Of Course it Quacks

Minot 2- April 15-21, 2012

2011-11-21T09:54:00.002-06:00

Get on the bus! (Let Rod know if you're interested.)

Why Not Minot 1- October 2011- Epilogue

2011-11-03T19:24:00.000-05:00

In the Spring of 2011, right around Memorial Weekend, the residents of Minot, ND were told that the Souris River was going to flood and an evacuation would be required for those in the flood zone. The water rose, but no disaster. People went back to their homes

On June 21, 2011, the Minot Daily News reported that an "unstoppable, historic" flood was imminent in the Souris River Valley, largely due to large dam releases upstream. Around 12,000 people were evacuated. On June 26, flooding exceeded previous records when the river crested at 1,561.72 feet above sea level, three feet above the previous record set back in 1881. It is estimated that 20 percent of Minot sustained damage from the flood. This figure includes over 4,100 homes which were someway affected, 2,376 extensively damaged, and 805 damaged beyond repair. The nearby town of Burlington was also severely damaged during this time. (This is from Wikipedia)

I was told a lot of things about the flood. I was told that the damaged house count was 4411. I was told that it was caused by human error. (Canadians letting more water out of their reservoirs than was supposed to be "allowed.") I was told that the flood was caused by an excessive amount of precipitation and other unfavorable climatic conditions. I was told that UMCOR (United Methodist agency) was not accepting volunteers in October. I was told that UMCOR needed volunteers. I was told that John Doe's house was in the "Green Zone" (?) and would be bought out and torn down. I was told that nobody knows when they will decide those kinds of things yet. I was told that next year they may be expecting more flooding.

Lutheran Disaster Response told me that they were almost "done" with their caseload of homes when they got a call from another agency in town that was pulling out. That agency asked LDR if they would take the remaining of their caseload which comprised of 120 "low priority" houses. LDR agreed, and then went in to look at these "low priority" houses. It turns out they have a different definition of "low priority." Many of the houses from this other agency were still in need of being mucked out. They were considered low priority because the home owners hadn't decided what they were going to do yet. The five houses we worked on came from that category. (three of the five houses still had wet basements, but two were dry.) We met two of the home owners. One knew he was going to rebuild on the same spot and one didn't know yet if he would be allowed to rebuild because of zoning changes.

If you've never mucked out a basement, you can read here what our experience was like:

http://rodscof.blogspot.com/2011/11/mucking-out-basement.html

Someone told me that there were only 8 United Methodist teams that came out to help out. I was skeptical of that number. But then I asked Lorna from the United Methodist Volunteers in Missions North Central Jurisdiction Coordinator and she thought that sounded about right.

Lutheran Disaster Response were amazing to us. They found a church that would house us for free and feed us breakfast. They packed us lunches for free. They fed us dinner for free. Sometimes things seemed a little "up in the air." But one has to remember that you are there for them, not them for you. And just because I couldn't see the whole picture didn't mean they didn't. And if they didn't, it may be because the whole picture is just too big to see.

Which brings me to this. Any thinking person should ask the question, "Why rebuild in an area that floods?" Why not tear down these houses and put in a park or something that doesn't have such dire consequences if it floods again? I don't know why. I think Minot, ND is a lot different than Fargo, which seems to flood every year lately. The last time Minot flooded was 1969, and it wasn't nearly as disastrous. (from what I read). But it comes back to, this: The picture is too big to see.

Here's what I know (and some things I suspect): The ten of us that went to Minot experienced something unique. We grew closer to each other and closer to God. We drove a long ways out of town each day to experience the hospitality of a beautiful church family. Everyone we met at that church embodied the "cheerful giver." They sincerely seemed to love having us there. So we were blessed by this church, and this church was blessed by serving. God works for the good in all things for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

The ten of us that went to Minot obeyed God calling us to go. In a lot of mission trips or service trips, there is a tourism component. If you go to work on New Orleans, you kinda HAVE to see the French Quarter and the Lower 9th and eat Southern Food, etc. When you go to Minot, that component is much less prevalent. Rod St. took a small group of people an hour or so away from Minot one night to see the geographical center of North America, (which happens to be in Rugby, ND.) But other than that, there isn't much to do except work and rest. We joked about going to a movie one night, but we were all too tired. We seemed a lot more focused on getting the work done. I think we even made Bob tired. But it was a good tired. A good sense of accomplishment, knowing that we have served Minot and helped them get to the next step. We were blessed by being able to serve. And we were blessed by being served.

Lastly, I am taking steps to give "River Bend Mission Team" a facelift. Originally, River Bend was formed from the cooperation of five United Methodist Churches in Northern Dakota County. Now, two of those churches no longer exist. And really, it has grown beyond that. I am starting grad school in the winter, taking a Masters of Leadership. I have also spoken with a couple consultants, a branding firm, and another organization that does short term mission trips. Soon I hope to have a new name, a 501(c)(3), etc. I have talking about this for years and it's time to move on it. I can use all the help I can get with this, too!

So what's next? Normally, we have been taking a trip around Easter. Next Spring, we are looking at April 15th-21st. I would say for 90% sure that those will be the dates. I am assuming we will go back to Minot. There is a lot of need there still.

Who's in? Get on the bus.

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Mucking Out a Basement

2011-11-03T11:50:00.002-05:00

Mucking out a basement: In case you've never done it, I'll tell you what it's usually like. There is no power in the house, so the only light comes from windows or string lights that you bring in and hook up to a generator. So the first time you go down there, it's dark and smells pretty strongly of mold. You wear a respirator, but it's not easy because they fog up your glasses, and you can't breathe as well, especially after carrying an especially heavy bucket of muck up the stairs. There are things that were in the basement that floated around and then settled as the water went down. With the flood water comes a lot of sediment, so everything is dirty. And usually, the sewer backs up. So let's not think about what else is down there. You have to carry everything out. Sometimes you carry it by hand to an open window and throw it out. Sometimes you carry it up the stairs and out the front door to a big pile on the curb. You see what the homeowner had. (In one house, there were something like oxen horns. I think I would have liked that home owner.) If there was a freezer, it floated and then tipped over and spilled everything out. If there was anything like a bucket or a tote, it may have filled up with water, and still had the water in it. That water smelled like raw sewage. If there was carpet, it is still wet and muddy. You have to cut it up to get it out. All the drywall and paneling needs to be torn down and brought outside. Usually, the mud and drywall particles and small things get shoveled into a bucket and carried out. The furnace and hot water heater need to be drained and come out. Sometimes you can get them up the stairs, but sometimes you have to cut them up to get them out. Sometimes the duct work comes out. Sometimes it stays. It's up the homeowner. Any insulation comes out. Then you take a pry bar or a hammer and pull all the nails out of the studs and ceiling joists. Every time you carry something out and breathe fresh air, you have to go back down into the basement. In the end, you sweep up the nails and all the drywall and mud you can. Scrape a layer of dirt off the floor. Carry it out. By then, the smell is not so bad. There is more light. There are no "unknowns." It's pretty wide open with no walls. The next step is someone to come in and sanitize it. We didn't do that part.

Wanted to get this out quick

2011-10-25T22:21:00.001-05:00

Hi all-

I haven't written the Epilogue for the Minot trip yet, but wanted to let you know of a service opportunity in the Twin Cities this weekend, and a fundraiser for New Orleans rebuilding this weekend.

1- Service: My friend, Duane Lunsford is organizing a group of people to help finish an apartment building with units dedicated to helping people get out of an unhealthy lifestyle. The work will be from 8:30ish in the am this Saturday until about 2:00pm. The work will be possibly drywall, tile, paint, finish work, unknown for certain. If you want to go, let me know and I'll tell where and when to meet.

2.- Fundraiser: At our Silent Auction just before NOLA 6, there was a guest from New Orleans that is connected with Hamline University and a service group that goes from Hamline. They are having a Mardi Gras Fundraiser this Saturday evening at Hamline. Let me know if you're interested and I'll fwd. you the email they sent me. It would be nice for the NOLA team to show up and support this group since they supported us last trip.

Let me know if you're in on either one of these events.

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

RE: Minot- the Last work day

2011-10-24T10:25:00.000-05:00

Dear Rod,

I am always amazed as to the depth you and your team will go to help clean out or to build up. You are all doing the call of God and I pray someday we can just sit and share how good God has been when we have been about His business, and as He was also about ours!

May God richly bless your team and all the people you were involved with and all the homes that received attention and all those who still need attention. May He empower this community called Minot. May the Holy Spirit come and fill them up and may miracles happen in spite of what people see or believe. May the Mennonites be covered with the Lord and may many people’s homes, lives and relationships be healed and prosper all for the glory of God. And may all the plans from heaven happen on earth into this place called Minot.

Touch them Lord, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth!

Amen and amen

From: Rod Scofield [mailto:rodscofield@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2011 1:47 AM
To: Rod Scofield
Cc: Erin Clayton 2; Howard Newton; Kristen Butler; Lewis Whitehead; Matthew Sanderson; Pastor Rod Stemme; Robert Newton; Shirley Smith; Sue Letourneau; Wendy Clayton; Of Course it Quacks
Subject: Minot- the Last work day

Today's house had a dry basement. Hallelujah! We knocked our goal out of the park. 5 houses in 5 days. We were actually done around lunch time today. We just had to remove a lot of nails and drywall pieces, a couple ceilings, etc. In the basement, we had to take out a furnace. It was pretty big. We had to disassemble it. (By "we" I mean Bob and Howard. I carried parts outside). Howard found some holes on the inside that he said was kind of a good thing the flood happened because they would get worse and cause a carbon monoxide problem. God works for the Good in All things...

More observations after I get back.

Pictures are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/rodscofield/Minot1October2011

Blog is here: www.rodscof.blogspot.com I know Kristen posted tonight.

Or find and "friend" or "fan" or "like" or whatever you do these days on Facebook under "River Bend Mission Team"

More upcoming...

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Minot- the Last work day

2011-10-22T00:47:00.001-05:00

More observations after I get back.

Pictures are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/rodscofield/Minot1October2011

Blog is here: www.rodscof.blogspot.com I know Kristen posted tonight.

Or find and "friend" or "fan" or "like" or whatever you do these days on Facebook under "River Bend Mission Team"

More upcoming...

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

End of the week thoughts...

2011-10-21T22:32:00.000-05:00

This has been a very tiring week, as we have well documented. However, sitting at this end of the week, it is a great feeling to look back and see all we have accomplished on this trip. I daresay we have accomplished much more than we do on construction trips and you can tell by how we have interacted this week. On these trips, we often get tired and one dynamic that often happens is being short-tempered with one another, but this week, we were so much more tired, that often we sat in silence, too worn out both mentally and physically to engage with one another. I think as a group (or at least for myself) this week has been much more introspective as we process the despair that this area is experiencing, the difficulty and pace of the work we have been doing, and the vast amount of families whose lives will never be the same. At the same time, I have noticed this community to be one of faith, that local people are talking about what G-d is doing here and how they've helped each other (friends and family taking flood victims in...). The whole town of Minot seems to be aware of the volunteers and tonight we saw people out for a walk waving at us while we were driving down the road as if to say thanks for helping someone even though it was not them. The organization that put us to work (Lutheran Disaster Response) gave us bright orange "VOLUNTEER" shirts and people stopped to speak with us everywhere we went today. This community seems to have been brought closer together by this experience.

Especially as I am as tired as I am, I empathize with how these people must be feeling. The emotions are still very raw and you feel the tears in their eyes as they describe their losses and how little help they are receiving from various agencies. Not only that, but the national news has not covered the damage here the way other disasters have been covered and the season to be able to work here is much different than other locations because of the weather. The snow will fly soon and reconstruction will nearly cease until March and April.

Thanks to all who were praying for our safety and strength to continue to do the work that these people so desperately need. I'm certain your prayers are what kept us upright!! As you think about the work that we did here in the upcoming months, pray for the Mennonites coming down from Canada that have made a 2 year committment to this city to helping them rebuild. They will be staying at a church (that they are also rebuilding) and working on approximately 5 homes throughout the winter while it is the off season for farming. It is touching to see the Mennonite community empathizing with this community and making the commitment to be a presence in the rebuilding.

Enough of my rambling thoughts, Thanks for partnering with us by your thoughts and prayers!

-Kristen-

Why Not Minot? Day #4

2011-10-20T22:15:00.001-05:00

Four up. Four Down. A house a day.

Today's house was easier. It was about 10 miles out of town. The basement was dry. There were still a lot of things to take out. - insulation, drywall pieces, duct work, the furnace and hot water heater, and we pulled a lot a lot a LOT of nails and screws out of the boards.

We are all talking about how working flood relief in Minot is a lot more strenuous than rebuilding in The Gulf. We are all tired, and so I'm not going to write much, hoping to get to bed soon. But we are all well. (Lewis said he feels MUCH better.- Thank you for your prayers!). And we are all working well together. It's a very cohesive group.

I continue to be amazed at the hospitality here. When we work on these houses, there is no plumbing or power. Bathroom breaks are usually at a port-a-potty which are strategically placed so that usually, you are within a block or two from one. The one today was a little further away. The lady next door left her FEMA trailer open for us to use her bathroom while she went to work today. And when we got back to the church we are staying at, there was a pan of bars and a package of muffins for us.

Finally, while I was pulling nails out of studs in a bathroom, I was thinking about the spiritual parallels between reconstructing and deconstructing. At first, I thought of how reconstructing a house had a spiritual comparison with the renewing your spirit and at first thought that deconstructing didn't correlate. But then it occurred to me that deconstructing was just as vital process in our spiritual journey also. When our souls are damaged, God has to muck out our spiritual basements. (This comparison is particularly vivid after this week.) And when there is something there that might later cause problems, that should be dealt with as well. This work is sometimes harder than building up because it's usually more painful, and sometimes brought on by disasters of judgement or sometimes just because bad things happen that affect us. But the Carpenter is at work. And we can trust Him to continue to work on our houses until they are "done." Again, I thought of this while I was pulling nails. The comparison breaks down somewhere, I'm sure, but I didn't get that far in my thinking because I had to go help Howard with the furnace.

We took some pictures and even shot some video today. But this kind of stuff takes time to download and post and edit and upload on Facebook and etc. And I am really tired and want to go to bed early tonight. So I will put them up tomorrow- or maybe I will get up early and do it. For now, thanks for your prayers and thoughts and well wishes and support.

Peace!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

How Ali responded to something I said:

2011-10-19T22:53:00.000-05:00

Here's what I said:

Every house in the neighborhood we worked in today was badly damaged. Some people are waiting to see what the City and the engineers decide about rebuilding. It's possible that the house we worked on today will be razed anyway, and the home owners bought out and not allowed to rebuild there. The people are hearing a lot of different reports and rumors about what is going to happen to their property. They are also saying that 2012 is supposed to be a pretty wet year also. Which begs the question, "Why are we gutting this house when it's possible they are going to tear it down anyway, or if it's going to flood again?" And I guess the answer is, "What if they don't tear it down? And what if it doesn't flood?" Nobody knows for sure what is going to happen. There aren't answers today. But we have hope. And we know that God is still God. And we believe that God directed us to come to Minot. And the agency that was still working was Lutheran Disaster Response, so we are working for them and are under their authority. And if they say, "Gut this house," then we will gut this house.

