How Time Flies

Can you believe that we have been home from Lakeshore for 16 days? I don't know about the rest of the team, but there has not been a day go by that I don't think about the trip, the people or the work we did. God certainly blessed us ,didn't He? When I was going through the biopsy surgery last week, I just kept thinking what a small affliction it was compared to what all those dear people on the gulf coast have gone through. Seeing all that we did put things in our lives in perspective, I think.

I'm so glad that Jill and Nathan put together this site. I was reading through our posts tonight (it was fun)--you could definitely tell when we were REALLY tired and punchy, when we were moved by what we saw, when we were looking at the lessons being learned and when we just wanted to have some fun.

Other things: I'm really excited that Pastor Don and his wife will be coming to the Pastors' Conference in April. I'm sure we will all be blessed having him with us. Thanks to everyone for sharing their pictures of the week. I am working on getting some together for Ace to put on the church website and I have two really cool posters to hang in the fellowship hall.

Remember: Let's not get so busy with all our everyday activities that we forget to pray for Lakeshore. Larry and I got a letter from the family we visited on Thursday and who came Friday night to the dinner/meeting. It was so encouraging just to hear from them. Please pray for Shay, his sister Arlene, and ex-wife Lazanne and all the people each of us met and were able to minister to on our trip.

I have our group picture by the "Katrina was big; but God is bigger" sign on my bulletin board at work. It's proven to be a great conversation starter. If anybody else has thoughts about their time in Lakeshore, I know I'd love to hear them and I'm sure others would, too. I'm also sure if you send them to Nathan he will post them here.

FINALLY, I am still very thankful for the "at home" support that the rest of you were. You were the ones being lonely, taking care of houses and families and I hope you felt the blessing in some way as we did. You were the foundation of all we got to do!...And after Sunday morning's sermon, we know how important foundations are :-)

Friday - the Final Finality

"Big G" - Mr. Garrett Stevenson



Stick in the mud? Or stuck in the mud? Ken got our van stuck and someone had to come and pull him out! Ooops!

Well howdy ya’ll, we’re all workin’ on our southerin’ accients fore da presentation wez a gonna present to all a ya’ll. Well not really…. We’re all packing up and getting ready to leave from the hotel tomorrow at 04:20am! This week has gone by so fast, but at the same time it seems like I haven’t been home forever. This is the last post before the report on Sunday; we’re planning to give a report after the fellowship meal of what we’ve been up to for the last week, which will be challenging because there is so much which has gone on. Almost every crew around was trying to finish or touch up projects, so that they did not leave anything behind for the next group. The community was invited to join us for dinner, as we all said our goodbyes and took some final pictures, including the one above of my dad (Ken) getting stuck in the mud in our full-size van. After a Livermore Group Meeting back at the hotel, at which Mike Nichols was present, some of our group set out to the beach and we are waiting to see how that went down. Well curfew is at 10:30pm, although I doubt it will be obeyed, so I need to finish packing, and get to bed. See all ya’ll on Sunday!

Written by Nathan Combs

Edited by Garrett Stevenson

Any humor or fancy wording (including this footer)

is the result of the editations by Mr. Garrett

Coast Inn, Hancock County , Room 214, Non-Smoking

All Rights Reserved Any type of copyright on this document is non-existent but it would be much appreciated if it was respected. Views expressed in this paper are that of the speaking individuals and not particularly that of Livermore Reformed Baptist Church (LRBC), Lakeshore Baptist Church (LBC), or the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (ARBCA). Misuse or undesired changes to this document, by way of hacking will not be appreciated by the individuals who’s messages were toyed with.

You are getting near the end ©

The End

Hello all, this is Brian Clappin. I have been busy this week with electrical work and have missed my wife and children tremendously. Though only a week, it seems like a month because I love her so much. It's hard to spend time typing when I am with such a great group though. I appreciate traveling and serving alongside my mother-in-law and my dear father-in-law as well as my friends, Garrett and Nathan. My true confidant and conversation comrade, Ken, has kept my loneliness at bay. My time has been well spent and I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. I already know military time so it wasn't so difficult for me to adapt to the leadership of the ARBCA men. Pretty much Danny Cabral and I considered ourselves the top electricians and we would be willing to rewire any church member's home upon returning. Next time, I won't need to have help constructing a blog paragraph because I will accept Nathan's invitation to write. Sincerely, former chief petty officer Brian J Clappin, written from room #230.

ps. My bag is the coolest on this trip but not many can appreciate its fineness. I will bring my Bible in it Sunday so you can vote.

