Rebuild Lakeshore

I first posted a picture of Vic Geauthreaux on October 21 2005, over 2 months after the storm. He was still living in a tent where his house used to sit. Since that time Vic and Tammy relocated a few miles inland to rebuild their new home. We started framing the the Geauthreaux house this past summer and I posted pictures of the roof going up. Volunteers have wired the house, ran the plumbing, hung insulation and sheet rock and the house is really coming together. This past week a team installed the siding. Lord willing we will soon texture the walls, paint, and be ready for flooring.

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Several people have email me this week asking if everything remains OK in Lakeshore. I haven’t updated the web site in a couple of weeks, leading some folks to assume that means that work has hit a stand still. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have been so busy that I have not had time to make it to my computer very often. This week we have about 150 volunteers here working in about 25 different houses and here at the church property. Lord willing, I will try to catch up soon with pictures and updates of some of the continuing projects.

Ironically, we have no one scheduled for the first part of next week. After having so many people here in January and February, we will have dozens of jobs half-done with the need of further work. We desperately need teams to make plans to come, move things forward, bring some of the homes to completion, and begin several more. If you can plan a mission trip, please contact us to make plans to come help rebuild Lakeshore to the glory of God.

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We began 2008 with a wealth of volunteers from across the country. Through these overwhelmingly generous folks God accomplished hundreds of times more work than I could ever report on. This past month we hosted the following teams in Lakeshore:

• Ballston Lake Baptist church – Ballston Lake, NY
• Barry McCoy & Dave McDonough – Carlisle, PA
• Bethel Baptist Church – Green Bay, WI
• Bible Chapel – Delhi Hills, OH
• Bible Fellowship Church of Greentown – Greentown, PA
• Buckeye Baptist Builders – Dayton, OH
• Camp Susque – Trout Run, PA
• Calvary Baptist Church – Eau Claire, WI
• Cedar Brook – Menomonie, WI
• Christ Covenant Church – Winona Lake, IN
• Christian and Missionary Alliance – Chetek, WI
• Church of the Savior – MD
• Chippewa Valley Bible Church – Chippewa Falls, WI
• Clifton Park Community Church – Clifton Park, NY
• East Heights Baptist Church – Tupelo, MS
• Eglise Baptiste Reformee – Quebec, Canada
• Ephesus Church – Rincon, GA
• First Baptist Church of Carlisle – Carlisle, PA
• Faith Evangelical Free Church – Stanley, WI
• First Congregational Church – Haverhill, MA
• Grace Baptist church – Cape Coral, FL
• Grace Baptist Church – Chambersburg, PA
• Grace Baptist Church – Jackson, MS
• Grace Baptist Church – Taylors, SC
• Grace Community Church – San Antonio, Texas
• Grace Community – West Bath, Maine
• Grace Covenant Church – Gilbert, AZ
• Grace Evangelical Congregational Church – Knox, PA
• Grace Fellowship Church – Bremen, IN
• Hebron Baptist Church – Lawrenceville, GA
• Livermore Reformed Baptist – Livermore, CA
• PCUSA – Scranton, PA
• Providence Baptist Church – Franklin, MA
• Quebec City Church – Quebec, Canada
• Richfield Springs Bible Church – Richfield Springs, NY
• Spring Lake Church – Green Bay, WI
• Sovereign Grace Ministries – Chippewa Falls, WI
• Trinity Baptist Church – Baton Rouge, LA
• Tunisia
• Yalobusha Baptist Association – Coffeeville, MS

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No, we didn’t build this house in Lakeshore - but I do like it. On our way back from preaching in Alabama last week, we stopped by the Rural Studio. This is what happens when rednecks go to art school. The design-build architecture lab of Auburn University, Inspired by the acclaimed Samuel Mockbee, seeks to promote socially responsible, rurally contextual, and innovatively creative design. Often quirky, the architecture draws from the cultural milieu of the rural South. I particularly love their experimentation with reclaimed and repurposed materials.

‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ This is the most important thing because nothing else matters. In doing so, an architect will act on a foundation of decency which can be built upon. Go above and beyond the call of a ’smoothly functioning conscience’; help those who aren’t likely to help you in return, and do so even if nobody is watching!

- Samuel Mockbee

Check out the Rural Studio web site. For more pictures, video, and articles see the great piece in Speaking of Faith - Architecture of Decency. Read a few good informative articles - “Samuel Mockbee: A Life’s Work” in The Architectural Record, “Samuel Mockbee: Southern Genius” in Architecture Weekly, and “The New Rural Studio” in ARCHITECT Magazine.. I also have a couple of Rural Studio books on my Amazon wishlist.

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We started setting pilings for a new house a couple weeks ago. The ground water saturation prevented the determined ARBCA team from completing the task. As soon as we drilled the 24″ holes, they began to fill with water and the walls collapsed. We tried to pump the water out, but to no avail. The mud pit just continued to grow. We finally made the call to return to the drawing board for Plan-B. After consulting with the Bay. St. Louis building department, we came up with another way to tackle the problem. This week a hard working crew of volunteers from Wisconsin, dug out each hole and built forms for the concrete.

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This week Joell, Jamie, and Courtney have been stuffing envelops to send out the tax donation receipts for 2007. God continues to make the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts possible here in Lakeshore through the generous contributions from our friends from across the country. If you made a financial donation in the 2007 calendar year, please accept our joy filled thanks and expect to receive a tax receipt in the mail shortly.

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This weekend I’m traveling to Alabama to speak at three different churches on Sunday. I’ll start the morning at First Baptist Church of Oneonta AL where I’ll address a Men’s breakfast at 6:30 am. Later I’ll preach in the 11:00 morning worship service at Fowler Springs Baptist Church in Blountsville AL. That evening, 6:30 pm, I’ve been invited to speak at an association-wide evangelistic rally at Gethsemane Baptist Church in Hayden AL. I appreciate Ernie Carroll of the Friendship Baptist Association for making this trip possible. If you are in the area, stop by and say hello. Mitch Axsom, an elder at First Baptist Church Clinton LA will preach at Lakeshore in my absence. Please pray for my wife and I, that God would grant us traveling mercies and that God would glorify himself through this opportunity to proclaim his sovereign grace.

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We build most of the houses in Lakeshore on 8X8 piers. We have been renting a 24″ auger to dig the holes to set the pilings. Owning our own auger would make better use of our financial resources. We have a John Deer 250 Skid Steer that can accept an auger attachment. If anyone could locate and purchase an attachment to fit the Skid Steer for our rebuilding, we will put it to good use.

We also could use a trailer, with ramps, to haul the Skid Steer and our Tractor from job site to job site. Right now we have been driving the tractor around town, which is slow going, or rigging precarious make shift ramps to load the equipment onto our trailers that are not designed for that sort of thing.

Update: We have purchased an auger attachment. We could still use a equipment trailer with ramps.

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Mrs. Bea continues to recover and wanted me to pass along this heart-felt thank you.

I want everyone from the east to west, north to south to know that in the midst of surgery I felt the prayers that were being sent up for me.

When I had complication from the breathing treatments, causing me not to be able to see, I couldn’t imagine this being permanent. Not being able to see my children and grand children’s faces again would not be an easy thing to accept. I prayed and again felt all the prayers that were being sent up for me. I prayed whatever God’s will was I would accept. As soon as I gave the situation up to the Lord I began to get some of my sight back. Praise God! I’m not 100% but now I know that soon will be completely healed.

I will always be so very thankful to each and everyone of you for the continuous prayers that you all offered up on my behalf.

Hope to see you all again real soon!

With Love,
Mrs. Bea

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