Iowa Team 1 Pics

Adam loaded some pictures to the "Servants Unite, Iowa Team 1" Facebook group. You can join the group as well to see the pics teammembers bring back. For those not on facebook, here are the pics:

Team Iowa 2, The Strangest Team Picture Ever

Here they are!
Team Iowa 2 from South Dayton Church of Christ. Proof that unlike Vegas, what happens in Iowa does not stay in Iowa, this came through a couple different sources. As did these:





It seems volunteers are always standing around resting when pics are taken, but that just means they are working too hard between breaks to bother taking pictures :-) Still waiting to hear their stories, but will share here when I get them.

Team Iowa 1 Is Onsite and Working Hard

Here's a picture of all but three of the team members who left Alum Creek Church of Christ at 10:20 Sunday. The other three left Worthington Christian at 1:20.

Preflight prayers protected the volunteers in one 15 passenger rental that blew a tire. After an hour delay to put on the spare and add air to it they were off and running again. Today they've been working in two homes next door to one another, mudding out the debris from the flood and prepping them for dryout and rebuild.

I hope to have you more stories tonight after they are done working and hope to get some pictures back from them as well.

Burlington Iowa Activities

Mark Robbins, from the Bayou La Batre effort, has been working with Hilltop out of Burlington Iowa. Currently most of their work has been in the town of Pontoosuc. Team Iowa 2 from South Dayton Church of Christ is working there through this weekend. Mark has been keeping up a blog on his site www.godssoldiersunited.com. Check it out if you get time.

Who we are working with in Iowa

I wanted to share something about the church and people our team is working with in Cedar Rapids this coming week. Brent Schulte, who volunteered his church to host Team Iowa 1 this coming week is the discipleship minister at Antioch Christian where they are staying this week. I found his article in their July newsletter online and thought sharing it here was the best way to do that.

Team Iowa 2 from South Dayton Church of Christ has been busy near Burlington, Iowa this week. I hope to have updates for you on their work soon.

Here's Brent's article:

These last 3 weeks have been a blur to me as I'm sure they have been to you as well. One month ago, Renee and I spent a week in southern Florida visiting my sister and her family and enjoying the warmth after a cold, snowy winter. While we were in Florida, we watched national news cover the tornadoes that ripped through Parkersburg and other towns in Iowa. As June started and the rains continued, I'm sure many of you were recollecting the flood of 1993 and the devastation it brought to the area. I was serving in the Air Force then and watched the Armed Services Network with shock and awe from my trailer in Saudi Arabia. You just don't get the full affect until you see it firsthand.

Reflecting on what has transpired over the last couple of weeks, here are a few memories that stand out. Before the waters rose to record levels, many volunteers from churches across the city poured into the neighborhoods to warn residents of possible evacuation and offer assistance in moving their personal belongings. Some took the offers but many did not. I saw many residents in the Time Check area, only a few blocks from the river, watching the commotion from their lawn chairs. I asked one gentleman why he wasn't preparing for the flood. He stated, "I've lived here all my life and we only had 3 feet of water in the basement in '93. I don't believe the warnings." Unbelief.

In the days leading up to the river crest, I felt a sense of urgency. Everything I saw and heard led me to believe we were in for real disaster. The river crest predictions were rising by a foot or more every day; the rains continued to fall here and north of us. The outlook did not look good. People spent many hours in the Time Check & Czech Village neighborhoods handing out fliers on what to do if you were evacuated and what to bring with you. Sandbags were filled and dikes constructed to hold back the waters. Droves of volunteers poured into the area to help the people save their house or its belongings from the approaching doom. Urgency.

Wednesday night, June 11, I had just got home at 10 pm and was eager to hear the latest news on the flood. KCRG announced that the last well and pump for the city was at risk and that 6,000 sandbags needed to be filled and placed in order to protect it. Only 10 people were on hand and they needed additional volunteers.

The time was 10:05. I only live a few blocks from the Edgewood bridge where the pump stations sits (and I really enjoy a hot shower) so I got my shovel and gloves and headed for Edgewood. When I arrived, I found that I was not the only one to answer the call. There were cars everywhere. It was somewhat surreal as this army of people with shovels over their shoulders streamed down the closed road towards the heaping mounds of sand dumped on the road. An assembly line was quickly in place where the bag was filled, tied off, handed to a person in line who passed in to the next person and so for hundreds of feet to the pump station. There were 6 lines from the sand pile to the pump station with the last hundred feet or so in knee deep water. It was an amazing sight. Unity.

From these experiences and many more, I came away with a deeper appreciation for Antioch's mission statement of "Leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ." The definition for unbelief is the unwillingness to accept what is offered as true or skepticism especially in matters of religious faith. We must be willing to offer 'truth and love' to our neighbor where it really matters, their personal relationship with God. In Psalm 40 we read. "1 do not hide your righteousness in my heart; 1speak ofyour faithfulness and salvation. 1 do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly."

The flood and its aftermath is a perfect illustration on how the material items of this world are temporary. God is eternal; Christ's place at the throne is eternal. If we personally accept Christ's offer of grace, we know we have a position in Heaven waiting for us. I know I have friends and family who are not believers in Christ. I know where they will end up if they do not place their faith in Christ. Why don't I have the same sense of urgency for them as I did last week trying to protect someone's home and their belongings?

Isn't their salvation a greater treasure?

The sense of unity within this community has been quite amazing. Hopefully that unity will continue in the months and years to come as tough decisions are made on how to move the city forward. But I have the inkling that the thorns will start to show as people start worrying more about themselves than what is best for all. Imagine the power Christ's church has when its believers are united and act as one. In John chapter 17, Jesus offers a prayer to God for all believers so " ... they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

So as we continue to recover from this disaster that will take years, remember that we can't just focus on meeting someone's physical needs; we must also address their spiritual health. We are first commanded to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." And secondly, "Love your neighbor as yourself." By loving and honoring our God first and foremost, then we can truly love our neighbor.">" border="0" alt="" />


God bless you all.

