A Job Well Done

Team 2 completed work at both job sites this afternoon!  :o)  We are so happy to have been a part of both projects and to contribute to the progress and hope in New Orleans.  We closed out our week with a Swamp Tour this evening, spotting some gators and getting a great restaurant recommendation for raw oysters, gator sausage and turtle soup - Louisiana favorites, delicious!  Tomorrow morning we will be packing up early, saying our goodbyes to the Nehemiah Guys, who have been a big help, an inspiration and starting our trip back to Wisconsin.  We hope to arrive in time to get Toby to work Saturday night!  See you all soon!

Team 2

80 Degrees and Sunny!

Hello Y'all! Just wanted to check in and let everyone know that we are still working hard down in the lower ninth ward, and although we didn't get to start our project at Living Witness we were able to find all materials needed for it today and it will be well on its way by tomorrow afternoon. We continued with the work we started yesterday in the house, and also started some wiring projects as well. We also took advantage of the weather and made it down to the gulf to enjoy the ocean and sun. We had some excitement during our devotional tonight when a colossal cockroach made a guest appearance this evening. We are hoping to come close to finishing some projects tomorrow, so that we can reach our goals by Thursday, our last work day.

Big Progess!

Team 2 made big progress today at our work site.  We are working on the interior structure of a house in the lower ninth ward.  Today we really worked well together to complete some framing, insolating, and dry walling.  The home already shows some substantial improvements after just the first day!  We are excited to see the finished product at the end of the week.

 We had dinner with the Nehemiah Guys after our work day and then took the trolley through the French Quarter and then explored on foot for ice cream cones. It was a lovely night for a walk, finally no rain!  Tomorrow the team will split as some of us will continue to work on the house in the ninth ward, and a few others will start working on sheet rocking the old kitchen area at Living Witness, which will be used for classrooms in the future. 

Favor has become a Cornerstone of this trip thus far.  Brad asked for Favor for the team in our prayer requests on Sunday night.  This lead to a discussion on Favor and what Favor is, as some did not understand the spiritual principle of it.  God has showed us Favor in so many ways in these past couple of days that now everyone wants to pray for it each day. Now that the team has seen the evidence of Favor, many of them will never go a day in their life without praying for it again.   

Below are ways that God has shown us His favor so far:

1. Today at Home Depot Brad asked about getting discounts on tools.  He agreed to sign up for a Home Depot Credit Card and the guy gave him $100 in free tools and supplies that we needed for our site.  

2. We were also hoping for something to listen to at the job site and Toby was able to buy an Ipod dock for 70% off, it was the last one!

3. One of the Nehemiah Brothers approached the team on Sunday after church and suggested we have dinner at Montrel's Biestro in the French Quarter.  He hooked us up with the owner, Derrick, who gave us 20% off our meal!

4. We parked in a Loading Zone where NO parking was allowed; however, it was not well marked and there were cars parked all down the block.  The owner of the store walked out and told us we would get ticketed.  We looked on the window of the van behind it and there was a ticket.  About 3 minutes after moving to the next street over, the "Meter Maids" came through and ticketed all vehicles in that Loading Zone which stretched the entire length of the block.

5. There have been many others as well!

6. More favor to come...

Brad's wife, Cheryl, went to the ER this morning (Monday) with major chest pain.  She was admitted to the hospital and several tests were run on her throughout the day including EKG's, Ultrasound and Blood Work.  All the tests came back negative, so that is an answer to prayer.  She still has twinges that cause her minor discomfort. They did release her from the hospital on Monday night; she is scheduled to go in for a Stress Test on her heart Tuesday or Wednesday. Currently family friends are taking care of their three kids, so she can get the rest needed. Please pray for continued healing for her and for peace of mind.  Please keep Brad in prayer as well, as it's hard for him to be away from his wife with all this happening.  Pray that Cheryl will be feeling stronger and better and can handle everything until Brad returns.