Be it known that this paragraph, though representing Chief Clappin's true feelings about his family was not nor in any way was intended to be an actual statement made by him. This paragraph is more toned to what came out of the actions and actual statements of the mentioned homosapien. Therefore, any statements which are taken as offensive may be the result of an attempt at kindness to the above stated person's family by a close relative, while he/she is not present. Not however stating that all statements in this document not regarding the imposed writer's family are completely false. Legalish statements written by an anoymous person who is attempting to protect the statements which are posted upon this church's blog SERVING THE LORD IN LAKESHORE™

Thursday

Dick Wells on the right



Brian Clappin aka "Saw Man"



Can't explain this one!




What to have? Something deep fried maybe?

Lgt: O wow! What a day we have had today. The Lord seems to make each day better than the one before. We had heard last night that rain was predicted for today—100%. In fact we had a pretty clear morning—at least clear enough to work outside. The rain held off until about 2 p.m. and it really cut loose. For us Californians, the lightning and thunder were awesome at times. We even saw a lightning strike with a complete loop in one end of it.

Probably the greatest blessing of the day was for Pauline and me to spend some time with one of the zillion families affected by the storm. But in this case, this one had been affected by one of the members attempting suicide back in November. I will look forward to telling more of the story at a later time.

Since the cooks had the night off (they desired it), all the volunteers decided to go out for dinner at various places. We drove over into LA to the town of Slidell . This was where one of the churches is located that we helped to rebuild shortly after Katrina. Ate at a good Cajun place. Alligator meat for the first time—even Mer tried it. I think almost everyone tried it—and liked it. Very spicy.

The Lord’s blessings—I don’t think any of us can tally them. Our eyes have been opened wider and our hearts burn hopefully a little warmer—both for Him and others.

Thank all of you for being with us in spirit.

Mer: So basically I had the most amazing ribs I have ever had in my life!!! We drove to LA I’m not sure if pastor already said that above cause I didn’t read it, but it was good. Apparently I ate more than anyone there, Brian has a video of it. Today I was in the distribution center again organizing and stocking. All the other nights we had not gone to the meetings after work but for some reason we stayed last night and I am extremely thankful we did. The preaching was such a blessing and it really made me appreciate how much I have and not to complain so much. The people here at the lakeshore church are so humble and hospitable. One lady and her husband were offering out their food and water when all they had left was the clothes on their body and a case of water and very little food, and I think a mattress. It’s just amazing what these people are doing here and I’ve been so blessed to be a part of this. Its astonishing how even thru all the horrible things that Katrina caused it all shows how great our God is.

p.s. everyone should eat gator….its yummy =]

Pauline: I can’t remember what I’ve said before…so this may be repetitious. By this time in the week, I think I am emotionally more than physically drained. My job has been a little different than most of the people on our team. Since I’ve been the Distribution Leader, a lot of my time has been spent with people—the members of Lakeshore who are volunteering in the D.C, the church secretary, the project manager who is a permanent volunteer, the pastor, the ARBCA leaders etc. I have learned that stress takes its toll (don’t we all know that anyway?) I feel sometimes my ministry has been just listening. Often when the community members come in to the Center, one question will open them up to tell their stories. I have been profoundly moved. I really would love to come back and help. As I write this, I think of people I’ve met, stories I’ve heard, the family we spent time with today and the dear brothers and sisters from Lakeshore…their challenges, fears, joys etc. and I can hardly keep from crying. I wish I could sit down and tell you all I’ve heard (I wish I could remember all I’ve heard). We’ve been too busy to keep a full journal. We look forward to sharing with everyone at LRBC on Sunday! Tomorrow, I get a treat! My friend, Alice (and maybe yours if you are a customer at Livermore Costco) is coming down to see us and help out. She and her husband retired in October back to their native Mississippi (about 3.5 hours from here). She said she’d come visit and she is very excited to see us (as I am to see her!) I told her I felt like I should have a Costco receipt in my hand when she gets here! In closing, let me just say how thankful we are to be here. Is anyone out there ready to take a trip to Lakeshore sometime? Please forgive us all if we are just a little spaced when you see us Sunday! Pauline

