Saturday, October 31, 2009

God's Team in New Orleans

When God puts together a team of laborers every detail is taken care of  and the job is completed with heavenly precision. He brought six guys together to complete the work for the Williamsons. Here we are all together with Randy and Kathy Williamson. Randy pastors Calvary Chapel St Bernard. They rent a building for $1 a year that before Hurricane Katrina was a nursing home. They have partitioned off a portion of the building and restored it to use as their church.

We left Saturday, Oct 10 and spent the night in St. Louis. Scott and Gail Larson graciously opened their home to us to spend the night. And you are gracious hosts when your guests are arriving at 2:00 a.m. After a full day of driving on Sunday we arrived in New Orleans and set up our sleeping quarters in the church. Each morning we started are day with one of us sharing a devotion and praying together. Not only was it a week of work to complete their house, but it was a time of great fellowship and growing relationships. We built friendships that will last into eternity. With God's precision a team came together with the specific skills needed to complete the work and the right number of guys to complete the work on time.

We finished at 11:00 Friday morning so that we could spend the rest of the day in Biloxi. We were able to spend time with my friend Tom Wasmer. It's been an exciting journey to help Tom get back into his house. Tom joined us for supper with Chuck & Kathy Billeaud. Several of us had been part of the team that helped build their house after Hurricane Katrina. The "Butterknife House" was built in 17 days - another God story. There's my name along with everyone else who worked on the house. The 8 ft board is on the wall of Chuck & Kathy's garage. It was a great way to end the week!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Aiding A Brother in New Orleans

Back in August Brian Johnson from Frederic, WI contacted Dennis about helping a pastor friend in New Orleans. Brian coordinated the Butterknife House project in Biloxi, MS following Hurricane Katrina. Dennis was part of building the house in 17 days. Brian now is coordinating a project to help Pastor Randy Williamson finish his house. Randy is a Calvary Chapel Pastor and a Rapid Response Team Chaplain for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He used to be one of the largest drug dealers in the state of Michigan. He and his wife Kathy gave their lives to Jesus Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade in the 80's. Randy now pastor's a church in a very poor neighborhood in New Orleans. About a year ago he came down with a crippling nerve disease that for awhile had him confined to a wheelchair. He is now receiving IV treatments and is doing better but is still very weak. The Williamsons had started remodeling their home when this happened. Though Randy is a good carpenter he has no strength to finish the job.

God has brought seven guys together to go to New Orleans to finish the remodeling for the Williamsons. They will be leaving Saturday, October 10 and returning Sunday, October 17. Brian and the guys will pick Dennis up in Janesville for another adventure in the Lord. Scott and Gail Larson from St Louis have offered housing for Saturday evening on the trip down to New Orleans. The guys will be doing their own cooking and sleeping at the church. They plan to be at Randy's house by eight in the morning each day to start working and will be trusting the Lord for the events of the day. We are praying for those Divine Appointments. Later in the week they are planning to drive over to Biloxi and visit Chuck and Kathy at the Butterknife house and Tom, our friend who we have been helping to restore his house after Hurricane Katrina. Our previous blogs have included stories and pictures of our trips to help Tom. The guys are praying they will be a blessing to everyone they make contact with. We will keep you posted as the week progresses and have pictures when Dennis returns. Everyone involved covet your prayers for our Lord's name to be lifted up.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 6:9-10