Their last day!

The Illinois team really poured it on today and now Barbara has a complete kitchen with sink, cabinets, counter tops and appliances! Even though today's heat seemed even hotter than any day this week, they kept going and going until they reached their goal! What an amazing crew!

They blessed us this evening by taking us to dinner and we had such a wonderful time visiting and getting to know them even better. They really have become family to us and as with the rest of the teams, we will never forget them and hope they will decide to come back and see us and bless the community again! Please pray for safe travel for them as they will be leaving very early tomorrow morning and it is quite a long trip home.

They also had the opportunity to visit the Spanish village this morning and help with a couple of their windows. Manuel speaks Spanish so it was a real treat for him and them! Diane and Dee Dee worked all day there with the flooring and base. They did get to enjoy a great Mexican lunch which held Dee Dee clear through dinner!

Monty and I enjoyed a visit from the couple who heads up the Convoy of Hope relief efforts all along the coastline, from Texas to Florida. It's always nice when they get to come and visit as we don't see alot out of them. They are always on the road going from place to place and it's a blessing to actually get to visit with them for even a short time. They are so glad the effort here in Gautier will be continuing and assured us that Convoy has no intention of pulling out of the area as the needs are still so enormous! We did help them load up pallets of bleach and take it to the relief efforts elsewhere where the tear outs haven't started yet. We still have homes that need torn out but they are getting fewer and we still have enough bleach to get them done.

We also received a phone call from our hometown newspaper and they will be doing an update article which should be in next Thursday's paper. They have been very good at trying to keep up with what is going on and trying to keep the story going to enable the relief efforts to also keep going. When he asked me what the mood is down here it was tough to tell him about the depression, the desperation and how the suicide rate is climbing. It just seems like everyone would know these things because every time we turn on the TV it's still all we hear about. Then we have to stop and realize that the reason we are hearing about it is because we are living in it. The rest of the world is only interested in sensationalism and that is no longer the case with Katrina. It's sad, but true, the out of sight out of mind. We hope to keep the awareness level up with this blogspot and tell the truth about how life really is here, even after nearly 10 months!

We thank you for taking and keeping interest in our own "neighbors". Just remember that this is not overseas, this is in our own backyard and these are our fellow Americans!

If you would like to really help make a difference and become an active part in the rebuilding process you can send your donations to us through our home church, Vineyard Community Church at PO Box 3277 in Bloomington, Indiana 47402. Please note "Katrina" on your donation as you will receive a tax certificate. Thank you for making it possible for Monty and I to continue the calling God has placed on our lives. Without you it would be impossible!

Until tomorrow...God bless! Susan and Monty