Pictures from Team 26 a week ago

Sorry, technical problems kept me from being able to load these up sooner, but here they are. I collected 1500 pictures from volunteers and another 400 of my own.

Jim Gaul

Kali

Katy

Lisa Baughman

Liz

Mark Day

Matt & Phil Moon

Michelle Clark

Paul Lewis

Rob Martin

Sara

Terry Eddy

Tina Poole

John McGuire

Thanks team for an amazing week. With the groups from Oklahoma, Nashville, and Virginia added to our 115 we had over 160 people working in Bayou La Batre for the week; more than any other work week since the storm. You are all amazing and I look forward to working with you all again soon.

Habitat Opportunity for Saturday 7/21

We will need some extra volunteers this Saturday, July 21 from 8:30am to 4:00pm. Site and activity will vary depending on need. We will schedule people on a first come first serve basis as space permits. No prior skills required, leadership provided.

Volunteers need to wear comfortable clothing that they don’t mind getting dirty. Volunteers must wear hard-soled shoes (work boots preferred) or tennis shoes. Absolutely no sandals or open toed/open heeled shoes allowed on site. Bring a water bottle and lunch. Hats and sunscreen are always a great addition to your work day.

If you have your own tools (i.e. hammer, pencil tape measure, nail apron/tool belt, utility knife, and speed square), please bring them, but label and keep track of tools. If you do not have your own tools, tools will be available on site.

Please let me know if you are available and interested in helping out, 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

Team 26 on the way home or there already

Here we are right now in the gym at the Hendersonville Church of Christ just north of Nashville. The Westerville group stayed overnight here last night. We had an uneventful trip home so far. Sunbury UMC got home around Noon Saturday. Though I haven't heard from them, I believe the Canal Winchester New Life group got home late last night as did the South Dayton Church of Christ group who left Thursday to check on the people they worked with on previous trips in New Orleans before heading home.

I have a lot more to post for this week, but with my clone backordered that'll have to be done after I get home.

Thanks for all the support that's been poured into this week from parents, family, churches, and friends of all 115 participants of this team from Ohio. Special thanks to the Westerville Schools. The staff, parents, and students who were the original base for this team are amazing and I'm extremely pleased to have my kids in this district with these people. High caliber does not describe what I have seen in them.

John McGuire

Team 26 Thursday Update

A note from one of our volunteers and a few pics from today. I have more to post tomorrow!

I have heard that when you go on a mission trip, you get more out of it than the ones receiving whatever you may do or say. Frankly, I really wasn’t sure that actually happened. In my mind, a mission trip is hard work, tiring, lonely (away from loved ones), and way out of my comfort zone. Also, mission trips cost money and currently being a family of 5, we struggle financially. The very thought of being away from my 3 kids for a week is not something that I wanted to do. However, my husband and I both felt that God was knocking on our hearts to maybe consider going to the Gulf Coast when we heard that a group from our church was going. Immediately, I thought how? How God? My husband doesn’t have any vacation days left, so we would lose a weeks paycheck. Where would our kids go that they would feel comfortable and have fun. It seemed too big of a sacrifice for me and our family. We could just go on with our life and let someone else go, I am sure they will have enough people to get the work done.

For some reason when I said no to the trip, something inside of me knew I was making the wrong decision. So, I prayed and argued some more with God, but in the end I knew we had to go. I needed to put my trust in God to take care of us financially and to watch over my kids. When I told God yes, I had peace. Now, I still didn’t know how things would come together, but just by saying yes and telling others of what we were to do it finalized our commitment.

It was funny, all of a sudden, there were several people that asked my husband if he could finish their basement, siding for a house and other carpentry related things for different people. My husband is a carpenter, so this was so unexpected that we would be bombarded with work. It was hard to have him gone so much, but we both knew what we were working towards and so thankful for the extra money. My friend offered to take my oldest daughter and my mom volunteered to take my younger 2. It was really working out!