Day One in Nawlins

Team 2 woke up bright and early this morning to grab breakfast with the Nehemiah guys, and spend the morning in church with our family at "Menomonie South." The children's choir did a wonderful job running the service today, and the newcomers on our team were especially moved by the level of enthusiasm and devotion that the members of Living Witness exude. After a quick nap, we all worked our way down to the French Quarter, had a traditional New Orleans meal, and caught a break in the rain long enough to take a walk along the river and treat ourselves to some famous "Beignets" (french donuts) which were AWESOME! Tonight we reflected on our prayer requests from the night before to find that Andy's shoulder had miraculously healed up over night! God is good. All The Time God is Good. We are anxious to begin our work in the ninth ward bright and early tomorrow, and hopefully meet lots of inspirational people as well.

We Made It!

Team 2 has made it safe and sound to New Orleans! After a long day of driving to Farmington Missouri yesterday and what seemed like an even longer day on the road today, it was all finally worth it when we were greeted at the front door to Living Witness Church this evening. Thankfully there are no extreme incidents to report from the drive, and we were so lucky to be able to stay with Bill and Lori Younker last night who made us a lovely breakfast of farm fresh eggs and "mancakes" this morning, and gave us a send-off prayer along with their goose "Gimpy" who made the prayer circle complete. Thank you guys! The message of trusting in God and "fear of the Lord" hit home in our devotions before bed. We are hoping for a good nights sleep and a refreshing breakfast and church service tomorrow morning with the Nehemiah guys. We'll keep you posted - no pun intended. Thanks for checking up on us! :o)

Team 2

Friday we left a bit of ourselves behind, as have all of our New Orleans Teams, but we are encouraged because we know Team Two is on the way to help finish what we were unable to complete. Thursday night our Team joined Papa G at a blues club and listened to the music that makes New Orleans dance. Then the packing began...fyi -- dirty clothes take up more room than clean clothes. (I think it is because they can stand up by themselves.) We then headed downstairs for our last breakfast with these men, emotions were bound to be running a bit high. Tears were shed by all and we all hope that God can harvest the seeds He has planted in these men. Life isn't easy and we certainly are not perfect human beings but I admire people that can face their mistakes and try, with the Lord's ever abundant love, to set their feet on the straight path. Our devotion booklets certainly were appropriate. We have been doing our Proverbs study with the Nehemiah men and have been learning much from them. Our memory verse for the first night was Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight". Pretty much sums it up...we'll be on our way this afternoon and we look forward to seeing everyone in church on Sunday! Posted by Sandy.

Here we are Thursday already!! What a week this has been!!! The learning that has taken place and the camaraderie with our new friends will always be cherished. Dave Johnson, our Fearless Leader, headed off to Prague, Czech Republic before breakfast. We were sad to have him leave us but excited about the work he'll be doing overseas. Today, Bill, Jim, Nikki and I (Kris) worked at Sarah's home. Sarah is the mother of Brother Bob, who is a leader here. Sarah is a delightful lady who opened her home to us and served us a wonderful meal. Bill and Jim installed a new chain link fence with a gate for her along the front of her home. Nikki and I put up lattice skirting around the base of her home. We were able to complete the fence project for her and her smile stretched across her face when she came outside to get her mail and saw her fence.

While the Tices, Nikki and Jim were off in the Ninth Ward, the rest of us were busy at Living Witness. Diane Colson and I (Sandy) made a "farmer's lunch" for everyone here. We made Tater Tot hotdish, tomato-macaroni hotdish and of course, Green Bean casserole! Afterwards Diane went to work and began tearing down the old kitchen which is being turned into a classroom. Our "mole" Tony went to work on yet another hole in the wall (fourth to date and it would be easier if we had brought the maul instead of an axe).

We hosted a Kids Art night that was a lot of fun. We began the night with a preview of Living Witness Kids In Charge Sunday. This coming Sunday the kids are in charge of the service. They will be singing, dancing, performing a skit written by a member of the congregation, as well as doing the Bible reading and collecting the offering. It was an amazing preview and I wish we could be there this Sunday! Bring a camcorder Team Two!!

After the preview we were able to engage the kids. We started off with an ice-breaker to get to know them a bit better and to put faces with names. After a rousing song with lots of hand motions that the kids really got into, especially when they sang it in double time, we turned to our artwork. The children loved expressing themselves with colored charcoal. Some of the pictures expressed how they felt about themselves, their neighborhoods, and God. Some of them were just plain fun. We made sure we took lots of photos since the kids took their artwork home with them. Kris Tice was a wonderful teacher and her baked goods were the hit of the night.

