Crossroads Community Church Construction Outreach Team

The food

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We were overwhelmed and humbled by the outpouring of food for our team.

The Galloways and other church members brought us smoked chicken and ribs along with side dishes on Wednesday night.

JP’s catering grilled some of the best steaks we’ve ever had on Thursday night.

Pulled pork, baked beans and tons of desserts were brought in for Friday night and on Saturday morning when we left, ham and cheese biscuits were supplied for our breakfast. What an incredible community!

Yet a few more pictures…

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and no trip is complete without the medication table.

More from last week in Hackleburg…

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Some of our window washing crew

and dish washers. Lots of dishes when cooking for 50 people.

and there was always cleanup to do.

Painting is probably what we did the most of. Our team put on approx. 140 gallons of paint.

Doors were hung and trim was cut and installed.

Re-installed a rollup door in the kitchen pass through window.

Tile and carpet was laid.

Yardwork was done.

Sod was laid.

Trees were planted.

Chairs and tables were scrubbed.

and cabinets were repaired.

Our church’s mission statement is

“Helping every person we can find their place in God’s plan.”

This trip was an excellent example of just that.

Last night…

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After what seemed like an incredibly short week, a few last projects were finished up

and the trailer was packed once again

in preparation for our long trip back north starting at 5am tomorrow morning.

This has been quite the week filled with so many “God things” including this group of people below. These servants of the Spirit never cease to amaze us!

Watch for more pictures and a wrap-up to be posted in the next few days.

How sod is rolled in Alabama

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Sod rolling

Relationships

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These outreach trips are just as much if not more about the people and relationships among team members and team members and the community than they are about the work. Many lasting friendships are formed within 7 short days.

Things are starting to shape up!

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I’m going to let the pictures speak for themselves…

We’re here!

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We loaded a bus very early Saturday morning Bama bound.

The charter bus deal is the way to go!

We arrived Hackleburg about 6:45 pm Saturday night to start a whirlwind week.

We attended church service on Sunday morning and evening.

Our team – 45 servants strong!

The BOM Squad – Baldies On Mission.

The start of our work week…

Jim’s been making cabinet repairs all day. The church was able to salvage most of their kitchen cabinetry after the storm.

Rich & Isaias

Tom & Terry hanging doors.

Part of our painting crew.

Sandy & Marlene washing windows

Cleaning up the parking lot from construction debris.

and the sidewalks.

Clean up at the end of the day

Tools all have to be put on the charger so they’re ready for the next day.

The stage in the sanctuary as it is now. We’re hoping to have paint on this by the end of the week.

Our first day was a positive start for the rest of our week!

Almost time

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The trailer is locked and loaded and ready to head south in the dark early morning hours tomorrow.

We’ll be reporting next from beautiful sunny, warm(one can hope, right?) Alabama.

'Bama bound - round 2

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We're heading back to Hackleburg, Alabama February 18 - 26, 2012!

We will be helping rebuild Hackleburg Community Church which we helped tear down during our May 2011. We're excited about the incredible team God has put together for this trip. All 36 of them! He amazes us all the time with his goodness!

Please pray for plans to continue to come together, team members health and finances, as well as those of the congregation we will be serving, pray that we can be a blessing to those we serve and to those who we're serving with and especially that we might all grow in our walk with the Lord through the work of our hands and feet.

Check back here between February 18 & 26th for updates throughout our time in Alabama.

Wrappin’ up the week

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Stats:

4 vehicles and

8000 miles driven

25 team members with the youngest age 24 and the oldest age 77.

3 members age 70 – 77
5 members age 60 – 69
10 members age 50 – 59
4 members age 40 – 49
1 member age 30 – 39
2 members age 24 – 29

13 men
12 women

1500 man hours

40 hours of skid loader time

3 hours of excavator time

15+ 40-yard dumpsters full of debris

one dead rattlesnake

30+ tons of steel handled

1-1/2 large tanks of oxygen for the torch

hundreds of bottles of water

gallons of Gatorade

1000 lbs. copper salvaged

thousands of dollars worth of re-usable construction supplies salvaged

Lasting relationships formed

Many divine encounters

The look of hope and tears in the congregations eyes = priceless!

Pastor Clint’s shirt says it best…

I AM CONVINCED…

For I am convinced the neither death not life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height not depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Not even EF5 tornadoes!