As good as everything was going, I was all of a sudden fearful to go. What if something happened to me and my husband or what if something happened to my kids and I wasn’t there? What if I wasn’t needed, or maybe I would get stuck on something I really don’t like to do? So I really had to battle with these emotions and again trust God. This week that I have spent in the Gulf Coast has been an experience. There have been ups and downs, but I can truthfully say that I am extremely glad that I came here. I was able to meet and work along side a wonderful family and help try to get their house in better repair. I have made a lasting friendship with a 14 year old girl, who reminds me of myself at her age. That alone has made this week awesome, however there is so many other amazing things happening, it would take too long to type. I can see God working in others lives and my own. I am so thankful to God for allowing me to have this opportunity to draw closer to Him and to others. He is good all the time!

Gina Long

Team 26 Wednesday work

We all had another VERY productive day. The final tally of Ohio people here is at 115, but there are also three other groups of up to 20 who are working in town this week so we are an obvious presence here with a population of 2700. Many jobs were completed today and people are starting new tasks tomorrow.

Everyone went on fun trips tonight. Some to Harry Potter, some out to restaurants, and the New Life group got a boat ride from the man who docks this boat next to their project house.
Jim Gaul, and the Westerville Schools group spent the day painting and cleaning. Some worked to build up the church building's electrical, plumbing, and drywall.
Gotta make your work fun...
Here's the group picture from the Westerville Schools group from the restaurant they ate at tonight.
Ms. Nancy who's house we are rebuilding turned up with Watermelon for the volunteers this afternoon. The temperatures have really been unbearable, but I have yet to hear anyone really complain or whine. I'm really impressed with the groups we have and feel immensely blessed to get to serve with them.
The King's house is coming along, but there is a lot of work left to do. More volunteers will work there tomorrow and Friday to try to finish as much as possible. We're hoping to raise some more funds to get replacement glass for windows that were broken during the storm.
South Dayton Church of Christ Flat cleared off the storm damaged house next to the park.
Matt Moon and the Minions have nearly completed the awning they've been designing and building all week.

Macey from the Sunbury United Methodist group paints trip with Timi who lives at their project house. 25% of the population is Vietnamese/Lao shin/Cambodian as the boat people after the war were settled here.

With this many people in camp, it's impossible to enumerate all the work we complete in a day each night. I can't reach all the people with cameras and stories are harder to come by, but keep checking back the rest of the week to share in our experience.

Team 26 Tuesday Update

Whew!!! It's Hot!!!

And busy!!! Really you can't understand either statement unless you are here. We have 26 concurrent job sites being worked. We've completed... I don't actually know.... A dozen or more with more coming online.

Some have been large rehabs of kitchens, bathrooms, painting, roofing, windows, walls, electrical, all in one structure and the progress on those after 2 days work has been incredible. Some have been tear downs and cleanup of properties so that rebuilding can even begin... 2 years after Katrina... Many have been small roof repairs, half roofs, some drywall, steps, painting, community cleanup, and other efforts.

Five jobs are helping the local Nazarene mission effort complete the work left over from their relief operation which is no longer receiving volunteers. The cooperation of the Body of Christ is incredible. People participating in these jobs are working through 5 different organizations (church, Servants Unite, Hilltop, Bayou Recovery, and the Nazarene group) to serve seamlessly. Not to mention the impressive cooperation we've gotten from the local government and other disaster relief orgs supporting the efforts here.

What an amazing work He has given us. Below are a few pictures from the last day's work:

Team 26 Monday Update

OOPS! The blog didn't happen last night. We did have 26 new sites yesterday and (as predicted) productivity was bad during the morning till we got all the new supplies and tools delivered that we missed in planning Sunday night. It was crazy busy, crazy hot, and crazy crazy for all of us.

I'll post more pics from the last two days this evening.

Team 26 Sunday

Every time I come down the fellowship hall at the newly dubbed, Hemley Road, Church of Christ (old Methodist building) fellowship hall is further along. It was crowded at church there this morning with many of our 130 volunteers in attendance.
Supplemental tents are added to the 100 person capacity Hilltop camp to shelter volunteers from the (2nd night in a row) tropical downpours that come out of nowhere.
Today was a free day for most of the crews to go sight seeing. This morning Sunbury UMC took their group picture at the dock by our camp.
Their T-shirts have a roster of all their group.
The Westerville Schools group spent the day at the beach. Pictures below is the South Wrestling "Bayou Smack Down!!! Sunday, Sunday Sunday!!!"
South Fencing Team...
South Sunscreen Club...
Hey Team 3 and 7 participants! Remember Sharon Oaks and Vicki and Tim Smallwood from South Dayton Church of Christ?
They get the pleasure of tearing down one of the last remaining, half Katrina demolished houses along the waterfront which happens to be right next to our camp. Today was shoveling and hauling debris from the area. Tomorrow is tying on a rope and pulling it the rest of the way down with some.... persuasive horsepower.
I spent the afternoon matching job assignments to the skills of the MANY construction leads we have in this team. It's very unusual to have so many experienced construction people in a group and that will make us very productive. Tomorrow, teams will be working 24 simultaneous sites!

