We trust this update finds you walking strong in your faith. As you know, Lord is good, an ever present help in time of need and able to lift you up no matter what the load you are under. We continue to pray that God will use these updates to encourage you and to stir your heart to lose your life for Him, to walk in the fullness of the purpose to which He has called you. To live your life in abandon for Jesus.

Camp. We are making good progress at the camp. We now have 50 cots for volunteers. We should have the air conditioning connected for the office and volunteer bunkhouse this weekend. We had our first volunteer group to stay at the camp this week. They are helping with work that needs to be done at the camp. In my heart I know this is necessary, but I would rather have them helping in the community. There is a tension between these two priorities. Please pray that we will keep the right balance.

Pods. As of today we have received 60 requests for Pods and have delivered 10. So far, we have received over 250 pod "kits" from churches in Selma, AL; Kokomo, IN; and Demotte, IN. ( a pod kit consists of the floor, frame, and front and back walls -- in some cases, we receive the metal sheets as well) We have enough metal sheets to build 30 more pods and need help with funding to purchase more metal sheets for the sides, plus screws and trim. The metal for one pod costs $70.00. The trim and hardware costs about $30.00. If you would like to help with the pod ministry, please send your support to Pathfinder Mission, P.O. Box 3313, Bay St. Louis, MS 39521. Put a note with the check indicating that it is for Pods.

Praise! Yesterday, a young woman came to the camp to apply for a pod. Martie and I were off-site so one of the volunteers met with her. She is a young mother .. 24 years old .. Carrying a heavy load. Her husband was recently hurt at a construction site, and now is unable to work, one of her two children has a chronic illness. She said she had just applied for food stamps so she could feed her children. When the volunteer asked her if she knew about Jesus, she said that she knew that He had died on a cross. When asked if she would like to know more about Jesus, she said yes. To get to the end of the story, the volunteer led her to the Lord. There is great rejoicing in heaven (and at the camp) because of this one who was lost but now has been found. We will follow up with her and invite her to a bible study that we will be hosting at the camp.

Rebuilding. We have already received 12 requests from local residents for help to restore/rebuild their homes. Some families are just now returning to the area after having stayed in a hotel or with family for the past seven months waiting on a FEMA trailer. One elderly couple that came to the camp the other day could hardly walk to our tent. When they got out of their car, they had to literally help each other walk to the door (each one using a cane).

Martie and Charley. We are bouncing back and forth between Montgomery and Waveland as we empty our house. Please pray along with us that we will get closure on this quickly so we can focus fully on the work here in Waveland. We need someone to organize and run a yard sale for us to sell the rest of our furniture. Please pray that God will raise that person up … soon!

Martie and I attended a meeting with Saddleback staff at Bay Vista Baptist Church in Biloxi on Monday night in preparation for our trip to the Purpose Driven Church conference in May. There were a number of churches represented by their pastors and wives. What was surprising to hear .. Or maybe not so surprising … was the consistent description of the spiritual warfare that the pastors are encountering.

With all of the physical destruction here, I believe that we too easily lose sight of the spiritual context of what is happening on the Gulf Coast. I can't prove it empirically, but I believe that Katrina Relief has been one of the greatest, sustained outpourings of support from the Body of Christ in the history of our country. Or at least in this century.

When I was in Vietnam ('69-'70) a number of service men and women were assigned to units that served in Saigon. We referred to those who were in Saigon as "Saigon warriors" … chairborne rangers -- and it was not meant to be a term of endearment. They lived a relatively normal life .. Never had a hostile round fired at them … even though there was a great conflict raging around them, they were relatively disconnected from it. In comparison, before Katrina, the Church had its "Saigon warriors" or "pew warriors", content to sit in their pews, hardly aware of the great spiritual battle going on around them. Katrina has been a catalyst that has moved many Christians from the pew to the front lines, (from Saigon to the Central Highlands, if you will) and for that, we give thanks to God.

When we arrived in Waveland - Bay St. Louis we were told that 75% of this area was unchurched. That this area was a hard place to do ministry. We even heard suggestions that the people here were unreachable -- a place that was spiritually dead. What I interpreted that to mean was that this place belonged to the enemy. When we were at Shoreline, I used the analogy of Joshua and Caleb contrasted with the other 10 spies to describe my feelings about our purpose here -- to see opportunity in the face of opposition. Today, I am even more convinced that God wants to do a great work on the Gulf Coast through His Church. But …. what that means is that His Church must be willing to enter into and occupy the enemy's territory.

But one of the most common weapons the enemy uses is flesh and blood --- meaning other people … his tactics are to promote attacks through relationships with other people, even people within the church. He will even attack from within our families bringing strife and sometimes illness in an attempt to discourage us -- you see he wants us to lose our will to fight (or minister) -- to give up.

When we come under attack we have a choice -- do we respond with the Spirit or the flesh. Our flesh is crying out to retaliate, but should we choose that response… we will surely lose the battle. Our flesh has no power to defeat that which is spiritual .. So our challenge, like Elisha's servant, is to recognize the attack for what it is when the first spiritual round is fired. To make my point, when you are confronted with a tank, you do not return fire with a rifle. You need an anti-tank weapon. Personally, I prefer Apache helicopters with hellfire missiles … pardon the pun :o) So when we come under attack we must recognize it is spiritual and respond with spiritual weapons.

One other point … if you are not a threat .. You are safe from attack. So in a strange way we should rejoice as we are dealing with spiritual warfare because that means we are in the battle .. And there is no better place to be if you are a soldier of the cross!

So where am I heading with this? As we begin this new phase of ministry, we do understand the spiritual nature of this calling and are asking you to commit to come along side us as prayer warriors. As the Word says in Ephesians 6,

She (the surgeon) called and said that they are fairly certain that the tumor is cancer. They do not know for sure and they are sending the tissue sample off for other tests and a second opinion, but all indications at this point are that it is cancer. We will meet with the surgeon and oncologist on Monday in Birmingham to chart out a course of action, discuss our options, and to move toward beginning treatment. Treatment could consist of any type of combination of medication, chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. They'll know more of what to do when they know exactly what it is.

My wife and I are choosing to trust God in this. We are told to "rejoice in the Lord always" and I guess that now counts as always. That even means when things are really hard.