Iowa Team 2

I feel terrible that I missed 4 volunteers on the last list. The following South Dayton Church of Christ members will be leaving Thursday for Burlington, Iowa to work with Hilltop Rescue through the weekend. They'll be heading back home Monday morning.

Bryan Rebar
Matt Stevens
Stephanie Brooks
Sharon Oaks

Please add them to your prayer list for this week and check the blog for updates from both teams.

Please also be praying for the suddenly active hurricane season. Dolly is strengthening rapidly as it approaches the Texas coast and other likely storms are marching across the Atlantic. Please be praying we are not needed in any capacity like after Katrina, but that if we are, that we will be His hands and feet.

If you'd still like to be hands and feet, I have had many casual comments about people who may be interested in another trip to Iowa later in August. If you would like to take a trip out to serve at that time, please email me with your intentions and a proposed date.

Servants Unite!!

John McGuire

Iowa Team 1 Readies for Departure

This time next week 30 central Ohio volunteers should be in Iowa on the ground. Most of them, from at least 4 different churches and 2 different schools, have volunteered with Servants Unite before. Please add the following committed and tentative volunteers to your church and personal prayer lists the next two weeks.

Adam Metz
Chris Cole
Samantha Gray
Paige Whitley
Rachel Gray
Logan Whitley
Emily Gray
Brejohnna Shaw
Caleb Orrechio
Matt Brooker
Julia Brooker
Bob Barnes
Janna Dagley
Ryan Yoder
Matt Yoder
Troy Jeffery
Erin Gursky
Kurt Dipaolo
Seth French
Alanna Spalsbury
Bethany
Cate Daily
Melinda McGuire
Cameron Williams
Eva Opitz
Paul Lewis
Brian Sherman
Pat Hazlet
Bradley Kirkbride

We're kind of at a limit given the vehicles we have available. If you would still like to go, we can squeeze in an adult willing to drive.

We have had several generous donations towards this effort, but could use a couple more to cover food and fuel for the team as well as any tools they may need to purchase in the field. You can donate using our paypal link on the web site, or mail a check to Servants Unite, CO John McGuire, 5511 Copenhagen Drive, Westerville, Ohio 43081.

Servants Unite!

John McGuire

Survey Pictures from Iowa

I was able to make arrangements this week at the NACC conference with Antioch Christian Church in Cedar Rapids to host our July 27 team. We currently have a dozen people committed to go and another 6-10 maybes. We will be augmenting the work the congregation has already been doing in their community to help their neighbors recover from the historic flooding all along the region's rivers. To join this team, please email me or call Melinda McGuire at 614-523-3996, our home phone.

Hilltop Rescue will be setting up camp a couple hours downstream in Burlington, Iowa. Mark Robbins who we know from working in Bayou LaBatre is in that area now. While Burlington had little flooding, many smaller towns near by, both in Iowa and across the river in Illinois have been flooded. Some are still inaccessible. They have found this to be a good central point with a partner church active already in the relief effort.

This is a slow motion, moving disaster. As the wave has flowed downstream, more areas have flooded and continue to flood. Volunteers will be needed over the coming months to work along behind the damage to clean out houses and affect repairs as far as the damage eventually goes.

National media has already dropped this story for the most part. Mark sent out pictures this morning, however, from the area where he has been surveying this week and I'm including them in this blog entry for your information.

More to come as this effort continues.

Servants Unite!

John McGuire

Move that date back a week

Change in plan (the only certainty in disaster relief). We're moving that date back a week for the first team to go into Iowa. New schedule is to leave Sunday, July 27 after church and return Saturday August 2.

I hope that helps you to go on the trip too! Email or call my cell (614-404-8610) if you can.

Look for us at the NACC

The North American Christian Convention is in Cincinnati this year, Tuesday through Thursday this week. If you are there, come see us at booth 1027 between the entrances from the exhibit hall to the main hall!

IOWA IS ON!

The recovery effort in Cedar Rapids is up and running. We will be sending our first team in, Sunday July 20 leaving after church. They will return Saturday July 26. Adam Metz of Alum Creek Church of Christ will be leading the team. Adam is a youth leader who has taken several trips to New Orleans with us.

To join this team, please send me an email. More information will be coming over the next week.

What to bring information is identical to what we have needed for New Orleans work. You can find that information on the Volunteer link at www.servantsunite.org.

More teams will likely follow! They will require team leads and funding for fuel and van rentals. If you can't make this trip, but can do a later date, please let me know and I'll publicize prospective dates through the list and the blog.

Other than volunteering, here's what Servants Unite needs from you.

• Prayers - My home church, Westerville Christian, had Servants Unite on our prayer list for focused intercession Wednesday this week. Thursday we got a private donation of $2,000! Pray for volunteers, funding, good work, and that God will use us to touch others as Christ's hands and feet.
• Donations - Response to this takes money. Volunteers on recent trips have been paying much of the bill out of pocket. Servants Unite's mission is to organize those who may not have found missions attractive previously and often that's due to fundraising. The more we have donated to cover expenses, the more people will find God's presence through service.
• Leaders - Adam has stepped forward to lead this team out, but we need other team leads to help organize and manage teams in the field. Please call or email to discuss the opportunities Servants Unite has for this and future responses.

Thanks for continuing to support out mission together as well as the hurting victims of natural disasters.

Servants Unite!

John McGuire

News from Iowa

The Gazette from Cedar Rapids.

Des Moines Register

Iowa City Press-Citizen

The hawkeye

Cedar Rapids Update 6/18

We are in contact with the preacher of a church in Cedar Rapids and following up on leads to Serve the City, an organization of church congregations out there who is heading up relief work with city government and emergency management. I'm also tracking down potential work and accommodations with the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief who has been awesome to work with in the past. I hope to have a place to serve locked down by the weekend.

