level will house a bathroom and one large multi-purpose room for various types of community outreach and educational activities.

As of February 2011, the building stands very close to completion. Last month we moved all our distribution center inventory to the new location and dismantled the two quonset huts and removed nine sheds we have been using for that ministry. When the walls and ceilings receive their texture and final coat of paint, we hang some cabinets and lights, and hook up the plumbing fixtures, the building will be ready for final inspection. I look forward to a grand opening to celebrate this milestone in our progress.

4. A Storage Building:

While not as glamorous as the other five buildings, we see the need for a good sized storage facility to serve the ongoing needs of the ministry. This bare-bones 1200 square foot building will sit behind the mercy house. We have erected the structure and just need to build some back steps to complete the project.

5. The Fellowship Hall:

After completion of four out of the six proposed buildings, we look forward to breaking ground on the main church complex, which comprise the next two buildings. Construction will proceed in a two phase process. First the Fellowship Hall building, followed by the main Sanctuary.

The fellowship hall building will house a great room, kitchen, restroom facilities, and classrooms. This structure will connect to the proposed sanctuary on the upper level via a wide hallway. This configuration will allow the two buildings to share an elevator and restroom facilities. The basic footprint will span approximately 100′ X 70′ with a jut out the back of one side for the kitchen area and the hallway connecting to the sanctuary to the north. For those familiar with our church property, the fellowship hall will sit adjacent to the metal building and in front of the former location of the two quonset huts used as our old distribution center.

Last month we began site prep as enthusiasm grows for this project. The church recently voted and approved the proposed floorplan. We currently are drawing up the final construction documents and hope to apply for a building permit very soon.

6. The Sanctuary:

After we complete the fellowship hall, construction on the new sanctuary can begin. This building will sit in place of the existing camp kitchen, along Second Street. We envision a place to accommodate growth and special events as we continue to reach Hancock County for Christ. The inviting entryway will open into a spacious lobby with a welcome center. A wide hallway to the right will give easy access to the restrooms and the fellowship hall. The public worship space will replace the metal building currently being used for this purpose. Ongoing discussions, planning, and prayer on the exact design of this building continues as work on the other buildings progress.

We will need help to complete all these construction projects, so feel free to contact us to schedule your next mission trip or to contribute to our building fund. We believe God has great plans to continue working through Lakeshore Baptist Church to the praise of his glory and grace. Please continue to remember us in prayer as we seek to follow the Lord’s leadership for the spread of his fame in Hancock County and around the world.

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Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) stands as one of American histories greatest intellectuals. Perhaps best known today for his classic sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Edwards engaged in a wide scope of interests including theology, philosophy, and metaphysics. I have found his treatise on “The End For Which God Created the World” and “Religious Affections” particularly helpful in shaping my own world view. Many of you would enjoy “The Life of David Brainerd” which provides a fascinating look at early American missionary work.

For those interested in mercy ministry, especially here with Rebuild Lakeshore, I highly recommend Jonathan Edwards work on “Christian Charity” entitled “The Duty of Charity to the Poor, Explained and Enforced.” I know of no better biblical treatment on the subject. Written over 275 years ago, you might think his observations and insights would prove outdated. Nothing could be further from the truth. Beginning with a sound exegesis of Deuteronomy 15:7-11, Edwards builds a strong case of Christian charity as a core scriptural mandate. His fourth section, that answers common objections to mercy ministry, could have been written today and convicts my heart every time I read it. Let me urge you to set some time aside for reading and considering “Christian Charity: The Duty of Charity to the Poor, Explained and Enforced.”

Speaking of Jonathan Edwards, let me also recommend a book by one of my favorite preachers today, Steve Lawson, entitled “The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards.” Published by Reformation Trust, Lawson offers his second installment in his “Long Line of Godly Men Profiles” series. The work traces major themes through Jonathan Edwards 70 personal resolutions he penned early in his life. Lawson illustrates his implementation of these resolutions with excerpts from Edward’s diary and other writings. This format creates a unique biography that focuses, not as much on a linear recap of his life and achievements, but more on the internal spirituality of the man and how his personal piety effected his relationship with God and others. Lawson holds up Edward’s pursuit of holiness as a model for Christian holiness. Lawson closes each chapter with a challenge to his readers to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness and the glory of God. Very good.

You may also want to listen to Mark Dever preaching Edward’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and a great biographic sketch of Edwards life by John Piper: “The Pastor as Theologian: Life and Ministry of Jonathan Edwards.”

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As we look forward to opening the Mercy House, I’m considering a community garden project that will provide fresh vegetables to our distribution center. What do you think? I’ve posted some of my thoughts to the Garden Web Forum for input and ideas.

I’m the pastor of a church on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We have a food pantry serving low-income folks in our community, especially those struggling with poverty following Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill.

We also continue to host volunteers short-term mission teams from across the country in the ongoing relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. We have been doing a lot of clean-up and rebuilding over the last five years. For example, this March, just about 5 weeks from today, we will have about 400 high school and college students from Tennessee, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Alabama, Kansas, and Mississippi here for their spring break volunteering in a host of projects around our community. I’m considering focusing some of the attention on establishing a vegetable garden, here on the church property, that will then, in turn, serve our food pantry ministry with fresh produce.

I’m looking for ideas. Any suggestions on type of crops, varieties, plantings, best practices, etc would be welcome. Whatever we do, the long term sustainability of this project will depend on the low maintenance needs of the garden. While we will have plenty of help during the month of March to get things started, help will be sporadic, at best, throughout the growing season.

One idea I have involves what Native Americans called the “three sisters” - corn, beans, and squash. If I understand it correctly, the corn and beans complement each other with the corn stalks providing verticality for the climbing beans and the beans replace nitrogen into the soil for the corn. The squash then protects the ground and holds back the onslaught of weeds. I’ve never tried it before, but the idea sounds low maintenance to me. If I start germinating seeds in dixie cups this week, I would think the young plants would be ready for the ground by the time the spring break volunteer teams get here.

Any other ideas and discussion is welcome. Thank you so much.

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Last week, Reformed Baptists from across the country converged on Lakeshore for an intense time of mercy ministry, fellowship, construction, evangelism, and encouragement. I can’t thank them enough for the blessings they showered on my family, our church, and our community. Check out their Lakeshore Project 2011 blog for some great pictures and live reports from their trip.

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We kicked off the new year with our good friends from Harvest Community church of Charlotte North Carolina. Among other projects on their list, the team dismantled our distribution center quonset hut, and moved the contents to the Mercy House where our distribution center will find its new home and the work of ministry will continue.

The progress marks the end of an era as we remove one more visage of the storm from our community landscape. Countless thousands of locals and volunteers from across the country have been impacted for Christ, over the past 5+ years through that glorified tent. We pray that as Lakeshore Baptist Church begins a new chapter that the Lord would see fit to continue magnifying his name through the Lakeshore Mercy Ministry on the gulf coast.

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We praise the Lord for another new house started this week. The tiny house will sit 12′+ above grade. Local volunteers set the pilings over the last few days. The framing crew is rolling into Lakeshore now and they plan to start hammering nails first thing Monday morning.

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We want to thank every one of you for making Christmas special for so many folks in our community. This week, Lakeshore Baptist Church distributed hundreds of Christmas gifts to families in need. We can not thank you enough for remembering the gulf coast in your generosity this Holiday Season. From everyone here in Lakeshore, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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In six short weeks we will call 2010 history. The past year flew by so fast, I’m having trouble recapping all that the Lord accomplished through the work here in Lakeshore. I can’t pause long to glance back, because 2011 will looks pregnant with projects and preparations will keep me occupied throughout the holiday season, especially here on the church property. For the sake of those planning to make a trip to Lakeshore, to ring in the new year, let me lay out some of the tasks on the agenda for the first several weeks.

The Mercy House:

I gave a brief update a couple of weeks ago concerning the Mercy House. Sometimes the little details move the slowest. It looks like we may not have the sheet rock hung before the first of the year. Add dry wall to the list.

In addition to finishing the building itself, we need to build a fence along the south side to enclose the side yard as a play area for the kids, pour a landing outside the sliding glass door, layout the parking lot and spread the limestone, build a platform or back step out the downstairs backdoor, construct side walls and a garage door on the storage building out back, run a hose spigot out the side of the pump house, touch up finish paint here and there, several other random jobs not worth detailing here, and probably at least a handful of other things that have not made it onto my list yet..

The Bunk House Area:

The fence along the bunk house area has already begun to warp. We can correct this problem by running a cap along the top edge of the fence planks. Sandwiching the top few inches with stained pressure treated 1Xs topped with a 2X4 should do the trick.

The forms for a 5X5 concrete pad sit ready for pouring in the north west corner of the bunk house. The elevator / lift will eventually sit here. We still need to raise $6,000 to have the lift equipment fabricated by a local business, Magnolia Iron Works.

The Distribution Center Quonset Huts:

I’m tempted to call this the “Distribution Center Village” since the area contains a total of 10 structures; two Quonset huts and 8 storage sheds. All of this must go, to make way for the fellowship hall ground breaking. Lord willing, the teams coming the day after Christmas can tackle this job. We still have plenty of empty bunks that week and could use some more hands, so if you are off, why not plan a trip?

The Fellowship Hall:

The fellowship hall plans are still baking at 350 and we are waiting for the thermometer to pop out. I’ve already been talking to the guys setting the pilings and they stand ready for this heavy duty job. Pray for us as we finalize the drawings and secure the permit. I hear the ticking clock and I’m working non-stop to get everything in place to break ground in January.

In addition to these major projects, I have a long list of smaller jobs that our church members and partner volunteers will tackle over the next several weeks.

On a more personal note, I’m also drawing up plans for a small cabin (324 square feet) for my wife and I on some property we purchased right next door to the church. As many of you know, since the storm, I’ve had a 45 minute commute to the church. I’ve been staying in a camper on the grounds at least once a week for the past 5 years. I look forward to reclaiming the drive time and becoming more accessible and productive. Lord willing, we will set the pilings over the holidays and frame the little house after the first of the year.

I can not thank you enough for planning a trip to Lakeshore in 2011. The year marks the church’s 100th anniversary and I believe it will prove the best year yet - all to the glory of God and the praise of his name.

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