Rebuild Lakeshore

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastated our gulf coast community in Hancock County Mississippi. With five years of relief, recovery, and rebuilding, many still struggle to get back on their feet. Now, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill has left even the most sure footed on slippery ground. Many fear that the long term economic effects of the oil spill could prove more damaging than Katrina for our area.

Here on the gulf coast our entire culture and economy is tied to the water. Commercial, charter, and leisure fisherman; ancillary businesses like, ice houses, bait shops, and fueling stations, boat repair, seafood restaurants, tourism, and on and on. The anxiety level runs high, and folks fear their way of life will never be the same.

After Katrina, most on the Mississippi gulf coast immediately rolled up their sleeves and got to work in the rebuilding of their homes and community. The oil spill brings a completely different dynamic. The nature of this disaster leaves most people helpless without any hope of concrete action towards recovery. As one local resident put it, “its one thing to loose your house. You can rebuild that. But when your source of lively hood is gone, what do you do? I feel helpless.”

In the wake of hurricane Katrina, Lakeshore Baptist Church launched a massive mercy ministry. To date, we have hosted literally hundreds of volunteer mission teams involved with storm clean-up, rebuilding, and relief efforts of various sorts.

Now, with the oil spill challenge, we have a strong desire to continue ministering to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of local residence. This commitment will require a sustained effort and prolonged partnerships.

In an effort to minister to the long term needs of our community we have begun building a facility, affectionally known as “The Mercy House.” This permanent structure will replace the aging makeshift collection of storage sheds and quonset huts our ministry has been operating out of for the last 5 years as we continue providing food, clothing, household items, and encouragement to those in need.

Located just one mile from the beach on our major road leading to the waters edge, the Mercy House will serve as a community hub of hope providing a wide range of services

Currently we touch the lives of approximately 300 families a month through our food distribution and other benevolence ministries. The Mercy House will allow us to expand the ministry with regular educational opportunities, like our recent “How to Stretch Your Grocery Budget” seminar, encouragement events, and other resources aimed to aid families going through difficulty and uncertainty.

To help build this new facility send your tax deductible donation to:

Lakeshore Baptist church
PO Box 293
Lakeshore MS 39558

(make sure to put “Mercy House” in the memo line)

Thank you so much for being a part of the work God continues to accomplish on the gulf coast to the praise of his name.

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Last week a great team from the state of Washington went from property to property in our area removing storm debris, cleaning construction scraps, moving building materials and a long list of other things. One majored project involved emptying and dismantling a shed. Right after the storm, a local family built a small shed on their property to live in until they received a FEMA camper, and then later a MEMA cottage. Long story short, five years later the family faced a steep fine from the city for the un permitted structure. Not only did the Washington team of volunteers empty the shed in short order, but also dismantled it and labeled the pieces for later assembly. Their hard work not only saved the family a considerable amount of money, but also provided them with strong encouragement in the name of Christ. The grateful family thanked the team with a large batch of okra from their garden. God bless Mississippi.

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This past week teams from Mississippi and Kentucky joined forces to put a roof on a new construction home for a local resident. The homeowner lost her house in the storm and then her husband died in the midst of reconstruction, leaving the project on standby for the last few years. In God’s good providence we have been able to come along side her and move the house forward toward completion. Lord willing, we will have the siding on by the end of the week with a team here from South Carolina.

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As the knowledge of God becomes more wonderful, greater service to our fellow men will become for us imperative. This blessed knowledge is not given to be enjoyed selfishly. The more perfectly we know God the more we will feel the desire to translate the new-found knowledge into deeds of mercy toward suffering humanity. The God who gave all to us will continue to give all through us as we come to know Him better.

(from “The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life ” by A.W. Tozer)

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Last week a team from the Mid-Maryland Baptist Association worked with us on several projects including hanging and finishing the drywall in a local home.

