Greetings;

Today is October 30th. We receive our first volunteers (excepting those who have come from FBC-Montgomery) tonight. We expect between 20 and 25 volunteers this week. November is filling up.

The camp (Phase 1) is about 95% ready and should be 99% by the end of the day. Everyone has worked hard at preparing the camp with the thought in mind that the “real” ministry is on the other side of the road – in the community. I was talking with my brother last night when he mentioned that there wasn’t as much on the news about Katrina now. I told him that is because the intensity is gone and now begins the “drudgery” of rebuilding homes and lives. In our culture that is hardly news worthy.

Our challenge, friends, is to encourage the Church to remember Katrina and the devastation. To remember that the need for volunteers on the Gulf will continue for some time into the future. That giving aid may require greater sacrifice than using weekends or vacation time. As many have already said, this is a marathon not a sprint. Please pray with Martie and me that God will create a holy unrest in the hearts of the Saints that will stir them into action (Romans 12:1, John 15:13). That they will understand that this mission is more than rebuilding homes – it is spreading the Good News in a spiritually dry and thirsty land. Giving the people “living water” to quench their thirst.

With respect to the camp, it has been awesome to watch it come together. So many have leaned into the work of establishing a place for volunteers to rest and be refreshed while they minister to the people of this area. Cots from Stockton, AL. Buildings from Montgomery, AL. A kitchen from Eclectic, AL. A freezer from Bradenton, FL. Supplies from Ocean Springs. Signs from Peoria, IL. Workers from Montgomery, Bay Saint Louis, Oregon, and Eclectic. Volunteers from all around the country. God is Good, all the time!

Aside from running the camp, our next major tasks are to develop the list of homes that our volunteers will work on, build platforms for the “overflow tents” (Phase 2) behind the bunk houses (I am receiving 40 pallets in the morning to serve as a foundation), by the end of the week, we should have the new tent in place which will serve as a temporary “tent of meeting” for Shoreline Park. We will put a floor in that tent.

I am nearly finished with a web site for the camp. I am using the name “Camp Kairos” for our camp. Os Guinness describes ‘kairos’ this way:  "The hour (which) is the God-given moment of destiny, not to be shrunk from , but seized with decisiveness..." I have targeted the web site for those who are interested in volunteering and perhaps supporting the effort with funds or supplies. I’ll let everyone know when it is activated.

Good news from the architectural engineer who inspected the church last Thursday. The building can be restored. Since Hancock County will not change their building codes which could have required the church be raised to a higher elevation, it appears the Shoreline Park congregation can begin planning to restore the church building. PTL. BTW, as a result of FBC-Montgomery’s efforts we will receive a shipment of sheetrock donated for the rebuilding on November 6th.