A large group will be starting repairs on this 1800s home on the bayou to get the grandmother and 3 kids out of the camper and back in their home.
This place has a lot of character, charm, and a kewl veiw.
More updates tomorrow and through the week, so check back daily to keep track of us.

Team 26 Cruises Into the Bayou

Originally planned as Team 27, some consolidation makes this our 26th Katrina response team. Groups from Sunbury United Methodist Church, Westerville Schools, New Life Church in Canal Winchester, and South Dayton Church of Christ are arriving throughout the day in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. Actually 80% of them all arrived between 7:00 and 7:30 this evening.

I'm waiting for the last group as I write this and enjoying an offshore lightshow.

...And now as I come back to this posting I've been working on since 2:00 this afternoon, I've helped them set up their tents and get settled.

Tomorrow is church and sightseeing for the team. I hope to get back some pics of their adventures and have a few to post from our exploration the last couple of days. Then Monday it'll be everyone hard at work.

Keep watching all week for daily updates.

Prayers are requested for our safe travels, work for the week, and success at showing the people here they are cared for and not forgotten.

John McGuire

Update on our friend Brendan

Friends,

I hope this finds you all in good health and spirits! As for here in St Bernard we are coming right along. It has been a long 22 months and i am sad to say that my run has come to an end. As of June 1 i had to stop with the volunteer operations through Hilltop and IRC. Financially i just cant do it anymore and have to go back to work. It has been a fun 2 years and i don't regret one minute of it. We had fun, helped a lot of people, and started something that will continue on for years to come. I am honored to have met and worked with each and every one of you. As for me i am currently working for the American Red Cross out of Washington, DC but stationed here in Chalmette as a Community Recovery Specialists. This is a temporary program started by the Red Cross after Katrina and wont last long so in the nature of helping people and construction i am in the interview process with the St Bernard Long Term Recovery Committee for the position of rebuild coordinator for the parish. So wish me luck with that endeavor. And since i am use to pretty much working seven days a week while you guys were here i am also trying to speed up the process at Home Depot of getting material and will be starting there next week part time. So next time you guys come down i will try and speed up the loading process for you!

I will still be involved with volunteer efforts here and in New Orleans, but instead of being committed to one group i will have access to dozens of groups. So if you find yourself needing a place to go let me know. If and when i finish my home here in Chalmette I will be able to keep groups of 15-20 in my home so i will keep you all updated on that.

Once again thank you all for your dedication and patience while you all have come down here to help us. I think about and tell stories of our time together at most all of my presentations and it seems like just yesterday you all were here.

Take care and if any of you are in the area drop me a line and well have lunch!

Thank you all

Brendan Hendrix

985-517-1581

2304 creely dr

Chalmette, La 70043

Missions Presentation to Gracepoint Church

I had the massive pleasure today of speaking to the GracePoint Community Church congregation in Lewis Center (North of Columbus) on missions involvement and their personal walk. Thanks to Pastor Terry Lewis, Missions leader Melissa Ruble and the missions team for the opportunity to encourage the congregation to participate in missions to strengthen their faith and to offer opportunities to volunteer with Servants Unite. This was an excellent experience for both I and Pat Hazelet (Team 20) who came up to speak to people who stopped by the table.

The script, as I wrote it, not quite as I presented it, is in the next blog entry down. I'll flesh it out with links and references more over the next several days and hopefully have MP3s you can download from the audio recording. I welcome comments, and questions, either publicly to the blog or privately via my email. I'd love to present to your church too, so please check with your church leadership for open opportunities we can fill.