We are having a lot of fun connecting with the men from the Nehemiah House. Here is Bill Tice working with a couple of the guys, Felix in the blue and Aaron in the fatigues. They are tearing out the old porch of the damage building that the men used to have as sleeping quarters. We did alot of work on this building so watch for more pictures of us working!

Day four was very eventful. Many of us organized and cleared out the storage building where they keep many of the food supplies. Many small creatures were lurking in the shadows. Tomorrow they hope to go through the room full of clothes to see what to save, give to good will or throw away. Jim worked on brother Bob's mother's house. Dave and Steve met prophet Elijah. Team two will be working with him next week. Stay tuned.

Betty V. taught a mandatory art lesson. They were to put into visual form their favorite bible lesson. We displayed the products on an old door we found in the yard. Tony and Dave Johnson are finding themselves at 10:00 pm vacuuming their space with a big roll of tape. What an adventure. We can hardly wait until tomorrow. Posted by Aunt B.

Cedarbrook Church New Orleans Team is now going full throttle!

We participated in a great Sunday worship service complete with prayer for Pastor Remy and our brothers and sisters in "Menomonie North!"

After that, the team dressed up in the "tourist togs" and off they went to visit part of the French Quarter and Jackson Square. The trolley car ride down St. Charles Ave gave the team a chance to strike up some conversation and even pass out a few pocket crosses! Be sure to ask the team members ... especially Sandy!! ;-) ... how fun it is to engage with people and give them a cross!




















What trip to the French Quarter would be complete without a visit to Jackson Square! Here's the whole team! ... complete with "Poppa Johnson ... and "Mother Mary" ... (Dave J's parents)

Monday found the team doing a bunch of different projects, from demolition of some old foundation and floor, to art class. There was a doorway opening started, prayer walks, serving counters installed and lots of great relationship building.

Tomorrow is another busy day ... and its late, so good night! ... and let us know you're reading!

Greetings from New Orleans! We stayed an enjoyable first night with Bill and Lori
in a big house with beds for us. Gimpy, the goose, greeted us at daybreak with a loud "honk." Better than any alarm clock! We got an early start thinking we would make good time. Little did we know What the future held for us in Memphis.





We hit shirt sleeve weather when we got out at Janesville, Wisconsin. Betty V. bought a painting of the "Last Supper" by Da Vinci and when we got to New Orleans, behind alter at the church alter was a big picture of the last supper also. God showed his presence, many times on the trip. We thank you all for the prayers showering down on us.







Heading down Highway 55 in Memphis, Steve Jenson just happened to glance in the church van's rear view mirror at the moment when Jim Welch's truck pulled off onto the shoulder. We only knew that the truck stopped suddenly and we thought (hoped) it was a flat tire. We called AAA for assistance but we prayed and a service helper truck stopped and assisted us. We called AAA back, to forget the tow truck. The Lord provided a mechanic which helped immensely. Tony Cormican displayed marvelous patience. After many stops at different auto parts stores, Tony concluded, lets take a chance at it being the alternator, bought a new one, installed it, it worked. We were on our way.



We got to Living Witness church about 11:00 pm. The Nehemiah men waited up to help us unload. We missed the youth rally, but made it for Sunday morning bible study and church services. This picture is of the front of the church with Pastor Pierre preaching. The Nehemiah men are in back of the pastor on the stage. It is beautiful how they treat each other with such dignity.

We are having great weather. We went to the French quarter on Sunday. We have given away many crosses and have lots of stories to tell.

The New Orleans adventure started with a bang.

Test two for New Orleans.

New Orleans test

This is a test for the New Orleans blog.

Totally "Jazzed" by the Send Off!

What a morning at Cedarbrook! The gathering for worship, praise and commitment was an incredible experience ... truly a party, with the celebration all about God and what He's done, is doing and will do! The music, worship and prayer was just enough to propel our teams into this week and on down the highway to New Orleans on the next two Fridays and Saturdays! Team 1 leaves this Friday, March 13 and Team 2 on Friday, March 20. What a privilege to be supported and sent by such an awesome group of people ... and on an awesome day! Thanks be to God for HIS marvelous works in and through the lives of those who love Him and serve Him! Watch this blog for updates and pictures of the teams' activities and God sightings from now until we're all back together on March 22nd!

- Team 1 - March 1, 2009