In response to my last email out to the group, I've heard from one person interested in going in a few weeks and one interested in collecting supplies to send out. I have had contact from other groups out of state who are also looking for a place to serve in this disaster.

This is the time to serve folks. We are called as we were after Katrina and closer to home in Bucyrus last summer. We will not be fielding a team Saturday, but we have found the need exists for volunteers and we will be sending help as it is available. Please consider being His hands and feet to people who's lives have been destroyed by this flood. We will also be looking out for physical needs we can fulfill by collecting needed supplies to ship out.

Anyone feeling called to this effort should send me an email or call Melinda at 614-523-3996.

We are also in need of donations and special collections to finance this mission. donation information is available on the contact us page of the web site.

I'll keep you posted as plans solidify.

Servants Unite!

John McGuire

Midwest Flooding Will Call for National Response

Historic flooding in Iowa this week will likely require a national response giving
Servants Unite volunteers the opportunity to serve in the name of Christ. Specifically, Cedar Rapids, a city of 120,000 and a 9 hour drive from Columbus, will likely need outside assistance in the next couple of months. If you can schedule some time out to serve we will begin organizing teams tentatively to begin leaving in one week, June 21.

Details on the extreme conditions in Iowa as of today are included in this article online this morning. Highlights and statistics from the article include:

• Mandatory evacuations are in place in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines where levies have been breached.
• Flood stage of the Cedar River is 12 feet above the previous recorded flood record from the 1800s
• Only 1 of 8 wells supplying water to Cedar Rapids is usable, protected by sandbags and pumps, and therefore is severely threatened.
• Cedar Rapids total population is 120,000 of which 20,000 are believed to be out of their homes.
• 400 blocks are estimated to be underwater.
• The "wave" of water is continuing downstream in the Mississippi and other smaller rivers feeding it indicating that more flooding is imminent downstream.

What is needed for our response?

• Crew leaders to organize teams from their churches, work, and civic organizations.
• Volunteers with basic tools for mud out and brush cut up and removal.
• Possibly supplies including drinking water, materials for personal care kits, baby kits, and other first response supplies for disaster victims left with nothing.
• Possibly local volunteers to collect and package first response supply kits.
  
• Financial donations to get volunteers to the area, fed, working, and back home.
• Connections you may have to churches or people in the disaster zone to partner with.
• Local leaders to help manage team prep, supplies, shipping, and other organization tasks.
  

Expect many emails and blog postings this week as details emerge and plans are solidified. I am reachable by email, john@servantsunite.org, and on my cell phone at 614-404-8610. My wife Melinda has agreed to be primary contact on this, however, since I'm consulting full time presently. She is reachable at 614-523-3996 (home) or 614-370-1687 (cell) and by email at melinda.mcguire@gmail.com.

Servants Unite!
John McGuire

Opportunity to support Servants Unite and other Kingdom work

I can't take credit for this idea. I got it from WCBE, a Columbus public radio station, but I love it! We all have spiritual gifts, but it seems in different proportions. I don't want to say giving isn't one of mine, but rather I never seem to have it to give.

"if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously"

We have an awesome responsibility to be good stewards and we have an excellent opportunity over the next few weeks to do that.

Tax refunds are coming back now which is an opportunity we have annually, but we are also all getting stimulus checks, or direct deposits through May and June that are over and above what we usually have available for disposable income.

We could buy our families that new 40" flat screen digital HD TV to replace our soon to be antiquated analog sets. We have every opportunity and right to make that choice.

We can do a lot more than that though!

Even if we only choose to donate half the proceeds from the stimulus check to a non-profit like Servants Unite, our church, the local food pantry, or a mission organization, the combined giving for the one time opportunity could be huge. These efforts for the Kingdom can get a massive one time shot of capital.

You may also choose to pay off debt. One of the ways Satan hampers our life mission is binding us to revolving debt obligations. There are a lot of programs for getting out, but all require a general change in your expectations for standard of living. This is a good, relatively painless way to pay down at least some of your obligations.

I write this, therefore to encourage you, most of whom are like me, that never seem to have extra and yet find a myriad of good causes to support. Please don't miss this opportunity to give generously and please consider supporting Servants Unite's mission as we approach a new hurricane season with debt obligations of our own. You can find donation information on the "Contact Us" page of the web site, including the Paypal option. Remember, we are a 501(c)3 non-profit and all donations are deductible from your 2008 taxes.

John McGuire

UB Spring Break Mission Trip 2008

This is the third year in a row that the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship from the State University of New York at Buffalo has worked through Servants Unite for their spring break Mission trip. Through blizzard, vehicle rental problems, trouble finding work, and vehicle breakdowns, This team had an awesome week serving March 8-15. Here are pictures from some of the participants. You may also see some of us on the May 18th Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

Joe

Lidia

Paul

Pui Yi

Stephanie

Upcomming Trips

Adult leaders knowledgeable in construction, feeding volunteers, driving, or helping to organize trips are needed for our two scheduled spring break trips. Trips will be largely populated by college and high school students which can be problematic with the self sufficiency required by our new partner arrangements. Please consider taking one of these two weeks to serve with the volunteers who continue to flock to the disaster for spring break rather than hang out on the beach. These will be some of the most impressive young people you could meet.

March 8 - March 14, University of Buffalo Student Christian Fellowship will be making their third annual trip. We had 45 people last year and maybe more this year. I had the pleasure of spending the week with this group last year and I don't exaggerate when I tell you they are the future leaders of our church, our country and our world. I do confess, they make me feel old ;-)

March 22-29 (or 28th) is the week that most all schools around the Columbus area are on spring break. My family will be leading a team down that week and we invite you to join us. High school students are invite to attend with a youth leader from their church, or a recommendation from their youth minister. Middle school students are invited to attend with a parent or responsible relative. Of course anyone else who would like to go this week will be indispensable to our efforts.