A huge thank you to all who covered this team and our time in Alabama in prayer. Without that covering we couldn’t have served like we were able to. We praise God for all of you and for sending us in His name to do the work He has set forth for us to accomplish!

Sunday service

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While some of the team was already on the highway heading home, 13 of us decided we wanted to stay for Sunday morning service and we were blessed beyond measure for doing so.

How nice it was to worship under the tent with the congregation we just served.

And Pastor Clint’s message was outstanding on “what do you want to be remembered for?”

Our friends from New Orleans

brought this beautiful stained glass cross with them. We had the pleasure of presenting it to Pastor Clint for use in the new church.

This young lady was so excited to have her journal back which our team found in the debris while working on the church.

Those of us who stayed for service were so glad we did and really wish the rest of our team could have done the same.

Last work day

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Our last work day in Alabama dawned sunny & steamy. We hit the ground running trying to tie up as many loose ends as possible before we headed back north. How does a week go by so fast?

Love this picture of “the brothers” discussing how to tackle that last high beam.

Then this showed up. The company that was buying the salvage steel from the church was due to start pick up on Tuesday, but the excavator operator decided to move his things in on Saturday so he would be ready to go Tuesday morning. A “God thing” maybe? Absolutely!

He came just in time to support the high beam while Mr. Steel Monkey aka Ron was scaling the beam torching off the purlins.

The building looked a bit different by Saturday from what we saw as we drove up to it for the first time on Tuesday morning.

Sandy doing some final clean-up inside the church.

Becky and Dumpster Diva Lynnette clowning around.

Other taking a well deserved break. These folks worked tirelessly all week long in hot and humid conditions we definitely weren’t accustomed to this season yet.

This machine & Nathan the operator worked just as tirelessly. It was started each morning at 8 am and was very rarely shut off before 6 pm that evening. We would have truly been helpless without it.

At the end of the day on Saturday, we decided it was time to enjoy some good ol’ southern BBQ.

We all gathered at Bama-Que in Hamilton, Alabama before some headed home yet that night, others first thing the next morning while the rest of us stayed for Sunday morning services.

A special evening

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We attended the Hackleburg High School graduation ceremony tonight. Pastor Clint’s son Winn was salutatorian of his class. We’ve had the pleasure of working with this young man throughout the week and were thrilled to be able to celebrate his graduation with him.

Since the tornado destroyed their schools as you can see in the background of the photo, they have been meeting in the Baptist Church in town. They were offered the use of another area high school’s gymnasium but the class opted to hold the ceremony on their own football field.

The top of the football bowl was also a great place to see the progress on the church. The backside of it used to be two stories tall.

A peek at the progress

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Stripping wire so the church can paid more for the copper it contains.

The man in the maroon shirt is the pastor of the church, Clint Knowles. He’s been here with us everyday.

Lots of copper = lots of $$$ for the church!

A drive behind the Wrangler plant…

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It’s amazing anyone made it out of this plant alive. We were told last night, that Wrangler has continued to pay it’s employees. They are opening two warehouses next week to start getting people back to work as well.

Below, a sign of hope…new construction!

Tuesday & Wednesday, May 24 & 25, 2011

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Once work got started, it’s been a blur. It’s amazing the progress that’s been made on the church in the first two days. All in all with our Crossroads team, congregation members, our His Hands 2 Go ministry friends from New Orleans and Lifehouse Ministry participants from the church we’re staying at, we’ve had over 30 people working at the any given time. The heat has been oppressive but these folks haven’t let up one bit. It’s been a wonderful blessing to see how God’s people can work together for a common goal while serving our Christ.

Many more pictures to come.

Hackleburg Community Church

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Our task for the week is assisting the Hackleburg Community Church, formerly Hackleburg Church of God of Prophecy dismantle their 2 year old church.

As we pulled in the parking lot Tuesday morning, more than one of us was wondering what on earth we had gotten ourselves into. But a plan was made and piece by piece it’s coming down to allow this congregation to re-build and continue their outreach into the community of Hackleburg and the surrounding area.

Note all of the shards of wood stuck in the stucco above and the PVC pipe stuck in near the cross in the picture below. That is some force!

Unloading our tools for our week of work

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First glimpses

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Some of our first glimpses of Hackleburg, Alabama one month after an EF5 tornado ripped apart the town.

Here we go again!

