We trust that
this update finds you well and that you are
having a wonderful Christmas holiday. Martie
and I were able to get away for a few days to
celebrate Christmas with our daughters and their
families in Alabama.
Angels
sent by God ....
Have you ever
thought about yourself as an "angel" from
heaven? No, I
have not gone off the deep end ... but I want
you to think about this with me. I was
contacted by the Phillips' the other day and
they asked if I could help them move some things
to their Katrina Cottage in Bay Side Park.
Katrina Cottages are an
interim solution to getting people out of FEMA
trailers. They are larger and look a lot like a
"shotgun
house"
from the outside. The cottages are the provided
by
Mississippi Alternative Housing Program,
which is the result of a $280 million federal
grant awarded to Mississippi. The goals of the
program are to develop and evaluate safer and
more comfortable alternatives to current
disaster housing units for future disasters.
MEMA (Mississippi Emergency Management Agency)
is administering the 24-month long program. As
many as 4,000 cottages were anticipated to be
placed.
The Phillip's
had been living in a FEMA trailer about 1/4 mile
from the camp. Tim comes to the studies,
faithfully. Tim had a heart attack while
cutting a tree off of his parents roof right
after the storm. He now has 35% heart
function. When his car is not running, he would
ride his lawn mower to the bible study. Anyway
I showed up with our 16 foot trailer and was
able to load nearly everything in one load ...
recall FEMA trailers are not very big. Alma,
Tim's wife told me she was getting a washer and
dryer on Wednesday and asked if I would help
them get it to their new - temporary - home.
She said that she has not done a load of laundry
in her home for over 2 years. (FEMA trailers
don't have room for washers and dryers.) I
picked the machines up the next day and helped
Tim set them up. Tim was exhausted ... again,
he only has 35% of his heart function. Back to
my point .... when we had finished and checked
that all was in working order, Alma said "You
and Martie are angels from God." I thanked her
and told her that the Lord had sent us to help.
On the way back
to the camp I thought about her words .... and
you know, there are a number of similarities
between those Saints who are sent by God to
minister to the people here and angels. Both
are sent by the Father. Both have a purpose and
message when they arrive. Since we have been on
the Gulf Coast, I have made it a point to
emphasize the spiritual context of the work that
we do here. There is one difference between
angels and us though, and it is a significant
difference .... when the Lord sends angels they
always go .... when He tells us to go, well, our
going is not always a foregone conclusion.
Need
for Volunteers on the Gulf Coast
I was talking
with Otis Sharpe, the head of the permit office
and code enforcement for Waveland, last Friday.
He told me that some of the volunteer groups
that have been on the ground for the past two
years have told him that they are experiencing
difficulty in sustaining support of their work
here. In simple terms, the interest level in
other parts of the country has fallen off as
has the willingness to support the effort with
money and people ... significantly fallen off.
He told me that the need is still great and
volunteers are critical to the recovery here.
And he thanked us for the work the
volunteers, through Pathfinder, have done
and are doing. To quote from an article in the
Gulf Coast News, dated Nov 2007:
"The Coast lost
nearly 75,000 homes from Katrina, and officials
estimate only about 20 percent have been
rebuilt. .....They (the remaining 80%) were the
homes of working-class families of moderate to
low incomes; families that also represent many
of the residents along the Coast that worked in
retail, restaurants, the fishing industry and
the service industry that are an important part
of the Coast's economy and character."
There are about
800 volunteers that have come to the Gulf for 8
days of work ... the ministry that brought them
is called 8 Days of Hope ... This is the second
or third year that they have come. As I drove
to Lowes the other day, I noticed holiday
banners flying .. they all said "Hope". That is
what you bring with you when you come to help
with the recovery. Hope. You restore hope that
has been lost. You bring a promise of a better
day ... a chance to press on with life ... to
overcome obstacles that seemed insurmountable to
those you are helping before you came.