We also need funding to cover these trips. Our account balance is at $2,600. These trips will cost much more than that when we consider the cost of rentals, food, board, and fuel. Please appeal to your churches to help support these teams so that Servants Unite can continue to provide a cost free opportunity to sample the mission experience. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit and 100% of our funding goes directly to connecting volunteers to disaster victims in His name.

Flooding and Tornado Info

This past week, Tornadoes, large and many, destroyed lives and property. Hardest hit was Tennessee. Nearly 60 deaths were recorded. One storm stayed on the ground for 50 miles cutting a swath 1/4 mile wide. Servants Unite will not be mounting a response to these storms as they are almost without exception handled well by local governments, churches, and organizations who are equipped for that spotty, yet still devastating scale disaster. Some churches in effected areas are mounting an effort, however. You can find some listed on our partner organization's site, www.hilltoprescue.org. Also, there, you'll find statistics for their work in California wildfire relief late last year.

I'll continue to monitor the situation and will post updates as they happen.

Ohio has seen nearly every kind of extreme weather as well. Flooding earlier in the week for the areas where we assisted last summer was less severe than it was then. Local officials are actually expecting to work in other counties who still have flooding concerns as the swell of water flows out to Lake Erie and the Ohio River. You can see current weather advisories for our state here:

Ohio North
Ohio South

If you live in effected areas or can travel there to help determine the need for assistance, please contact me immediately as I'm laid up with the flu, probably for another few days yet. My contact info is to the right. County EMA office contact information is here.

Your prayers for all those effected and the work the Lord has on our plate are valuable. Though we weep for the victims of disasters, we give thanks for the opportunities we've had to serve and witness to victims and volunteers and to show God's love for them giving Him the glory. We pray for discernment and the human relationships to continue to develop that will allow us to be in the right place at the right time for His plan. Amen.

A couple pics from Team 31

Brad Pitt was on this stage!

In this photo: Whitney Hayes, Philip Moon, Pat Houston, Emily Maxwell (photos), Hannah Wilson, Abi Colleen Maxwell (photos), Josh Boley

Web and Email offline

This is the only comms channel I have open right now. The server that has been hosting the web site and email was wiped out Christmas Eve. No permanent loss there, except for the potential of loosing a chunk of the current email list. Restoring that is a top priority and I hope to have the new site and email up and running again on a new server in a few days.

Thanks for you're continued support!

John McGuire

Lower Lights Christmas House Update

Things continue to progress fairly well and it looks like we may make the Christmas deadline for occupancy on 1057 Bellows Avenue. Today, carpet is being laid, siding is being hung, appliances are going in, and we hope to pass our electrical final inspection (plumbing final is tomorrow).

We are in need of help on Friday and Saturday to do punch out items – everything from touch up paint to cleaning to sealing grout. All skills levels are welcome. We also continue to need assistance in preparing our other property for occupancy – needing painters/wallpaper removal.


If you can help with any of these items, please contact myself or one of the following:
Andy Scott 614-404-5162
Bill Ruark 740-972-1183

I want to also remind you that we are planning an open house/ribbon cutting for this Sunday from 2-3 p.m.

Thanks for your financial support, your hard work, and your prayers to make this possible.

God Bless,

David C Gay
Executive Director
Lower Lights Ministries, Inc.
1066 Bellows Avenue - Columbus, Ohio 43223
614.228.3855 (phone) 614.228.1255 (fax)
www.lowerlights.org

Bucyrus Update

You can find an article that gives a great update to the work continuing up in Bucyrus here.

Lower Lights Construction Update

Current work on 1057 Bellows Avenue continues to progress well. Roofing workers and the drywall crew are underway. The revised schedule is as follows:

Dec 3 – Drywall will be complete

Dec 5 – trim work to be installed

Dec 6-10 – Prime and paint (we have a team in place)

Dec. 8-10 – Install kitchen cabinets (help is needed)

Dec 10-14 – Install tile (help is needed)

Dec 15-20 – Install carpet (to be contracted)/ /fixtures (help is needed)

Dec 21-24 – Final Inspection

Again, I can’t stress how pleased we have been with the response we have received. I apologize for those who have not been able to plug in, but we are having to adjust things continually because of our time frame. Thanks for being patient.

I also want you to know that we are working on another property that has just come online for us. It is a two bedroom town home that we hope to have ready by December 16th. The scope of this project is not nearly as intense.

David C Gay
Executive Director
Lower Lights Ministries, Inc.
1066 Bellows Avenue - Columbus, Ohio 43223
614.228.3855 (phone) 614.228.1255 (fax)

www.lowerlights.org

California Wildfire Relief Pics

Nate and Trudy Bertram from New Life, Canal Winchester (Ohio) took these pictures on their trip to San Diego last week to work with Hilltop Rescue.

Hilltop Wildfire Relief Pics

If you are on Facebook, Chrissy Wyatt has some great pics up from the San Diego area relief work. If you aren't on Facebook, why not? ;-)

Local Christmas Service Opportunity

Lower Lights, a ministry working in the depressed Hilltop/Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, needs volunteer labor to get a house livable for a local family before Christmas. The details are below. It appears there are two opportunities, this week to install insulation, and then after December 5 for finishing. If you’d like to go down, let me know and I’ll try to help organize SU volunteers.

Greetings all,

I apologize for not being in contact for several weeks, but we have been spending most of our time getting the mechanical on the house completed. The good news is that the electric, plumbing, and HVAC inspections have passed. The bad news is that the next month we are going to have to work like mad to get our family in by Christmas. This is ambitious (especially December being so crazy for all of us), but we believe it is doable.

The planned schedule is as follows:

• Nov 15-19 – finish structural needs for inspection
• Nov. 21 - have structural inspection passed
• Nov. 26 – have insulation installed (we could use volunteers!)
• Dec. 4 – have drywall completed (we are contracting this out because of skill level needed and time constraints)

This means from Dec 5-23 we need help:

• Priming/painting
• Installing plumbing fixtures
• Installing kitchen cabinets/appliances
• Installing flooring
• Installing electric fixtures

We are desperate for you to go to your networks and enlist as much help as you can. We can likely accommodate any time people have to work (we will have lighting and heat so that work can be done around the clock) and we can use various skill levels.