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Through a whirlwind of activity in the last two weeks, on Monday, May 23rd, Crossroads Community Church is sending an outreach team to aid in the clean-up from the April 27th tornado outbreak that ravaged the southern states. We will be working mainly in Hackleburg, Alabama where 75% of their town of 1700 has been wiped out by an EF5 tornado. Please pray for our team and their families as we prepare, travel and serve in Alabama. Stay tuned for updates as next week progresses.

Team Video

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Take a look at the team video from out last New Orleans trip. Nathan always does such an outstanding job putting these together. The video makes for such a nice overview of what all went on while we were down south.

Thanks again to all of you who were praying over this trip.

This may take a few seconds to load and be sure to pause the music on the side bar before watching the video.

It’s definitely a God thing!

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Projects are a big part of these trips but more important are the relationships that are formed in the process of the work.
The relationships established with the home owners are wonderful but the enhanced relationship with God and amongst the team members is absolutely priceless.

First and foremost, it’s incredible to watch people grow spiritually and increase the intensity of their relationship with God. In some cases, the growth can be seen right before our eyes. “The light comes on” so to speak. God places something or someone in our path that flips that switch and we see things in a whole new light.

Alot of us go with the “human” thought that we’re going to bless the people of New Orleans. While that may happen, God sees to it that working with and for those people ends up blessing us more in the process. It’s incredibly humbling to go to a complete stranger and say to them “I’m here to serve you, what can I do?”

The bottom line is, God is much more about growing us spiritually than He is about what we’re doing while there. The work is only the vehicle for that growth. In reflection is when we see that since we stepped out of our box, God has blessed that step tenfold.

To further increase spiritual growth, there are 25+ of us living for a week or two(in some cases) in 1000 square feet with only two bathrooms. If two bathrooms for that many people doesn’t test a person’s faith, I’m not sure what would! Grace and patience become very necessary and evident. It’s so amazing to see the growing bonds between the team members. It doesn’t matter where you are financially, personally or spiritually, the playing field is leveled in a hurry with these kinds of logistics. Let’s just say there aren’t a lot of secrets in this kind of environment. We pray, we joke, we worship, we laugh(alot) and we fellowship. We celebrate the good things that happen during our day and if someone is struggling, it doesn’t take long for another person to see that and come around them in friendship and prayer. How a person can become so close to others in such a short time, close enough to feel like family is truly a “God-thing.”
We have a lot of team members who return year after year and when they do, it truly feels like old home week. With Crossroads being a larger church with multiple campuses, trips such as these create a relationship bond amongst the team members and campuses represented that may not happen otherwise. A person can sometimes fall through the cracks of a large church, but its activities like these that seal up those cracks.

If an opportunity arises for any of you to go on a short-term outreach, I would highly recommend it. You will never be the same again! It will definitely ruin you for the ordinary!

Home Sweet Home

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The last of our group arrived back home late yesterday afternoon. What an incredible two weeks! The relationships that were formed amongst team members and the divine appointments that were made are absolutely priceless.

Mike said it best at our team meeting the last night together…we’re no longer just fellow Christians, people who go to the same church or who took a trip together. We’re now family!

We’ll be posting a few more pictures in the next few days so be sure to stop back and take a look.

Working at Albert’s house

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Last day of work

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We were able to hand Brian keys to his home today. He only has power to the post outside his home and no water but he was moving a air mattress in so he could sleep in his home tonight. He has moved from place to place since Katrina hit and was so excited to be able to have a home with a locking door He didn’t care that the only electricity he has is on a long extension cord.

Brian is one excited man!

Welcome home Brian Berteaux, welcome home!

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Projects have been progressing nicely. Sorry for the lapse in posting but time has been scarce. Hopefully we’ll have more pictures tonight.

Please pray for safe travels as we head home in the morning. We will drive as far as Sikeston, Missouri tomorrow and be home late Saturday afternoon. Also, please pray for Jeff, one of our team members suffering from a back issue. Thanks for all of your prayerful support!

Four campuses represented

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We have four campuses from our network represented in the teams this year.

Freeport campus

White Pines campus

Galena campus

and for the first time we’ve had two people from our Northern Range campus in Commerce City, Colorado

We also have team members from two other churches with us.

Silver Creek Reformed Church, German Valley, Illinois

Stockton United Methodist Church, Stockton, Illinois

It’s been wonderful to see different denominations and age groups working side by side. What a great example of what God’s kingdom should look like.

Just another night back at the ranch…

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They’ve already completed a 500 piece puzzle and are now working on a 1000 piece.