Ali highlighted the text above and responded like this:

Amen! I often feel like the answer to these "questions" you have about the process that is in place on these mission trips is kind of "worldy".
God called you. You went, You worked, You brought a glimpse of the kingdom and if you remembered to bring your "eyes open to see" saw a glimpse of it as well. If mucking out a basement isn't the perfect "solution" to get your homeowners back in their home, you didn't lose much. In fact - you gained fellowship, followship, a little more Christ and an avenue to put those hands and feet work. As someone who doesn't like to gamble, that is a pretty safe bet.

Why Not Minot? Work Day 2-

2011-10-19T22:13:00.002-05:00

It was a rough day. Our 2nd house was a tough one. When we first walked in, I walked around and said, "piece of cake." But once we got going on it, it was more than we thought.

The basement was brutal. They had a kitchen down there with a freezer overturned, shelves with canned goods and all sorts of yummy goodies. For people that do this all the time, or compared to doing it in the middle of the hot humid sweltering summer, this probably would have been a piece of cake. Parts of the basement had dried out some. This one had a lot more mold in it than the one yesterday. You could almost taste it when you went downstairs.

But we worked hard and at the end of the day, we got everything done we were supposed to do and more. And we met three new friends. - Partway through the day (Howard and I were working on unhooking the furnace- I'll tell about the air conditioning in a minute)- three people that were originally working for the Baptist agency in town came over. I don't understand the circumstances exactly. Something about a subfloor and being sent to the Lutherans, who sent them to our team. But Mike from Delaware, Bob from Pennsylvania, and Varina from Pennsylvania joined us and helped with this project. They were all hard workers and helped a lot. I am told they will be joining us again tomorrow, and we are happy about that!

We are all a little (a lot) tired and ready for some sleep. We are working hard. Tomorrow they are giving us another "muck and gut." We think it would be awesome to be able to knock out 5 houses while we are here. 1 each day.

Oh yeah, the air conditioner. Apparently, you have to be able to drain the coolant from them before you take them apart. We did not have the means to do this, so we had to hang it from the ceiling when we took the furnace out from underneath it. You'll have to ask Howard for more info if you want it. But I thought it was amusing....

We are a pretty cohesive group.

Lewis is starting to feel better. Thanks for your prayers.

I posted pictures on our picasa website today. You can find them here: click here for picasa site

Kristen also posted to the blog today - besides what is on here from this entry. click here for the blog

I put a bunch of pictures on our Facebook page also (Search for River Bend Mission Team- friend or fan or follow or whatever they call it these days)

Pray for our continued health and safety as we wrestle with this mold and nails and other such hazards.

Thanks to everyone that wrote to us and letting us know you are following our adventure in Minot.

Minot1 Work Day #3

2011-10-19T22:06:00.001-05:00

Another "muck and gut today." This one was a little easier. We were done by about 3:30 pm.

The same story as yesterday. - Arrived at the house. Some worked in the basement, some mostly upstairs. We were joined by our friends from yesterday, too. They are HARD workers! We got done a little early, went and cleaned up before dinner, and were served dinner at a Lutheran church in town. French toast and sausage!

Then Rod St., Erin, Kristen, Matt, and Shirley went to the Geographic Center of North America. (Rod has some pictures). On our way back to the church, the rest of us stopped at the grocery store and bought a few things like vegetables and eggs to hard boil for breakfast. We have been so blessed by the hospitality of Lutheran Disaster Response, and the people at the church we are staying at. When we got back to the church, some of the ladies were there and dug into our groceries and started boiling our eggs and cutting up our vegetables for us. They take their hospitality very seriously.

Which kind of brings me to something I was thinking about.

This morning, Bob's devotion was about "What is a Christian?" (It was an assignment I gave him on the last trip which he took seriously) He talked about an aspect of Christians being able to follow the "Golden Rule" and also the reciprocal of that- Being able to receive from others as we want others to be able to receive from us. And this evening, it was a little hard to do that. The people in this church we are staying at are very giving and loving. This is their ministry. They open their church to groups from all over, and are glad to do it. They seemed a little bit disappointed that we felt like we had to buy anything. On the flip side of that, I try to not be a burden on anyone. So I was sitting there telling them everything was fine and good and what was already here was great and more than enough, etc. And they are looking at me with my bags of vegetables like I'm crazy. I guess I have something to work on.

I don't like mucking out houses. But experiencing the People of God doing what He has called them to do makes it all worth it. Whether that person is called to making sandwiches for volunteers or joining a group of strangers to serve with, or carrying pails of muck up the stairs out to the junk pile, we are the People of God doing what God has called us to do. And it's good.

There are some more pictures posted on our Picasa website. (click here)

And to see our blog or send it to a friend- (www.rodscof.blogspot.com)

Or search us on Facebook, search for River Bend Mission Team.

Lewis didn't say anything about his cold to me today. No news is good news, right?

Thank you for praying for us- our safety, and health (team vs. black mold spores), and that God would reveal to us what He wants us to see, the wisdom to understand it, and the courage to respond in a way the brings the Kingdom closer.

Peace!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Thoughts from the worksite...

2011-10-18T17:27:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we were given a house to finish up tearing out drywall and wet moldy insulation whatnot. We knocked that out rather quickly and were given another house today that is so much worse. There is the obvious concern of black mold, so we are wearing masks as we work, bit the basement seems to also have raw sewage that Shirley was hauling out in buckets. As it's been stated, "she's a better man than I! "

Those of you praying for us can be mindful of the mold, petitioning for our health and safety. These people are in the stage of grief of disillusionment where they are hearing all the bad and the problems are compounding... it is disparaging and these people need hope.

A comment on the cell service: I wrote this post at 9:30am and there wasn't enough coverage for my data to work. Only now am I able simply because of the wireless network here at the church ... as an end of the day perspective, we did twice the work we were assigned and the house looks more like a construction project than a disaster zone. How fulfilling!

-Kristen

Why Not Minot? Work Day 1

2011-10-17T22:50:00.001-05:00

Today we got up and the church we are staying at provided breakfast. (Thank you!) Lewis did devotions this morning about always sharing your faith. Always being ready to share it. It was a very good way to start the week.

We drove from the church we are staying at, which is about 30 mins north of Minot, to the church where they are basing Lutheran Disaster Response. We were a few minutes late, but the people there didn't even bat an eye. They gave us our work assignment. That's right. Just one. All ten of us went to work on gutting a house on the northeast side of Minot. It was right by the river. There was some junk in the basement, but we hauled it out and started tearing out drywall and insulation, etc. With Bob's leadership, we got into a pretty good rhythm and flow with people carrying stuff outside while nobody was blocking the door. Then Howard showed us that we could fill a bucket and just push it out the window in the basement. Matt and Erin and I took turns emptying the buckets into a pile on the curb. Shirley is like the energizer bunny. She just keeps going and going and going... They told us this job would take about 2-3 days. We finished it by 4:45.

Ok- I want to back up just a little bit. - The weather. We are absolutely not in New Orleans! There was frost on our windshields this morning when we went to leave. And when we were getting supplies at the base church, I thought I didn't have enough warm clothes. It was COLD! But once we got out of the wind, and started working, we warmed up.

A few years ago, Howard and Ali and three other people and I went to Mason City, IA to muck out a basement for a friend from Mount Bethel UMC, (one of the original River Bend Churches) when Mason City and surrounding cities flooded. The difference between that house and this one is that on this one, it wasn't so much mucking as it was just demo-ing. There wasn't much down in the basement that was soaking wet, and there wasn't that swampy, hot humid jungle damp smell. But after a shower, I still feel like I smell like mold.

Every house in the neighborhood we worked in today was badly damaged. Some people are waiting to see what the City and the engineers decide about rebuilding. It's possible that the house we worked on today will be razed anyway, and the home owners bought out and not allowed to rebuild there. The people are hearing a lot of different reports and rumors about what is going to happen to their property. They are also saying that 2012 is supposed to be a pretty wet year also. Which begs the question, "Why are we gutting this house when it's possible they are going to tear it down anyway, or if it's going to flood again?" And I guess the answer is, "What if they don't tear it down? And what if it doesn't flood?" Nobody knows for sure what is going to happen. There aren't answers today. But we have hope. And we know that God is still God. And we believe that God directed us to come to Minot. And the agency that was still working was Lutheran Disaster Response, so we are working for them and are under their authority. And if they say, "Gut this house," then we will gut this house.

Tomorrow we have a new house to gut.

Please pray for Lewis. He has a pretty bad cold. He is trying to make sure none of the rest of us get it. Also please pray for our health as we work in these moldy houses.

Thank you to the people that wrote a little note. It's encouraging to know you are cheering us on from afar or "anear"

I haven't posted any pictures on our picasa site yet. But Matthew took a bunch of pictures today with my camera. I think Kristen has posted on our blog (www.rodscof.blogspot.com). And you can see a few pictures on Facebook of you're on there. (Search for River Bend Mission team- and "like" us or be a fan or whatever the latest thing is.)

Peace and joy to you!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Re: Why Not Minot? Day one on a new mission adventure

2011-10-17T06:22:00.001-05:00

Paul and I are holding all in prayer! Thank you fo doing the Lord's work in a much needed way. We pray for safety, productivity, the spreading lf the gospel and changed lives!

Please also hold us in prayer as today we continue to meet, fellowship and feed homeless folks in the Washington DC area. We will be working with 2 different food shelves/soup kitchens located in the heart of the city. Weather has been unusually warm here and DC law does not prohibit the homeless from sleeping in public areas so there are lots of folks in need and in plain site.

Peace and blessings to all!
Pastor Deb

Connected by DROID on Verizon Wireless

D.C. - New York - Day one on a new mission adventure

2011-10-17T00:32:00.001-05:00

Dear Rod,

Greetings in Christ! Thanks for the Missions update. Our group and staff will continue to keep you in our prayers. Mission Immersion DC-NewYork left Friday night. We had one person cancel last minute so we drove by Eko-New Market and picked up an intern Jeremy Morris to take her place. He has been a real God send with his guitar and worship leading skills. Thus, Pastor Paul can preach, bus drive and not have to play guitar as well. The 24 hour bus drive went well and we are staying at a Lutheran Church in downtown DC. We worshiped today at “Luther Place” and enjoyed the music and message. We spent the day touring the Capital on foot and were blessed to see the Martin Luther King Memorial dedicated today. We enjoyed the music of Steve Wonder, Cheryl Crowe, James Taylor and others. For supper we ate Pizza in the park and fed homeless persons nearby. An interesting side note is the DC revolt taking place similar to the one on Wall Street. We ate lunch with the protesters and listened to a variety of speakers discuss anti-war and other issues. At 8:00 tonight we went to the women’s shelter nearby and played BINGO with them. Our kids learned that homeless persons come from a variety of backgrounds. One was a teacher who lost her job and another one was homeless because of a divorce and her husband did not pay support like he promised. Tomorrow we spend the day making food for the homeless and learning more about why systemic poverty exists. Pray for us in DC as we pray for those serving in Minot.

In Christ’s Love and Service,

Pastor’s Paul and Deb Marzahn

Why Not Minot? Day one on a new mission adventure

2011-10-17T00:03:00.000-05:00

Hi all!

First let me start the same way I always do. If you are new to getting this, I added you because I thought you might be interested or at least willing to pray for us. If anyone, new or old, would like off this email distribution list, let me know and I will do so.

Today, the River Bend Mission team started out for Minot, ND to help with flood relief.

Why Minot? - Last Spring, over 11,000 people had to evacuate as water topped the levies on the Souris River in Minot, ND. This wasn't as sensational as the hurricanes of the past six years, but devastating to the people directly affected. Last Spring, when we were in New Orleans, we felt like we have done a lot of good things there, but that it was time to move on. This was hard because there is still a lot to be done in New Orleans. When the tornados his Joplin and Tuscaloosa, we wondered if that's where we were supposed to go next. The more I prayed about it over the course of the summer, the more I got "Minot."

So here we are. There are ten of us on this trip: Me, Howard N., Lewis W., Bob N., Matt S., Erin C., Kristen B., Rod St., Shirley S., and Ron C.

We left Inver Grove Heights this morning right after church, just before noon. We are driving a rental van and Howard's truck. Rod St., and Shirley left from Pipestone around the same time. (If a little white van with two people leave Pipestone, MN around 12:30pm, and a big white van with five people accompanied by a small blue pick up with three people leaves Inver Grove Heights at noon, what time will they get to Fargo?)

We read on the United Methodist website for North Dakota that they wanted donations of blankets and quilts. One of the churches in Pipestone donated 13. And Rob W.'s (has been on three previous trips) church from Bemidji donated 14. Rob met us in Sauk Centre to hand them off. (Thanks, Rob!) Plus there were a few donations from our church in Inver Grove Heights. We have 30 quilts to deliver to the United Methodist Church this week.

Now having said that we are giving quilts the the UMC, we are actually working for Lutheran Disaster Response. They are housing and feeding us and giving us work assignments. We are being hosted by Trinity Lutheran Church in a small town just north of Minot. The church is very inviting and seems very open.

So we get our work assignments tomorrow morning. We'll tell you more about who we're working for and what we're doing.

Please pray for our health and safety while we're here. And for our finances. It isn't a very expensive trip, but we didn't do any fundraising, just relying on donations that come in and the cost each person is paying to come, and the reserves we had in the bank. Also pray for the homeowners we will be working for.

If you would like to follow us on Face Book, search for "River Bend Mission Team." Tell your friends! Also- We will put pictures on our picture website when we get some. And Erin and Kristen and anyone else I can get to contribute will be writing for our blog- which I'll give you the link to when we've put something on there from this trip. -

Again, if you don't want this email each evening, let me know and I'll take you off the list.

And thanks a bunch for those of you that are going to go along for the ride with us. Let us know you're following along and praying for us. We are glad to know!

Peace!

Rod

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Hello Glenburn! (Where?!!!)

2011-10-16T23:38:00.000-05:00

Today seemed like a VERY short trip in comparison to our 2 day trips to New Orleans in the past (and we're staying North of Minot in this tiiiiiiiiiny little town called Glenburn, where most of us don't have cell reception).

All this week I have been thinking about our departure and many things have run through my mind. I kept coming back to a song by mewithoutYou (talking about us without G-d) and the lyrics, "I do not exist, only YOU exist..." kept floating through my mind.

**Disclaimer-- this music isn't for everyone, but the message that he is proclaiming is very powerful...

As we step out this week, L-rd... remind us that we do not exist without you... only You exist and these people who have experienced disaster need your hope.

--Kristen

Two Mission to Minot Options

2011-08-28T07:36:00.000-05:00

Hi again all!

