Convoy of Hope rolls in!

When the Convoy of Hope rolls in it IS noticed! You just can't miss something like that, rolling into town absolutely filled with blessings! Today it was filled with food, food for a kitchen that is on going and food for The Refuge Outreach in 10 days! There are 11 pallets of food that will be put into plastic bags marked Convoy of Hope with the John 3:16 verse in just about every language you can imagine! This food will then be handed out FREE to anyone and everyone who comes through the lines. Last outreach approximately 2,000 bags went out! And an added blessing is that Convoy really knows how to pack a truck! Every pallet was shrink wrapped and able to be off loaded with the forklift! What an amazing blessing Convoy has been since the onset of the storm. They load these trucks with food, water and medical supplies and are the "first responders" immediately after the storm. They don't have to go through all of the legal red tape to get in. Their reputation preceeds them and the blessings flow and flow and flow! We feel so extremely blessed to be such a small part of such a wonderful organization! Please keep them in your prayers.

In the very first photo you see Monty with Stephen. Stephen is our volunteer who came from us going to see if we could help his family in any way. Even before he knew if we would do anything in his familys house he volunteered to work with us and bless others. Isn't God amazing! And today was his girlfriend, Annalee's birthday. 21 years old ----can you remember that age? I have "no comment"! :)

The group photo is of the couple who volunteered and drove this truck from Missouri for free! Just another way people can be involved in this rebuilding effort!

The following photos are of our Alabama team at work. The group photo was taken the morning they left. The Convoy banner they are standing in front of has been hanging there since right after the storm!

I need to mention someone who is more than a very special person! See that man in the photo with Monty ---- that is Teresa's husband, BARRY! Yes, he does have a name and this man agreed to have his wife stay behind and continue working with us. What a man, what a husband! He went on home to go back to work AND do the best he can to keep the household up and running! Like I said, what a wonderful man! Barry, we promise to take good care of her and look forward to seeing you come back! (maybe we should keep one member of each team as a hostage so someone from the team would come back)!

Before and after unloading the truck Monty and I were out looking at new work requests. The first one will require a contractor because there is just too much structural damage for us to get in to. We have to draw the line on what we can and cannot do and this one is just out of our scope of work.

Another one has some structural damage but they have a specialist coming in this weekend to evaluate things. We will be taking Diane and Teresa over there this Friday so they can help them get some things taken into storage and get some things organized. Just another of those ways to be a blessing and be involved in the effort. You don't have to have construction skills, just a heart to serve others in any way you possibly can.

Everything is coming together for the outreach next Saturday and it's so exciting to be preparing for. When I hear about the thousands of people who came to the last one over Easter weekend it makes me so thrilled to be able to be a small part of this one. These outreaches are something ANY church can do! Convoy of Hope has a standard setup and can come to any church out there who would like to sponsor such a thing. You don't have to be along the coast and suffered damage from the storm. You just have to want to have an outreach and want to bless those in your communities! If you would like more info, just go to their website and contact them. You will be blessed in return beyond your wildest imaginations!

We thank all of you who have, and are, supporting us in your prayers, cards, notes and calls. You all mean the world to us and without you we would not be able to fulfill this calling. Monty and I were just talking this evening about how this entire mission is groundbreaking and history making. There has never been a relief effort such as this. There are no supervisors to go to if we have questions, no "how to" manual to refer to for the answers, no forms to follow, no person leading us in the way they did it. It really is history making and we are all learning each and every day! Thus the reason we NEED your support and prayers! You are the keys to this effort, not us! We thank you more than words can say and just ask that you continue to do what you are doing!

We want to welcome home our home church mission team who are returning this evening from a week in Costa Rico. We pray you had a blessed week and are filled with hearts full of joy!

Until tomorrow....we love you and thank you...Susan and Monty