Card playing

and no evening is complete without a haircut or two!

Week Two Monday & Tuesday

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Our electric was out again last night so we’ll do both day together this time.

Projects are progressing wonderfully.

Most of the work is being done now at Brian’s house and across the street at Alfred’s house.

It’s the first time we’ve had two projects so close to each other like this. How handy is that?

Our mornings start off with some worship and devotion time.

Starting the day and deciding who is going to do what.

Brian, one of the homeowners

Some of the week two team with Brian

Amanda stepping back and letting Kerry do his thing.

Brian working on windows

Coffee and donut break. Both homeowners brought donuts for the team today. Krispy Kremes doesn’t have anything on the little bakery they get their donuts from!

Jeff with Alfred, the homeowner across the street.

The crew has been sheet rocking Alfred’s house but a few of them also worked on this small shed behind the house. Alfred was thrilled with this little bit of “lagniappe”.

Some of the ladies painted the fellowship hall bathrooms at St Luke’s this afternoon.

Last night a bunch of us went out looking for warmer work clothes. JCPenneys made out really well with all of our purchases. The highs have been in the 40’s which is unusual for New Orleans and it’s supposed to get colder yet before the week is out. I guess we’re just getting prepared to head north again in a few days.

Beautiful Sunday!

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What a great day spent worshiping our Lord and seeing his creation.

We started out with breakfast at Betsy’s Pancake House.

Houses being rebuilt in the Lower Ninth Ward.

Part of the second week group on the industrial canal wall.

Services at St Lukes and lunch with the church family afterwards.

The pelican’s bill holds more than his belly-can.

Sugar Cane 101 by Professor Derby

Raceland Raw Sugar production plant – sweet!

Saturday project pics

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Safe

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One of the beautiful sprawling trees in New Orleans

Week One folks arrived home safe and sound today to a frigid and chilly Northern regions. Week Two people have arrived with the exception of one more flying in tomorrow morning. The week two team looks to be as amazing as the week one. I barely had the car parked and they had changed into work clothes and wanted to go to the project. How eager is that?

Sunday will be filled with breakfast out, church, lunch at the church afterwards, some sightseeing and great team time. Monday morning we’ll hit the ground running again for our final four days here.

We should have more pictures to post Sunday night or Monday.

On a different note, we, as a team would like to extend our sympathies to the Mike Williamson family. Mike’s son, Glen(his wife Colleen) is our Freeport campus pastor.

Glen & Colleen, we know this is a rough time for you but please feel all of our prayers headed your way. We love you guys!

With deepest sympathies,

from the 2009/2010 New Orleans outreach team members

Week One Team

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Wow, what an incredible group of servants!

It’s become a tradition of sorts for our teams on their last night together to share what they’ll take home with them from this mission experience and what impacted them the most. One of our team members shared that they came on this trip to find their “Servants heart”. That person definitely found it along with others who most definitely possess one. We have had a great week full of fellowship, laughter and serving. Every time we go home from one of these trips, we ask ourselves “how can it get any better?” Then the next time we go, God blows us away again! I never cease to be amazed at how God orchestrates these outreaches. He puts the right people in the right places at the right time like no human being could possibly do. He is a supernatural God without a doubt! We don’t only come away with a mission experience but a whole new bunch of brothers and sisters. These people truly feel like family by the end of the week.

“OFFICIAL” team picture

“UNOFFICIAL” team picture

A wild bunch of servants, they are!

Brian Barteaux home

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At least a portion of our team has spent everyday this week working at Brian’s house.

Thursday happenings

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We woke to a beautiful Thursday morning after a day of rain. The high was in 70’s. We even ate lunches outside. However, that looks to be the warmest day we’ll experience here. Next week, the temperatures are supposed to drop drastically.

Wava and Sandy working at Pastor T’s house

Nicki sanding drywall. Ask her about the incredible healing she received on her hand.

Not sure what Bill & Kerry were up to here but I doubt it was anything good.

The finishing touches were put on windows at St.Luke’s…21 windows total; caulked primed and painted.

The entry doors were refinished and this beautiful verse above, repainted and re-lettered. Great job Paul!

God is present everywhere but there is something about God’s presence in the “rawness” of this old cinder block church.

We enjoyed a festive New Years Eve meal followed by an amazing chapel service. Lots of worship & testimony!

Clowning around after New Years Eve dinner.

