Come meet the mission team at Wednesday's potluck!

After two days on the road the Gulfport team is home!!!! They pulled into the church parking lot tonight around 6:30 PM. Here are a few things that you'll want to know.

1) There will be a potluck meal on Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM that the team will attend. We hope to show a brief video of the trip during the potluck. The team has captured around an hour of video and numerous digital photos as source material.

2) If you donated tools, there is a table in the hallway outside of the church office where we have placed the tools that were brought back. Thanks for your generosity.

3) We are hoping to update this the blog during the Youth Mission Trip to New York City. The youth will be leave next Saturday morning. Please be in prayer for us as we are getting ready.

Thanks for your prayers for the Gulfport team. Continue to pray for the families who are struggling with the rebuilding effort and the volunteers who have answered the call.

Work-Day-Almost-Done - July 26, 2007

We started the day with another good breakfast. We were at the worksite by 7:30 am. We immediately started mixing grout and putting it down in bedroom #1. Kenny the Crew Chief started us off and Terri and Mike took over after receiving instruction.

Pete and Uncle Pete were the expert grout mixers outside in the heat and sunshine. Alice and Linda were the sponge and wet towel experts.

Things went smoothly until a tile cracked. Uncle Pete and Kenny chilsed it out, cleaned up the floor and layed a new tile after lunch. As they were working on that tile, the one next to it cracked. Repeat steps one and two. The rest of us kept to our assigned jobs.

We grouted and wet dried room #2 with no complications. Everyone was on his or her knees today!!! [:

We should finish on Friday before noon. We will finish the newly laid tiles, hang the closet doors and the bedroom doors. Hopefully the family will allow everything to set up for a couple of days and we will return home on Saturday.

We are hoping to be on the road shortly after noon and drive to the other side of Atalanta. We will see you in church on Sunday.

Praise the Lord, Mr. Peters opened up to Kenny about his relationship with God and it opened a door to ministry for Kenny to witness. The team prayed for and with Mr. Peters and his granddaghter before we left around 3:30.

Play Day - Day off - July 25, 2007

We woke up at 6 am to go to breakfast and discover if we had a small job to do today or not. We found out that most of the groups are working a half day and taking the afternoon and evening for play.

After a breakfast of egg & cheese omlete, bacon, hasbrowns, biscuits and gravy we found there wasn't a job we could tune into today. We hopped in the van to check out the devastation in Biloxi. It is still pretty desserted accept for a few casinos. Very few tourist. Lots of construction workers. We stopped and took pictures of what is left of Jefferson Davis' homeplace.

Pete P had a craving for ice cream. We found our DQ to return to this evening after a seafood dinner at Cajun Crawfish Hut. (Definately a local place !!!!)

Today we are playing. The tile is setting up and we will return on Thursday to grout.

Work Day 2 - July 24, 2007

Today was a very hard and long work day. Thank the Good Lord that we all got a good night sleep last night. We couldn't have done it without being well rested. We received a wonderful rain last night starting around 7 pm Central time and it lasted at least until 11 pm. We fell asleep way before that.

We started out with a breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, some more of those creamy grits, and coffee of course. After breakfast, we loaded the van with the wet saw and some other necessary tools and knee pads for tiling two bedrooms.

When we arrived at the Peter's home, the daughter - Ke Ke was sleeping on the couch and her grandmother, Sheila was still sleeping. Sheila works an evening shift at a children's shelter for abused kids, so she did not get home until 12:30 am.

Alice is meeting with Mike Haywood at 1:30 to go see an old friend from Hampton Baptist. Her name is Ellen. She and Mike H. are really looking forward to seeing Ellen.

Upon returning, we went straight to dinner because if we showered first, we might have not got dinner. They served ham, macaroni & cheese, corn bread, pinto beans and garlic bread made on hamburger buns. It was quite tasty!!!!

Everyone is turning in early tonight. We are all doing well just tired!!! Thank you for your prayers and support.

First Work Day - July 23, 2007

Started the day with a 5:15 am alarm and shower. Breakfast was wonderful with creamy grits, bacon and scrambled eggs!!!! We left the armory around 7:15 and arrived a little too early for Mrs. Peters so we drove around for 20 minutes. Around 8 am she and her daughter were ready for us. We started by assessing the 3 bedrooms and discovered furniture needed to be moved, carpet pulled up, padding removed, tack board pulled up and floors swept and vacuumed. So we all pitched in and started to work.

Later in the day, the home owner, Sheila, Uncle Pete and Linda went to pick-up about 400 square feet of 18" ceramic tile. The rest of us spent our time measuring, putting down chalk lines and discussing the layout of the tile. While waiting for the shoppers to return, Pete took a nap sitting on the floor leaning against the wall in one of the bedrooms. Mike was sitting on the swing on the front porch. Terri was sitting in the rocking chair on the front porch. Alice and Kenny were sitting on the floor watching Pete sleep!!! [:

After the shoppers returned, we unloaded a couple tons of tile. We finished the day quite early around 2:30 pm because we didn't have enough time to start laying the tile before we had to be back for dinner. We prayed with Sheila and her daughter before we left for the day and presented them a Bible with all of our signatures inside the front cover. Tomorrow will be a VERY BUSY day!!!!!!!

We returned to shower and clean-up. Linda is sleeping. Terri and Alice are at the only rebuilt casino sending you this message. The guys are just hanging out. Dinner is at 6 pm.

The team has arrived in Gulfport!