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Four short weeks ago I put together a four page list of tasks around the church property we aimed to complete before the end of the month. With the help of 10 partner groups, from 9 states, we accomplished almost everything on the list. I praise God for these folks who made mission trips to Lakeshore during the month of June.

• Air Line Baptist Church – Gainesville, GA
• Bridgeport Central Baptist Church – Indianapolis, IN
• Carroll-Montgomery Baptist Association – Winona, MS
• Central Baptist Association – Rockford, AL
• Hamilton Park United Church of Christ – Lancaster, PA
• Limestone County Baptist Association - Athens, AL
• Mid-Maryland Baptist Association – Eldersburg, MD
• Northbrook Baptist Church – Bowling Springs, KY
• Providence Presbyterian Church – Hilton Head, SC
• Willow Creek Community Church – Chicago, IL

Now as we look forward to the month of July we want to push through summer with determination. Our biggest goal for the church property this month focuses on the Mercy House, We need someone with brick laying experience to set and mortar the pavers under the front porch, finish carpenters to complete the stairwell, sheet rockers for the upper level, and painters for the exterior of the building. We also plan to erect the 30′X40′ metal quonset hut storage building behind the Mercy House. When this gets done, we should be able to start landscaping before the end of the summer. I would love to open the Mercy House by August 29, 2010, the 5 year anniversary of Katrina - but its all in God’s good timing.

In addition to the progress on the Mercy House, we will continue working on several homes in the community, host a vacation Bible school, continue ministering through our distribution center, and planning for the construction of the new Fellowship Hall. Pray for us as we seek God’s greatest glory on the gulf coast.

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We had a great time this week with a house full of young people, retired folk, and everyone in between. Over 100 volunteers from Mississippi, Illinois, South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia worked hard through the summer heat making progress on several projects.

This week we focused the bulk of our attention here on the church property. We have some lovely new walk ways around the office and Bunk House. Rough ares of the property have been smoothed out making lawn maintenance a little easier. Improvements to the kitchen area will provide more air flow. The Mercy House property is taking shape. We’ve lined off part of the parking lot. Finish carpenters wrapped the beautiful front columns. Shutters received their final coat of paint. So much more happened this week I can’t detail it all. What a joy to see so much happening for the glory of God.

We held our second “”How to Stretch your Grocery Budget” Seminar and distributed an 18 wheeler full of food. I look forward to many more similar events as we expand our mercy ministry from simple crisis relief, to full recovery and community development.

We also distributed several hundred Bibles door to door. I want every house in our area to have a Bible and I appreciate the teams who were so excited to partner with us in this project. As I said in an earlier post, we pray that the gift of God’s Word, scattered like seed throughout south Hancock County, will bear fruit of encouragement and Kingdom growth for the glory of God.

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After a few weeks of quiet, Bridgeport Central Baptist Church of Indianapolis, IN broke the silence here in Lakeshore with a full week of hard work. In addition to their insect lassoing skills, they pushed forward with several projects. They received a good introduction to our south Mississippi weather with the heat index hitting triple digits. I praise God for these folks who encouraged me this week in several ways. It was their churches’ first official mission trip of any kind and after being here in Lakeshore for a week, they determined not to make it their last. To God be the glory.

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For almost the first time in nearly five years, its quiet here in Lakeshore. With no teams here for a few weeks in a row, I’m fighting the temptation to lose momentum. We can’t slow down now. We see far too much ahead to grow weary at this point. So, pray for us as we lean on God’s merciful sustaining grace.

Looking forward to the summer, we have some exciting projects on the horizon. Its not too late to plan a mission trip. Unlike last year, where almost every week the camp site neared capacity, we only have a few weeks maxed out. So feel free to call us today to plan your mission trip for this summer. Let me wet your apatite for some of the exciting things in store for June, July, and August.

New Home Construction: We currently have a handful of new homes under construction. One of them sits 15′ above grade and has been dried in. The next step includes wiring, plumbing, and HV/AC. Once those things have been installed and inspected we can hang the insulation and sheet rock, paint, lay the flooring, set the cabinets, do the trim work, and get things ready for the homeowner to move in. A second house, only a few feet off the ground, sits in about the same stage of construction. We look to do a lot of work on these houses this summer.