If you or any of your people can help, please call Andy Scott (404-5162) or myself (738-4129) and we will make arrangements.

I GREATLY appreciate your patience through this process and your dedication to open the door to homeownership for low-income families.

David C Gay
Executive Director
Lower Lights Ministries, Inc.
1066 Bellows Avenue - Columbus, Ohio 43223
614.228.3855 (phone) 614.228.1255 (fax)
www.lowerlights.org

Team 29 Picture Galleries

Gayle Henthorn

Rick Peszlen

John McGuire

Gerald (Hendersonville Church of Christ)

Team 29 pics and work update for Wednesday Night

Good evening. We're all tired after working our second day here in Chalmette. I've uploaded some pictures for your review with captions explaining them.

This is most of the Columbus contingent at University Church of Christ where we stayed in Tuscaloosa on our way down.

And we got down here to find that there is still quite a bit to be done before this place will be anywhere near what someone would call normal.

Still, there's been a lot of progress. Traffic is heavier here than it was in the spring. Many houses are finished with people living in them compared to only a few then. And more businesses have opened up. Life is slowly returning to normal, but quite a few homes look like the one above, or have been gutted, but the lawns cut.

A lot of the reason many people have been able to move back into their homes is due to volunteer effort. I stopped by St. Bernard Project to check on Liz and Zack who run that group who we worked for last Christmas. Here's their present tally from the sign on the wall:

They're going gangbusters and have helped a lot of people get back in their homes.

Churches are rebuilding and opening up too. I found a couple of new churches along Judge Perez Drive over by Aribi. I also snapped this pic of the newly rebuilt and expanded Chalmette Church of Christ by Home Depot:
The part of the building in the foreground is the new addition and the part to the right is the old auditorium where Team 7 nailed down sheathing and covered the exterior with tar paper in January '05. The foundation for this new addition was laid in April, but I was amazed and how nicely completed it is.

Yet... Across the street at the washed out apartments, repairs are moving slowly. Some are done and one resident I talked with had just moved in last week.

Here's our team at devo. John Chilcote from Westerville Christian put these together for this week and has done a great job of highlighting biblical exortations and relating them to our work here. This space serves as our cafeteria space and common room here in Chalmette Middle School.
I got this great sunset over New Orleans from the high I-510 bridge last night too.
There have been a lot of volunteers working on the community center clearing out old debris and getting it ready for an open house this afternoon.
The space was a bowling alley, but The Gathering has leased it to set up their community center, daycare, and church.

The Nashville group (Richard Swint who has cooked for us so many times on our overnight stays) has been wiring and plumbing Todd's house. Todd will be the community center director.
This view of an abandoned school is out his back yard. The neighborhood (Charles Court in Chalmette) has lots of evidence of a wave of water like the caved in wall in this shot.


This is a "house for sale" two lots around the court from Todd's
And this is across the court, two houses over on the other side.
All fairly normal in these neighborhoods.

The Worthington Christian crew have been working on Matt Woodward's house. Matt's the guy holding his son leading the prayer when the guys finished today.
He'll be the preacher at the new church and his family is already living here in the house.
The floorplan for the building we are working on looks like this:
And here is a shot of the building at the beginning of work along with a drawing of what the completed center will look like:

Aaron Johnson has been my primary contact for our work here. He's been organizing us volunteers, finding work, and making sure everything is in place. Matt says they are praying hard for someone to come manage the volunteer side here so Aaron can focus on the rest of his job. He's here with his family in a rehabbed house as well after living in the Crossroads building while his daughter was due.

How awesome is it that these people and others here on staff have picked up their families and left their previous lives behind to start a new church in a place they haven't known before and on the faith that God is calling them and the community here will become a new part of the Body by their commitments. What an impressive group of missionaries to America.

Tomorrow is our last full day working here and there's a lot more work lined up. I'll try to get you another update when we get back from dinner in "the Quarter" tomorrow night before we head home on Friday.

John McGuire

Team 29 in the field, Day 1

The Ohio crew had an uneventful trip down, made some pretty good time and got to Chalmette at Noon on Monday. Thanks as always to the ladies at University Church of Christ in Tuscaloosa for taking southern hospitality to a new level. The crew spent a few hours in the quarter, got dinner, and came back for a devo and bed.

The Tennessee contingent came in around 6:00, got unloaded and found food at Tony's in chalmette, home of the biggest PoBoys you've ever eaten, or tried to.

We worked several job sites today, Tuesday, our first day in the field. We finished a lot more cleanup at what will be the community center and carted of several trailers of refuse. Another team wired and plumbed on of the new church leader's houses. Another framed and cleaned up a house and yet another team did some more cleanup at another house.

I'll try to get some pics up for you later tonight or tomorrow.

This is an awsome team; lots of talent and everyone's getting along great. It's an absolute pleasure to be back and working with more incredible believers working their faith into this community.

Hilltop Rescue Wildfire Relief

Dear Friends,

Several of the Hilltop Rescue leaders have been scouting in San Diego County over the last several days. The reports coming in are troubling. I wanted to share some excerpts from their trip notes:

We spent time in Ramona with Darryl and Donna--a very sweet retired couple that had lived in their home for 42 years. Their lives changed abruptly last week as they were given an urgent message from a neighbor who had received a 911 call. When Darryl and Donna got the call, they had 5 minutes to quickly gather their cats and escape their home. Seconds later their home was an inferno. They lost everything. After navigating the 80-90mph wind gusts, Darryl and Donna spent the next few days in shelters.

