The Journey is Complete

Good morning all!

It is time to put the Katrinacus Rex blog to rest. And so, I thought I would summarize the trip. Of course much more will be shared at Sunday Morning Fellowship Group, so be sure to be there.

Psalm 16:2
I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good besides You."

I am sure I speak for the group when I say it was good to be in our own homes in our own beds:





Overall, I would sumarize the trip as a wonderful time of fellowship. The team that went down, Tom Elliot, Ed Godfrey, Luke Godfrey, Tyler Vanden Heuvel, Kole Woodell, and Nanci Lea White really had the opportunity to learn of one another and grow together. We had some blessed times of dicussion of spiritual things as well as times of reflecting upon God as we listened to some great hymns of the faith.

As far as the work in Slidell, we helped five different individuals/families by clearning trees. It was hard, heavy and dirty work, but there was something purifying about the whole effort. The whole team worked hard, but we also had fun doing it.

Sovereign Grace Fellowship was hospitable. As noted in the previous blogs, we had dinner (scrumptous dinners) at the Expositos (Michelle can cook!). Dinner was followed by our listening to Eddie recount past experiences both prior to and following the hurricane. It was good to learn more about Pastor Eddie, the church and their efforts.

Psalm 18:31-32
For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God, The God who girds me with strength And makes my way blameless?

On the way home we decided to take I-10 through New Orleans to see what could be seen. Unknown to us, the two bridge, four lane highway had become a one bride, two lane (one lane going in each direction) bridge. We left the church at 8:23 a.m. and it took us about 45 minutes to go three miles to get to the bridge. The other bridge I mentioned was severely damaged, with portions of it missing (I am glad we did not have to take it).





Large portions of New Orleans are wiped out. There was not a roof it seemed that was not damage. The hotel that Laura, the kids, and I stayed in a couple of years ago was damaged and empty. Words simply cannot put it into perspective. It will be years before all this will be cleaned up.

I am not sure what our role as a church will be with future clean up efforts. We will take all that we learned to the Lord in prayer and see where He leads us next. Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

We Survived Katrinacus Rex

Hello all!

Yes, we did make it home at about 10 p.m. Everyone is very glad to be home. I will update the blog tomorrow, but for now it is time for bed! Thanks for all your prayers.

We will do a more formal presentation of all our pictures and testimonies on Sunday at Fellowship Group.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Ed

Day 3 - Another bite out of Katrinacus Rex

Well, we have now finished our last day. We just got back from dinner with the Expositos (by the way, the name Exposito is Italian, but his family is really French Cajun – go figure).



We did get out earlier today and most certainly worked much harder than yesterday. We fell a number of trees and by my estimate, we must have moved more than 10,000 pounds of trees (mostly pine). The whole team worked hard and well.

On another note, between jobs I mentioned that I had the most irritating song going through my mind, a song implanted by Kole and Luke, it goes “Head and shoulders, knees and toes.” The other adults agreed with my assessment but thought I was lacking something spiritual. So of course, Tyler had to share that the song going through his mind was “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (which we then recited). Evidently I am having a hard time concentrating on spiritual things.

One of the more exciting moments was when we fell a huge pine tree. We had been warning the team to keep and eye on it as it was large and would seriously hurt anyone in its path. Well, as it turned out, Tyler was in the path. And if any of you think that he can’t run fast, YOU’RE WRONG! I have never seen the big guy run so fast. He was in no real danger, but did trip on his way out.



At another location, Tyler and I had the responsibility to pull on the rope to guide another pine tree away from the house. What was supposed to happen is that once we knew the tree was coming toward us (a frightening thought!) we were to run for our lives. Eddie Exposito and his brother were cutting the tree when it started to lean our direction. Before I knew it, Tyler, who must have been damaged by his previous experience, was already in the neighbor’s yard yelling at me to get out of the way. The only problem was, the tree wasn’t going anywhere. Oh, well, better to err on the side of caution (or as Nanci Lea’s mother would say, “Better to be a live chicken than a dead duck!). We did fell the tree without incident.