We have been talking to several more families about their possibilities to rebuild. Please include these families in your prayer as they strive to put together a workable plan. When things come together, we want to stand ready with volunteers to assist with the labor. Lord willing, we will frame up a few more houses before long.

Rehabs and Miscellaneous projects: In addition to the houses that we have been working on from beginning to end, we have several other projects harder to classify. A good number of residents in our community have been doing all the work on their homes themselves. After 4 1/2 years they struggle with fatigue and discouragement. Its hard enough, under the best of conditions, to build your own home. Trying to do it with limited resources, living in temporary housing, dealing with the grief of losing everything, exposed to everyone in your circle of family and friends going through the same thing, and you have a recipe for despair. We like to help these folks get over a hump, by finishing their sheet rock, or laying some tile, or hanging their siding, or perhaps even just cleaning up their yard.

Bible Distribution: Nearly 100% of our community lost everything 4 1/2 years ago to Hurricane Katrina. For many, that included their Bibles, if they had one. We have been distributing Bibles in association with our various relief efforts. I’ve noticed, however, that many homes in our community, especially those of unbelievers, still do not own a Bible. We have acquired several hundred Bibles and would like to do a systematic distribution in our community. We plan to go door to door with the goal of placing a Bible in every household. Join us in prayer that the gift of God’s Word, scattered like seed throughout south Hancock County will bear fruit of encouragement and Kingdom growth for the glory of God.

Landscaping: Up until this point nearly all of our rebuilding efforts have focused on doing the bare minimum of putting a roof over our heads. Landscaping portions of the church property will encourage not only our own church members who have gracefully put their selves last in these efforts, but also bless the community by enhancing the slowly returning beauty of Lakeshore Road. We look to plant trees, shrubs, and grass, set borders around parking lots, and build flower beds. I should add here; we do not have a budget for this project. The amount of landscaping of the church property done at this stage of development will depend on funding. So, if anyone would like to contribute financially to the landscaping project, please let me know.

Special Events: If you have been to Lakeshore before, you know that every day is a special event here. How many churches host a church picnic every day, three meals a day? In addition to all that, we have a few things in the works I’d like to share.

Not really a “Rebuild Lakeshore” event, but Lakeshore Baptist Church will celebrate its annual homecoming on Sunday June 13 with an old fashioned dinner on the grounds. This year marks 99 years of ministry for us. Founded in 1911, God has seen fit to bring the church through countless obstacles and continues to bless us through his providence. We stand in a pivotal time in our history as we look forward to how God will continue to glorify himself in the future.

On Thursday June 24 we have a Mercy Ministry event in the works. We are hammering out the details but it will be along the same lines of our recent free seminar on “How To Stretch Your Grocery Budget.” We will need people to help with this event to work pre-registration, unload the food truck, assist with child care, etc.

The week of July 11th we will host a Vacation Bible School. A couple of Churches from the Laurel Mississippi area will help with this years “Saddle Ridge Ranch.” Please pray that we will impact many families for the cause of Christ through this week long event.

Sunday August 29, 2010 will mark the five year anniversary of the storm.

The Mercy House: In addition to special events and all the work out in the community rebuilding and rehabbing homes, we have been slowly moving forward with the church property master plan. We hope to complete the Mercy House by the end of August. Lord willing, teams will complete the HV/AC, electrical, and plumbing next week. Pending inspection, we will then be able to blow in insulation, hang sheet rock, and move forward with the progress of this building all summer. Completion of the Mercy House will allow us to relocate our distribution center ministry to that building. This move will open up the property for the ground breaking of our permanent dining hall.

As you can see the next few months will see jam-packed activity in the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. Its not too late for you to plan your trip to be a part. I’m excited about what God has in store for us as we seek the expansion of his glory on the gulf coast for the spread of his fame.

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