I am out of town all week with the Westerville Christian high school youth for Summer in the Son at Kentucky Christian University, Grayson, Kentucky. After a stressful and frantic week, preparing this lesson and other responsibilities I was blessed to end the day with a gymnasium sized worship venue and the David Crowder band leading. That was a great way to fill back up! I'm looking forward to a week of youth ministry and getting to know our kids better.

God bless all and may he continue to bless our work. Amen!

John McGuire

What keeps us from Missions - Living the Grand Adventure

Who’s the coolest adventurer you can think of?
My favorite is Indiana Jones. He pelts off into the far reaches of the world after whatever treasure with not much more than his smarts, his whip, and his trademark Fedora hat.

We all ran off to New Orleans after Katrina on a grand adventure with no idea what we were to do or how or even where we would sleep, but we knew we had to go. And we were amazed at what happened, how we were used by God, and the fact that it was so chaotic that obviously no human was in charge, yet everything happened that needed to.

Our Call to Missions
We are all called to missions. In all the New Testament gospels and Acts, Jesus is quoted issuing the Great Commission when visiting his followers who were in hiding after His crucifixion and resurrection.

Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Mark 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

Luke 24:46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

John 20:21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."

Acts 1:8 you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

In the Old Testament, Isaiah equated service to others as Worship, or fasting. Back in his day, 700BC, God had retreated from Israel as described throughout chapter 57. In verse 3 of Isaiah 58 God tells us through His prophet that he heard his people ask why they fasted if He didn’t respond. In verses 4&5 He answers because their 1 day fasting as worship ends in fist fights with each other. He asks sarcastically, “is this the kind of fast I have chosen?” then goes on to explain what he expected of them and us.

Isaiah 58
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

I believe we all know this in our heart of hearts and that’s why I’ve blown through this pretty fast, but we look at this as just another obligation in our lives.

Jesus tells us this is not to be a burden because his “yoke is easy and [His] burden is light.” (Mat 11:30). Are you stressed out? “You will find rest for your souls”, He tells us. This is a Grand Adventure that our hearts crave; a work that we can get lost in; worship that never ends while we are here. All this has been true in my experience and is echoed by volunteers and other missions leaders I have worked with. The more important discussion I’d like to have with you is…

What keeps us away from Missions
If we have this “Great Commission”, This Grand Adventure that we were made for and designed to execute, why do we have such a difficult time with it? What stands in our way?

Missions, by nature, tend to fall under the social justice category. Us “Christian Conservatives” tend to look at social justice issues as liberal, leftist, and even communist. I’m one of you, remember? How do we discern who really needs help and who is taking advantage? How do we provide the “hand up, not a handout” that so many service organizations strive for? We get suspicious of people and don’t trust that our giving will be truly appreciated or effective. We don’t want to “waste our resources” on those who are unworthy.

Last week, on my way home from Alabama, someone hit me up for money at the gas pump north of Louisville. He gave the “trying to get home (to Columbus no less) spiel. I gave him $5.00; he gave me a toothy smile and a “God bless you”. The people at the other pumps blew him off. I pumped my gas, hit the restroom, and grabbed a drink at McDonald’s before coming back out to my truck where his car was still setting at the next pump. As I pulled out, he came out the door with 2 frapachinos and a sticky bun. That adds up to about $4.85 I figured. He gave me the same grin with a bit of “sucka” behind it.

I was mad. I knew he was lying when I gave him the money, or I’d have filled his tank, but my first reaction was discouragement and that made me mad. I got over it after some brooding up I-71 and decided I’d do the same thing next time. Not because it’s the socially responsible thing to do, but because Christ calls me to serve others. Our love for Him makes us willing to do what may seem unwise from the World’s perspective.

WWJD? Jesus helped all who needed it. Now we can argue that He certainly had a gift of discernment we can’t hope to obtain, but this guy touched pariah’s of His society healing the blind, demon possessed, the lame, and the outcasts. He hung out with evil tax collectors and prostitutes… put down the religious elite and put forward simple fishermen and trades people as his apostles.

The people described in Isaiah 58 were like us too. Wrapped up in their own advancement economically, and seeking more influence in their world. Is the church you know really any different today? Many aren't.

We work VERY hard to provide for our families, an honorable thing. We want to give them the best. We pursue the American Dream of a comfortable house in a safe neighborhood. We send our kids to Christian, or other private schools, or at least strive to live in a “good” school district. We focus on our family’s advancement, setting up our kids to be happy, popular, and well educated, plotting and saving for the day when they are paid off and we can retire and enjoy our spouse, fishing, and traveling.