By way of encouragement, we must give thanks to the Samuelsons for the use of their vehicle. It has been comfortable and I do believe that we put the U part of SUV into function. It was a utility vehicle. So, thank you Samuelsons.

Tyler taught us the use of code words on this trip. When we left Arkansas, it was comfortable temperature wise. As we went further south, it got a bit more humid. At one point, Tyler blurted out, “It’s burning up in here! Isn’t everyone burning up?” (meaning that he was hot). Well, of course we accommodated our brother and turned on the air conditioning. A few minutes later Tyler was heard saying, “The freezer door is open” (meaning that he was cold). So, for the rest of the trip we referred to being hot as “It’s burning up in here” and the need for the AC as “Open the freezer door!”

On the spiritual side, we did start the day reading Psalm 16 and encouraging one another with thoughts from the text followed by prayer for the day (and all of you).

Psalm 16:1
Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.

Psalm 16:11
You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Well, we are very tired and so, it is off to bed. We are very ready to come home and be with our loved ones and church family. God Bless!

Soli Deo Gloria,


Pastor Ed

Start of Day 2 - Katrinacus Rex (Pictures)

Psalm 16:1
Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.

It is about 6:30 a.m. Tom and I are awake (Tom is actually whistling in the other room). The others are oblivious at the moment, but things will change here shortly (I wish I had my church hand bell to ring).

The most time consuming aspect of writing the blog is the uploading of the pictures. I thought I would simply post some more pictures for you this morning. So here goes - an another update tonight (Lord willing and if physically able):

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed









Psalm 16:11
You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Facing Katrinacus Rex - Day 1

It is about 10 p.m. here - we just got back from having dinner at the Exposito's. We had some great food (and plenty of calories); which was much needed after the days work. We are not sure if we are tired from the physical labor or just the long day yesterday. But, we are looking forward to a good night's rest.

My day started just be 6 a.m. - trying to get my life in order as it were. By 7 a.m. most everybody was up (except for Luke who we had to persuade a bit). I had run to the store to get some breakfast items for the team. There was a debate about whether unfrosted pop-tarts or frosted pop-tarts were better. Since I went to purchase them and prefer unfrosted, guess what we got - unfrosted. After breakfast we prepared for the day. While waiting for Eddie Exposito to arrive, we had a time of prayer for the day.

Our first meeting with Eddie was insightful. He shared with us a history of his coming and being at the church along with his vision of the ministry here in Slidell, especially in the wake of the hurricane. He most certainly has a heart and passion for the work here.

We got out to actually work about 11 a.m. The drive to the first site was eye-opening. Even before seeing the intense devastation later on in the evening, the scope and magnitude of what the Hurricane did was amazing. Huge trees rooted up and blown over everywhere. The tops of many trees were just missing. Words and even pictures cannot put it into perspective.

At the first site we fell a tree (means we cut it down) and cleared a bunch of brush. We had some chainsaw issues but eventually got it worked out. I had about an hour with Eddie as we traved into Mississippi to get a chain saw fixed. On the way back I had a chance to share with him concerning the ministry at Hope. It was a good time.

We wrapped up work at the first site about 3:30 and were going to head toward Lake Ponchatrain, but on the way we stopped at a house to evaluate the work load. We determined to clear the fallen trees right then and there. We actually met the homeowners and they were so grateful for the help. Below are some pictures of the house next door to the house we cleaned up. You will see the absolute power of a tree that falls on a house:


Just at sunset we did make it to Lake Ponchatrain and there are no words to describe what we saw. The pictures are very dark, but suffice it to say it was a mess. Houses destroyed, debris everywhere. It looked like either a war zone or a third world country. In the picture of the lake with nothing more than sticks - those used to be houses. The whole community was wiped out.



Before dinner we went to the home of a man named Greg, who is 75 years old and grew up in the home he now lives in. The home was flooded up to 5 1/2 feet. It is now moldy and most likely needs to be destroyed. Pastor Eddie is working with Greg and some contractors but most likely Greg will end up in a trailer or mobile home.