Ok, we have two options.

#1- as previously emailed, we have been invited to participate in helping to gut Faith United Methodist Church in Minot. We would be joining a team from Washington. It would be leaving here on Tues, Sept. 20 and returning on Sat Sept. 24th.

#2- I found an agency that is not pulling out until November. We would leave on Saturday October 15th, work Monday through Friday on houses- gutting, getting some ready for winter, etc. and come back on Saturday the 22nd. So instead of NOLA7, we have MINOT1. There are a lot of unknowns at this very moment. But it sounds like there is a church for us to stay in and use for our cooking, etc, and showers available at the local Y for free for volunteers or soemthing like that. I'll check into it.

Cost shouldn't be much. Not as far to go, cheaper to stay, etc.

Let me know if you'll be getting on the bus.

Rod

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Re: Mission to Minot

2011-08-26T12:57:00.002-05:00

Hi Rod and Everyone
Thanks so much for considering a trip to Minot, ND. This is the town Vern and I call HOME. We already have our "I helped rebuild Minot" T-shirts after a 2 week stint of flood work in July.
I am sure you have all heard of the devastation the town felt. About 1/5 of the population was evacuated. 4000 homes had flood water problems, over 800 of them had at least 6 feet of swamp water on the main floor. 5 schools are totally wasted and many churches were affected.
The bad thing in the Minot area is that they need to get as much done as possible before the winter sets in. Unlike some of the southern areas, once November hits they are pretty much done until late March / early April. I'm sure that if the dates set don't work the area would accept help whenever you are able to go. There is a site that will coordinate people / churches that NEED help with people that are able to help. You will also find that those directly involved will be there busting their buns to help. One of the FEMA reps when we were there commented that he had done disaster work in 40 states and that Minot had gotten more done in 2 weeks than some places got done in 6 months.

What church are you looking at helping? I know that Christ Lutheran / Augistana Lutheran / and Faith Methodist all had at least 3 feet of water in the sanctuary. Several other churches had the basements full.
The housing issue is bad. Housing was in short supply BEFORE the flood with the influx of oil workers...now with 4000 homes unable to be lived in, it is even worse. In many cases, the pastors of the churches lost not only the church, but their own homes as well and many of the parishioners that would ordinarily open their homes to mission groups no longer have a home.
That said- if you are interested in going to the area, I may be able to help with some logistics. We have made 4 trips to ND already this summer, so don't know if we would be able to do it again now. I do have 3 sisters in town that all know lots of people and have a relationship with all three churches that were totaled.
*Christ Lutheran - my sister Verla is president of the church. She said they would be spending $250,000 just for cleanup - they didn't have a $$ for the rebuilding phase of it.
*Augistana Lutheran - my mom's pastor had her office there. My Mom and sister Marlys's church, Faith Lutheran in Surrey ND, had been housing mission groups there. They have cots, bath-rooms, kitchen. They had an agreement for the workers to shower in the school locker rooms. Also the YMCA was offering free showers to workers. Surrey is just a few miles from Minot. Augistana is also currently partnering with my sister Jen's church.
*Faith Methodist was the church Vern and I attended when we lived in Minot. They are currently partnering with the church my Father-in-law attends.

Let me know if you would like me to pursue more information or call on my sisters for their thoughts.
God Bless you all
Linda and Vern Emerson

Mission to Minot

2011-08-25T22:08:00.000-05:00

Hi all-

I was contacted by an agency in Minot who heard we were trying to bring a team. The timing is not the most ideal.

They want us to bring a team on Sept. 21, 22, and 23 (this is a Wed, Thurs, Fri) to help gut out a church that was pretty much destroyed by the flooding last Spring. We would have to be pretty much self-contained, meaning there aren't accommodations, etc. We would have to pretty much bring our own tools, etc. We would be joining a skilled but smaller team from Washington.

I would not be able to go. I've spoken to Howard about it, and he says that he will check his calendar, and barring any conflicts, he's in.

Cost is TBD. I have to figure out lodging and food and transport and all that good stuff. We really wouldn't need to buy much in terms of materials, so that cost is low. I will try to keep it under $200 again.

Who is interested?

Rod
--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Boiled Peanuts...

2011-05-28T08:51:00.000-05:00

One of the things I love about the south is Boiled Peanuts. Since there were people on our trip who hadn't yet experienced them, we stopped at this great little family store that had boiled peanuts advertized on their board out front. We stopped to find the neatest little market complete with all sorts of fruits and canned goods (made by the lady in the photos). She was cooking the most delicious smelling food when we were there, some sort of italian sauce that she was going to be canning that involved a whole lot of eggplant. You'll see in the photos, the colonel was asking her all about it and she invited the colonel right into her kitchen to see what she was cooking! Great little mom and pop store, complete with a little tyke running around. I got the feeling that this was their home and they lived upstairs, though I'm not sure about that.

The trip was an amazing experience, and meeting people along the way is what it is all about. I wish this were a corner store in my own hometown so I could shop there on a regular basis to support this woman's family, but I guess for now a bag of boiled peanuts and the memories must suffice. I am looking forward to the next trip, hoping for just as many great experiences and new friends.

Until we meet again,
Kristen

Boiled Peanuts

RE: NOLA 6- Epilogue

2011-05-24T15:29:00.002-05:00

Thank you all for serving God in this manner.

Blessings on your day.

Jodelle Ista

RE: NOLA 6- Epilogue

2011-05-24T14:53:00.001-05:00

Hello Rod,

Thank you for always sharing with us…it often feels like we are with you in person…we are however, with you in spirit! God’s many blessings on all those that served, serve and will be serving.

And to finish your salutation: Onward Christian soldiers!

God’s blessings

Trish

From: Rod Scofield [mailto:rodscofield@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 11:47 PM
To: rodscof.ofcourseitquacks@blogger.com
Cc: Ali Stemme; Barb Adams; Corrine Mahoney; Ginger Stemme; Howard Newton; Jeff Shaw; Judy Miller; Krissy k; Kristen Butler; Leanne Clouse; Lewis Whitehead; Linda Greene; Matthew Sanderson; Pastor Rod Stemme; Rob Warmboe; Robert Newton; Rod Stemme; Sue Letourneau
Subject: NOLA 6- Epilogue

We left Slidell around 8:30am on Saturday morning and drove to Kirkwood, MO. It took almost 11 hours.

We left Kirkwood, MO just before 8:00am and arrived in Inver Grove Hts. just before 8:00pm. Almost 12 hours.

Somewhere just north of Waterloo, IA, I followed a sign for Highway 20 instead of the normal highway I usually take. It added about 15 minutes or so to my trip. Jeff was driving my car, and Rod St. was driving his van. They took the normal way and ended up in a hail storm. And when they stopped for gas, they noticed a tire on my car that was wearing pretty thin. So they found someone on a Sunday in Iowa that had a used tire that would fit, and had it changed. Howard had been driving his truck and had fallen a little behind. We all caught up in Albert Lea, MN where we did our final devotions and prayed together and said goodbye for now.

About the time we were arriving in Albert Lea, we started to hear reports of some pretty bad weather in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis. As it turns out, there was extensive damage. It was the kind you can't believe is true when you see it in person, even though your own eyes are telling you it IS true. For the most part, the only weather we ran into was when Jeff and Rod St. were in the hail in Iowa.

Corrine said that this trip was the best one yet. There was a lot of work accomplished, and we connected strongly with our homeowners. For those that have been following, you might remember that after the last trip, (NOLA 5) I was skeptical about the projects we were getting from Disaster Relief agency we were working with. I had a careful eye on this trip, to see if these houses fit the criteria of "least, last, lost" that we were trying to serve. People that wouldn't be able to do it any other way. And I think all three projects we worked on- or to put it more humanely, all three homeowners we served, were divine appointments from God.

Courtney and Kevin, Bob and Evalynn, and Chanel have changed our lives, and I hope we have touched them, too. God is good.

There were 22 people on this trip. About half were from the original "River Bend" Churches, and the other half from other places. There were 5 or 6 people in their 20's, and 6 people that got the Senior discount at the Golden Corral. 7 people joined us for the first time. It was a good team that gelled together.

I challenged everyone on the team to read Phillippians a few times before the trip, paying special attention to Chapter 2. It talks about unity and serving God and each other. And that's what we did.

What's next? I have been saying for a few months that this was our last New Orleans trip (for now). Roma (a previous team member) wants us to go to Tuscaloosa. Obviously there are floods and tornados all over the country. And they are predicting a heavy hurricane season again. We will have to wait and see where God directs us to next. Wherever it is, we'll get on the bus.

There are more pictures uploaded to the Picasa site (www.picasaweb.com/rodscofield/nola6#) Or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/River-Bend-Mission-Team/197364267016).

Thank you for riding the bus with us in the way you have. Your prayers and letters of encouragement are very important and appreciated.

Onward!

Rod

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 6- Epilogue

2011-05-23T22:46:00.000-05:00

We left Slidell around 8:30am on Saturday morning and drove to Kirkwood, MO. It took almost 11 hours.

We left Kirkwood, MO just before 8:00am and arrived in Inver Grove Hts. just before 8:00pm. Almost 12 hours.

Courtney and Kevin, Bob and Evalynn, and Chanel have changed our lives, and I hope we have touched them, too. God is good.

I challenged everyone on the team to read Phillippians a few times before the trip, paying special attention to Chapter 2. It talks about unity and serving God and each other. And that's what we did.

There are more pictures uploaded to the Picasa site (www.picasaweb.com/rodscofield/nola6#) Or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/River-Bend-Mission-Team/197364267016).

Thank you for riding the bus with us in the way you have. Your prayers and letters of encouragement are very important and appreciated.

Onward!

Rod

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 6 The last day

2011-05-21T23:59:00.000-05:00

Friday was a big day. We were asked by the Director of the Epworth Project (our hosting agency) if we would be willing to appear on a local TV news program in a series called, "Rhythm and News." They wanted to show a large group of volunteers as a kickoff to their volunteerism season. There was a concert by a local musician, Tab Benoit (If you have seen the iMax video on Hurricane Katrina and the wetlands, you have seen this guy before) and they interspersed the news throughout. They interviewed the Director of the Epworth Project, me, the Director of the local Catholic Charities, and a volunteer from that group also. The asked why we came down, and I just started listing the homeowners we have worked for in the past. I told them that if we didn't work on their houses, they might still be waiting, or at least would have had to wait longer. The music was fun, and the Epworth Project was happy to get the exposure. Sometimes mission work isn't hard.

From there, we went to our work assignments. Kristen's group had completely finished everything they could do for their house. Primed, two coats of paint, and painting trim. Son on Friday, they went to join Bob's team, who needed more help, especially with painting. There was some nervousness about having 13 people on one job site being a little much, but they got into a groove and finished strong. Bob was very satisfied with the work they accomplished. And from Bob, that is huge! Howard's team got most of the eight interior doors they had to set, baseboard cut and set (not nailed in because of the door trim not installed on all the doors yet). The transformation at this house was also very visible. In our debriefing, each team described a similar transformation.

The Epworth Project asks us to have tools back by 3:00pm, so we finished early on Friday. From there, we drove down through the Lower 9th and tried not to act like tourists gawking. It was meaningful for the people that hadn't been there before, and satisfying for the people that had. Each time we follow the route they suggest, there is more development and rebuilding.

For dinner (because some people want to know everything!) we went to "Parkway" which is a restaurant that serves Po Boys. President Obama ate there when he was in town some time ago. My friend from college, Joann and her husband Terry, choose it and met us there. It has quite an atmosphere.

We left Slidell this morning and have arrived in St. Louis. We will get back into town tomorrow. I get frustrated on the road because I think everything takes too long. Ali has been great at giving me a look that says, "Check yourself!" when she sees me getting frustrated. It is just hard to get a group this size moving all at the same time. It's not bad, it just requires more orchestration. I have to figure out how to balance letting adults be adults vs. urging and pushing and trying to stay on "schedule."

As we were planning this trip, we said this would be the last trip to New Orleans (for now.) It is hard to see the work needed to be done still, and to hear the stories and talk to the people at Epworth and not want to just sign up for another trip. But there is need all over the country. We will have to spend some time praying where to go next. I don't think anyone is done serving yet. It just is a matter of where. And when.

I'll send out another email to summarize some things in a couple days. There will be some more pictures (Krissy is emailing pics off her phone to me, and Kristen's camera has some weird computer chip that won't allow me to copy her pictures, so she'll email hers to me later, also).

As always- Facebook (search for River Bend Mission Team) or Picasa (www.picasaweb.com/rodscofield/nola6#) and our blog (www.rodscof.blogspot.com). I don't think anyone has added anything to the blog that I haven't emailed out, but Kristen and Ali have access to post on it and they probably will at some time.

Onward!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 6 Thursday

2011-05-20T00:02:00.001-05:00

I think I figured out why I can't send pictures in here- Didn't gmail used to have an "insert picture" button or something? I'm guessing that because I have blind copied everyone except the team, if I attach a couple files, it looks more like spam. - So to see pictures, you'll have to click over to our Our Picasa website with pictures or our Facebook Page. I think that Kristen has also posted some pictures on our blog www.rodscof.blogspot.com.

Howard's team ran into a very "jenky" floor when trying to lay laminate flooring. It took us twice as long to do the kitchen as it did to do any other room in the house. We had to get pretty creative about it. Roma B., who was on a few of our trips and with whom I have worked on a couple of these floors before, would maybe not have enjoyed this one. We also worked on an exterior door and some interior doors. We are really enjoying the homeowners. They cooked lunch for us today.

Kristen's team finished everything they can do for their homeowner. They said they also enjoyed their homeowner, Bob. Their project was priming and painting his entire house. They got it done (garage included!) in four days. They will be going to Bob's site to help him tomorrow.

Bob's team has been working on a myriad of projects at their house. They have been glad to have Laban on their team because Laban has set tile for a living before, and there was a mighty big tile job to do. They have also been painting and installing trim and baseboards and doors. They have also spoken highly of their homeowners.

The weather has been great. No too hot. Well, today was more humid and warmer.

Tomorrow we are going to be on TV. There is a local news station that is having a concert with a local musician that writes songs about Katrina recovery. They want to interview a volunteer team to help kick off their summer volunteer season. I don't know much more than that, but I know we have to get up early for it. We are also going to see the Lower 9th Ward and some other places that were hit damaged and still affected by Katrina.

Thank you to everyone who is praying for us and supporting us. Prayer requests for tonight and tomorrow would just be that we get as much done in quality that we can on Friday. It's a shorter workday and there is still much to do.

Peace!

Rod

The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.

-- Howard Macey

A few phone pics...Day 2 on site

2011-05-17T22:58:00.002-05:00

Today started with devotions at the Epworth Center (which is a building in the Aldersgate UMC complex). Lewis talked about having hope in the Lord for all situations.

On our way to the work site yesterday, Ken took us by this little paint shop. It's a family owned store and the kids from the family all work there. They were all super friendly and helpful today when we stopped back to pick up a couple of paintbrushes.