What are we teaching our kids though? Are we displaying the Great Commission to them, or teaching them to look out for number 1?

Our primary resources are time and money. The quest for one takes from the other. We struggle to maintain a balance between them, spending enough time with our families while also working to provide for them.

I have come to believe our quest for the mythical "American Dream” has hijacked way too much of our resources, both time and money that we should be investing in our mission; this Grand Adventure. The dream itself has been hijacked by marketing in our society and economy that is driven by consumer purchasing, much of it on credit.

This sounds like radical stuff and it was in 700BC too. I’m not here to give you a guilt trip or to strong arm you into joining my mission. It doesn’t matter to me what you choose as your mission outlet. There is no shortage of opportunity there.

I am here to share a secret with you that if you don’t have one; if you aren’t actively spending your time in service to others in some way that you are missing out on a grand adventure.

Think about your financial situation. Most of us don’t own the houses our families live in, a creditor does and we pay rent in principal and interest every month. We don’t own the cars we drive, or the TVs our families watch, or the programming, or worst case, the groceries we are eating because we are purchasing them with credit. When we look at our own finances, we realize we are not “rich” = living the American Dream. Most of us are still a couple paychecks away from being homeless, no better off than the poor people in inner-city Columbus, Appalachia, Africa, or New Orleans we are working so hard to rise above.

Is that scary? We are trusting in a socioeconomic system that will eventually let us down. We are not trusting the God of our lives who calls us to His work, this grand adventure, but ourselves, our money, our employer, our banker, our financial planner. Our very Christian walk has been hijacked to advance our worldly selves, in place of our mission, our commission. Our light burden and easy yoke have been replaced by an inescapable debt burden, high stress, and poor health.

We can find our way out of this, but in a spiritual world at war, we have to realize that there is heavy opposition. Like any other addiction, it’s a one step at a time, day by day struggle.

If you have a dollar or other bill in your pocket, take it out and look on the back. Even a coin will do. Even our money has a message for us. What is it?

Because I also work in youth ministry, I subscribe to Relevant Magazine even though I’m not in the target demographic personally. The lead article in the latest issue primarily focuses on money and faith, though it applies to our time as well. I found some excellent fodder for this talk there and quotes from some Christian authors whose opinion I have a lot of respect for.

Donald Miller (Searching for God Knows What and Blue Like Jazz) references the story of the rich young man from Luke 18 and explains:

This guy had said, ‘I do everything right,’ and Jesus said, ‘Well, do this.’ (give all he had to the poor and follow Him) And he couldn’t do it. Jesus was trying to say, ‘See, you’re not OK; you’re sick just like everybody else is sick.” Then He says, “I’ll heal you.’ And the guy says, ‘No, I want to stay sick.’

…The real issue is about addiction and it’s about addiction to money. We live in a culture that’s addicted to money, and we’re addicted to what money can buy us. And we’re fooled into thinking that, ‘I can buy this product, and this product will make me happy.’ And we’re fooled because the average American sees 3,000 commercial images a day. It’s like somebody constantly asking you if you want crack – 3,000 times a day. And you only take it once a day… that’s not good.”

More importantly, if disaster relief work has taught us anything, it’s that this stuff we buy, our houses, our jobs, our economic system is amazingly ethereal; not real, but contrived.

Does this look like your vehicle?
living room?
Your kitchen?
Your front garden?
What about this?



The people who own these homes in Chalmette, Louisiana were middle class people who did everything right. Paid their mortgage, worked hard, saved for retirement, paid their insurance, furnished and stocked their homes with the things they needed. They were living the American Dream. These homes sold for over $200,000 before Katrina wasted them and all their contents. The insurance didn’t pay because it was flood damage, not storm damage. They didn’t have flood insurance because they weren’t required to or even advised to because the levy systems, they were assured, would protect them.

Like the insurance? Like their employer? They lost their jobs because the businesses were all wiped out as well or they couldn’t find housing less than several hours away.

It all crumbled. They were us too. One tornado, one flood, one asteroid, whatever, and we’re in the same boat.