We met with this family today (Darryl, Donna and her brother Randy) as they arrived and saw their home for first time. Their hearts were heavy and understandably they had a number of emotions. They were confused about what they should do next, frustrated that the insurance lines were so long, mad that 911 didn't call them to give them the same 30 minute warning that their neighbor had, convicted that they would rebuild, but mostly they were thankful to be alive and for the neighbor who warned them. They call him their hero.

I'm thankful that God allowed us to be with this family at such an important moment in their life. We weren't able to do much but listen to their story and be with them in this difficult moment. We prayed and gave them a simple message of hope by assuring Donna and Darryl that there are many more who wish to come and help them in their recovery. They tearfully thanked us for whatever we could do.

It was hard to leave. We wanted so badly to spend the rest of the day at their home. And yet there are so many more hurting families. In fact, countrary what the media is covering, we were surprised by the number of lower income and elderly families that are victims to the fires.

The needs here are basic. Folks just need help with clean up. As expected it's a mess.barns, homes, trailers, cars and other structures have been burned. In addition, the wind gusts caused many trees to fall even in areas where there was limited fire damage. The resident victims of the Ramona area desperately need volunteer teams to come and assist.

Reports like this and discussions with other area churches have confirmed that we should deploy volunteers in the area of Ramona. Ramona is a rural, lower middle class to poor community whose residents are in need of help with debris removal, tree removal and contents removal from damaged homes and general clean up. (Much like mucking houses in New Orleans, only dry). Corky Cowart will be leading this relief effort operation and will be full time in Ramona for the next several months. Hilltop leadership has met with the leadership of the Ramona Church of Christ and found them to be energetic and sincere in their desire to help in the community. This desire to help has led this small congregation of 30 members to offer us their church facility for use as a volunteer base camp. We are excited to be working with the Ramona church and are looking forward to having our first volunteers come in later this week.

Our next goal is to quickly obtain the tools we need to get to work. You can help today. First, please pray for this relief effort. Second, please sign up to come and serve. We need all types of volunteers to share hope in this area. Third, if you can't volunteer, please enable our volunteers to help by making a financial contribution toward the purchase of supplies and equipment. You will find a list of the items we need on our website.

In Christ,

June White
Director of Communications
Hilltop Rescue & Relief

Awsome Google Map of San Diego Fire Information

Here's a really nice reference from Google Maps for fire information around San Diego.

Hope you find it useful and interesting.


View Larger Map

California Wildfire Relief

Hilltop Rescue, our longtime Katrina relief partner who is based in LA, is setting up relief operations in Ramona, California near San Diego. The final location has not been chosen, but should be up and running this week. Details will be available at www.hilltoprescue.org.

Unlike the TV coverage of large, expensive homes that have been destroyed, many of the people they met were in a similar economic state as those we’ve been helping in Louisiana. They have determined a large need for immediate assistance and expect to find more work as residents were just beginning to return home in many areas yesterday.

The damage is more than just fire. Winds up to 80mph and higher in some canyons downed trees and damaged buildings the day before the fire. There’s lots of debris to haul away and cut up with chainsaws.

Robert Machen and Corkey Cowart spent yesterday touring the damaged area and took some video. Here’s the link.

Servants Unite does not presently have funds to cover air transportation across the country. Tickets on Skybus from Columbus to SanDiego vary by day, but you’ll find on their site that you can expect to pay about $140 each way. If you would like to go out, you can contact me for more information or visit the Hilltop site.

Wildfire update from June White at Hilltop Rescue

Dear Friends,

As you know from watching the news, the situation in Southern California is growing more desperate. We're now in the third day of seeing the images of homes burning and residents fleeing from the rapid fires sweeping through this region. The reports from churches in San Diego County indicate that there are countless brothers and sisters displaced and in a state of shock after abruptly being forced to leave their homes. Many do not know what will be left for them after the fires subside.

The fires have forced the evacuation of more than 350,000 houses, most of them in San Diego County. With the area's average household size of 2.6 people, that means the evacuation could encompass nearly one million people. It's basically a mass migration in San Diego County. Many of these families are lower income residents with limited means to start-over. The numbers are staggering.

This is our backyard.Southern California is the home of Hilltop Rescue. Just as many from this area responded to the hurricane Katrina relief efforts of the Gulf Coast, it's now time to set our sites on the broken lives here. Having a brother or sister available to lend a hand through this process will be a life giving eternal moment.

An assessment team will be working with local churches and communities to determine the best way to assist. Please visit our website as we'll update it with the latest information on the situation and our response. As a reminder our website is www.hilltoprescue.org.

Through your service and involvement with Hilltop you've come to know that the value of what we provide is labor, "strong backs" willing to assist with the recovery process. If you are willing to assist and help those needing to start over, please let us know by going to the Hilltop Rescue Website and volunteering for service. If you're not able to come and serve at this point, please consider donating to Hilltop and to enable others to come and serve in the recovery process.

Please pray for the fire victims of Southern California. May God bless the broken lives and use Hilltop in the process of recovery.

In Him,

June White
Director of Communications
Hilltop Rescue & Relief

Ohio Flooding and California Wildfire Relief Info

Couple updates for you all this week. There will be a need for volunteers in Northern Ohio for quite a while and this week’s rains may cause additional flooding in other areas. I’ll keep track, but please keep me posted of any needs you come upon that we should respond to.

Here’s an update from the Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team web site:

DRT is continuing to work with the church in Findlay, Ohio. We continue to purchase building material and household supplies for those without insurance. We are in need of skilled volunteers for the completion of sheetrock and flooring especially. Thousands of people are out of their houses and in need of assistance.

Their web address is www.churchesofchristdrt.org. You can feel free to contact them directly, or I can hook you up.

Hilltop Rescue is contemplating setting up operations in California for wildfire relief. We are very early in the process and it is not yet certain what organizations like ours can do in this type of disaster or how it will be accomplished. I’ll keep you posted and you can monitor www.hilltoprescue.org for more information. If you want to think this far ahead, round trip on Skybus to San Diego looks to be around $280 with a week advance, but some days are cheaper and a couple are more expensive.