This is Bob, digging right in and painting with us. When they redid the house the first time, he basically did most of the work himself. I was painting on this side of the studs there and he was talking all about their experience with the storm and the various crews that have come through. His comment was that they saw more quality work from the volunteers than from any of the crews they hired to do jobs in the house.

Leanne and Ali, painting away!

Here Ali was telling stories about being on worksites with Carolyn's (who is on the left) brothers (Howard and Bob). She gave total permission for retaliation to any "flack" received from either of them on a worksite. :)

That's all I have for today folks!! We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Peace!

Kristen

NOLA 6 day two

2011-05-17T21:40:00.001-05:00

I don't have any new pictures on the Picasa site- But I did add a couple captions.

The weather has been mild. Not too hot or cold with lower humidity. Supposedly this is going to change soon.

Kristen's team got a lot done with their painting project. They expect to be done by noon tomorrow. We will find out if they get another assignment or get shunted over to help Bob's team. The lower humidity has helped the paint drying time. Their homeowner's name is Bob. He is retired Air Force. After Katrina hit, they had 6 feet of water in the house. They spent the first year after Katrina in a FEMA trailer while he used his own money fixing up their house. They found out a few months ago that the drywall that had been used was the Chinese drywall and it was corroding his home. They had to tear it out and start all over again. Leanne and Ali Tell me that Bob is a really nice guy. He is easy going and quick to laugh. He has jumped right in with them in both working and socializing. He has been seen painting and cleaning out brushes and paint pans. They said that he is just as fast to tease and joke around with the team as they are with each other. His thankfulness comes through in his involvement with the team.

There was talk about going on a swamp tour tomorrow night, but we didn't want to leave our worksites early. Instead, we are going to go down to Cafe DuMond tomorrow night after dinner. Depending on how late we get back, I might not get to post anything tomorrow. -

Some people have sent notes of encouragement. I shared those with the team tonight. Thanks, everyone!

If you use Facebook, you can "like" us and follow those posts. You'll see a note that one of the homeowners we are working for posted on our "wall."

We have been sharing our living space with another team from North Carolina. They are a group of mostly college aged kids and they are leaving tomorrow. They have been fun to hang around and we will miss them. -

More to come!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

RE: NOLA 6 -- ooooops! First work day

2011-05-17T01:14:00.001-05:00

Praying for you and all on the trip.

In Christ,

Pastor Paul

NOLA 6 -- ooooops! First work day

2011-05-17T00:46:00.001-05:00

If this is the first time you are getting this email- It's because your server rejected it the first time because I had too many pictures attached. (5)- So I am taking off the pictures and encouraging you to look at the pictures either on our Picasa site or on Facebook. If you are getting this for the 2nd time, please accept my apologies for hitting your mailbox twice, and you can stop reading now. For the rest....

I uploaded pictures to our Picasa website- Check them out at This Picasa website.

I also uploaded a bunch (many of the same) to River Bend Mission Team's Facebook page River Bend Mission Team on Facebook

The first workday is always a little chaotic and it takes awhile to get going. We get work assignments and figure out who's going where and with whom and what the projects are and what you need for them and what they don't have so you have to come back for and where is your worksite and it's usually a good 10:00am before even getting close to the first work day. From there, you have to assess the work needed because it's not always exactly what they said. And then you need more tools and someone's got to go get them and then it's lunch time. You get as much done as you can, but I always walk off of a Monday thinking we didn't get much done. Today was not different.

We have three projects. (This is an answer to prayer- we were only going to get two, but we prayed for three- and turns out we got three. Instead of having 10 people working all on top of each other, we had about 6 at each site.) Howard's team is putting down sub floor and laminate flooring. I am on Howard's team. I've done this on two other worksites before, but this time it's a different product and has to be handled differently. Learning new things is good. Bob's team is putting down ceramic tile and hanging doors. He has Laban on his team, who has done this for a living. Kristen is leading a team this time also. Her team is painting. They got as far as they could go today around 2:30pm and had to call it a day. They completely primed the entire house and the garage. (interior.)

Our worksite is in Slidell, and only a couple minutes from where we are staying. Our home owner's name is Courtney. She and her husband were going to be homeless with three young children and one on the way when her family said they could use the house that her Grandmother had. This house had been pretty much uninhabited since Katrina. She and her husband have been trying to fix it up. When we got there today, she told us that she wanted to help and was not going to just stand around and watch us work. Keep in mind she's pregnant. Her husband has been trying to do a lot of the work and fixing up, but really doesn't have the experience to know how to do these things. They are living in the house as is. While working today, Howard was trying to pull out a nail and his pry bar slipped and he took the pry bar to the face at high velocity. He could probably use a stitch or two, but he has been nursing it with a paper towel all night. Last I heard, he said it didn't hurt.

More about the other homeowners and projects over the next couple days.

Lastly, I am going to enable Ali and Kristen to post on the blog- so check in to see things that any of us put up that didn't get emailed to you first. www.rodscof.blogspot.com

R
--

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 6 - The road to Slidell

2011-05-15T23:45:00.000-05:00

Hi All!

NOLA 6 has started. We have arrived in Slidell and have settled in to our housing. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

On Friday night before we left, we had a Commissioning service at Salem UMC. Our District Superintendent, Liz Lopez, officiated. We shared in Communion and prayer.

Well, even further back than that- Last week we had our jazz concert and silent auction fundraiser. We ended up raising a little over $2000 and had a blast. World Beat Connection was awesome and I would love to see them again some time. It was a lot of fun. And who knew that "deco beads" could be so highly sought after? Many thanks to those who sent some checks and bid on stuff at the auction and bought Party Light Candles. (We raised about $700 in Party Light). Our finances look decent. The price of gas went down about almost $.40 per gallon as we went south. ($3.62/gallon in Slidell)

We are excited to have arrived in Slidell. The trip was uneventful. That is to say, nothing bad happened. There was some concern about flooding along the way. We didn't really see anything on our first day, but today there were sandbags holding water off the road in southern Missouri just a few miles north of Arkansas. Then when we went through Memphis, you could the Mississippi VERY swollen. I saw a sign almost underwater that said, "Road Closed." Without the sign, I wouldn't have known there was a road. I think Kristen got some pictures. I'll see if I can post more of them tomorrow.

We ended up with 22 people on the trip: Howard, Barbara, Corrine, Bob, Lewis, Ginger, Jeff, Matt, Rod St., Ali, Kristen, Rob, Krissy, Carolyn, Leanne, Judy, Barb, Louie, Shirley, Laban, and Linda.

We brought 4 vehicles. Our rental van, Rod St.'s van, Howard's truck, and my Focus.

Things to pray about for us: Unity with the team we are sharing this space with from North Carolina, health and safety,

If you want to follow us on Facebook, search for "River Bend Mission Team." To follow our blog, go to www.rodscof.blogspot.com. I will give you the link to our pictures when I get some posted. And if you want off this mailing list, let me know and I'll take you off.

Peace!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

New Orleans one more time

2011-04-12T15:53:00.001-05:00

Hi All!

First let me say if you are getting this email you have been blind copied on a list that is for people that have, or would like to, or I would invite you to be a part of our New Orleans Mission trip support team. Support comes in a lot of different ways. Some people read the emails and make themselves aware of what is happening (from our perspective) in New Orleans in terms of Hurricane Katrina relief (yes, even after 5 years). Some people pray for us while we're gone, or if you're not the praying type, at least think happy thoughts for us. Some people send us encouraging notes. Some people send money. Some people attend our Commissioning service or our "Thank You" dinners. Some people "Like" us on Facebook (search for River Bend Mission Team), or follow our blog (www.rodscof.blogspot.com) In advance, thank you for your support!

I send out emails to this team of people (today, numbering 276) regularly while we are on our trip, and an email or two before and after the trip. If you would prefer to NOT get this email, please respond to this and tell me so, and I will take you off the list.

This year, our trip is May 14th-22nd. It looks like we are going to have about 20 people going. I was a little surprised by that number. I wasn't expecting quite as many! We have 6 (maybe 8) coming from Pipestone, MN. We have 3 coming from Rochester, and one from West Concord, MN. Bob will be joining us again from Indianapolis. Rob is joining us again from Bemidji. I haven't accepted Roma's "I can't come on this one" yet. That leaves 10ish people from the Twin Cities. It is exciting to have such a big group. We can get a lot done!

The agency we are working with on this trip is called "The Epworth Project." They are affiliated with UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). We will be staying at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Slidell, LA. We have stayed in this site before. I believe the work projects will come from the "South Shore" or in Greater New Orleans. We have actually worked in Slidell, or the "North Shore" a few times. The work we do will be dependent on what we are capable of doing and what projects the Epworth Project needs help with when we are there. I am hoping to put the drywall skills that Bob taught me on the last trip to good use again. On this trip, we will have Laban K. from Rochester who actually lays tile for a living.

I don't usually do this next thing I'm about to do. And I promise I'll only do it this once.

A trip like this generally costs about $600 per person to pull off. Previously,we have been asking each person to contribute $200 each for the trips. The remainder has always been covered by fundraisers and donations. We do this to keep the cost down to make it doable for volunteers to go. This time, we are asking $275. We have had some money at the end of each trip that we have been floating from trip to trip. This year, that seed money was lower. Well, and without going through all the boring math, we need to raise about $4000. To do so, we are doing two fundraisers. The first one is that we are selling Party Lite Candles. Party Lite has a program that we can sell certain products and 50% of the sale goes directly to us. We are selling tea lights, votives, and pairs of some small globe candles. The cost is $15, $20, and $20 respectively. If you are interested in some candles, let me know. They come in all sorts of great smelly varieties! :-) The other fundraiser we are doing is a jazz concert/silent auction. This is going to be a lot of fun! It will be at Faith United Methodist Church in West St. Paul on May 7th at 7:00pm. There will be desserts and coffee. If I can figure out how, we'll do coffee drinks, too. Some of the items already donated are: a pair of tickets to see the Twins, a four night stay at Elbow Lake Lodge, a couple different hot air balloon ride packages, a weekend at a time share at Wisc. Dells, and a few other things. We would invite you to come participate, bid, etc. There will be no cost to get into the event. We are looking for more donations for the auction and people to bid on them! And finally, any out and out donations to the trip are tax deductible. Email me for info on how to do that.

On our prayer list:

The funds to make the trip possible.

Donna G.'s husband is having surgery. Obviously we want Donna to come, but more importantly, for her husband to be well. Pray for a quick recovery.

For all the logistics to fall in to place

For team unity. Especially for those that live outside the Twin Cities and can't make it to team meetings.

That's it- Again, let me know if you want off this list.

Peace and Joy and Thank you!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Fwd: NOLA 5 Tuesday- 2nd work day

2010-10-24T21:35:00.002-05:00

Here is a note we got from Kim O., who was on the NOLA 3 trip and is still looking for her glasses.

R

You guys are awesome.

However,

the story I'd place on your hearts is David and Goliath.

Read it!

David, our psalm-singer who knew God's promises not because he had a Bible book to open but who carried them in his heart and songs, remembered who should REALLY be champion/hero to Israel, remembered the promise God had given to Joshua and his people about beating those nasty giants who wound up in Gath.

Israel was in trouble and needed a hero. Goliath was the champion and whoever won, won all. How do you define a hero? they do what we can't -- because we're in trouble.

The people of Israel had gotten stubborn -- thought that tall Saul was the way to go -- against the likes of tall Goliath. But Saul let them down. People do that. Government's do that. We are God's people and if we act as if we remember that, then our hero, our champion is God, and we remember His promises and let him be the one to do the hardest work....

David pointed to God throughout it all -- so when people thank YOU for being a hero -- share who your real hero is! Jesus did the hard work of being our champion and did what we CANNOT -- he's all about taking our place so that sin, death and the power of evil can't defeat us.... echo David -- be a good leader and point to the real champ!

You guys are awesome -- and have an awesome God!!

That's what you get for having a friend in Seminary........

Praying for you all!!

Kim

Re: NOLA 5 = the last work day

2010-10-23T10:27:00.002-05:00

Still praying for you. Have a safe journey home.
Pastor Paul

Sent via MOTOBLUR™ on Verizon Wireless

NOLA 5 = the last work day

2010-10-23T01:35:00.001-05:00

It's pretty late and I'm pretty tired. Here's a recap-

Worked a half day. The place we are working out of wants their tools back, so we have to knock off early.

Group photo!

Carla and a few others wanted to see a New Orleans cemetery, so we drove around two of them. Both closed at 3:00pm and we got there at 3:45. They took some pictures.

Wandered around the French Quarter for a few minutes. I saw an amazing street duo. They are really good. (www.tanyandorise.com)

Then we met a college friend of mine that I had not seen in almost 20 years for dinner. She suggested a local place that had great food and good prices and was not in the French Quarter. We got to see another part of town that was kind of neat, called the Irish Channel.

This is just a short rundown of things we did today.

I posted more pictures, and put captions on them. (www.picasaweb.com/rodscof/nola5)

Our FB page is under "River Bend Mission Team" leave us a note there if you would like.

Our blog site is: www.rodscof.blogspot.com

We are leaving for St. Louis in 6.5 hours. I better get some sleep. I may or may not be able to write more before we get back.

Pray for safe travels and meaningful processing of our trip. Continue to pray that God opens our eyes to what He wants us to see. And that we have the wisdom to interpret what we are seeing the way He would want us to, and that we have the courage to respond in a way that brings Him glory.

Amen

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 5- Wed and Thurs

2010-10-21T23:51:00.001-05:00

Some things from Wed. and Thurs-

Bob is a genius. I just have to say. (I suppose this requires explanation now. Bob is very good at renovations, construction, repair, building, etc.) - I am in awe of what he can do.

I had never HUNG sheet rock before. I have sanded and mudded, but never hung. I had to figure some things out on my own. And cutting a triangle to fit in the right spot is no easy thing. I kept telling Rob W. (who worked alongside me today and yesterday) that I am a genius. I have learned a few things from Bob. And have improvised a little. It has been rewarding. I can probably fix that hole in the wall in my bathroom now.

Kathy and Barbara have been making meals along with Rhonda, who is from the Pennsylvania team, with whom we are sharing our housing site. All I can say is, wow! They are doing great.

Turns out that I do not have to fly home to work at all this week. But I have used up all my banked up good will and favor. We have an attendance point system. If you miss a day unexcused, but call in, you get 2 points. If you get up to 10 points, you are dismissed. Well, my boss starting only working one shift on Fridays, so the my first shift counterpart and I switched this Friday. My boss is upset. The grapevine whispers that he says I manipulated the system. I wouldn't say manipulated it. I would say I worked within it. Maybe even took advantage of it. (Although how going to the edge of what's allowed in attendance absences, using up all my goodwill, and going a week without getting paid is getting an advantage, I'm not sure. Everything costs something, right?) Prayers for my work situation would not be wasted. Some people will say I did the wrong thing by going on this trip. But this is where my heart is. And I can't be who I'm not.