Ken: No drywall for today. John Sireci, his son Luke, 15, and Nathan and I worked at the Kline (sp) house doing some ceiling joists. They were set on 24” centers, but should have been set to 16”, therefore we added joists so now they’re on 12”. It seemed that not too much was done, for a whole days work, but the house will likely have a better chance to pass the framing inspection, so that work may continue. It’s like our Christian walk – it’s not too often filled with flurious activity, rather the slow plodding along, fraught with all too frequent mistakes. Framing or dry wall or siding has similarities to how our lives in relation to the conformity of God’s law progress. Sometimes it or we fall short, and we need to make a longer/bigger piece – all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Sometimes, pieces are too long – transgressing – going over the line – cut it shorter – and bring it into conformity. Or, there’s iniquity – it’s crooked and has to be made straight – for wide is the gate that leads to destruction, but straight is the way that leads to life. And few are they who find it – just like it’s rare to find a good carpenter – like Chuck Huether.

Dinner tonight was excellent – Schafer’s in Slidel , LA – Yummy – Hush Puppies and Gumbo and Alligator and Turtle – Great. Sadly missing, however, was the Jambalaya – see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambalaya But we all ate to our hearts content or harm, considering the proclivity towards DEEP FRIED EVERYTHING. When something’s termed ‘hearty’ that means it’s usually bad for one’s heart.

Also seen today: "Warter Heater" – that’s where you get yer hot water. "Fore Sale" – something one offers to sell. "Holy Infant of Good Health Prayer Chapel – at Saint Ann Catholic Church." (see above picture)

There’s still tons and tons of work to do, and Friday will be too short. We’re looking forward to sharing with you on Sunday.

Nathan: I have one thing to say, I am so full of fried seafood it isn’t even funny. I'm looking forward to eating an apple. The restaurant we all went to was extremely good, especially the Alligator sausage!!! It was amazing! If you haven’t had it before, you won’t understand. I have to say, all the work, food, and fellowship was better than I ever expected it to be. Well I am extremely tired, so I’m going to bed.

Wednesday Part 2

Nathan and Ken Combs



Misc pictures from Lakeshore, from the ARBCA site.




From Nathan:

Hello everybody! Today was a very good day! It wasn’t hot, uncomfortably humid, or bug-infested! It was wonderful! My dad and I hung drywall all day; it was a very dusty job. At the end of the day, as we nearly completed the Green's parents' house, three groups of us ended up in the kitchen/bathroom, playing a three dimensional game similar to Twister, trying to get drywall up as fast as possible. Other than that I don’t really know what to write. Tomorrow’s weather won’t be as nice though. Here’s the forecast: 80% chance of scattered thunderstorms in the morning, increasing in the afternoon with severe storms, and a possible chance of tornadoes. Lots of fun… Anyway, we’ll be careful, and keep on praying for us.


***NOTE - if you click directly on any of the pictures in this blog, they will get larger!***

Wednesday

Larry Trummel

Dick Wells (on the right)

Distribution Center - all donated supplies to give away to the community.

Garrett and George Stevenson

Dining Hall - (Nahrin is in the back right, in the doorway)

From Pastor Trummel:

Wow! What a time we have had. Of course, you already know some things that have been going on from what you are seeing on the blog. Tonight was sort of a cherry on top time. Hopefully when we get back you along with all the rest will get even a bigger and better feel for the things going on here.

My thoughts to you and all the others is--thank you. Thank you so much for being willing to take care of things at home while we are here. I know it is not easy and that you have sacrificed more than most will ever know. Your roles are not overlooked.

As you know we have been praying that the blessing will be to all the church.

Looking forward to seeing you all Sunday.

(Note - pictures above were taken by Nick Kennecot and are posted on the ARBCA blog in the photo section)

Another Link

Check out this blog ARBCA in Lakeshore. There is a group picture posted, plus some more description of our work here (Pauline Trummel is writing for this blog).

Jobs

Here is a list of jobs that everyone is doing:

Dick Wells - Tool Crib (in charge of tools) - today he made a railing around the bathroom walkway since someone fell during the night and got hurt.

Ken and Nathan Combs - Drywall and insulation

Jim Mackanic - today he put up a sodium vapor light on the church grounds for lighting during the night near the bathroom.

Larry Trummel, George and Garrett Stevenson - Siding installation

Scott and Bryan Kemper - plumbing work

Brian Clappin and Danny Cabral - electrical work

Pauline Trummel, Darlene Cabral, Josh Cabral, Kirsten Junghans and Meredith Staggs- organizing donated supplies for giving to the community and people in need

Carole Kemper and Nahrin Mirzazadeh - kitchen work (early mornings!)