I have a request to help roof a house in Gahanna from Cindy at New Life Church. The roof is leaking down a wall and some internal repairs may be required. The homeowner has materials, but needs assistance installing the new roof. This would be a good weekend job before the really cold weather hits. To volunteer, contact me, or Cindy Schmidt at (614) 475-8500.

There is a short notice, local work mailing list that I use to send all requests like this and short notice Habitat opportunities. If you’d like to be added to that list and get those extra notifications, please send me an email.

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. -- 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

John McGuire
Servants Unite!

Habitat Help Needed 10/20/2007

To be added to the "Short Notice Opportunities" list and receive these notifications via email when they come out, email me with a note saying so.

Hi all,

We have a last minute need for volunteers for Saturday, October 20 from 8:30am to 4:00pm. We could use 15-20 people and will register people on a first come, first serve basis. Tasks could involve installing vinyl siding, but will be determined by what gets accomplished between now and then by other volunteers.

If you are available, let me know, and I can send you more information.

Thanks!Deb
Deb Light
Volunteer Director
Habitat for Humanity-Greater Columbus
3140 Westerville Rd
Columbus, OH 43224
Office 614-364-7020 (direct line)
Cell: 614-332-9192
Fax: 614-414-0432

Upcoming Trips and Projects

Our assistance will continue to be needed in Northern Ohio for some time, specifically in Bucyrus, but may expand to other areas as needed. Volunteer opportunities are available most weekends and during the week and accommodations are available for those traveling some distance to work there.

November 11-November 17, Team 29 will be working in Chalmette, near New Orleans. We will leave after church Sunday from Westerville Christian. An organizational meeting will be held there as well next Tuesday, October 16 at 6:30pm. Here is where to find us:

View Larger Map

Christmas time trips have been very popular the last two years of Katrina relief work. I am planning two tentative trips for the week before Christmas and the week between Christmas and New Years. One would leave around Saturday, December 15 and return Saturday, December 22. The other would leave Wednesday morning, December 26 and return on January 1 as we did last year.

Spring Break can be amazing this year! All these Columbus area schools, maybe more, are off the same week in 2008, March 22-30:

Columbus, Hilliard, Dublin, Worthington, Olentangy, Westerville, Big Walnut, Gahanna, South Western, Grandview Heights, Hamilton, Groveport, Canal Winchester, Pickerington, Bexley, Whitehall, and Tree of Life.

Only 3 districts adjoining Columbus are not off this week:

• Upper Arlington is off the week before.
• New Albany-Plain is the following week.
• Reynoldsburg is April 5-13.

I’d like to plan a massive youth oriented trip to New Orleans or Bayou La Batre for that week. We could conceivably send hundreds of volunteers! The work would be reconstruction of houses, community centers, and other efforts to support churches and rehabitation of houses in the area still recovering from Katrina.

Special challenges for youth trips like this involve:

• Getting enough youth sponsors to go.
• Having enough skilled adults to keep the kids productive.
• Coordinating transportation.

To put such a trip together, I’ll need help from you to publicize and staff the trip. We’ll also need to be recruiting adults with construction skills and tools to help make this trip productive for the kids.

Please prayerfully consider how you can arrange your schedule to support any of these activities.

To inquire about, or join any of these trips, please call me or email me at the link on the right of the blog.

Cajun Dinner Fundraiser

So if you're missing the food of the gulf coast, have a hankering for fellowship, and want to support our next trip, you've gotta come to Westerville Christian Church, Friday Nov 2 at 6:30 pm in the FLC for Cajun Fest. Our address is 471 College Avenue, Westerville, Ohio 43081.

View Larger Map

Proceeds from this dinner will help to cover the expenses for Team 29 who will leave November 11 and return November 17. Please see the posting on Upcoming Trips for more information.

You can print a sign to put up at your church, work, or around your community and you can print a bulletin insert that you can find here.

Hope you can join us!

My Status Update

I am so pleased God continues to let me work on this project. It is unbelievably fulfilling serving Him, all of you, and the storm victims we've been helping the last two years. Our successes are all His and any good we do is only a reflection of Christ working through us, but I am so grateful He chooses to let me take part. I have met the most amazing, yet common people I never knew existed within the faith community or anywhere else.

As most reading this know, I began adjusting my life to focus full time on Servants Unite and part time IT consulting last February. I am not drawing compensation from the organization, but soliciting regular donations to help cover my family's expenses. The complete story is on this blog posting.

Since then, I have been receiving monthly funding from one church and two individuals. This funding with the addition of an amount from another church is covering only 25% of our expenses. I have made some of the other 75% consulting and Melinda has contributed substantially from her part time job, but we have still invested over $25,000 in personal savings to meet our daily needs. With spring break and summer relief work completed and Bucyrus work stabilizing into an ongoing operation, I am focusing more on consulting, but that takes away from the time I can spend on building Servants Unite and organizing or ongoing efforts.

I know what we can accomplish and have a vision of what this organization can be. Every little investment we have made has yielded enormous kingdom dividends. Those of you who know me personally know of the passion I have for getting us there. I am constantly reminded, however, that I can't do it alone. Right now we need a couple dozen people to help expand this ministry and I could really use that other 75% to cover my expenses and begin replenishing my reserves.

Your business helps me as well. I and others I work with through Franklin Computer Services can handle any Information Technology needs that your company or church may have. By utilizing my professional services, you are supporting my ability to focus on building this mission.

It is my prayer and hope that more of you can step forward to fill leadership positions in Servants Unite, help in fundraising, and personally contribute to help me focus even more on this job.

For more information on funding my efforts or helping to grow Servants Unite, please email me.

Thanks for your support.

Non Profit Status Approved!!!