Also pray for Matt's eye. He scratched his eyelid? or his cornea? - anyway, it's giving him trouble. The Colonel (who was a physician some years ago) put a patch on it today before he went to the worksite.

Both worksites are getting ready to wrap up. ON Bob's site, most of the drywall is done. On Howard's site, they are ready to spray texture. They ask us to stop work early on Fridays so they can get their tools back. I hope we have enough time to everything done we want to accomplish.

My friend, Brody, told me to video record what we are doing. I have been trying, but it has been tough to. And then editing the video is long and tedious. Brody said our videos would go viral on Youtube. I'm skeptical, but I have gotten a couple good things recorded. I will try to get them out in a timely manner once we get back. Remind me. Bug me about this.

I posted an entry on our Blog site that I didn't email out to everyone. You can read it here if you would like. It's about the homeowner my team is working for and some of the feelings around "who deserves help.

There are a couple more pictures on our photo web page- photos here. I will put some captions on some of these before I go to bed tonight.

And you can visit us on FaceBook. Become of fan of the "River Bend Mission Team"

One more day.

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Workin' on Wednesday and Thursday

2010-10-21T23:27:00.000-05:00

We hung a significant amount of sheet rock. It felt good to take over some of the drywall duties. When Bob was busy with something else, I looked for things to keep busy, and usually found them in another room with more sheet rock. I'm not going to lie. I'm not very good at it. When Barry, the construction coordinator we are working with stopped by, he suggested we make a few changes, which we did on Thursday morning.

The house Howard's team is working on is about ready for texture to be sprayed on. On the past few trips, I've seen all the houses we have been working on. This time, I don't think I'll get a chance to see Howard's house, except in pictures.

It wouldn't be honest if I didn't wonder about this house we are working for. It's half of a duplex. (This is the house Bob's team is working on). And I hesitate to talk about this, but honesty is better, right? The owner lives in the other half. And I think (from overhearing him talk to a guy delivering plumbing parts) that he owns the house next door. I'm not sure he qualifies as "least, last, lost." It's probably better not to ask if you don't want to know. But I am curious. And I want to know how this guy qualifies. Usually, we can say, we helped get someone back into their home. This time, I think we would have to say, we helped a guy be able to rent out the other half of his duplex. So am I a schmuck for asking? Maybe we are supposed to just bless. And be blessed, right? Does someone have to "deserve" restoration on their house? In the Bible, I guess it says that if someone sues you for your tunic, you give your cloak also. If they force you to walk a mile with them, walk 2. That is the best I can find to tell me how to respond to this. The only other thing to tell myself is that I don't know the situation for sure. I have been asked to hang drywall. I will hang drywall. I might not be very good at it, but I will do the best I can.

NOLA 5 Tuesday- 2nd work day

2010-10-20T07:23:00.001-05:00

I want to apologize for the crazy photo disaster last night for those of you that got about 3 emails from me. I think several ISP's think I'm a spam sender now.

This morning, The Colonel (Carolyn N., Howard and Bob's sister) did devotions and compared Noah's Flood to NOLA's flood. She talked about how Noah sent out birds to see if it was safe to come out of the ark. In the same way, there are a lot of people still wondering if it's ok to come back.

Howard's team thinks they may be able to get more done on their house than originally thought. Bob said tonight, too, that he thinks we might get our house taped. We actually started hanging sheet rock.

Not a whole lot else to tell. Work and more work. Neither team has met their home owners.

I did put more pictures on our Picasa website. You can see them here: www.picasaweb.com/rodscofield/nola5

I will try to put more captions tomorrow night.

Thanks to my friend, Brian Norton, who called at 7:00am to encourage us. We are supposed to read Ephesians 3:14-19. I will have to look it up.

More later!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Electronic fail....

2010-10-18T23:39:00.001-05:00

Some people got the last email I sent. Some people didn't.

I apologize if you did and are getting yet another email from me tonight. -

I think the fail had to do with the pictures I tried to attach.

Let's do this instead:

To read about our latest adventures in New Orleans, including our first work day, and how Bob and I got pretty wet, click here: www.rodscof.blogspot.com

To see pictures from our trip so far, including a picture of Bob and me pretty wet, click here: www.picasaweb.com/rodscofield/nola5

To visit us on Face Book, click here: Our FB page

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 5- The first work day

2010-10-18T23:22:00.002-05:00

We started out the day with devotions and then orientation. A little about orientation....

They give a bunch of information about the work that's been done, and how to stay safe on the jobsite, and who the staff are that affect what we do, and a little about the houses we are working on. Then they assign the houses and then it's like a free for all. People are trying to get tools for the job, figure out who is going to go on which team, shuffle the coolers around so everyone has the lunches they packed and enough water for the day, and trying to find the assignment folder that nobody gave to Howard, but he seems to have it in his tool bag anyway, even though it's not the site he's going to. (True story). At the time, it feels a little stressful, but after it's done, you look back and kind of laugh.

The worksite that Howard's team is working on is finishing drywall and texturing and painting. They said that for the most part, the previous team did a good job with the drywall. This is unusual because usually when we go in behind a drywall team, we spend a day or the week fixing what they did. But for the most part, this team did pretty well. Almost. Just a couple closets. I have not been to this site, but it sounds like it's pretty close. Howard, Ginger, Lewis, Jeff, and Carolyn are on this site.

The worksite that Bob's team is working on has actual hanging drywall. We spent the first day just getting the house ready for the drywall. We had to take down some plywood on the wall. (Not nearly as innocuous as it sounds. This was double layered with many many ringshank nails.) We also had to pull down part of the ceiling. It was particle board tile, and then we had to go around and pull out the staples that the tile was holding up the tile. Two rooms of that. The best part of the day for me was when I was working with Bob on removing that evil plywood from the bathroom. There was a piece with a hold cut out of it, and there was a pipe sticking out- as if for an eventual shower head. Bob said we had to take off the cap on the end of the pipe or else we wouldn't be able to get the plywood off the wall. (I wish I had a picture)- As he started unscrewing that cap, I started to hear a rushing sound. It happened pretty quick, but I thought, "I wonder what's going to come out of that pipe?" Bob can't hear super well, so I can only assume now, that he didn't hear the wooshing sound. I didn't say anything because I guess I forgot his hearing is a little impaired and I thought he heard it. And really, there was no time. As he got that cap off, a big blast of water hit him square in the face. As the water continued to gush out of this uncapped pipe, I started looking for a shutoff and Bob tried to put that cap back on. We both got pretty wet. I can't say it didn't feel good. Bob's team includes Bob, me, Carla, Corrine, Matthew, and Rob. Bob says we are going to actually start hanging drywall tomorrow.

The pictures are: (In I'm not sure what order....)

Matt pulling staples out of the wall

Orientation

Rod and Bob all wet

Carla hard at it

Howard and Lewis right after devotions before Orientation.

I will get more pictures from the other team tomorrow.

You can visit our blog at Click here for our blog

You can see more pictures at: click here for more pictures

See us on Facebook at: click here for our FaceBook Page

Thank you to everyone who is praying for our safety and for our impact. (both the impact that is made on us, and the impact we make) Also thank you for your encouragement via emails and leaving messages on our FB page!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Your New Orleans travels

2010-10-18T10:09:00.001-05:00

Rod,

Did you need our location for this trip? Thought your trip was early October. Let me know if you do -- because you're always welcome. If not, that's okay, too.

Safe travels and blessed mission work!

Micki Seeling

NOLA 5- day two- traveling some more

2010-10-17T23:41:00.001-05:00

Left Cape Girardeau and didn't make as good time this time. Arrived in New Orleans around 6:30pm. I had to ask the PA team to pick up Carla at the airport because were were about 2 hours out when she called saying she landed. When we met up, Carla fit in PERFECTLY with our group. She is a joy and blessing to add to our team.

We went out to dinner. We said we would just drive around until we found something. Bob found a Rally's. It's just food. Just eat it.

Devotions were awesome. I asked everyone to go around the room to tell why they came. This was couched as introductions so Carla could get to know us. When Carla's turn came, she talked about her cancer and why she is bald and why she wanted to come. She explained that when she got the invitation, God convicted her right then that she was to come. And then He provided the money for the plane ticket. Then we talked about Psalm 37:5-6 (Click here for that verse). It was powerful.

We are excited about what God is doing here already. We have been praying that God show us what He would have us see. That we would have the wisdom to interpret what we are seeing the way He would want us to understand it. And for the courage to respond how God would have us respond. Amen

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Day 1 - on the road

2010-10-17T00:09:00.001-05:00

One of the things I keep thinking about is trying to find ways to make these email notices different than the past 8 trips. My friend Brody tells me I need to shoot video each day, and post them on Youtube. I shot about a total of .5 hours of video today, and I can't find anything in there that seems like exactly the right thing to show that tells the story. And since I was shooting video, I didn't take any photos.

But here are my observations so far. And a couple things that happened and a couple things to remember. And maybe a couple things to think about.

1. At the Commissioning Service, Pastor Paul Marzahn gave us to remember 3 things from 1 Thessalonians 1:3. Bonus points if you can pick them out.

Click here for that verse.

2. This morning at devotions, Rob reminded that God has called us to do three things from Micah 6:8. Bonus points if you can pick them out.

Click here for that verse

3. Howard lost one of our team credit cards.

4. Carolyn (The Colonel) won the mobile game of Apples to Apples. She was good!

5. Watching adults play on playground equipment brings joy.

6. Last Spring, our team was 29 people strong. This time, we are 13 people and still just as strong. And while I like being able to say we have 30 people on a trip, I like the group dynamics from a smaller group better. This will be a source of tension for me as I ask God which is better and what He would have us do. Bigger is better, right? Bring more people in to experience what God is doing, right? Am I feeding my own ego by having more people? Glory to God, not glory to rod.

7. We made great time in the van today. 12 hours to Cape Girardeau- that included 2 gas stops and lunch. This church is HUGE!

8. We forgot to bring one of the roasters for the meals. We will need to stop and pick one up.

9. We are having a good time with each other. God is good.

10. We are looking very much forward to having Carla join us tomorrow. Carla is from Hale, Michigan, my home town. This will be her first trip with us, but already, she fits in great!

11. It was great talking on the phone with Kristen, Roma, and Pastor Bruce. It was also neat to share the emails and Facebook messages you sent with the team. Vicki, we loved your prayer!

12. We are going to have a contest to name the trailer. Send your submissions. I'll put some video and some photos online. Entries will be due by the end of the trip. More info forthcoming about this. I just now made it up and have to decide the details.

It is late and I think I'm the last one up. I am excited about tomorrow. Thanks everyone for their love and prayers.

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 5- Here we go!

2010-10-15T16:47:00.001-05:00

Usually, I send out a few more emails before this, reminding people to be praying for us, and reminding people of the Commissioning Service and etc.

In a couple hours, I will be at the church, loading the trailer and getting last minute things ready for our trip. It kind of worked out really well that the company I work for is only working 1 shift on Fridays, and this today was the other shift's turn to work. (the significance of this will come up again in a few days.) So I had today off, and the ability to run errands, and get a lot done for the trip. It feels like Christmas. It's a similar anticipation. The weather was great, and as I was driving the rental van to go pick up the rest of the things from the party rental and the team t-shirts, it felt like all was right with the world. I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. A few years ago, my pastor at the time, Bruce Ruggles, preached about operating out of your "sweet spot." That place where your gifts and interests and heart and experiences all sync together and allow you to bless and be blessed all at the same time. I've known how much I enjoy doing these trips, but today, it just clicked again. And I KNEW what Pastor Bruce was talking about.

I am so excited to be going back to New Orleans to get more people that much closer to being in their homes. I am excited about the camaraderie that comes from riding for hours on end in a van together. I am excited the bond that is created when you are working alongside someone else for someone else. I am excited to see what God has in store for me and for our team this week. I am grateful that God has allowed me to be a part of this.

The team:

Howard N.

Barbara S.

Corrine M.

Lewis W.

Bob N.

Ginger S.

Matt. S.

Jeff S.

Kathy B.

Rob W.

Carla M.

Carolyn N.

and me.

I asked the team members to find someone to pray for them personally this week, and specifically this week. I've asked that they pray that:

1- We will see what God wants us to see.

2- We will have the wisdom to understand what God is showing us

3- We will have the courage to respond how God would want us to respond.

If you want off this mailing list, let me know and I'll take you off. Otherwise, I'll send out an email once a day or every other day or so. I have a new little video camera flip thingy, so maybe some video on the way, too.

Thanks for your love and support. Feel free to pass this on.

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 4/NOLA 5 Coming and Going

2010-07-06T19:37:00.001-05:00

I feel like I never put closure on the NOLA 4 trip. Obviously we are home and that trip is done. People ask me how it went and I tell them we got a lot done, which we did. We had a lot of people on the trip and there are a lot of stories. The biggest thing I noticed will sound like a broken record, but just how much work there is to do still. - This time, the house I worked on was in the Upper 9th Ward. Now we had been several times to the Lower 9th, and seen the damage and devastation there. In the area we have visited, it was pretty much wiped out. In many neighborhoods we have driven through before, there are usually 3 or 4 or 5 "good" houes and 1 bad one that is in obvious need of attention. In the Upper 9th, it is the other way around. 4 or 5 "bad" houses and 1 good one. This begs the question of what is going to be done to them? Many people just aren't coming back. What will happen to these structures? What will happen to the property they sit on? There is still sooo much to be done.

As I said in the last update about the trip, UMCOR (the United Methodist agency we have been working with) has run out of funding as it pertains to Katrina/Rita relief. They will not have any projects after December 31st. The people overseeing these agencies still have a heart for the ones they call "The Least, the Last, and the Lost," and they said they would try to hook up with another agency or create their own. So I don't know what will happen with the homes of those that are still in FEMA trailers? Unknown. This makes me wonder if we need an agency to work with? What if we just went down and found a FEMA trailer and asked what they needed. And THAT makes we wonder if we just went to people in our churches that had evidence of need and asked how we could serve them? Or if we went to Wadena, MN (tornados) and just asked where we could serve. And that makes me think that really, you don't need me to put that together for you. Just keep your eyes open. In our Commissioning service, Pastor Gail encouraged us to leave a trail of blessings on our trip. I would encourage you to leave a trail of blessings in your day to day life.

That being said, we have another trip in the works. NOLA 5. October 16-24th. We will be staying at the same housing site we stayed at last time. Working with UMCOR again. I signed us up for 20 spaces. We will be joined by a team from Pennsylvania that coincidentally, we housed with in Biloxi back in 2006. We have spoken a little bit about combining some resources.

There's one small problem. I can't go.

Well, that's not exactly true. I have been informed that I cannot take the week off from work. (I burned up my vacation when my mom was in the hospital and for NOLA 4) My Plant Manager DID offer a compromise, though. I will be able to do part of the trip but will need to fly back and work during the middle of the week. So that will add to the challenges. Every trip is different, right? So shoot me an email and let me know you're in. The cost will be $225 per person. And watch for more info about where and when to find the planning meetings.

