Rebuild Lakeshore

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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In just about 8 short weeks we will ring in the new year. Between now and then we have 8 mission trip teams schedule to be in Lakeshore. For those familiar with the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts here, you know that sometimes we have 8 teams in one week. This slow down during the holiday season allows us to project a bit into January where we will have hundreds of hands eager to continue the progress.

If you promise to realize that all plans remain tentative, I’ll post a run down of our hopes as to particular projects on the church property.

The Bunk House

Today the bunk house sits ready for Coast Electric to connect temporary power. Once we have juice we can test all systems, including the geothermal HV/AC and prepare for occupancy. I posted a long punch list a couple months or so ago. September and October teams completed most of that work. The remaining tasks include:

• Hang vinyl soffit
• Pour concrete slab for walkway
• Caulk porch ceiling
• Box in top of posts and inside of porch ceiling
• Stain wrap-around porch, railing, and exposed wood.
• Screen in lower level

The soffit, which hangs about 20′ above the ground will require some sort of scaffolding to install. We also need some folks not afraid of heights for this job.

We have a slab under the 30′ X 50′ main house, but now we need to build concrete forms and pour a slab under the 8′ wrap around porch and sidewalks out to the stairs.

Having this concrete work complete will open up the next project on the agenda - screening in the lower level. Actually, since the green plate for the screened in area will sit on the existing concrete, we may be able to tackle both these tasks simultaneously.

The Mercy House

I have been so pleased watching the Mercy House come together. I have great hopes for this facility as our church continues to grow in its mercy ministry to the glory of God.

In the next few weeks we hope to have the back porch built which will also serve as a platform for the air conditioning compressor. We also hope to have the slab poured, the electrical, plumbing, HV/AC, and insulation complete. Having these things in place will open the project up for a great amount of work in January including:

• Framing in the lower level
• Wiring the lower level
• Sheet rocking the upper level
• Siding the entire structure
• Laying the tongue and groove flooring on the front porch
• Boxing in the columns
• Installing the balcony railing

The Warehouse

Behind the Mercy House we plan to erect a 30 X 40 metal quonset hut, similar (but smaller) to the one we currently use for worship and other things. The materials for this building were donated a while back but we never had a place in the master plan for it. We do now. This structure will serve as storage for the Mercy House ministry. In January we will need to prepare the site and pour the slab.

The Pump House

The well for the Mercy House sits in the front yard. In order to present an esthetically pleasing front to the Lakeshore Road traffic, we have designed a small 10 X 10 pump house that will match the look and feel of the Mercy House.

Parking Lots

We plan to have crushed limestone parking for the mercy house off of third street, parking for the church property along second street, and parking in front of the bunk house. We will need this property graded for proper drainage and the limestone spread. Having this done will greatly enhance our property for everyone.

The Fellowship Hall

We do not plan to begin the Fellowship Hall until the completion of the Mercy House. Once the distribution center relocates to the new facility, site prep for the new fellowship hall can begin in that space. Please join us in prayer as we continue making plans for this building.

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I want to thank all of our friends from across the country for praying for us as we hammer out a 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 four years of intense recovery God has begun giving us a long term vision for the ministry of Lakeshore Baptist Church. We have now 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 building, the office is complete. The second building, the bunk house, is nearing completion. The third building, the Mercy House, is in progress. The fourth building, for storage, will begin after the Mercy House is complete. The fith and and 6th 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 will sleep 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. The bunk house nears completions and we should have folks sleeping their very soon.

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 will also sit about 11′ feet off grade. We will enclose 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 today, we have framed up the building, shingled the roof, and run the plumbing. Next, we need to install the windows in the upper level, pour the slab underneath and frame the lower level walls. When we complete this building and move the current distribution center ministry to this location, construction on the fellowship hall can begin.

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. Smaller out buildings may accompany this building to meet our storage needs.

5. The Fellowship Hall

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 two quonset huts used as our current distribution center.

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 floor plan and configuration 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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Last Saturday local guys spent the day erecting the walls on the Mercy House. I can’t thank these men enough for their hard work and dedicated service to their community. All of them lost their homes in the storm. In the past few years they have rebuilt their own homes while putting in long hours holding down their jobs and providing for their families and also pitching in to help their neighbors and friends.

While we owe an unspeakable debt of gratitude to volunteers from across the country for contributing to the progress of the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts - we would be nowhere without the grit and determination of local men like these. Even a monster like Katrina could not scare them off their land or make them shrink from their responsibilities to their families and community. They epitomize the resolve and resilience of the gulf coast. They are my heroes.

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The bunk house construction continues to move forward. this week volunteers painted the two main rooms and hung sheet rock in the bathrooms. They are laying the concrete board for the floors now, in preparation for the tile.

We plan to print a name, city, and state on each piling for churches donating at least $1,500 toward this project. So far we have 7 sponsoring churches. We have 13 unnamed pilings, so if you would like to have your church included, let us know.

Also, individuals or families donating $200, or more, can sponsor one of the 38 beds. So far we have 18 beds accounted for. The remaining 20 beds need sponsors in order for us to complete the project.

Having your church name on one of the pilings or your name on one of the beds will serve as a wonderful testimony to God’s people from across the country flooding to the gulf coast to minister help and hope in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you so much for your help with this.

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Four weeks ago I announced that the Hancock County Planning and Zoning Board approved the site plan for the “Mercy House.” Day before yesterday I posted pictures of the beginning of the new construction. Lord willing, the building will take shape next week. The above drawing renders our idea of what the finished facility might look like. We still need to decide on the color, but Mrs. Bea and I both like the color shown. What do you think?