Tony Campolo is another of those "new socially active Christian authors" that is quoted in the article:

When you think, ‘How do I love my neighbor as myself?’ It becomes just impossible to do that within the worldview of the American dream,” But I think what’s exciting is that Jesus has another dream, and Jesus is offering us [that] dream.

Can you picture your house and possessions after a “hurricane Katrina?” Draw a mental skung line at about 4 feet up the wall and visualize the mold and rot on everything below it with the mildew creeping up the wall above.

The way out
Missions is our way out of this mire we’ve worked our way into. Our way of connecting with the urgings of the Spirit, loving our neighbors, worshiping our Lord unreservedly, and beginning to live this grand adventure we are called to and crave so strongly.

In disaster relief and recovery work, the lyrics of Audio Adrenaline's song "Dirty" off the WorldWide CD has become our theme song and echoes this:

Tired of being clean, sick of being proper
I wanna live among the beggars and dig out in the dirt
Step outside the walls we built to protect us
Don’t be afraid to get some mud on your face.

Come on, come on everybody.
Come on, come on and serve someone

Let's get dirty, let's get used
No matter where you come from
If you're beaten up or bruised
Let's get foolish, let's get free
Free to be the one thing
We were meant to be –
let’s get dirty

Volunteers, most of whom had never been on a mission trip before, found amazing freedom in doing this work!? Angie G, an early volunteer after Katrina supplied the quote I use on the blog, web site, tabletop display, and business cards.

"I don't want to go back to church and dress up and everything be nice and pretty. What we've been doing here is real church; it's getting dirty and helping people."

Who listens to the band Switchfoot? Their song “American Dream” will not leave my head. It became my personal theme song as soon as I heard it. These couple of verses perfectly illustrate what I’ve been talking about and the new philosophy I’m working to adopt in my life. No, I’m not there yet either. I’m one of you, remember?

When success is equated with excess
The ambition for excess wrecks us
As top of the mind becomes the bottom line
When success is equated with excess

If your time ain’t been nothing for money
I start to feel really bad for you, honey
Maybe honey, put your money where your mouth’s been running
If your time ain’t been nothing but money

I want out of this machine
It doesn’t feel like freedom
This ain’t my American dream
I want to live and die for bigger things
I’m tired of fighting for just me
This ain't my American dream

When success is equated with excess
When we’re fighting for the Beamer, the Lexus
As the heart and soul breath in the company goals
Where success is equated with excess

‘Cause baby’s always talkin’ ‘bout a ring
And talk has always been the cheapest thing
Is it true would you do what I want you to
If I show up with the right amount of bling?

Like a puppet on a monetary string
Maybe we’ve been caught singing Red, white, blue, and green
But that ain’t my America,
That ain’t my American dream

Their lyrics only mirror biblical truth in modern poetry:

Luke 16:13 – “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Matthew 16 - 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

“We were meant to live for so much more!” (another Switchfoot lyric), “but we’ve lost ourselves.”

What’s in it for me?
After itemizing what true Worship/Fasting is, God continues in Isaiah 58

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness [a] will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

The grand adventure.
Who’s the coolest adventurer you can think of?
The bible is full of adventurers living this grand adventure.

Wanna be one?

Servants Unite exists for 2 reasons. To serve victims of natural disasters and a fallen world. And to serve volunteers without faith, or who are not experiencing the fullness of their faith, living this grand adventure. I pray that you will find and accept that challenge in your own life and find the deeper faith, personal relationship, and constant amazement at God working in this world that so many others have.

Bow with me please:

Thank you Lord for all these volunteers who have given a week or more for Your work to answer Your call. Thank you for the opportunity you've given to minister to the afflicted, to break the yoke of oppression, depression, and hopelessness. Thanks for allowing us with our limited skills, but the benefit of Your Spirit guiding us to feed the hungry and rebuild shelter for those made poor by this tragedy. Thanks for allowing us to reflect your noonday light. Thank you for helping us to find this "real" faith, this "true" and compassionate faith you mean for us.

Lord, I ask a special blessing on those here today that they will ask You to help them seek Your will for their life. May your spirit burn bright in them for all the world to see and my they find Your burden light and Your yoke easy. I pray that they find their role in this grand adventure and experience the joy that only You can bring.

I ask these things in the name of Jesus.

Amen