Get on the bus....

As I said
--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA4 Friday

2010-04-30T23:11:00.000-05:00

Our last day in New Orleans.

Thanks to those who wrote notes of encouragement either electronically or on paper. We have been blessed by you!

Work-wise, we got a lot done. Howard's team finished a tile floor and moved on to sheetrock in the garage. Bob's team finished all the assignments in one house (the house is not done, but we did all we could do with what we had.) and moved on to another house where they started fixing some things that previous team had not been as successful at. Roma's team finished all the laminate flooring and all but one small corner of tile flooring (and really- it's just grout) and went beyond the work order by trimming out one half of the house. Gary's team did an EXCELLENT job with walls- going further than planned. The site manager walked into that house yesterday and asked where the seams were. Gary asked if he should put them back in. Because of favorable weather, they were able to blow orange peeling texture and prime the walls on the house.

The weather: Holy buckets it has been nice. Today was the first day it was really humid. Other than that, it's been warm and mostly sunny and really nice. Today was pretty muggy.

This morning in devotions, Mark S. said that there was only one path to God through Christ, but many paths to Christ. And at first, I thought it sounded kind of new-agey- but then I thought about it more and decided he's right. Jesus didn't always do the same things and say the same words to everyone He met. Everyone's experience with Him was different. This is not to say that God is not the same today tomorrow yesterday, etc., but that we can experience Jesus in different ways. Our prayer this week is that the people we have worked for has experienced Jesus through us. By our good work as a result of our faith, these people can come to maybe understand Jesus a little better, and to draw closer to Him, and thereby to God.

The agency we work with asks us to knock off early on Friday so they can get all their tools back and ready for the following week. Today at around 1:30pm, Howard took Hutch to the airport so he could catch a flight to Houston, where he will be living after this week. Then Howard and 8 others went on to Memphis so that they could get a chance to go to the National Civil Rights Museum. We will meet back up with them tomorrow evening in Kirkwood. Those of us that stayed here, went to the French Quarter and walked around a bit. We were ready to come back to the base we are staying at by about 7:30. We saw some neat things and some ugly things. New Orleans is like that. Remind me of this when I do the "epilogue" entry after we get back.

Good news and bad news:
The Bad news- UMCOR is pulling out of New Orleans at the end of 2010.
The Good news- I signed us up for another team in October.

This means if you've been meaning to go, or go back, this is your last chance to work through UMCOR (read between the lines there- and see that there is a possibility of working through other agency's.) If you want to go on the last guaranteed trip, shoot me an email and I'll tell you where to send your check to sign up. I signed us up for 20 slots (Becky K. - if you're reading this, we will be staying with you guys at Filmore!)

I will not have email access in Kirkwood, so I won't be able to write again until we get back. - I will have more pictures on the picasa website (www.picasaweb.com/rodscofield/nola4) and you can visit our blog (which is so far, still just these emails) at www.rodscof.blogspot.com

Pray for our safe travel back to our homes.

And pray for our finances. We are cutting it close this time. With more people going, the costs are higher. There is a little room for error, but not much.

Talk to you again in a few days!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 4 Wed. and Thursday

2010-04-29T23:09:00.001-05:00

Best thing to do is check out the pictures on our picasa website:
www.picasaweb.com/rodscofield/nola4

We are getting a lot done on our worksites.

Cool things to remember:

The way Jerri and Tina didn't know anyone from this trip and have
integrated so well.

Hutch riding up in the icecream truck.

Ginger's devotion in the Lower 9th Ward

How much the Lower 9th has developed even since we were here 6 months ago.

How bad the Upper 9th is. This caught me by surprise. Sooooo many
buildings in horrible shape.

Having my cousin, Mark on this trip.

I got sick today and tried to go to the worksite. When we got there,
I told Hutch and Roma that I was going to try to sleep for just a
little while in the van. I ended up eventually returning the base and
trying to get some sleep.

We did our rootbeer float party tonight. The cool thing was that the
homeowners from two of our work sites came by for it. The bad thing
was that that was about it. Good floats, though....

The challenges of having a bigger group have been interesting. Do you
wait for everyone to get to the table for dinner? Devotions? Do we
try to accommodate what EVERYONE wants to do?

To that extent, there is a group leaving after the work hours tomorrow
for Memphis, where they will spend the night, and then stop at the
National Civil Rights Museum. Nothing wrong with it, but a hassle to
coordinate, and there has been some struggle with flexibility.

BUT- the reason we are here- to share Jesus' love through tangible
ways by helping restore people into their homes- MUCH is getting
done. Bob's team pretty much did all they could do at their site.
Howard and Gary both think they might get done early tomorrow. Roma's
team has gone above and beyond the worklist, but is going to struggle
with finishing everything they start.

It has been a good week.

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier,
and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains
untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 4 Sat-Tues. Trying again...

2010-04-28T07:07:00.001-05:00

I apologize to the people that got this the first time. I had this
email bounce back from MANY people, and am trying to figure out how to
make sure that this can get to everyone- If you got it and read it
once, you can just delete this. It's old news.

Thanks!
R

Lots of catching up to do...

First- You can see pictures at www.picasaweb.com/rodscofield/nola4
I haven't been able to get everyone's pictures, but I think Kristen
figured out a way to get them and we can get more pictures on soon.
Also- you can visit our blog at www.rodscof.blogspot.com Today, it's
the same exact entry as this email.

We are seeing a lot and feeling the urgency of getting houses done.
We are clicking well together and everyone seems to fit in pretty
well. We are working on 4 different work sites.

Howard is leading a team at a house in the Upper 9th ward. On
Howard's team is: Bonnie and Dennis W., Mark P., Mark S., Judie R.,
Vince J., and Lewis W. The house was damaged from the roof down, but
it never flooded. They are doing a lot of tile. Bonnie has been able
to spend a lot of time talking with the homeowners.

Bob is working on a house out by the airport. Zach B., Krissy K.,
Corrine M., and Jeff are helping with a lot of misc. projects. They
have cut and laid baseboard, installed vanities, and several other
things.

Gary is working on a house in the northeast part of town. They are
doing drywall, mostly. Helping Gary are Jerri H., Tina B., Kristen
B., Paul A., Shane I., Carolyn W, and Barbara S.

Roma is leading a team with Rob W., Rod S., Matt S., Hutch T., and
Ginger S. We have been working on laminate and ceramic flooring.

After two days, all teams are reporting being on schedule. In fact,
when we report to each other in the evenings, everyone talks about how
proud we are with the amount of work that is getting done. Everyone
works together and have been placed on the right teams.

Usually, they have asked us to take a half day off on Wednesday. This
year, they seem to not need us to do that. We have readjusted our
plans to work all day on Wed. and try to get as much as we can done.

Kristen and Bonnie have been leading music for devotions. That has
added a really neat component.

Again, Donna has been cooking for us. This year, she has a helper
named Jean. Jean fits in great and Donna has said she loves working
with her. They are both two ladies that get stuff done, too!

That's a little about what we've been up to. I encourage you to check
out the pictures.

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier,
and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains
untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 4- The day before

2010-04-23T13:43:00.000-05:00

Hello prayer supporters and well-wishers and friends and family and
people that are getting this because I happen to have your email
address-

First- let me remind everyone that if you don't want to get these
emails, let me know and I will remove your name from the list. There
is a way to subscribe to our blog (where this is also posted). I
think you have to join a google service, though (like gmail). If,
when you are in our blog, you opt to "follow" us, and then using the
"reader" function, you can get notifications when we post. I think.
I do see a day where this form of communication is obsolete.
(remember the stamp and envelope days?)

You can also join us on Facebook. Search for River Bend Mission Team-
and you'll see the pictures of the ducks. Become a fan and you'll get
updated each time we post, too. I honestly am trying to figure out
how to best use all the social networking media and everything else
that will help us be in front of you.

This Saturday morning we take off with our largest group so far.
There will be 30 participants of NOLA 4. We have four meeting up with
us from Kentucky. We have two meeting up with us from Michigan. We
have Bob meeting up with us from Indianapolis. And 23 others, 11 of
which are first timers to River Bend. This is exciting, and presents
challenges. There are people that never were able to make it to a
team meeting before the trip, and so to integrate them into the team
and to make sure everyone is on the same page.

We leave in less than 24 hours and I have to pack and pick up rental
equipment and several other things and I have to work again tonight at
10:00pm. I'm not sure what I would do, though, if I wasn't running in
100 different directions at once.

We have the Commissioning service tonight at Salem UMC at 7:00pm if
anyone is in town and wants to come send us out.

This is going to be good.

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier,
and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains
untamed.
-- Howard Macey

New Orleans - Spring 2010

2010-03-15T12:04:00.001-05:00

Hello all!

There are still people in the Gulf area who are diplaced. Still not back in their homes. 4.5 years after Hurricane Katrina.

We are getting ready to go back next month to serve again. Our team is looking pretty good, with 22 people signed up for sure, and another 4-5 still trying to work things out.

Our Outback Steakhouse fundraiser is this Saturday in InverGrove Hts. If anyone in the Twin Cities wants to participate, shoot me an email and I'll save you a seat. We still have tickets left for the 11:00am seating.

As always, if you would rather not have these updates invading your inbox, please let me know and I'll take you off the list.

You can always check our blog at www.rodscof.blogspot.com. And speaking of our blog...

The company I work for talks about having Christian values. Each year, they send a team to the Domincan Republic to serve with some full time missionaries. When the earthquake hit Haiti, my company sent our Event Coordinator to the Domincan to help out, because many people from Haiti were crossing into the Domincan for medical and humanitarian aid. Trish (the Event Coordinator) sent back a few emails about what she saw there in the Dominican and in Haiti. I am posting her emails on our blog a little later today.

We are asking for your prayer support. If anyone is interested in going with us next month, let me know. I have room in the van, still. If you are interested in helping out financially, let me know and I can tell you how to do that, too.

Here we go!

R
--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA3 - Proofreading- why it's important

2009-10-31T11:11:00.001-05:00

I left a word out from my last post. It's a small word- this will continue to show how the small things make big differences! The word was "not."

I meant to say that Mississippi was NOT fully recovered. NOT.

I also didn't put the link to the blog: www.rodscof.blogspot.com

And for the pics: www.picasaweb.com/rodscofield/nola3pics

Ok- that's it.

Thanks again for the great support and response!

R

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Re: Caring Rose Fundraiser for Neighbors, Inc.

2009-10-31T11:04:00.001-05:00

I'm in. - I will spread the word!

On Sat, Oct 31, 2009 at 10:41 AM, Polly Brantner <gracie1513@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for your "If you don't, who will?" blog, Rod. This is my calling... Hope you can make it! And tell all your friends/co-workers/contacts! :)

Thanks!
Polly

@~~ @~~ @~~ @~~ @~~ @~~ @~~ @~~ @~~ @~~ @~~
Caring Rose Fundraiser for Neighbors, Inc.

$12 = A Dozen Rose Bouquet
All proceeds and donations will go to Neighbors, Inc. in South St. Paul

Sunday, November 22nd
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Please come and help support our local foodshelf by purchasing a dozen roses. The monies raised from the rose sale will do more than double-duty by providing food, paying a bill, or even just offering a little glimmer of hope for someone in need as this holiday season begins. The flowers themselves will brighten your day - or their recipient's! - and help kick your holidays off in grand fashion!

The rose bouquets will include 12 roses and baby's breath and be wrapped and ready for you to just grab & go! The roses will be available in a variety of colors, so there's bound to be something for everyone!

This fundraiser is open to any and all that would like to participate! Tell your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc!

Participating locations for bouquet purchases:

First United Methodist Church
140 - 6th Street North
South St. Paul, MN

~ and ~

Faith United Methodist Church
1530 Oakdale Ave
West St. Paul, MN

The Caring Rose Fundraising Event is sponsored by:
Fred, Polly, Richard, & Zachary Brantner and "A Little Something Flowers & Gifts"
First United Methodist Church of South St. Paul ~and~
Faith United Methodist Church of West St. Paul

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA3- Epilogue-- Think small

2009-10-30T18:27:00.002-05:00

We started the NOLA 3 at commissioning with Pastor Dave encouraging us to be our part of the Body. And that our part was really pretty small, considering. If you think about a body, there are arms and legs and eyes or tongues, etc. And each of those parts may be the United Methodists as the arms,and the Catholics as the legs or the Charismatics, tongues (get it?) etc. And that maybe we, as individual members or attenders or watchers of those churches, are cells that make up the arms, legs, eyes, etc. Just small. Tiny. Yet significant, each playing out own part in the body as The Body.

I think we all wonder on trip like this, "What is my part?" And when we go down, there's not a lot I know how to do when it comes to building. I rely on Bob or Howard to tell me what to do, and how to do it. And when they're busy, I have to look to find what best helps the team. So I do some sweeping or moving bags of cement, or carry garbage, or run to Lowes, or drive Kim to the other job site, or etc. Some of that might seem like not a power playing part. I didn't help hang drywall, or install the cabinets or blow the texture on the wall, but if I hadn't done the parts I did, who would have? This is not to justify my presence on the team, it's to set up my next point.

Kim and I met with Dale Kimball, who oversees the work projects for Louisiana United Methodist Disaster Recovery. He is a very compelling speaker and is very motivational. I have mentioned him in past blog entries on previous trips. Anyway, Kim and I taped an interview with him on our last day there. Dale has a pretty realistic view of the recovery process. He has had a very successful run on the North Shore (Pontchartrain) and they say they are mostly recovered there. He is now focusing on the Gentilly neighborhood in New Orleans. And there is still sooooooooo much of New Orleans that is not restored. People ask him when will it be done? He says, "when y'all stop coming." He said, "Look at the homes you worked on this week. If you hadn't come, they wouldn't have been worked on." The part we play might seem like a small part in a big city, but if we didn't do it, who would have?

God is not calling everyone to get in the van and go to New Orleans or Mississippi or Texas to clean up and help rebuild. But if God is calling you, And if you think, "What can I do? I don't have anything to offer. My talents are insignificant. etc." I would ask, If you don't, who will? Maybe your role is talking it up at your church, or sending notes of encouragement to the people that go, or praying for the people on the trip and the people affected by these storms, or maybe donating money or gas cards or other things to take down. Maybe your role is getting in the van and seeing what happens when you get there. Donna's role on our last trip was to cook meals for us for when we got back after working all day. Kim's role was to shoot video to help recruit for next time.

Everyone that is receiving this email or reading this blog have been asked if you want to get it, or have been told how to get your name off the list, and really, just receiving this email or reading this blog entry is answering a call. It's a small part in a big picture. If from reading it, you are compelled or motivated to get more involved, then great. If not, then you've already done everything you are supposed to do- and thank you! It is very helpful to us knowing that there are people following along, cheering us on from wherever you are.