The Lakeshore Mercy House will host our expanding mercy ministry which includes all the efforts currently taking place out of the “Distribution Center” quonset hut on our church property. If you have been following us since the storm, you know that thousands of folks have received assistance through our benevolence efforts. Food, clothing, household items, and other things donated to the church get distributed out to the community from here. This important ministry will continue through the permanent facility.

The location has also morphed into a sort of “third place” where locals congregate in a casual environment to gain support and encouragement from our volunteer staff and each other. While many come in looking for hard tangible assistance, like food for the night, others will often stop by just to say hi and continue relationships forged in the immediate crisis aftermath of Katrina. Daily fare often includes impromptu counseling sessions, prayer meetings, words of encouragement, evangelistic encounters, etc. We pray that this this ministry that God has graciously established will continue, flourish, and expand in the new facility as we point people to the mercy of Christ through the gospel of grace.

The Lakeshore Mercy House will also enable us to add new components to our mercy ministry. Please join Lakeshore Baptist Church in prayer as we seek God’s will in future direction and opportunity. Possibilities on our heart include financial management seminars, drug and alcohol addiction intervention and mitigation, biblical counseling, various food assistance programs, tutoring, and other things.

If you would like to contribute financially to this project, you can send donations to Lakeshore Baptist Church PO Box 293 Lakeshore MS 39558 designated for “The Lakeshore Mercy House.” Don’t forget, the ministry continues to depend on donations of food, clothing, and household items for distribution. Please see our “needs page” for a list of suggested items if you can help in this way. Thank you so much for standing along side of us as we continue to minister help and hope in the name of Jesus Christ to our community.

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We have begun work on the Mercy House. Our friends from Crossroads Community Church of Naperville, IL funded the foundation. Volunteers from East Hartselle Baptist Church, Hartselle, AL and Central Baptist Church, Decatur, AL along with college students from Georgia set the pilings and concreted them in. Lord willing, the lumber and trusses from St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Ann Arbor MI, will arrive on Saturday and volunteers next week from Alabama and Ohio will frame it up.

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This past Thursday evening, May 21, we went before the Hancock County Planning and Zoning Board with two site plans for proposed buildings on our church property and to request and extension for our temporary structures while construction continues.

1. The Lakeshore Mercy House

The first site plan presented to the board showed our next building we plan to construct. Affectionately referred to as “The Mercy House,” this building will serve our ongoing and expanding mercy ministry. We already have a thriving ministry to our community through providing food, clothing, household items and other tangible help to those in need. We want to expand this ministry to also include things like financial management seminars, drug and alcohol addiction intervention and mitigation, biblical counseling, and other things.

The 2080 square foot building will need to sit approximately 11 feet off the ground in compliance with the new flood zone regulations. This construction allows for the inclosure of the bottom section to be used for storage of the items distributed through the ministry. The main level will include a small kitchenette, restroom, closet space, and one large multipurpose room. The building will be located across the street from the church at the corner of Lakeshore Road and Third Street.

The Planning and Zoning Board unanimously approved our site plan for the Mercy House. Lord willing, we will obtain a permit next week and begin setting the pilings the first week in June. If you would like to contribute financially to this project, you can send donations to Lakeshore Baptist Church PO Box 293 Lakeshore MS 39558 designated for “The Lakeshore Mercy House.”

2. The Main Church Complex

The second site plan presented to the Planning and Zoning Board showed the layout of our main church property. I praise the Lord for architect Jeff Escott, of Livermore CA, who took my crude drawings and turned them into an impressive color rendering. See: Lakeshore Baptist Church Site Plan (pdf)

For those familiar with our property, you can see our existing office on the far right. We plan to remove the metal building currently being used for our worship space and replace it with a parking lot. The fellowship hall will sit in front of the current “distribution center” housed in the two quonset huts. Removing the huts will allow us to reclaim our existing cemetery. The main church building, including the sanctuary will run along Second Street, in place of our camp kitchen.

The board also unanimously approved this plan. We will now move forward will all the particulars of designing these buildings. They too will need to sit approximately 11 feet off the ground. I envision inclosing the bottom sections so that the structures look more like two story buildings rather than structures awkwardly sitting atop stilts. Connecting the two buildings on the upper level will provide easy access between the two.

Please pray for us as we hammer out the details of these buildings. As many of you reading this know, after the storm we opted not to rebuild immediately, instead turning our attention to the needs of our community. As we ministered help an hope in the name of Jesus Christ, we focused our efforts on placing others before ourselves. At the same time we wanted to wait for the appropriate time where we could devote the attention, forethought, prayer and planning that we believe that God’s building design deserves. Keep up with us as these exciting plans develop.

3. Our Temporary Structures

Earlier this week we were refused a place on the docket to request an extension of our permit for the temporary structures on our church property. If you recall, in the January meeting the board gave us until May 31 to remove all temporary structures. Since then we have begun building a bunk house and have the above site plan ready to move forward for our other facilities. In the meantime, we need to keep our temporary buildings while we construct our permanent ones.

A quick conference with the Planning and Zoning Commission lawyer produced a legal mechanism where she allowed us to request the extension in the meeting. (Praise the Lord for Attorney Rachel Perniciaro.) The board voted 3-2 against us, but this ruling opened the door to an appeal to the Board of Supervisors. We have 10 days to make this appeal and have already begun the ground work. We pray these actions will give us enough breathing room to not miss a beat in the ongoing relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts to the glory of God.

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Yesterday the guys from Green Valley Baptist Church, Birmingham AL, put in a long day drilling the holes and setting the 10 X 10 pilings for the new bunk house.

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