More than that you bring Jesus, the Hope of
Glory. This is
an excerpt from a Christmas card I received from
one of families that we are helping ... "We
don't know how to pay back you (Pathfinder) and
the church that sent the people, that we became
so close to. Thanks you for taking us under the
wing of God." Verse 1 of Psalm 57 King David
resonates their words ... "Have mercy on me, O
God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes
refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your
wings until the disaster has passed."
I realize that
this is a time for family ... but I would like
you to consider what the Lord would have you do
in response to the continued need here. Every
week I am told of someone else who has fallen
through the cracks of recovery assistance and I
am reminded of the question "Lord, when did we
see you?" Please pray about how the Lord would
have you help in the coming year.
Christmas Ministry
Kim Reed, a
good friend and
co-laborer asked if we knew
of families that needed help with Christmas
gifts for their children. Some time back, we
were connected with a couple who moved here from
Minnesota with a heart for ministry to
children. We were able to connect Daren and
Sara with the volunteers from Harmony Baptist
Church in Dawsonville, Georgia. The volunteers
stayed at the camp and distributed the gifts
they brought to children in a FEMA trailer park
and elsewhere. I came across a wonderful video
on YouTube that I have been showing at every
meeting for the
month of December.
The title is "It's About the Cross". If
you click on the following link, you can watch
it ... I would encourage you to do that .. you
will be blessed ....
The
Mission House
It looks like
we will have the final inspection next week.
Jack and Diane Johnson finished the last of
the electrical work for us last week. Ray and
Helen Henry are with us for six weeks and he,
along with Tim Phillips and his son, are
finishing the final details in the house. The
temporary sewage tanks will be installed the
first of the week and then I can call for the
inspection. PTL! We have been meeting in the
Mission House on Thursday and Saturday for the
past two weeks. After the inspection we will
finish the transition from the Little Zion
fellowship hall. The latest word is that Little
Zion may reinforce the floor and finish the
remodeling of the building once we are out of
it. What a blessing that church has been for
the viability of this ministry.
Current
Work
Highlighted
work. Nelson House. Volunteers
from Demotte completed the floor system the last
week of November. They issued a challenge to
High Desert Church to frame it in. It looks
like High Desert will have a crew in January to
do that. We have a commitment from volunteers
from Vicksburg, MS to do the roofing and from
Clanton, AL to do the rough wiring.
I was asked if
we would do another house, if the funds were
provided up to, but not including, hanging the
sheetrock. I think the Lord smiles when we say,
"I'll never do that!" That is what I said about
building houses. I wanted to limit what we did
to remodeling .. why? The truth is that I lacked
faith in God providing the resources to do it.
Well, here we are ... building houses ... and I
am reminded that it is God who provides and it
is God who can do exceedingly abundantly more
than we can ask or think.
Please don't
think that all we need are skilled workers ..
not true. Believe me, we have plenty of work to
go around.
Prayer
Requests
Martie.
We are looking at surgery as a more likely
course of action. Martie will be seeing a
specialist in January. The recovery time is 4
to 6 weeks. Friends in Montgomery have already
offered to let her stay in their home during the
recovery.
Charley.
I dropped a 4x8 sheet of 3/4in board on my right
foot last week. I don't think I broke anything,
but it is slowing me down. My
back went out this morning ... feel like I am
under attack! please pray for my health to
return.
Mike Hanley ... kidney stones
... is doing well with his recovery
Julia Leddy ... breast cancer
surgery .. 90
years old .... we saw her after the surgery
... she is doing very well
Volunteers That the Lord will
continue to stir hearts of volunteers to
return to the Gulf Coast
Rico - alcohol addiction and cardio
vascular disease
Lee
Cunningham ... continued health
and quit smoking
David and Patricia Nelson ...
restoration of the money stolen by a
contractor
That the
Lord will continue to provide for the needs
of the ministry and our personal support.
By His Grace and for His Glory
Charley Elgin
Pathfinder Mission
228.493.1081
Isaiah 58 Rebuilding
Houses - Restoring Lives