There is still a lot to do. And New Orleans has a LOT of houses in many neighborhoods that still need work. And there are a lot of people still not back in their homes. - some not back to Louisiana. And that's just Louisiana. Mississippi is still not fully recovered. And Texas was hit pretty big by Ike in 2008. When we went to Mississippi to catch up with some of our previous homeowners, we met with Elijah Mitchell, who was the coordinator of Disaster recovery in Mississippi for the United Methodist Church. I asked him which area needed more help, Louisiana or Mississippi. He refused to answer, saying that to the homeowner or homeless person affected, their problem or need is the most important. There is work to be done everywhere.

So what can one little person or group do? Whatever you can. Think of Gideon against the Middianites. Or Elijah against the prophets of Baal. Small groups verses large odds. Being obedient in the small things brings big results. What can you do? Whatever you can. And if you don't, who will?

Thanks to everyone again and again and again who made this possible. Jim P. who wrote a lot of letters and did some great fundraising. Medtronic, MIdway Party Rental, Allied Rental, Boyer Ford Track and Van rental, Robert Street Business Association, Millwood, Inc., the Riverbend Church group, The Outback Steakhouse in InverGrove Hts, and everyone that donated, prayed, encouraged, etc.

NOLA 4- Spring of 2010- who's in?

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Fwd: NOLA3 eval meeting and debriefing

2009-10-28T15:55:00.002-05:00

NOLA team and Riverbend churches-

On Sunday, November 15th, at 4:00pm at Davanni's on Grand in St. Paul, the Riverbend Mission Team will be having a debriefing and evaluation meeting. This will be a little like our "Show and Tell" dinners.

We will be looking back at the past trip (and probably previous trips) to celebrate God's amazing ability and desire to use us. We will laugh again about the things we laughed about, and remind each other of the things we saw.

We will also be looking forward to the next trip, using what we have learned on this trip to make the next one even better.

This meeting is for anyone that was on the trip, anyone that wished they were on the trip, anyone that is interested in hearing about the trip, and anyone thinking about or planning on going on the next trip.

If you're going to plan on coming, please let me (Rod Scofield.) know so that we can plan on enough chairs and tables set up in their back conference room. Parking at Davanni's is not always easy, so riding with other people is recommended.

If you are out of town and want to participate via the web, let me know and I will try to figure out a way to make that happen. I know Rod and Ginger were going to give that a try.

Questions or RSVP- email or call me.

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

And we're back.. Again!

2009-10-21T17:05:00.002-05:00

Hello All! Ali here. You are all so lucky because you get to read all my thoughts and reflections after a busy and action packed week! It is my hope that something I write is relatable to your own thoughts, feelings, fears, etc.

I worry about sounding redundant when I post on this blog, when I do my devotions, when I pray with the group... However, I have come to the conslusion that it is bigger than my own or other's perceptions. It encompasses my thoughts, feelings and heart. (This may be me giving myself an out for an incoherent entry... Oops.. there I go again).

So, a large focus this trip was about the message that we are trying to convey to others about the ongoing need for people to join us or other groups going down to rebuild the Gulf Coast. I think that this is a complex idea that requires attention to all aspects. People wonder why there is still so much to be done. People are afraid they won't be a good fit or bring skills that are useful. People wonder why we travel all the way to NOLA when there is work to be done here. And the truth of the matter is, I can get behind the thought process of all these things.

Seemingly, if everything and every system worked the way it should-we would be farther along in the rebuilding process. HOWEVER, Katrina was a stinkin' huge storm and things don't always work the way they should. At the end of the day, we are only as far as we are.

Seemingly, if this is a trip that is titled "rebuiding" there would be a certain amount of "rebuilding skills" that would be required. However, I think we generalize what "rebuilding skills" includes. Yes, I am amazed by Howard, Bob, Jeff, and Gary Baker's building abilities. Sometimes I think it is superhuman. But I am amazed also in the same scope by people's hearts and passion and ears to listen, eyes to see, hands that reach out and willingness to step outside of their comfort zone (including the aforementioned superhumans!) I think that just by being willing to go, taking a week out of your life to show up for people who have been waiting for someone to show up for them since 2005, that is all the skill you need. God will provide the rest. And at the end of the week, you may have surprised yourself. (IE- I used a power tool which is right up there on my scary list between forgetting to wear pants and reptiles! Corrine- You are my inspiration!)

And finally... Seemingly, it appears funny that we are going all the way to New Orleans to serve God, when there are people right in our back yards who need help and love just as much. I think about this one a lot because I work with these people on a daily basis. However, at the end of the day, I know God calls us to do His will based on things that are WAY above us. It has been my experience that when I think something should go a certain way, it goes the exact opposite. It has become the way I navigate the roads in my life and has brought many amazing people and experiences to me.

Also, I think we get caught up on the idea of who is our neighbor? In Luke, Jesus and the lawyer are talking about what you need to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus, so clever that he is tells him to look at what the law says (Hello, you're a lawyer?! ha!). It says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind: (And here is the kicker) AND your neighbor as yourself.
Our neighbors are the people who live next door to us, in town, in the state, in the country, in the world, in New Orleans. Our days are filled with chances to help our neighbors. When we practice kindness, when we give up our precious time, when we smile at people, when we ease the burden of someone else- that is when we are saying that we are trying to live the life of love that God wants us to. That is when we are doing His will. That is what we do every trip we take to New Orleans. When we see a need unmet, God wants us to meet it.

I remember the Spring of 2009 trip when a team from Louisianna was having a fundraiser for a mission trip to Iowa. So if we are worried about our neighbors when we leave... God has got it on lock-down.

In closing, I encourage anyone teetering on the fence to really think about what God calls us to do for our neighbors. (And really, get on board before Rod comes and pushes you right over to our side). I think it is his way of giving us a "gentle" reminder that we are called to help our neighbors, rich and poor, young or old, no matter where they live. These trips help us show Jesus to all people. AMEN!

See Ya'll in the spring?!

NOLA 3 The drive back

2009-10-20T23:09:00.000-05:00

We got up on Saturday morning and intended to leave North Rampart Community Center by 8:00am. We pulled out around 8:45. We dropped Rod St. at the airport since he had to get home right away to preach at his church on Sunday morning. We drove for hours uneventfully. At one point, though, I was sleeping and Corrine was driving. Pete woke me up and told me the chains were dragging on the trailer. I told Corrine to "pull over now!" Apparently I was a little brusque, because when I got into the van after fixing the chains, she was in one of the back seats sitting meekly like she did something wrong. She thought I was taking the keys away from her or something. I guess I didn't say why she was pulling over.

We arrived in Kirkwood (St. Louis) a little after 8:00pm. And the coolest thing happened. There was a group from their church there to greet us and help us with our luggage. They had cooked dinner for us and they hung out with us for awhile. They treated us like conquering heros. They had cooked chicken with cheese and mushrooms and all sorts of deliciousness into it. And a salad, and a jello dessert, and pumpkin cookies. After dinner, they did devotions for us. Barb, who is leading a team to New Orleans in the Spring also, told two stories about their previous trip.

When Barb was first considering going on a mission trip to the Gulf, she asked around about where they would be staying. And at first, they heard there would only be one bathroom for the twenty of them. This would make things very difficult. In the end, it turns out there were two, and only two showers. But it turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip, because when they got back from working, they would gather in dining area talking about what they did and saw that day. They would hear someone yell, "next!" and the next person would go get cleaned up. When everyone was done, they would have dinner together, but this waiting provided some golden time for them to grow and fellowship and enjoy each other and hear their stories. What could have been a crabby, impatient time, they used, and God used for good.

On their trip, one of their home owners, on the first day they were working, met them and welcomed them and thanked them, and told them she was on her way to the doctor's office for a scan of some kind. They prayed for her and went back to work. A couple days later, the homeowner got the results. She told Barb's team that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Barb's team stopped working and came around and prayed for her and cried with her and just spent time with her. It turned out that one people on Barb's team had MS, and could only really put in about a half day. From that time on, that person sat and talked with the home owner for hours at a time. God used Barb's team to minister to this woman in such a profound way. It turns out the important thing wasn't getting so much further on the house as it was being there for her in a dark time. It also goes to prove that God will use the people that are willing, MS or whatever.

So if God is calling you to come with us the next time, and you don't think you have anything to offer, by all means come and offer what you can.

On Sunday morning, we left Kirkwood shortly after 8:00am and headed north. We had breakfast in Hannibal, MO at Howard's favorite buffet. And I will tell everyone that I didn't miss any turn, I MEANT to drive 5 miles out of the way to drive over the Mississippi River, over a couple of cool bridges, and right into Illinois. And if you believe that I meant to, you may want to check your gullibility filters. (I figured out something was wrong when I saw bridges, and KNEW something was wrong when there was a sign that said, "Welcome to Illinois!")

When we got to Albert Lea, Rod St., joined back up with us and picked up Ginger. We did our final devotions and said goodbye to Rod and Ginger, and to Lewis, who Howard would be dropping off in Lakeville.

When we got to Salem UMC, there were a group of people there to help clean up the van and unload the trailer. It was more than I expected since Erin wasn't on the team this time, but her parents showed up anyway. Jeff, who was supposed to come with us brought his family as did Pastor Carolyn.

A good trip come to an end.

After I dropped Corrine off at her home with all her stuff, (and yes, Bob, I did leave that bucket of dried drywall mud at her house), I got that nostalgic end-of-camp feeling. When you spend that kind of time together, you just can't help but miss them when they're gone. Even after two long days cooped up in a van together.

We will be getting together again soon to debrief the trip, do some evaluation, etc. We will not be having the traditional Show and Tell Dinner we have been having. We decided that we spend too much time on inside jokes and stories and it drags out and on and on an out. We are putting together a little "Thank You!" video to show at the churches instead. I think I will open that meeting up to anyone that wants to come, because in essence, we will be starting to plan the next trip. (April 24-May 2nd- I signed us up for a few more slots than usual...... If you want to come, shoot me an email.)

In a couple days, or maybe tomorrow, I will post some closing thoughts, etc. Ali told me she would post something within the next day or two also, so come back and check out what she has to say about the trip. I don't know if Kim will post on here or not. Maybe when she's got some of the videos done, she will put some vids here.

NOLA 3 Thursday and Friday

2009-10-20T16:50:00.001-05:00

I started this on Thursday, added a tiny bit on Friday, and now, here I am on Saturday night (Sunday morning EARLY) trying to remember everything about the past three days. Wow.

Today I woke up (Thursday) and felt like they might have to bring my work project to me in bed. And I wasn't the only one. Usually, Bob is up around 5:00 or 5:30 or so. Today, I got up just before him at 6:30. We are all a little tired.

At Bob's house, we got to meet our home owner today (Thursday). Her name is Patricia and she is a friendly, energetic lady with a lot of spunk. Her home (the one we are working on) has been robbed 4 times, and she was the victim of contractor fraud. She has been waiting and waiting for help, and it has been long in coming. She is so grateful to finally get some help. And actually, she is pretty close to being able to move back in.

Howard's team is working for Janice and Janice made them a big old bucket of seafood gumbo for us to have with out dinner tonight. I really enjoyed it. Lewis wasn't thrilled about it, though. There were crab parts in there that he thought should probably have been left out.

Thursday evening, Jeff S. was supposed to do devotions, but because he had to back out due to sickness in his family, he wasn't there to do it. Thanks to technology, however, we piped Jeff in via the internet and he was able to participate. We did the same thing with Pastor Carolyn on Friday night.

On Friday, we wrapped up our projects. The people at Southeast Disaster Recovery want their tools back by about 3:00pm, so we have to stop early.

What Howard's team (Howard, Ali, Ginger, Lewis, Corrine) accomplished:

Hanging a straight door in a crooked place

Hanging drywall in a jigsaw puzzle pattern complete with obstructive plumbing

Installing a vanity in a bathroom- uninstalling it, ripping up some of the tile looking for a drain, reinstalling the tile, and then installing a vanity that fits in the space

Reinstalling tile on three steps

baseboard and trim

rebuilt a screen door

reattaching the screen door frame to the cement floor of the porch

reattaching a closet door to the floor- found 4 empty whisky bottles circa 1920ish

What Bob's team (Bob, Rod St., Pete, Matt, Rod Sc.) accomplished:

remove and replace drywall on a whole wall with plumbing issues

installed cabinets and countertops on same wall

installed tile as a backsplash on the wall

mud and tape on other walls that needed it

sprayed texture on some walls

built a deck off the back door

reinstalled some broken tile pieces (replaced the broken ones)

cleaned up the back "yard"

tried to install a toilet and pedestal sink, but they are the wrong size

After we dropped off the tools, and equipment that we had borrowed, we drove through the Lower 9th Ward and the St. Bernard Parish. There is a lot that has been done. Brad Pitt's organization has completed work on several houses (cool looking houses!) There is more done, but still so much to be done. When driving around the Greater New Orleans area, you see all sorts of places that are not fixed, or even started. Many aren't going to GET fixed. The task seems overwhelming.

One of the things Kim did today was to interview Dale Kimball for our video. Dale is in charge of the United Methodist Church's response to Disaster Recovery for the state of Louisiana. He is a highly energetic and enthusiastic speaker.

Oh- don't flush celery down the toilet. It doesn't go very well. Even when it is cooked to mushy. ("Rod, can you dump out the leftovers in this pan? The celery? I guess you could dump the whole thing down the commode.") So then, even if the celery appears to go down, the next person to leave anything of significance (use your imagination or don't.) will need to use a plunger....

When we got back, we had dinner (pot roast a la Donna!). Some walked down to the French Quarter to the Cafe Du Monde to get coffee again. Then we walked a few blocks down Bourbon Street. I have decided that when you have seen 1 block of Bourbon Street, you have seen them all. And now that it's Tuesday, I can't remember what Pete bought.... But we took a picture that made it look like an alligator was going to eat his head. He is actually standing on my back to pose for this picture.

This week seemed to go by a lot faster for me than previous trips. I don't know why that is, unless it's because I was always thinking about what had to be done next. When to take Kim to the next house. When to interview Dale. When to take the people to see the Lower 9th. When to do this or that. We try to get a lot of good experiences into a week. Something to think about will be how to live in the moment.

I apologize for not getting this done sooner. Here it is Tuesday evening after the trip and I am just getting to post for the end of the week. I'll post a few more observations and thoughts and highlights from the drive back.

And the next trip? April 24-May 2. We will be staying at the Southeast Station (the site that equipped us each day. There are bunks and a showers and I think I saw laundry and a kitchen and etc.) It is about 15 minutes drive from downtown, in what is known as the Gentilly neighborhood.

Stay tuned...

Oh- I would love to encourage to leave a comment and / or sign up to "Follow" our blog. Tell others about what we are doing, and encourage people that want to come along next time.

NOLA 3 Wednesday

2009-10-15T00:25:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all who have been praying for us and following us along on this trip.

