We made it back safely today after two long days of travel. Of course, there is much laundry to be done, much sleep to catch up on, and many stories yet to tell! But what a joy it’s been to be on mission together. To God be the glory!

One more thing…while we were there, our own “camera man”, Russell Drewry, got in touch with his former tv station, and they came and did a story on us. You can link to it from http://www.2theadvocate.com/ by clicking on the video camera that says “Plaquemines Parish Still Rebuilding”. Russell and Jason are featured in the scene along with a member of the other group. (The rest of us were with the pastor delivering storage sheds when they came to shoot the footage.) We also still have a few pictures yet to catch you up on so keep checking in.

“See ya” back here next mission experience!

Friday began with the completion of one storage shed with door henges and a latch.  While part of the team put the finishing touches on the other two sheds, we had the privilege of delivering the first shed with Pastor Lynn to its new home.  While in transit to deliver the shed, Julie rode with Pastor Lynn in the tow truck, which was donated by VA Baptists.  They had more than their share of excitement as a third passenger joined them!  A mouse ran out from under the seat, circled the console, didn’t like the company, and decided to return to its home under the seat.  Julie sat with her feet on the dash for the rest of the trip!  Needless to say, she did not return in the same vehicle to Port Sulphur.

The first shed went to a member of the sheriff’s departments of Port Sulphur.  He was living in a temporary location 20 miles north of his destroyed home.  The other two sheds will be going to other law enforcement officials of Plaquemines Parish. 

Throughout the day we heard several ’storm stories’ of people awaiting sheds.  One of the stories came from a neighbor who waited out the storm in her attic and was rescued by the Coast Guard on her roof.  We were grateful to have the opportuity to get to know more of the residence of Port Sulphur on Friday. 

In the afternoon, we cleaned up our job site and our trailer for the week and headed north to Belle Chase.  There we had a wonderful seafood dinner and even got to participate in a retirement party for a local principal.  Our evening concluded with some group time where we gave thanks for all the ways we have seen God at work this week.  While it was difficult to leave Port Sulphur, we are excited about the foundation work laid this week and are excited about the ways God will use HRBC in the future for missions here.  We look forward to sharing our stories, and we hope that you will join future efforts here in Port Sulphur.  There is much work to be done from construction, to children’s activities and family ministiries, to finding opportuities to build hope in this community.  The people of Port Sulphur are excited that we will be returning in July and look forward to our ongoing partnership with them. 

Finialy, thank you for your prayers, thoughts, and encouragements along the way.  We look forward to sharing our experience in person!

Today’s progress:
- Shed #1 complete!   YIPPEE!!!!!
- Shed #2 just needs a door.
- Shed #3 needs a door and a few rows of shingles.
As you can tell , we are excited about our progress.  We continue to laugh a LOT!  Fortunately, we have learned to laugh off our construction errors ….. including things like severing the saw cord!!  You should have seen the look on Julie’s face when it happened.  But even better was the look on Don’s face when he saw what she had done to his saw!  (Don’t tell Margaret Ann, but he may be using the incident as an excuse for a new saw!)

You never know what talents or skills you have that may be used on mission.  For instance, Jill came to PS never intending to be a math teacher.  On Monday, she learned that a student in the church high school was struggling in geometry.  She got the text book and proceeded to tutor on Tuesday.  During her time with the student, Jill demonstrated real life geometrical application on the work site — she made the student come out and help calculate the peak at the top of the shed!!

Wednesday afternoon brought a quick rain shower.  We had to take a construction break.  Some folks were glad for the opportunity to rest.  Others took the chance to play spades.  Don & Melissa proved to be formidable opponents.  They’re strategy was to make the other team think they didn’t know how to play so they would go easy on them.  And it worked!!  Jill & Julie will be requesting a rematch at the first opportunity. 

Our work site has proven to be a magnet for neighbors to inquire about the sheds since we are building in the front lawn of the church.  As in previous days, we have had a handful of people stop by again today, requesting to be put on the list to receive a shed.  As you can imagine, the 16×8 FEMA trailers are quite small.  This extra storage space gives people the opportunity to have a “laundry room”, store necessary equpment, or store standard household items.

We’ve been very impressed by the way neighbors have been very friendly.  They are always willing to stop and talk to us.  The other people on our site have been equally helpful and hospitable.

Tomorrow should bring the end of a good work week, and the completion of 3 storage sheds.  We are in hopes of being a part of delivering these sheds to their new owners.  That would be the perfect end to our project.  We also hope to catch the Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival Friday night.  We hear it’s the equivalent of the county fair.  Russell promises to show us the right way to eat crawfish!