We received a letter from the IRS yesterday stating that they have approved our request for non-profit status under section 501(c)3 of the internal revenue code! This is really a major triumph. Though it may seem basic and expected, the implications are huge for the growth of our organization. It qualifies us for more funding and stretches our funding further.

We are allowed to work under the assumption that this approval would come and have been doing so. I can now tell you for certain though now that your charitable donations, both monetary and in-kind, made directly to Servants Unite are deductible from your taxes. I can also tell you that this makes us accountable to the IRS as well as you when we allocate resources.

This is especially critical as our general funds are near $0 after our summer trips and the Bucyrus response.

This means we can accept corporate donations. Most corporations will only give to a 501(c)3 approved organization. You can help promote donations to Servants Unite from your employer.

We can accept employee donations and corporate matching funds through payroll deduction at your employer. Several volunteers have been waiting on this approval to donate through their employer. Please check with your Human Resources department. If you have payroll deducted donations to charitable organizations presently with your employer, you should be able to redirect some or all of this giving to Servants Unite. The process is not complicated in most organizations. Generally our tax ID number and some information about the organization (www.servantsunite.org) are all that is required.

This status also makes it more attractive to churches, mission groups, and other non-profits to support us financially. Please help make your church leadership and mission organizations aware of this update. We can use steady funding as we have functioned to date on one time gifts and special collections. We also need to get commitments from churches for special collections or reserve funds to finance our next response.

You can always give to us personally. Again, your monetary or in-kind (stuff) donation is tax deductible. You'll be getting calls from lots of unknown solicitors from now through Christmas. Please keep in mind that these phone solicitors frequently keep 80-90% of your donation. Donating to Servants Unite will assure that 100% of your donation goes to a worthy cause. You can donate through the Paypal link on the web (which will eat 2% of your donation), or mail a check.

As we've seen we can get a lot more mileage out of donations than the traditional and much larger recipients of corporate funding who have enormous overhead. Nearly 100% of funds donated to Servants Unite go directly to our mission with very small administrative costs and no salaries.

Finally, our tax exempt status saves us money when we buy materials and equipment for use in our work. I'll work on getting the appropriate information to vendors we purchase from.

Thanks for your continued support!

Servants Unite!

Bucyrus Work Proceeding

We're ready for volunteers and project work in Bucyrus again. Here's the update from Crawford County EMA I received today.

Great success this past week. The call center made some 250 calls the last few nights, FEMA has over 300 cases that they are in process of handing over or contacting individuals. A large cleanup was completed last weekend by a Lutheran group out of New York. The paper just hit today with the front page reading residents are to call with damages. The article was not clear on who should call so we will be taking more calls for Case Workers over the next few days.

Case Workers have even been closing a handful of cases this week with simple purchases like a freezer of washer. It appears we will do another weekend of cleanup not sure how many cases we have at the moment. When you know you have people wanting to come give me a heads up and I will see what cases are open at the time for you. Deb McCoy is the Volunteer coordinator her home number 419-689-9799, she will be able to coordinate lodging and cases. We will have work orders by end of this week for which we will complete for each case and will be used to track progress of residents. It is fully working now just coordination of the work as it comes in. It does not appear that the cases will hit all at once as they just keep coming through steady like 5-8 a day.

Thanks,

Tim Flock
EMA Director
Crawford County

You can contact Deb McCoy directly if you choose, but I need to keep track of the volunteer hours we are spending there and I have resources available to reimburse you for any materials that are needed.

Housing is available at Camp Michael, near Bucyrus.

To volunteer or ask questions, please send me an email or call my cell at 614-404-8610.

Relevant Stories in Relevant Mag

I found two articles in the current issue significant to us. Unfortunately, unless you get the mag or know someone who does, you can't read them as articles are not available online. I do recommend the magazine. It is inexpensive and pertinent to youth, youth leaders, and post modernists. www.relevantmagazine.com

There is an article written by a college student, Adam Foldenauer, who worked with Nazarene Disaster Response Team in Chalmette and Gentilly (burbs of New Orleans). Adam writes a very reflective article on the impact to volunteers, homeowners, and the fact that it still looks like the hurricane happened yesterday. Most of us know it was much worse as incredible as that sounds. This article gives a great perspective on faith and tragedy as well as the work left to do. He writes:

I also saw Christ in many residents. A disaster like Katrina surely caused many to question God, but I noticed a divine determination in those who turned to God after the storm. Gloria, a friend fo our homeowner, stopped by the home where we were working to see the progress. She's eager for her friend to be able to return home. She told me, "God is going to bring something out of all this. I'm not sure what it is yet, but I think He wants to make our faith stronger."

The other article is pertinent to those 115 of us who drove down July 7 to work in Bayou La Batre. Remember the traffic in Nashville and all the people walking towards downtown? We thought it must be a concert or something. It obviously wasn't football in July.

As it turns out, it was "The Call" Nashville. This was the 2nd of what has become a series of prayer and fasting events. The first was in DC, September of 2000. In Nashville, 60,000 filled the Titans football stadium to pray, some having fasted for days! The next call is 08/08/08 in DC, but other events like Nashville will be held in stadiums across the country starting in October and leading up to the DC event. www.thecall.com
is the main web site. The closest stadium event for us in Ohio is in Cincinnati, January 12, at US Bank Arena (Riverfront Coliseum for us old timers). This is a link to the details of that event. Registration through that link is free, but required.

Habitat Help Needed Saturday 9/29

Hi all,

We have a last minute need for volunteers for Saturday, September 29 from 8:30 to 4:00. We could use 10-12 people and will register people on a first come, first serve basis. Tasks could involve framing, but will be determined by what gets accomplished between now and then by other volunteers.

If you are available, let me know, and I can send you more information.

Thanks!

Deb Light
Volunteer Director
Habitat for Humanity-Greater Columbus
3140 Westerville Rd
Columbus, OH 43224
Office 614-364-7020 (direct line)
Cell: 614-332-9192
Fax: 614-414-0432