The team left the hotel this morning around 9am and had breakfast. After breakfast, we headed down the road to Columbus, GA to attend worship at First Baptist Church, Columbus (Pete Park's home church)

After Pete was well received, we attended worship. At the end of the service the minister asked Pete to close with the benediction. Pete spent a good while meeting and greeting old friends. We had lunch with a good friend of Pete and his wife and college-aged son at Country BBQ. We all got fresh vegetables.

After lunch we got on the road and arrived at the National Guard Armory in Gulfport, MS around 6:30 CDT

Mike Haywood of the PBA greeted us, and showed us around and got us dinner which consisted of chicken patties, chili and rice, succotash, and homemade banana pudding!!!

Kenny Self has agreed to be the team leader for the construction effort. We will be pulling up carpet and replacing it with ceramic tile at the home of Mr and Mrs Peters

After dinner we went out trying to find our way to the Peter's home. It was not easy due to it being dark. We called the owner on the phone and we now know where we are going tomorrow and they are looking forward to us coming.

We returned to the Armory and loaded up tools for tomorrow and hopefully will rest peacefully.

Thanks again for your prayers.

First Day Journey - July 21,2007

The Gulfport mission team arrived at WHBC around 6:45 am with a group of church members waiting to send us off with baked goods, support, prayer and love. We were prayed over and then loaded into the van with Terri Bolt driving.

As we drove down the road, we made record time and arrived in Newnan, GA around 5:30 pm. Along the way we switched drivers with Uncle Pete (Fowler) and Kenny. Kenny had the roughest part of the trip as he drove through the Atlanta traffic while the rest of us gawked at the skyscrapers and verbalized what we were looking at. Pete pointed out significant sights such as the Olympic Village, the Varsity drive-in and the Atlanta Braves stadium. Unfortunately for Kenny, he couldn't look. He had to watch the traffic and hit the brakes a lot. It got a little unnerving for Terri, as she finally put her seatbelt on. With the hitting of brakes and the load from the back shifting, slowing down took longer and a little more work on Kenny's part.

When we arrived at the Holiday-Inn Express, we checked-in and got ready for dinner. Pete suggested we go to Sprayberry's BBQ restaurant. It was wonderful!!! We all ate so much. We finished the meal off with sharing a bowl of homemade peach cobbler ala mode. It was delightful!!!!

After dinner, we returned to the hotel. Pete, Terri, Alice and Linda walked around the hotel. We had a surprise to see Robert and Brenda Stewart from church. They are in Terry Tyler's Sunday school class. They are traveling to Houston, TX for a trade show. They stopped at the hotel for a night's rest. They sort of recognized us as we walked around the hotel and finally the light bulb went on and we all connected that the strange man in the van does look familiar. Alice went towards the van so we could see who it was. What a nice surprise to see them. They should be back in a couple of Sundays.

The night is over. We will worship at Pete Park's home church in Columbus, GA.

Gulport Construction Teams Ministry

There are about 90 people arriving in Gulfport, MS on Sunday from the Peninsula Baptist Association churches. We will be divided into teams to work on five homes. We will pick up on work where other volunteers left off. The ministry includes:

drywall starting and finishing
hanging windows and doors
interior painting
ceramic tiling
replacing insulation

Thank you for your prayers.

THE WALNUT HILLS GULFPORT MISSION TEAM LEAVES ON SATURDAY MORNING, JULY 21 @ 7:00 am.

Just to share briefly how God is working at WHBC:
A gentleman who has been visiting Walnut Hills for the last 2 Sundays was particularly touched by the Commissioning Service and Dr. Neal's sermon. Early Monday morning he called Alice Erickson to say that he would like to donate some tools and funds for the trip. He wanted to know where he could take his gifts. When she told him he could take the things to the office at the church, he said he was "on his way." As Dr. Neal shared on Sunday morning, obedience to God's call provides the blessings. "Results are predicated on the right action." In this case, God's stirring of this man's heart has given a blessing not only to the Gulfport Team, but to nameless children of God waiting for a miracle. How is He speaking to you?

Here's how you can help:
Please be in prayer for each person this week as they prepare for the journey: Terri Bolt, Alice Erickson, Pete Fowler, Pete Parks, Ken Selfe, Linda Simpson and Mike Whiddon.
Come give them a send off with prayer on Saturday, July 21 and then go treat yourself to breakfast!
Mark your calendars to pray for them July 21 through July 29 as they serve in our stead.
Share needed tools with the Team. There is a large box placed under the Missions Table in the side foyer. You may place needed items (see list below) in that box until 5 pm on Friday, July 20.
The Team is meeting at 5:00pm on Friday to sort the donated items and to load up the van for departure on the 21st. If you can help or want to bring your donated items at that time, just come on by the church!
If you don't have tools to share, you might consider bringing them some colorful bandanas to use in the heat. What about battery operated fans or misting bottles, first aid kits....extra band-aids? Be creative. Think hard work....hot sun.

Consider bringing some snack items and bottles of water when you come on Saturday morning. Snacks are always good to have on a long van ride!

BE CREATIVE!

Please pass this along to others you feel who are interested in sharing this passion for missions ministry!

Saturday night hotel

The team will be spending Saturday evening at

Holiday Inn Express
6 Herring Rd I-85 and Hwy 34
Newnan, GA 30265
1-770-2512828

Thank you for your donations and prayers.

Thanks for the tools and your prayers

The team has been getting ready to head south towards Gulfport, MS. We have been going through the task of making sure that we have all of the tools and supplies that we need.

Thanks for the tools and financial donations that you have made so far.

Check this site for updates (hopefully daily!) and pictures of the team in action!!!