More later……

Thanks for praying!

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Codey’s back is improving. Thanks so much for praying!

Prayer Request

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Codey’s back went out on him on the way down to New Orleans. He was able to work the first couple of days but is on light duty now and in a considerable amount of pain. Please pray for him and relief from the pain.

Also, a few of the team have had a nasty stomach bug of some kind. Please pray that the “bug” flies away and no one else is affected by it.

Thanks so much for supporting us in prayer.

More random pictures

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Rainy Day in New Orleans

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We’ve had rain all day here today which means projects had to be adjusted.

Interior work continued in the trailers and Brian’s house

A house was gutted and a pantry started at Pastor’s house.

Heading south

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We’re backtracking a few days and sharing pictures of our trek to New Orleans.

Two trucks, two vans and a trailer

Packed in vehicles

Playing around at Hernando United Methodist Church in Mississippi where we spent the night.

Codey being punished for not eating his supper.

Part of the team segment that decided to drive the 1000 mile trip straight through. Left at 5am Saturday morning, arriving New Orleans 10pm.

Power out :(

2009-12-29T22:21:00.001-06:00

As we were finishing up supper tonight at St Luke’s we received information that the power was out at the church we stay at. Groan!

A couple of years back we had this same issue but at that time, the sewer was backed up as well (remember that night 2007 team?) so tonight was a walk in the park. The power is now back on. At least the outage was brief.

Projects progressed nicely today.

Two new windows are in at Brian’s, the backyard pile is picked up, the house is completely cleaned out and should be ready for sheetrock and more windows tomorrow.

A retaining wall was built at a site in Chalmette.

Half of the windows at St Luke’s have been painted and the others ones are caulked and primed to hopefully paint tomorrow, weather permitting. The entry doors have been refinished and the lettering re-painted above them.

The trailers at the East church have been completely cleaned inside and out.

The roof at the East church has been patched and tarred by Bill & Kerry.

Past homeowner relationships were renewed.

And more groceries purchased…

First day

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Our first work day was cold this morning.

40 degrees at 7 am and in the 50’s the rest of the day, which isn’t really cold by Northern Illinois standards but cold for New Orleans.

We had team members scattered between three worksites today.

We worked at Brian Berteaux’s home. Lots of clean-up was needed including under the house itself. Once all the cleanup is finished, drywall will be started.

Nikki spelunking under the house.

Windows were caulked and painted at St Luke’s church.

Dave working on windows.

Paul working on the entry doors.

FEMA trailers were cleaned and repaired at the East church(where we stay) so they can also house teams in the future.

Wava scrubbing floors.

Kerry, Bill & Everett planning their attack.

…and help is always needed on the cooking front. We are not only cooking for our team this week but also a team of 15 from Indiana.

Camri making an awesome chocolate dessert for everyone.

Mondays tend to be pretty chaotic until everyone is placed at a job but the comment was made that today was one of the most smooth productive first days we’ve ever had. All the glory goes to God who put this team together. What an incredible group of servants we have along and a whole lotta fun to boot!

Safe & Sound

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Two groups of our team have arrived in New Orleans safe and sound. The first six of us mid-afternoon yesterday and another five at 10pm last night. The other two car loads will be here today. They made it through the ice and snow in Illinois but stayed in northern Mississippi last night.

The temps are a little cooler than we’ve experienced in the past; 50’s during the day and 30’s at night. We’re happy as at least there’s no white stuff on the ground.

Last night we had supper at the Parkway Bakery and breakfast this morning is at the Panola Café, then off to church. Honestly, we do other things than eat!

We’re anxious for our other team members to arrive this afternoon and get started on our projects in the morning.

Four days and counting...

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The first members of our group leave for New Orleans in four days!

We're so pumped about this trip!

For some of us, it seems like the devil has been working overtime with his jabs so we just know it's going to be a wonderful trip or why else would he even bother, right?

We'll start regularly posting on Monday, December 28th so please stop back and follow along.

NEW TRIP IN THE WORKS!

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Plans are coming together for two more trips back to back to New Orleans, Louisiana from December 26, 2009 - January 10th, 2010.

We've once again been blessed with many willing servants. We're really excited about the team that God has put together. See their names on the side bar. Keep checking back for updates as we prepare for the trip.

A huge THANK YOU to all!

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We want to send along a huge THANK YOU to all who supported this team in any way prayerfully, financially and by holding down the fort at home.

