another week

Some of this was written to my church. Debbie and I are housemates in Ohio with Pam, who could not come this trip. Debbie's son is married to my daughter.

Debbie is here this week, and will have a lot to report. She will be able to report what she has seen happening in my life, which is often hard for me to put into words. Today I went out with the prayer team. We visited three of the Christian Life Center's clients. Because of the nature of my assignments here, I rarely see clients in their homes. (I do beverages for whomever is here; work the front desk, where I see those who come in, as well as type a lot of names and information about folks I never meet: and work in the thrift shop, where I meet those who come to shop, but do not always know their names..

So the prayer team was something I have not previously done. We met Willie Acker, who has made himself known for his cooking. He talked about the Lord so long, you would have thought he had come to see us. An elderly black man who was seated on the seat of a swing that had been placed on a platform around a huge oak, He was a real blessing, One time some folks from Washington State told him they had never had sweet potato pie. He stayed up all night he told us, and brought enough sweet potato tarts for everyone who was here that week.

We also visited Cheryl Adams. She and her husband David have been living in an 8 ft trailer since Katrina, and are still not in their house because he lost his job, and they cannot afford materials.. Her prayer request this week was for her husband to have a successful interview with a local company.

To those who know Pat Kuhn, I have not personally seen her since Duke's funeral, but John sees her several times a week. She works Wednesday to Friday in New Orleans, as a beautician in an old folks home. When she is working, a lot of time is spent with her daughter in Slidell, because it is closer. John says she is doing well. He bought Dukes truck from her, and of course she is going through all the legal stuff. The pastor and his wife and Tom and Barbara also see her regularly. She planned to come back to the church, but it could be a painful memory for her: we look for her every week.

The humidity here makes the temperatures seem worse than ever. Locals say they cannot remember it being this hot before August-it has been 110 this week.

The groups this week is from Carlisle Pa and Williamsport, Md. They have worked on a couple of construction jobs, been on the prayer team, worked in the kitchen, cleaned a lady's holuse, or done yard work. I hear some jobs are being finished.

Some of the workers have also worked on the "new" thrift store. The concrete floors have been painted to look like tile, and this week the bookcases were assembled from pre-made squares and rectangles, The first load of books, which were packed last week, were moved into the building and are still sitting in the floor, waiting for the next team. The air conditioning has finally been turned on! The inside temp is now 80 degrees without the humidity: making everyone happy when they step out of 110 and humid.

A slower week

As previously mentioned, we had folks at the first of the week that came down with the 52 foot truck. Church members came to help unload: it took two days, because some of the folks David counts on were not available to help.

The truck left Sunday night. The members stayed until Wednesday, helping in various ways.

On Monday, I helped to compose the email which will go out to folks who worked on the Kuhn house. Those will be sent this week.
For those who knew Duke Kuhn: someone donated money to the church to buy new Bibles in
his name. The inscription reads "In memory of Billye "Duke" Kuhn"

Although I worked on the beverages, kept the desk and worked in the Thrift Shop, it was wonderful to have half a week break from the large crowd that was here previously.

I have learned that there are two types of folks who have lived through Katrina: 1) those who see themselves as victims and feel the world owes them a living, therefore everything should be given to them, and 2)the survivors who have picked themselves up and done the best they can with what they have, which often is not much. The survivors are always glad for whatever low priced items are available, and never complain about prices, which are intentionally low.
There are more survivors than there are victims, but both exist in this world.

On Friday, I rode to Sams club with Barbara, but they did not have everything that I needed.

The next church group, from Erie, Pa, will arrive after supper tonight with 18 folks.

youth week

This has been a very busy week. The church group consisted of 44 youth and 9 leaders. They planned a teen concert on friday night, out on the deck, after going to the beach for the afternoon. On Saturday, a 53 foot truck pulled in from Wisconsin, with a load for the thrift store. There were several appliances, dressers, beds, and other furniture desparately needed by these folks who cannot afford to buy at market prices. As always, the items are donated. The items were assembled by a church, who did a very good job with the admonition "new or gently used" We also received bicycles and food items from them. the men worked all day unloading the truck, and still are not finished. I worked inside the thrift store to free the men for the heavy work.
We also received a 13 passenger van-load of books for the thrift store this week. The female driver and I went out to eat seafood while the young people had a cookout and concert on the deck.
The young people went to New Orleans after lunch, and still are not back.

The folks who came down with the truck, to unload it, will be here until Wednesday. The rest of the week is free of guests.

On my day off, I drove to Slidell, La. to bank with my Ohio bank and to look for a Sams Club. I found the bank, but never located the street where Sam's is. Next week, I will go to Sams in Gulfport, which is closer.