They're baaaackkkk!!

Meet Capone, the "superintendent" of the Tennessee crew who worked on Miss Sharon and Wendell's house last week.

Then we have our friends from our home church, Meow and DeeDee taking a rest in front of what was our trailer that they stayed in.

Then we have a kitchen shot of most of the crew from last week! Thank you everyone!

Today we began our day of worship with Pastor Tim leading the service. His theme of "recipe for revival" was awesome, and challenging for all of us! He challenged all of us to give to the world a vision of Jesus (be His reflection) by having people see Him in us! God is stirring the nation and we need to be the ones to step out! His "recipe" had 3 ingredients:
1. humble ourselves; less of us and more of God in our lives. It's not about us, we need to form ourselves into what the Lord wants us to be! In order for me to be who Christ want me to be, who I want to be must die! Ask God to walk before us in everything we do.
2. prayer, seek God's face; if we want to see God moving WE must start praying, it starts with us, not others.
3. turn from our wicked ways(a life that is self centered). Ask "Lord, what would you have me to do?"
Summary = some recipes for the same thing have different ingredients but NOT this one!
It challenged all of us to do some soul searching and rethink things, starting today!

Our group from Ohio came in througout the day and by the time they all got on site there are 42 of them! We have some of the women sleeping in the sanctuary! They will really be able to get some work done and send out the blessings all over the place this next week!

The group from Calvary Chapel arrived this evening and there are 18 of them. Once again, blessing after blessing!

The last group to arrive was from Missouri. Our rooms are so full that the men from this group are staying in the entry room!

To say that "the inn is full" is a very accurate statement for this week! It will be a fun week with alot of work getting done and even more ministry! THIS is what Christianity is all about!

This evening we returned to our regular Sunday night worship at the church that meets in the tent and some of the Ohio group went with us. Pastor Hart had a fantastic message based on the passage, the joy of the Lord is my strength! He talked to us about the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is based on our circumstances and can be highly effected by emotions. Joy is deep in the inside and comes from knowing God. He also challenged us by telling us that "if we don't make a difference we won't make a difference". Yes, it is typed correctly, read it again and think about it!

As I said, this church lost everything, building and all, and have been meeting in a tent! This is challenging enough in the best of conditions. What you must realize is that we are in a swampland and the gnats and mosquitos rule everywhere! Meeting in a tent is an invitation for both of them to come inside for a free meal! We all became bait this evening and it was probably the worst case of biting gnats I have ever seen! This is no way for any church to have to gather! This is the next thing to a crime! They are awaiting funds to be able to rebuild. They will be constructing a metal building in the next month which will atleast get them out of the weather but they need a real church building! Please keep this pastor, his family and the entire congregation in your prayers that the funding will be released and they will be able to have church in the literal sense!

We ended our evening with a meeting in the sanctuary with all of the Ohio group to line out the jobs listed for this coming week. They will be dividing themselves and taking the top priority ones first. They also plan on getting some more work done inside the church. The 3 nursery rooms will hopefully be completed this week, after over 7 months of being out of commision. It's like I have said before, we have the rebuilding of the community AND the rebuilding of the church! More than enough to keep people busy for a long time!

This week will be filled with wonderful stories of what is being done around the community and inside the church. Be sure to stay tuned and as you read about what is happening and what is getting done, please remember all of these volunteers in your prayers. Pray for safety and strength and wisdom. Working under these conditions are unlike any conditions anyone has worked under before and sometimes things don't go just as you are used to. They (we) all need your prayers!

Each week when new volunteers come in they ask how it is that Monty and I can be down here doing what we are doing. Each time we tell them it is through the blessings of God and through people like themselves who see and understand the need and open their hearts to keep us down here doing what God is directing us to do. Without them (you) this would not be possible! We thank them (you) for this support.

If you would like to help support us in this work you can send your gift through our home church where you will receive a tax deduction statement for your gift. No amount is too small. Some are supporting through a one time gift and others are pledging a monthly gift. Take it to prayer.
If you feel you would like to help us, please send your gift to: Vineyard Community Church at PO Box 3277 in Bloomington, Indiana 47402. Please note "Katrina" on your gift as 100% of your gift comes to us! The church keeps nothing! We thank you for your giving hearts!

Be sure to stay tuned as this will be a blessed week...until tomorrow...Susan and Monty