God is awesome. We are so thankful that He has allowed us to join Him in this great adventure on the Mississippi Coast!

As some of you already know, as of last Tuesday we have "officially" moved from Shoreline Park to our new camp in Waveland. The camp is located on the grounds of Little Zion Baptist Church, a National Baptist Church. The people there are wonderful and very receptive to our mission and ministry.

Steve Watson has also moved to the new camp and will be managing the Pod construction and delivery as well as helping make the mechanics of the camp work. On Tuesday, Steve and I were looking at a huge tangle of trees and brush wondering how we were going to push it all back to make room for trailers and Pod building. About that time we heard a noise behind us … it was one of the church members from the church on a front end loader. He stopped next to us and asked if we needed anything moved. I know, you have heard this story before right … actually the last time it was an excavator to offload pod parts from DeMotte, IN. Different story .. Same God :o) The church members had been using a 20 by 50 tent until they got back into their church building. They are letting us use it as long as we need it. Harold, the guy on the front end loader then asked if we could use another tent -- they have an air conditioner and heater with them. We said yes -- we need some place for the volunteers to sleep. He brought some men the next day and they began laying the floor in. We should have the second tent up by the end of this week. Volunteers staying at the Shoreline camp are laying in the electrical circuits, those will be done by week's end also. Steve was talking to a man who stopped by to ask about getting a pod -- yes it has already started -- Steve told him that he would have to wait, that what we need was some rock to put down over the area we had cleared -- the man said he could get all the rock we needed.

An aside --- from 1992 until 1997 Martie and I attended Eclectic United Methodist Church in Eclectic, AL. I spoke to the men's group at the church last January asking them to come to the Gulf to help. They told me that the church had adopted a family from Waveland who had evacuated from Katrina. Eclectic has made several trips since January, but it was not until last week that I learned the man and his family attend Little Zion Baptist Church the same church that we had helped. Small world or Big God?

I talked with a friend of ours who works with the Christian Appalachian Project in Kentucky. Sherry had provided volunteers to me when I ran food an supply distribution for the Christus Victor Lutheran Church. I told her I need a shower trailer. She called me yesterday to tell me that I could pick it up in Gautier ( pronounced "go shay") this Saturday. I received a call from the volunteer manager at Bay Vista Baptist Church saying he wants me to talk with someone next week who can provide food for the camp. Martie talked with someone today from Bowmar BC in Vicksburg, MS who is going to set a kitchen up in the old church building that we will use as a mess hall. Little Zion used it as a fellowship hall before the storm. We intend to repair it and leave it better than is was to bless them for their kindness to us. I called the phone company to get phone service so we will have internet and a local phone. They apologized and told me that the soonest they could get phone service there was 6 days -- 6 days!!!! I was expecting a month! God is good.

Like RONCO says on their info-mercials, "Wait! There's more!" There is a small bit of land next to the church that is a jumble of trees that we thought we could use for parking and other things in the future. We were told that CSX railroad owns it. I called the person that manages their leases of real property. Through the course of our conversation I learned that he was a believer, so I changed the context of the conversation. I told him what God was doing in this area and asked him to check out our web site. He asked me to call back after the weekend. I did and he told me that he couldn't find evidence that CSX owned the land we asked about, but there was a six (6) acre site close by that he would lease to us for $50.00 per year. That's right … fifty dollars! I told him that when w get back we will check it out. Get back from where you ask? Martie and I closed on our house yesterday. We are in Montgomery and will be going back to Waveland Saturday morning. We are carrying back a truck and trailer load of "stuff" to use at the camp.

And that is why I started the update out with "God is Awesome!"

Pray for us. The spiritual battles are raging even in the midst of God's blessings. But if you are not getting shot at you are not in a battle … are you have not climbed out of your fox hole! .

Please pray also that God will continue to provide. He will so long as our hearts are right. We need personal support and support for the camp - supplies -- equipment - tools -- and funds to cover operating costs.

I am building a web site for Pathfinder Mission http://www.pathfindermission.org and will be posting our needs on that site plus a calendar to show volunteer schedules.

Right now our most pressing need is cots for volunteers to sleep on (we need 30 to 40) and a temporary cooking and refrigeration capability until we can get our kitchen running. .

Be Blessed

http://www.pathfindermission.org

Isa 58:12…. you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.