We had two wonderful weeks ministering with and to the people of New Orleans. There is so much yet to be done in this city physically & spiritually.
Please partner with us in prayer for the people of New Orleans and the city itself.

If you would like more information about our time in New Orleans, feel free to ask any of us. We would love to talk with you about it.

Heading home

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We left a warm, muggy New Orleans morning for home about 8am Saturday.

Jan, Lori & Liz

We ran into a few rain showers and realized the drastic temperature change when we got out to stretch our legs at Lake Enid in Northern Mississippi.
The temperature had dropped about 30 degrees from when we left New Orleans which sent us all scrambling for our coats.

We stayed at the Drury Inn at Sikeston, Missouri Saturday night. This was our 5th stay at this hotel. Let me say, these folks know how to do customer service right! They always provide us a meeting room and even moved up the breakfast time to accomodate us so we could get on the road heading home a little earlier.

And of course, no trip to Sikeston, Missouri is complete without dinner at Lamberts, home of the throwed rolls.

Now that's a chunk of ham!

If you leave Lamberts hungry it's no one's fault but your own!

We safely arrived home at 4pm Sunday afternoon.

Some of us were in huge denial of the snow and temperature, weren't we Everett?

This was a wonderful 2 weeks with great projects and people. If you would like to hear more about this trip, we will be having a presentation at the Wednesday evening service at Crossroads Freeport campus on February 18th at 6:30.

Thanks for following along with us.

Friday, January 9th

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A glimpse at a few of the Friday's projects...

Christy & Liz gardening at St Luke's church

Joe & Merlyn laying carpet and tile in George's home.

Spraying texture on the ceiling and walls at Dale's house. (from left, Ron, Everett, Joe, Sue, Floyd & Dale)

Rick cutting off a stump

Dan, Rick & Susanne enjoying a newly organized tool shed.

New curtains for Fellowship Hall at St Luke's designed and sewn by Linda

Dana creating a new much needed ladder storage rack for the side of the tool shed.

Painting Pastor Teresa's house.

Floyd, Sandy, Jennifer, Kevin & Steve

Josh & Rod priming the storm shutters

Rod(above right) & Darrell (below) are two men who have joined us the last three years from the First Congregational Church in Reidsville, North Carolina. Mark Tolodziecki who used to pastor in Seward, IL but now is pastor at the church in North Carolina was the connecting factor in getting to know these two gentlemen. A trip to New Orleans wouldn't be complete without their servant hearts, talents and great senses of humor.

And last but certainly not least, the ever elusive Darrell. When Darrell wasn't working on a project he was running after supplies for someone else. He was an extremely hard guy to catch up to.

Almost home

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We arrived Sikeston, Missouri late yesterday afternoon and after a HUGE dinner at Lamberts settled in for the night.

We hope to leave by 7:30 this morning which puts us home around 4 - 5 pm.

We will post more pictures of the trip next week so y'all can see how we finished up the trip.

Those who flew home arrived home safe yesterday. Please pray for safe travel for the team today.

Thursday, January 8th

2009-01-09T15:11:00.000-06:00

Thursday night was a night of touring and watching football.

Some of the team went to Pastor Teresa's house and watched the college football game, others stayed at the church and relaxed and the larger group of us went downtown.

We enjoyed a ferry ride across the Mississippi River. The moon was almost full and what a great view of the New Orleans skyline we had!

Afterwards, we walked through the French Quarter, sat and listened to the jazz sounds of Steamboat Willie.

Tomorrow (Friday) is our last day here so it will be full steam ahead to finish up as many projects as we can.

Common Tools defined

2009-01-08T16:51:00.000-06:00

Some of these have been more true this week than team members may want to admit.

COMMON TOOLS DEFINED

(TO THE NON-PROFESSIONALS FROM THE PROFESSIONALS - ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW)

DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings across the room, denting the freshly-painted vertical stabilizer which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers.

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age.

SKILL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

WELDING GLOVES: Heavy duty leather gloves used to prolong the conduction of intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity. I don't know, Joe & Kevin...whatda ya think?

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool ten times harder than any known drill bit that snaps neatly off in bolt holes thereby ending any possible future use.

BAND SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 24-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A very large pry bar that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end opposite the handle.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

Wednesday, January 7

2009-01-08T16:27:00.000-06:00

Wednesday was a beautiful sunny day with projects in full swing. In addition to what you see here there was also a house painting project going on.

Josh working on an eavespout

Christy sanding drywall

Jen & friend sanding drywall

Ron "the snowman"

Kevin who joined us late Tuesday night from Washington

Joe designing the tile layout

Evening chapel/worship service at St Lukes. St Lukes is a beautiful old building built in 1911. When Katrina hit, the water level in this building was 11 feet which is where the arches on the side start to curve.

Evening entertainment

2009-01-06T21:31:00.000-06:00

Evenings usually bring a hot meal, fellowship, a team meeting and cleaning up after ourselves.

Dana on cleaning duty.
25 people + a small space + only two bathrooms = cleaning every night

Josh & Jennifer were the only two brave enough to try the pickled pig lips.

Tuesday, January 6th

2009-01-06T21:12:00.000-06:00

Today brought a variety of projects.

Josh painting

Ron carpeting the stairs at George's house

Jan cleaning the recently repaired & painted windows.

Sue & Joe drywalling at Dale & Shannita's home

Dan & Dana working on a motorhome that has been donated to the ministry here.

Linda teaching a sewing class to ladies from the St Luke's congregation.

Monday, January 5th

2009-01-05T14:37:00.000-06:00

George & Shannita's house is progressing along nicely. The windows are being painted, cabinets being hung and flooring getting started.

Dana & Joe removing all the old heating/cooling duct work. What a dirty job and what servants for doing it!

Merlin

Kevin

Jennifer & Sandy working on the windows

Liz (above) & Dan (below) working on the window openings.

Brian

Tom installing the kitchen cabinets.

Christy

Start of Week Two

2009-01-05T13:24:00.000-06:00

Our week one team arrived home safely Saturday afternoon and our week two team arrived in New Orleans.

Week two folks spent Saturday afternoon looking at projects and getting settled in.

Sunday morning started off with breakfast at Betsy's Pancake House leaving everyone very, very full. The waitress told us, you come in weighing 130 and leave weighing 150!

After breakfast we took a walkabout on St Charles Avenue by the big, beautiful old homes.

We attended service at St Luke's and had a great time fellowshipping with the congregation at lunch after service.

Most of the team then took a ride to Bay St Louis, Mississippi to see the Gulf. It was a nice, warm afternoon although a bit chilly by the water. However, it didn't stop a handful of us from wading anyway. Wading in teh GUlf in January as opposed to scooping snow? We had to do it!

Tomorrow (Monday), starts our work week once again.

A summary video of Week One

2009-01-03T22:06:00.000-06:00

Friday, January 2, 2008

2009-01-03T21:42:00.000-06:00

Here's a look at Week One's last work day.

The drywall is coming along nicely.

Mr. Bill looking through the pass through window in the kitchen.

No week is complete without a couple of injuries. One courtesy of a t-square and utility knife and the other tripping over something.

Doesn't the white trim look great against the dark walls?

Back on the roof. After much contemplation and designing, the boys decided they could fix the even steeper roof of the sanctuary at St Luke's church.

Ron & Betty DuFor invited our group to their home Friday night for gumbo. They do this as a way to pay back and thank volunteers for the work they are coming to do in the city.

Cooter The Techie

2009-01-01T22:20:00.001-06:00

A whole new meaning to having a "screw loose". Lori's poor computer!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T06:05:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year family & friends!

It's a been a good week so far with beautiful weather. One of the team talked to someone up home yesterday and was told that we had a wind chill in NW Illinois of -16. She told them we had a wind chill here too only it was 65 degrees! The sun has been shining brightly and warm this week.

The roof project is done. George & Shannita's house is coming along and Dale & Shauna is being "rocked." We are excited to be able to continue these projects into next week, especially for George's family as they only have 10 days left on the lease for their apartment. He has a family of four living in a one-bedroom apartment so we are thrilled at the possibility of seeing this family move into their new home.

Last night we enjoyed a "family" New Years Eve celebration with the other team members serving here. There are eight from Indiana and ten people from California.

Rick doing clean-up detail with the help of Lynnette's magic birthday hat.

Wednesday, December 31st

2008-12-31T22:56:00.001-06:00

Homeowner George, daughter Geovanna and Mindy.

Working on windows at George's house.

Sue cutting drywall.

Boss man Tom ciphering again.

Audra trimming out a doorway at George's house.

Cindy & Lori buying the groceries for the day. Shopping takes place everyday as there isn't much storage space for more than a day's worth of food.

The roof is finished! Sam, Kevin, Tim & Bradley

The moral of this picture is

-- don't get in the way of Tim when he is making a sandwich. Plastic knives aren't as safe as they seem to be.

Tuesday, January 30th

2008-12-30T20:47:00.000-06:00

Tonight's a quiet, relaxing night back here at the ranch. A few people went to the laundromat to wash the fiberglass out of their clothes. Others went to Lowe's to buy a screen door for the porch here at the church. And a couple of others went after a computer I left at the other church.

Here are a few pictures from our day today.

Our drywall crew.

Everett slapping drywall

Nathan, Rachel & "all sorts of angry" Jake

Rockin'

John & Bill "looking busy"

I think we're working John too hard!

We caught the team at the other house having lunch and enjoying the great weather outside. Mid sixties and beautiful blue sunny skies today. Just a tad warmer than back home.

Monday, December 29th

2008-12-29T22:30:00.001-06:00

Brad & Kevin on the roof at St. Luke's Church. Isn't this where every mother wants to see her son? 2-1/2 stories in the air? They had safety harnesses on Mom really they did!

Tim running ground crew with his feet firmly planted on the ground. He got real good at ducking from the falling debris by the end of the day.

Sunday, Dec 28th

2008-12-28T21:58:00.000-06:00

We attended an awesome church service at St Luke's church this morning, had lunch with the congregation after church and looked at projects.

These are two of the houses we will be working on this week.

This house needs alot of finish work, such as installing kitchen cabinets, flooring and trimwork.

This one is gutted and cleaned, wired, plumbed and partially insulated so a group will start "rockin" drywall tomorrow.

We come down here for construction projects but the time spent with the homeowners and their families is worth way than the project itself.

We also managed to fit in a little sightseeing for the team. We drove down scenic St Charles Avenue and looked at all the beautiful old homes.
After which we attempted to drive to the French Quarter but missed a turn. The moral of the story is...don't get anywhere near the Superdome on a Saints game day!

We did make it to the Quarter late this afternoon for supper and a walkabout.
This is the Holocaust Memorial along the riverwalk.

Time to get some sleep as tomorrow morning we hit the ground running.

I apologize if some of this is not lined up quite right. Blogger is not cooperating! Argh!

We're here!

2008-12-28T07:04:00.001-06:00

We woke up to freezing rain Friday morning, loaded and took off by 7:15 am. We drove out of the ice completely after the first 80 miles and just had wet roads. We spent Friday night in Hernando, MS at the Hernando United Methodist Church. What a great stay! The accommodations were deluxe and the food phenomenal.

A little road weary,

we arrived here to New Orleans about 4pm yesterday to a beautiful sunset over Lake Pontchartrain.

We settled in and are up and ready to go have breakfast, church and a day of orientation, and checking out the downtown area. Have a great Sunday!

PRAYER REQUEST

2008-12-24T09:52:00.001-06:00

Please pray for good traveling weather this Friday & Saturday, December 26 & 27th. The forecast sounds like it could be nasty. We are praying for no precipitation or only rain and no more ice or snow as is forecasted.

1 week 2 go!

2008-12-18T20:42:00.000-06:00

One week from Saturday we will be arriving sunny and warm(hopefully) New Orleans! After hearing our forecast here in Northern Illinois for the next few days. A warmer, less snowy climate will be very welcome for us.

Please pray for good weather & safe travel for our team as our van and truck caravan heads south on December 26th & 27th. Traveling in the winter can be somewhat adventurous to say the least. We are praying for dry roads and no breakdowns between here and Louisiana!

Check back after the 27th for updates on what our teams are up to.

December 2008/January 2009

2008-11-08T19:22:00.000-06:00

Our team meeting is coming up in a week and we are excited about the people God put together to serve in New Orleans, Louisiana. We have skilled and unskilled people and God will use everyone in a way that brings joy to Him. We don't know our specific projects yet. We usually get the breakdown about one week prior to leaving.
There are so many houses yet to be rebuilt and finished. A person would think 3+ years after Hurricane Katrina that everything would be back to business as usual but it still is not. There is much work left to do.

This blog will serve as a communication tool with family, friends and fellow "Crossroadians" who are interested in what's going on while we are in New Orleans. We hope you find this fun and informative. With the help of fellow team members, we'll attempt to post daily entries providing we have good Internet connections.