Don’t forget to go the HRBC website and check out the photos or our work — and fun!

It’s a cloudy Wednesday in PS.  We received news that Carol arrived home safely after a long and uncomfortable flight.  We trust that you will take care of her as we continue our work here.  We have uploaded photos to the church website so check the news article on the home page to see them!

Doctors at the Belle Chasse Hosptial confirmed what Carol knew seconds after her fall.  Both bones in her lower leg are broken, just above the ankle.  She is in a splint up to her thigh and is returning to Richmond on an airplane this evening.  Carol, and the local doctor, agreed that her primary care physician should take the case from here.  Please continue to keep her travel and her recovery in your prayers. 

In the mean time, the rest of the team is taking up the slack and working to finish our three sheds.  We are in hopes of posting pictures of our work later tonight.  Stay tuned…

While getting ready to head for our work site just after breakfast, Carol took a trip down the stairs.  She missed the bottom two stairs and went straight to the floor.  We suspect she may have broken her right ankle.  At 8:00 AM, her, Melissa, and Russel arrived at the medical center in Belle Chasse.  At 8:30, Carol went to the examination room and we are still awaiting the doctors report.  Please keep her and the rest of the team in your prayers today.

It started off early meeting other vonulteers from VA.  A team of 50 from Concord Association is working with Port Sulphur Baptist Church.  Our team of 10 spent the day constructing three sheds.  We didn’t quite finish today, so we will be back at it first thing in the monring.  One of the highlights of our morning was when we lifted a tarp, a little mommy mouse ran out leaving her new born babies that had just been “hatched”-according to Melissa.  Melissa said they look like the pigs from ‘Pass the Pig’ game!  Unfortunately, the babies did not survive the day, but we did. 

Three ladies from Port Sulphur Baptist Church met with Julie to arrange for curtains to be delivered by our July team.  A Richmond sewing guild, that meets at HRBC, will be making the curtains for the church. 

According to Melissa, the building is not over for today.  She has hinted that our devotional for the evening will continue the building theme.  We’ll see who shows up! 

Chefs Laura and Margaret Ann prepared a delicious dinner of spaghetti.

 After all this work, we should certainly sleep well tonight!!  We’re not sure what happened last night, but it ended with Julie sleeping in the church van!

Please keep checking back for more updates.  Since we don’t have internet service, we are sending our updates by cell phone.  We’ll be posting all the pictures, including the mice, when we return!

Last night we arrived to our destination safely after a long drive.  Everyone is excited to start doing some work and we did a little shopping to get ready for the week to come!  Check back later today and the rest of the week for more updates!!

Day 1 began with an early departure from church.  (Many thanks to some friends and family for seeing us off!) 

We got acquainted with our donated van.  (We’re transporting a van to our friends in Port Sulphur from the VBMB.)  We discovered that the a/c doesn’t work and it needed lots of oil!  (Check out our pics to see how many team members it took to add 4 quarts of oil!)

And now for our first quote of the day.  Remember it’s the quiet ones that always surprise you:  At dinner the waiter was dividing tabs and someone made the comment that Margaret Ann and Don were our parents and picking up the tab.  Russell piped in and said, “Yeah, Jason is our youngest and the biggest surprise!”

So 700 miles later, we are settling into our hotel for the night and getting ready for about 380 miles of driving to go.  We appreciate your prayers as you gather for worship on Sunday!

Good night!

Ten people from HRBC depart bright and early on Saturday, May 19, for our first full mission experience with our partners in Port Sulphur, LA.  While there, we have an opportunity to help rebuild this area badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.  Opportunities may include building storage sheds, completing work on the PSBC sanctuary, helping with a food pantry, working on homes, and more!  As we get started, here are the ways we ask you to pray for us in no particular order:

1)  Safety – pray for our safety as we travel and while we work. 

2)  Teamwork – pray for a spirit of unity and mutual encouragement.

3)  Boldness – to use the gifts God has entrusted to us during our week

4)  Compassion – for those we will encounter all the way

5)  Team members:  Carol Ashworth, Julie Carr, Russell Drewry, Melissa Fallen, Laura Fowler, Jill Hardin, Don Hutcheson, Margaret Ann Hutcheson, Guy Lusk, and Jason Naggles

We will try to keep you as updated as possible during our experience.  We look forward to sharing with you about how we witness God at work!  Feel free to leave us comments along the way.

 We also extend our blessings to you as you serve God in your own “Jerusalem” this week!