Daniel Cabral (Jr) - Demolition cleanup

Jeb Trummel - post hole digging for piers or pilings

Patrick Schalin - Debris cleanup

Tuesday

Day 4

After a long, hard, hot, humid, and bug-filled day, we all are resting at the hotel getting ready to crash. Even though the conditions weren’t great, we all got a lot accomplished. The amount of damage is more than I ever imagined.

Some of the stories are absolutely amazing. Like one story was: After the water receded, an antique church was found sitting underneath power lines. Before the storm, the church was about 100-200 ft away from where it was found at rest after the storm. This means, it needed to have floated OVER the power lines, sink, and then rotate on the ground to go underneath the power lines. It is amazing. You hear things like this all over the place. You might see some pictures in the slideshow, if we have one.

Anyway, we are all having a great time, and we miss you.

The picture is at the hotel playing Uno.

Monday

Day 3:

This picture that Ken calls "Stonehenge, Katrina Style" are the pillars from a house that we saw on the coast on Sunday.

I’m going to get a couple of people other than me (Nathan) to write some stuff today.

Hey guys this is mer, Well I think everybody got a lot done today and felt like it was a good day. I was stocking a warehouse full of food and clothes for the locals to come and get anything they need. I’m very thankful we got to stay in a motel because the sleeping arrangements were…hmm not very amazing (jeb just said he was cool so keep that in mind). So its been a fun trip so far I hope you guys miss me =] peace out.

-Pauline says - I am spending some of my time writing for the presentation blog being done for the whole team so I haven’t spent much time on here. My other job is team leader for the distribution center. I think I have the greatest group ever. My assistant is a wonderful lady named Darlene Cabral. She is a hard worker, very organized and easy to work with. My team members include a girl from Tunisia and a woman from the Philippines who just married an American and moved to the U.S. I love my whole team of 10 but Meredith Staggs, Kirsten Junghans and Josh Cabral are three of my favorites! (This is Nathan’s blog, he’s looking over my shoulder and is about to cry because I didn’t list him as one of my favorites, he is; don’t worry; he’s just not on my team.) These guys worked SOOOO hard today and we cleaned up and organized a big distribution center, 3 storage rooms and we have a whole Quonset hut full of donated clothes looming over us tomorrow. We are tired, working hard but enjoying being with people from all over. I am glad that I live in CA. Don’t think I’ll be moving down here too soon. Ya’ll have a good time, now, ya hear? (Kisses to Lexi, Katy, Ty, Jackson and Austin!)


Hi ya’ll….it’s Nahrin! It’s only day 1 (of work that is). I’m currently working for and with DON JOHNSON : ) : ) : ) (who happens to be a very good cook by the way) I have to say, being part of the kitchen staff is way more fun and exciting than I thought…really. I wake up at 3:30 am to start a 4 am shift (at least I’m supposed to most of the week). It’s amazing how much you can get done when you wake up that early. I may continue this routine when I return home. Nothing like 4 am devotion and prayer! I work with several amazing people from all over the country. My favorite part of this trip so far is all the spiritual encouragement I receive from the people around me. Can’t wait for day 2. Last note---thanks for all the prayers. They are really making a difference.

I’m going to write something for Daniel Cabral. "Hi…. I’m having fun, and I’m doing demolition."

Mike Nichols, (sp?) from Michigan , says hi!


This is Nathan; I’m so tired, even though it’s only 9:15 pm . I hope I can get more pictures on today.

It was our first day of work today. The various jobs our group did consisted of: cooking, drywall/insulation, demolition, post hole digging (for the houses to be supported in.), vinyl siding, clean-up, reorganizing the distribution center, Electrical work, tree trimming/debris removal, and maybe some other jobs if we finish our assigned tasks. My dad, Bryan, and I are assigned to drywall/insulation, and it is dirty work. The fiberglass insulation is INCREDIBLY itchy and dusty! But it is a lot of fun. I was also helping in cleaning up a house so that it would pass the building inspection. It already failed once, and they don’t want that to happen again. The really interesting thing about clean-up is, instead of throwing away their trash… they throw it into a big pile, to be burned. Yes, I am serious, they B U R N it!!! That is also what they do with some of the trash at the church. But that is another story… a funny story! I’ll tell about that later. Anyway, the cleanup went really well and the house looks 100% better. Well it is starting to get a little late, so I’m going to get on with sending the pics to my mom.

More tomorrow!!

This picture is from the job site where Nathan, Ken and Bryan were working. If you click on it, you can see a bigger version.

Sunday

Day 2

Today was a good day. We all went to the church at 11:00 am, and had lunch at 1:00 pm. It was SO GOOD!!! We had fresh fried chicken (I took a picture of it), fried potatoes (at least I think they were fried), and baked apples. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. :)

After lunch, we hung out at church for a little while, then went driving around the gulf. We went through a neighborhood on the gulf that was totally destroyed. Some of the houses are being rebuilt, but most of them are just trying to be sold. All of these were at least 3 miles inland. I'll add some pictures later. After we went through the neighborhoods, we drove along the beach, looking at millon-dollar homes that are were mostly rebuilt. While we were driving along, we came across a catholic church that was being rebuilt with a sign that said "Katrina was big, but God is bigger." So we all took got our pictures taken in front of it. Then we went on the beach for about a half- an-hour. The water was so calm the waves were only about 2-3 inches tall, and the water was so warm!!!! It was at least 55F!!!

So, after we were done there we came back to the hotel, and stayed there for a couple of hours. Then we went to the evening church service after dinner, which was also very good. It was some sort of stew. Then after the service we had a LONG informational meeting about the rest of the week.

Then the last thing we did was all the kids (ages 13-20), plus Bryan and Brian, went to Sonic's and had dessert. It was a lot of fun, and the waiter was on rollerskates. He was really nice, and we had our picture taken with him. I'll try to get that picture. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday's Experience

Nathan was unable to post this last night due to SLOW internet speed in Mississippi. He was finally able to email it to me tonight.

"Well it is about 12:52 Central time, on Saturday. We're all here and we've all made it safely to Lakeshore, Ms.

I do have pictures, but this computer I'm on won't upload them. So I'll try sending them to my mom on our home computer to see if she will upload them there.

At 6 am , in the dark, we all left on time from San Jose . The flight was approx 1-2 hours to Salt Lake City , Utah and uneventful, until we got ready for our descent. When we began our descent, the pilot announced we wouldn't land for at least an hour because they were de-icing the runway. After at least another 30 min, our pilot said we were going to Twin Falls , Idaho , and wait there until the runway in Salt Lake was clear. But as soon as we started to turn around, within a minute the Pilot announced we were cleared to land. But boy, it sure was snowy in Utah compared to California ! :D It must have been freezing or maybe even a little below.

As we were taxing into around , waiting to stop, there were trucks with huge booms on them with little cockpits that were spraying steam, or hot water onto the fuselage and wings of the planes to get all the ice off of them.

Once we got into the airport we literally had to run to make our next flight. But once we got onto the plane we sat there for at least an hour while they were de-icing our plane. But it was neat watching them do that. After we took off, our flight made good time to Atlanta . But even though we were early, we missed our flight to Biloxi , MS. So we all sat in the airport waiting for the next flight to Biloxi . During that time we all prayed we could make to MS by the end of that day. Our prayers were answered! In the end there were six empty seats on the next flight out, and there were seven of us in our group. So, Jim Mackanic stayed behind. When the six of us got on we waited at least an hour because they were having trouble with the radios between the pilot and the maintenance crew. But once we took off, other than a little turbulence, the rest of our flight was fine.

After waiting for around 5:30 -6 hours (lots of waiting today) the whole group, INCLUDING JIM, made it on a flight here, and landed around 11:45 .

So in the end it was a long day, but we were glad to have all made it safely and together."

We're all finally here! Version 1

This is called 1 AM Blog, the minimum details.

We left on time at 6 am

We got delayed at Salt Lake because of snow.

We left late because they had to de-ice the plane.

Our trip to Atlanta was fine.

We missed our flight out of Atlanta.

Seven of us made it out in one group.

The others approx 5 hours later.

We only have 2 missing bags.

The hotel is nice.

And I'm to tired to write any more.

On the Eve of Departure

With the talk of winter storm warnings in SLC...6 hour layover instead of 17 minutes in ATL... and getting into Lakeshore late at night...let's pray that the Lord would give us a smooth and successful day or that our patience would be more than our frustrations in travel might be. Can't believe the time is HERE!

Last Day!

This is the last day till we leave for Lakeshore. So pack up, sleep tight, and be at the airport by 5 am.