Again, I find myself very tired and this is making it difficult to type. So, I will call it quits for tonight. Everyone is doing well and we thank God for the opportunity to serve Him and His people. Keep praying for us.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

We Made It to Slidell!

Hello all - as promised I am writing this blog to let you know we made it to Slidell safe and sound. My eyes are playing tricks on me. We left Rogers about 12:30 p.m. (after stopping to air up the tires) and arrived about 1:00 a.m.

Our trip began with our own Fellowship Group were we discussed the sermon and enjoyed talking about the things of the Lord. We also were blessed by Kyler Woodell who sent each of us off with a Bible verse, which we then shared with one another (Thanks Kyler!).

There were only two minor incidents along the way. We almost lost one container that had my pillow in it. But thanks to some keen driving skills by yours truly, the container stayed on the trailer until we could pull over and have Tyler secure everything (and boy he did - no problems after this).

We also had to do some repair on the trailer lights, just a short that a bit of duct tape fixed!

Tyler decided that we needed to eat at Taco Bell for dinner. The only problem was that after Pine Bluff, AR, there is nothing for miles and miles. But then, out of nowhere, we found a Pizza Hut and Taco Bell combined and Tyler was pleased!

There is so much more to say but I can hardly keep my eyes focused upon the keyboard. Thanks for your prayers. Tomorrow (or Today) appears to be a busy one. I will wright more later.

Note the pictures below

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

Final Prep for Facing Katrinicus Rex

There are some things to report and give praise to the Lord even before we have set out on our journey to Slidell. I had stated previously that we were hoping to purchase one new chain saw to take down, use and leave for Sovereign Grace Fellowship's future use. Since then, the Lord has provided two chain saws! I spent most of the day getting all the chain saw supplies needed for our efforts.

FYI: In case you did not already know this, the quality of earplugs (used to protect the ears from the obnoxious sounds of the chain saw) is determined by how many decibels it can block out. One would normal think that earplugs that block 35 dB would be better than ones that block 25db. However, with decibels it is just the opposite. So prayerfully, the 25db earplugs that I purchased for the team should protect our ears.

Psalm 51:8
Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

Again, I wish to offer special thanks to all who are making this trip possible. To make this trip we have borrowed a Ford Expedition and a 10 foot trailer. We are taking foods and supplies we collected just after the hurricane first hit, supplies that have been collected not only from the peoples of Hope CBC, but also from our neighbors and others who passed by the church and dropped things off. As I mentioned, the two chain saws were gracious donated. Others have helped to get all the final necessities; and, I would be most remiss if I did not give thanks to the foods that are being provided for the team on the trip down.

The Lord has also moved the heart of other believers outside of Hope CBC, donating monies for both the trip as well as for Sovereign Grace Fellowship, LA. The most notable of these gifts came from Emmanuel Bible Church of Louisville, OH. May the Lord add His blessing to all who have made this effort possible.

More to follow...(Hopefully with pictures as well!)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

Here we come Katrinacus Rex

I can only hope that I will be able to keep a record (a daily record?) of the trip several from the church are taking to Slidell, LA to help with some of the clean up from Hurricane Katrina (which they affectionately refer to as Katrinacus Rex) . I know that I am looking forward to meeting Pastor Eddie Exposito and others from Sovereign Grace Fellowship. It is my prayer that a relationship between SGF and Hope CBC will result. To learn more about what SGF is up to, please see http://www.sgfellowship.org.

As we are making our preparations, I am grateful to many who are making this trip possible. Two other churches have donated monies in order to get us down to Slidell as well as to have something beyond simply manpower to offer. One of the things we will be bringing down is a new chain saw, which we will use to help clear trees and then we will leave it there (there are a lot of trees to clear). In addition, several from Hope CBC are supplying us with transportation, food and both prayer and moral support.

1 John 3:16-18
16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

Lord, make us vessels of grace and mercy - may we shine forth the great love with which You have loved us and may the very little we are able to do be multiplied greatly by Your power to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed