Rebuild Lakeshore

As you can see, the Mercy House looks great! This past week our friends from Central Baptist Church of Corbin KY built back steps to the rear entry landing. Friends from South Jersey mudded and sanded the sheet rock in the lower level. If we can find someone this week to texture the walls, local teenagers will paint the interior walls next weekend.

Next on the list; we need to stucco the main house, lay pavers for the 32 X 16 front entry, and brick the 10 X 10 pump house. I do not have anyone on the volunteer list for the foreseeable future who have listed these skill sets. If you have experience in stucco or brick, please consider making a special trip to Lakeshore to help with this project. Contact us and let us know you can come. We will put you up in the newly built bunkhouse and I’ll personally prepare an authentic Creole / Cajun meal for your crew.

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Although our new “Base Flood Elevation” required us to raise the Mercy House almost 10′ off grade, my design envisioned a two-story structure instead of a building set up on beach front piers. Last week we hid the 12X12 pilings with an enclosure which achieved the desired look. Recommended FEMA Hydrostatic flood vents on the lower level, NFIP code compliant building techniques, and a little visual consistency, brought the building together. I’m looking forward to siding the building with Stucco and hanging the shutters to complete the buildings exterior.

God forbid we see another catastrophic weather event in my life-time, but if we do, this building should resist a 9′ surge without compromising structural integrity. We plan to use the lower level for storage needs in conjunction with our Mercy Ministry; food, clothing, and household item distribution. The exposed beams of the interior reveal the buildings strength with architectural honesty. Lord willing, we will move into the facility very soon.

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Our good friends from Grace Baptist Church of Carlisle, PA have recruited 25 other like-minded churches to join them in Lakeshore this week in the ongoing relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. Early morning devotions and evening worship services have rounded out full days of work on the church property and in the community.

Its only Tuesday, but it seems two weeks of work have already been accomplished. Here on the church site, a large screened in area now sits under the new bunk house. They have framed up the lower level of the Mercy House and popped in the windows already. Lord willing, sheet rock will adorn the walls before the end of the week.

Workers have also been painting, plumbing, tiling, siding, etc in about nine different homes in the community.

Enthusiastic evangelistic teams have been blitzing the area, following up on dozens of families living in homes constructed by our volunteers in the last 4 years and encouraging those still living in temporary housing. God has opened the doors to some wonderful gospel encounters this week.

We look forward to a community dinner on Friday topped off with an evangelistic sermon preached by my friend Mitch Axxom of First Baptist Church of Clinton LA. Please pray that God would see fit to bring people to himself through this service.

btw, The folks with us this week have set up a blog to chronicle their trip. Check it out: Hurricane Katrina Relief Project 2010

We endured record low temperatures this past weekend, but the Lord blessed us with a beautiful day today. I look forward to what he has in store for us tomorrow as we press forward to the glory of God.

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We have folks here this week from North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Ohio, and Washington. They have been working on a range of projects from plumbing and electrical to vinyl siding, to clean-up and all sorts of things. I am excited to see them painting the spindles to the new Mercy House as this project moves forward.

Its been cold and raining this week, which hampered productivity to some extent and limited the tasks we could tackle, but its all in God’s good timing. The teams have been very encouraging in their flex ability and willingness to serve in any capacity needed to see the ministry flourish to the glory of God.

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Brenda Williams lives in one of the homes built from the ground-up by our volunteers who continue to grace Lakeshore and the gulf coast with their dedication, hard work, and support. The picture above shows me presenting her “Certificate of Occupancy” after her home was completed. Yesterday she shared this note of appreciation and I wanted to pass it along to all of you.

Thank you Lord, and to the Body of Christ, thank you!

Thank you for this beautiful home, it is the most wonderful solid built house I have ever seen. Let me never take it for granted. I am not even a little bit worthy of all of this, and yet here I am, over joyed with your love, and the love of your people who don’t even know me.

Sitting here I feel your presence Lord, your love, and all the love that went into every part of this house. Looking around I think of all those who took part in this wonderful work. Those who did all the planning, the paper work, phone calls, the grounds clearing, all those who worked in this hot, steaming, bug infested beautiful place we love and call home. They suffered all and sometimes more than we did, the lack of comforts, being away from their loved ones and homes. Hands bruised and cut, holding hammers, nails, saws and paint brushes. Backs and legs hurting and yet they worked on, plumbing, wiring, electrical fixtures and so much more. Not for a pay check, not for my little Thank- You! But for you Lord. In obedience to you Lord. Lord, I pray that this work brings Glory to you. Let your blessings be upon this beautiful place an upon your children, who brought it into being from the thoughts of it, to the completion of it all and more. Bless each and every one, who took part in all of this. And Lord let not one of them or their children ever go hungry or homeless. Lord, we were hungry and they fed us, we were without clothes and they clothed us, comfortless and they gave us comfort.

Lord, I think you for Lakeshore Baptist Church, Pastor Don, and all the beautiful workers who so faithfully served and continue to serve those in need. For those who understand this devastation and the need for sometimes a hug and a prayer.

My heart is so filled with thankfulness and love for you all.

Love, Brenda Williams

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This morning I met a lady who told me her story of living in a camper for nearly four years after losing her home to Hurricane Katrina. She had just recently moved into her new house. When I introduced myself as the pastor of Lakeshore Baptist Church, tears welled up in her eyes as she thanked me over and over again for the aid she and her family had received. She explained how almost all of her furniture, kitchen table, chairs, beds, pots, pans, dishes, glasses, and even curtains had come from mismatched donations she picked up in our distribution center to furnish her modest home. She said, “I do not know how I could have seen my life put back together without the help from your ministry.” She could not stop saying thank-you.

I could tell you hundreds of stories of similar families and individuals who continue on their long road of recovery. We praise God for his sustaining grace as he upholds us through the support we receive from our partners like you. Without your donations and financial support we could not continue serving our community in this large way.

In the calendar year of 2009, we have felt the financial crunch of our nations economic downturn. Monetary gifts have dwindled to the point that we face 2010 with the danger of falling short of funds to cover just our basic operating expenses. Please consider making a year end tax deductible donation to see the work continue. Even a small gift, multiplied by the number of friends and partners from across the country, will go a long way as we look to what God will do in the coming year. You can make checks payable to “Lakeshore Baptist Church” and send to:

Lakeshore Baptist Church
PO BOX 293
Lakeshore MS 39558

Please continue to pray for us as we extend help and hope, in the name of Jesus Christ, to our storm ravaged community. With your partnership and support we faithfully can move forward in the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts here on the gulf coast as we seek to make Christ known through the mercy ministry of Lakeshore Baptist Church.

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The Lakeshore Bunk House now has power and looks great lit up at night. I’m really looking forward to finishing up a few more details, which includes screening in the lower level to create a bug-free common area that will enhance the functionality of the facility.

I am pleased with the success of our fund raising for this project so far. As a testimony to the scope of involvement by God’s people, we have received contributions from Michigan, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Maryland, Florida, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Maine, and Texas - 14 different states represented.

To date, 21 of the 38 beds have sponsors. For a donation of $200 or more you can sponsor one of the beds. When complete, a plaque with all the donors names will hang in the finished bunk house. Only 12 more beds remain available for sponsorship. A big thank-you goes out to:

1. Andrea Deeb – Ann Arbor, MI
2. Jayme Deeb – Ann Arbor, MI
3. Nancy Deeb – Ann Arbor, MI
4. Jamie Dunbar – Platteville, WI
5. Eagle Brook Church – Minocqua, WI
6. Don & Myra Elbourne – Baton Rouge, LA
7. First Baptist Church Tullahoma – Tullahoma, TN
8. John Allen Fritchey
9. Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church – Grand Rapids, MI
10. Barry & Paula Hamilton – Edgewood, MD
11. Jerry & Ruth Hoogerheide – Merritt Island, FL
12. Mary Lou Johnson & Melody Guy – Choctaw, MS
13. Beth Jordan & Kevin Kroll – Lake Zurich, IL
14. Boyd & Bonnie Manning – Tazewell, TN
15. Caroline Miller – Bucksport, ME
16. Jim Oaks – Huntsville, AL
17. RA’s of East Highland Baptist Church – Hartselle, AL
18. SonShiners of Concord Baptist Church – Cleremont, GA
19. Larry Springer – Carlisle, PA
20. John & Wendy Sternitzky – Universal City, TX
21. Dan Webster – Hartselle, AL

For a gift of $1,500 or more, you can have your church name placed on one of the 33 pilings. So far, we have seven:

1. East Highland Baptist Church – Hartselle, AL
2. First Baptist Church Batesville – Batesville, MS
3. First Baptist Church Tullahoma – Tullahoma, TN
4. Hopewell Reformed Church – Hopewell Junction, NY
5. Limestone Baptist Association – Athens, AL
6. Morgan County Baptist Association – Hartselle, AL
7. St. Luke Lutheran Church – Ann Arbor, MI

Download and print this Sponsorship Form (pdf) to send in your contribution or pledge.

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August 29, 2005 changed everything on the gulf coast. From landscape to language, and everything in between; you see and hear the effects in the everyday way people interact and live down to the smallest details. I guess its what they call “the new normal.” Obvious changes include new buildings, vacant lots, and remaining rubble. But even the way people think and talk has changed. “Before the storm” and “since the storm” has become the commonly accepted way to reference time.

Katrina stands as a watershed in the world-view of the gulf coast. This past Sunday I distributed a pamphlet which included William Bradford’s 1723 Thanksgiving Day proclamation. Before the service, I mentioned to one of our church members that I had a tract about the “First Thanksgiving.” They automatically assumed I meant Thanksgiving 2005 and began to discuss that day.

For nine weeks we had been sorting through water logged remains and mountains of destruction. Living in tents and vehicles, and campers; military style MREs (meals ready to eat) provided the main source of food along with the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and American Red Cross. Third world country living conditions slowed the progress and we probably had not yet realized how long of a road we had ahead of us. We were still trying to locate family members and friends to discover whether they had survived the storm.

Then, like a Hollywood Thanksgiving miracle, new friends from across the country flooded into the area with turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce and vegetables, dinner rolls, pumpkin pies, and every thanksgiving fixing imaginable. A large event tent erected in a freshly cleared field of devastation provided a place of worship amid the ruins. Even an inflatable playground graced the property for the children, who for the last nine weeks, had not had a safe place to play. For a few hours we knew what it must have been like for the pilgrims in a new world as they celebrated their “First Thanksgiving.”

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