Usually on Wednesdays, we are encouraged to knock off after a half to see some things and experience more of the area we are in. Traditionally, we have gone to look at the Lower 9th Ward and other areas. This time, though, most of us took the hour and a half drive to Biloxi to see some of the home owners we have worked for in the past. From Biloxi 1, we got to see Nate and Isaac both. From Biloxi 2, we visited with Cici and Ida Mae. From Biloxi 4, we got to see Thomas. All were happy to see us and told how they have been since seeing them last. We also visited a favorite restaurant from the past: Lil Ray's. We decided it really was important to see and reconnect with these people again as it continues to show God's love in tangible ways. We have not forgotten about these people after our work projects are done. They are still important to us and significant, to us and to God.

Bob's group worked a half day and mostly finished mudding and taping. They also started putting a deck on the back of the house. Howard's full team worked a half day, but Howard, Corrine, and Ginger stayed and continued working on projects in the house. Howard reported a long list of things they accomplished. But he also said that he feels that now that they have laid a lot of groundwork, they can get started toward the places they should have been on Monday.

While in Biloxi, we also had an opportunity to speak with Reverend Elijah Mitchell. Rev. Mitchell was the coordinator of disaster recovery in Mississippi for the first two years after Katrina. He now pastors a church just north of Gulfport and is very involved in ministry to the homeless. We asked him for his perspective on the barriers to recovery and the long term impacts. Many people are asking why, after four years, in America, are we still not recovered? Rev. Mitchell and his wife pointed to some systemic and institutional problems dealing with insurance and access to resources. We also asked him what the best way we, as individuals and churches can help serve those that are still suffering from the effects of Katrina. He said the best way is to "adopt" a family. We asked how to go about doing that and he said you just DO it. It's not a formal arrangement through any agency. He knows of churches, cities, and even the "State of New York" that has "adopted" families still in need. He explained that when we adopt a family, or a home, the people there get more of their needs met because there isn't a red tape agency bottle neck of any kind. To me, this feels messier, and kind of scary. How do you find families to "adopt?" What is the time commitment? What is the money commitment? What if you don't agree with their lifestyle? There may not be easy answers to any of these questions, but they are legitimate things to think about. And while it feels messy and scary, it also seems very right. God's economy and our economy are not the same. God is not bound by FEMA regulations or donation caps. God is in the business of restoration and redemption and love. If we can show that or better, BE that love to a family, then I think we are doing the right thing. This is God's people serving each other in love as each's own part of the Body. (Remember, Pastor Dave talked about being a part of The Body at Commissioning!)

Lighter notes:
Bob and Pete ate raw oysters.
Howard's team found some old whisky bottles from the 1930's. They look like they had been hidden from someone.
Kim disturbed a mound of fire ants which then ate her, me, and Lewis. (Thanks, Kim!)
Lewis was startled by a lizard. We decided that it's partially because it looks like a micro-gator.

I posted more pics on the picasa site. To access them, click here

Shoot us a note. Sign up to "follow" our blog. Thanks again for your love and support. Keep praying.

R

NOLA 3 Tuesday

2009-10-14T00:03:00.001-05:00

Tonight, I will make this quick and this note is the same as the blog entry.

Great day- Rained hard for awhile, but otherwise pretty hot and sweaty!

Today, Ali found a pretty big cockroach and offered it to Donna for something to cook for dinner. Donna agreed, but said that Ali would have to skin and filet it. (We had spaghetti for dinner)

Bob's team reset the cabinets correctly and did a lot of mudding and taping, and general cleanup inside and outside.

Howard's team put in a door, made a screen for a front door, and prepped for laying (re-laying really) some tile.

I think the folks over at the supply shed (where we had our original orientation and where supplies are kept- hmm) are getting tired of us needing more and more stuff. Howard was stymied by the lack of a hammer drill. And here all this time I thought a hammer and a drill were different.

After dinner, Jim P. did devotions with us over the phone. He says he is recouping pretty well.

I also talked with Pastor Carolyn today. She is getting better now, too.

And Jeff never did get real sick. But his wife is just now getting better.

So thank you for your prayers in all this!

After dinner, some of us walked to Jackson Square. There was a guy there playing a "glass harmonica," which was a bunch of different sized glasses filled to varying levels with water. He played several different songs on them. It was kinda hokey and kinda neat. Certainly something you don't see every day.

I posted more pictures on the Picasa website. Take a look by clicking here. Pictures!

Ok that's all for now.

Thanks for your prayers and emails and comments on the blog www.rodscof.blogspot.com

More tomorrow.

R

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 3 Monday

2009-10-12T22:55:00.000-05:00

Sorry I missed a day. I spent a lot of time last night with Kim trying to figure out how to best handle all the data from the video she is shooting. Some of it got emailed to her son, who will start to configure it and maybe even post it soon so I can include video on here.

So to catch up- I got a chance to talk to the Senior Pastor at La Croix UMC where we stayed on Saturday night. I asked him the obvious question, "How did you do it?" and "I'm guessing you are an empowering pastor that says 'let's try it.'" He said it's easier to have a baby than to raise the dead, meaning it's easier to start a new church than to try to resurrect one that is already dead or dying.

We left a little later than we were going to. (This is becoming a theme!) We drove through Memphis, Jackson, etc., and arrived at the place we are being housed around 6:30pm. JoAnn, who is the coordinator of this site we are staying at, gave us a tour and told us about the facility we are at. The facility is at the edge of the French Quarter. We do have to be careful about what we leave outside in the vans, just in case someone wants what's in there in the middle of the night. We are parking right on the street outside the door to the building. There is a sleeping room for the men, and another for the women. They are pretty comfortable- lot's of space. There is a kitchen facility that Donna is enjoying, and all the meeting room anyone needs. It is an old building with some charm. I don't think anyone has taken any pictures of it yet, but when they do, I'll post them.

Today we got our work assignments. Howard's team (Ali, Lewis, Ginger, Corrine) are working on a house in a nice neighborhood. The house is owned by Janice, and is split into a duplex, where she and her mom lived until just before Katrina. They have some pretty unique challenges in this house, including a "jigsaw puzzle drywall challenge," a bathroom vanity that doesn't fit the space, kind of, and termites.

Howard's team is working on this house, and for this homeowner, Janice.

Before

After

Janice was the victim of contractor fraud. She paid someone to come and work on her house. They took the money and didn't do the work.

Bob's team (Rod St., Matt, and Pete) are working in a not-so-nice part of town, about 5 miles or so west of Howard's house. I don't know anything about this homeowner yet. The task so far is to put up some drywall and install cabinets. The team or contractor (?) that put up the drywall in this house, closed in some plumbing before it could be inspected. So some had to be ripped out before it could be inspected. Our job was to re-rock the wall and then install cabinets for the kitchen. While Rod St. and Bob and Matt worked on that, Pete and Rod Sc., and Kim cleaned up the back yard a little, preparing for putting in a deck. This house used to be a duplex, but they are making it one house. The back deck connects the two parts.

This is the house Bob is working on.

The wall before

the wall after

Now remember I said this was not so good a neighborhood? We had to attach the cabinets to the wall so that looters couldn't come in and steal them overnight. We didn't have time to do it right, so we had to just attach and run.

Now you may notice I left out Donna and Kim and Rod Sc.- Donna is along to help support the team with meals. She had ham dinner ready for us when we got back today. She spent the day at our housing site (North Rampart Community Center), cleaning the kitchen and throwing out old, expired stuff, and getting dinner ready for us. She arranged the dining area to facilitate a family like dinner, with everyone sitting at the same table (kind of). She just kept bringing out more food. It was amazing. On past trips, Barbara and Ginger worked hard to do dinner right for us, but they just didn't have the time to put into it like someone that comes that is committed to serving the team like this. It was amazing. I would even go so far as to say it was better than Ms. Cynthia's cooking from the last two Biloxi trips we were on. (see old posts about how we raved about Ms. Cynthia's cooking).

This isn't cooking at the center, but Donna is in charge of all the meals- the ones on the road, too. And we are mighty blessed because of it!

Kim is shooting video for this trip, so we can make some promotional, and "thank you" videos to show when we get back. We have sent some of this video to her son, who is going to edit these for us. It is possible you will see some video of this trip before it's even done.

Thanks to everyone that has sent us encouraging notes. I have shared them with the team here. You can go to my Picasa website and see more pictures from this trip by clicking Here (Photos).

Feel free to shoot us a comment. - Oh and become a follower by clicking "Follow Blog." I think people have to have a gmail account to "Follow" us, but I'm not sure.

Oh- Kim and Ali have access to this blog and may post. I'll have to remind us all to tell who it is that is posting. Erin C. from past trips also has access to post, but as she is traveling around singing with Youth Encounter this year, I don't expect to see her posting. (Erin- it's up to you!)

Ok, that's enough for now.

It sure is good to be back.

NOLA 3 on the road!

2009-10-10T23:47:00.000-05:00

Well, we are off and running! We left a snowy and icy St. Paul, MN this morning. The final count is 12. Jeff, Jim, and Pastor Carolyn were unable to come because of health issues. We are praying for their quick recovery.

Usually, we stop and eat lunch someplace outside on the way down. Today, it was just too cold when it was lunch time. We got out of the car for gas I think just south of Cedar Rapids, around 2:00pm. Finally, when we got to St. Louis, and got gas again, it was time to take off the jackets and sweatshirts.

We left a little earlier and drove a little farther than usual. Right now, I am in La Croix United Methodist Church, in Cape Girardeau, MO. And I am in awe. Absolutely astounded. This church is HUGE! And what a set up. I'm not kidding when I say it is the most exciting United Methodist Church I have ever seen. Their education wing is done like a jungle, complete with fabricated trees and vines etc. Their areas are clean and well done and they have spent some money. Their sanctuary/worship center could host concerts or plays, and they probably do! Jake S.- their media booth probably launches rockets. You would be amazed. I will try to take some pictures in the morning.

What do we do in the van all day? - well, one person drives, (hopefully!), sometimes we play games, some people sleep, some read, some do homework, some do Sudoku puzzles, some eat chocolate chip cookies or chex mix or other stuff. Some just sit. Some do all of the above. It's really one of my favorite parts.

Kim has been shooting a lot of video that we intend to use to make some DVD's. I haven't seen anyone take any pictures yet, so I can't give you any here.

Shoot us a note, or make a comment on our blog (www.rodscof.blogspot.com). Or give us a call while we're on the road.

Tomorrow, we get up and leave for New Orleans around 7:30am.

Prayer requests: the sick folks that aren't with us, Erin C.- former team member traveling with the Youth Encounter ministry, Pete D's knee. Apparently, he twisted it getting into the van today, and continued safe travels.

Peace and thanks for coming with us!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

Prayers and happy thoughts

2009-10-06T21:21:00.001-05:00

Friends, supporters, lurkers (Hi DG!), and others-

Three people on our team are possibly going to have to be benched.

Jim P. is sick and has been since Wed. His Doctor advises him not to come if his cough is not better by Friday.

Jeff S.- His wife and two daughters are both sick. He suspects he'll start to show symptoms on the way down....

Pastor Carolyn- Has bronchitis. I haven't heard from her since Sunday, so I'm not sure how she's doing. I know she didn't go to committee meetings on Monday night at church.

You prayed for Kim O's family and son, Conor. He's well. Doing fine. No H1N1.

Otherwise, we are just about ready to go. We got some great info on the place we are staying at from a friend that went on a New Orleans trip last year and stayed at the same place. Thanks to Barb in St. Louis for the info!

I think that's all the news for now.

If you are in the Twin Cities, we have our commissioning service on Friday night at 7:00pm at Salem United Methodist Church in InverGrove Hts. We invite everyone to come and pray for us and send us out.

Thanks everyone!

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 3! Getting ready to go!

2009-09-28T19:10:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! We are gearing up for our next trip to New Orleans to help restore people into their homes. We leave on October 10th and return on October 18th. There will be 15 people on our team, mostly repeaters, but 3 new faces to the mix.

The Go'ers:

Rod Sc.- 7th trip

Howard N.- 7th grip

Lewis W.- 6th trip

Corrine M.- 6th trip

Bob N.- 5th trip

Rod St.- 4th trip

Ginger St- 4th trip

Ali St- 3rd trip

Jeff S.- 3rd trip

Matt S.- 3rd trip

Carolyn W.- 3rd trip

Jim P.- 2nd trip

Kim O.- 1st trip

Donna G- 1st trip

Pete D- 1st trip.

We will be staying on the edge of the French Quarter at North Rampart Community Center. One of the challenges for this trip involving where we are staying will be parking. There is no off-street parking for this facility. I think I have found a place to park our van and trailer, but I am still waiting for approval (from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation).

Six months ago, they told us that the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain was 85% "done," and that the greater New Orleans was only 10% "done." We are looking forward to going and serving in this area that still is a long way from being restored.

We had our mega-fundraiser at the Outback Steakhouse in InverGrove Hts. Numbers are not in, but I would guess we made about $1500. Thank you to everyone that came out and had a steak.

Some things to pray about for us as we continue to get ready for going:

1. Notice that Barbara S, Erin, C., and Darold S. are not coming on this trip. Darold is in Korea working for the next two years, Erin is traveling around the US with a music ministry, and Barbara had some things come up that she just couldn't get out of. We will miss them and their energy on this team.

2. Pete and Kim and Donna are our new members. Pray that God uses them in ways that surprise everyone.

3. Pray for our parking and transportation situation in New Orleans.

4. Pray for us to be able to see what God would want us to see, and respond in a way that glorifies Him. For those of us that have been on these trips since the beginning or close to the beginning, for us to be able to have the same awe and wonder at seeing God at work.

5. Pray for Kim's family's heath. Her seventeen year old son has been exposed to H1N1 and is now starting to show symptoms.

6. Personally- I will be taking a week unpaid from work. Others are also leaving obligations and financial responsibility and loved ones behind. Pray that God fills in the blanks. He is God. He will provide.

If you are getting this email and would rather not, please shoot me an email and I'll take you off the list. I'll probably send out one more of these before we go, and then each day (or close to each day) while we're gone I'll send updates. You can always keep up with us on our blog: www.rodscof.blogspot.com I would encourage people to "follow" our blog (when you visit the site, look for a small box near the top left that says "follow" and click on it.). I honestly don't know if that means you get a note in your email box when someone posts or not.

Ok- I think that's it.

As my friend Carol says,

Til He comes or I go...

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

A great video I found

2009-07-08T23:57:00.002-05:00

I found this video hanging out on Youtube. It appeals to me on a number of levels. It has always been a favorite song of mine. And I think what they are doing is great. Working together through music to promote peace and community. Christian attributes, not a Christian band. I'm ok with that.

NOLA 3

2009-06-22T18:58:00.001-05:00

Hey all- We should start thinking about getting together for our NOLA meetings to start getting ready for the fall. How does July 19th work for everyone? (Erin, I know you'll be out of town that weekend, but I believe you will be gone with YE when it comes time to go, anyway. --- )

If I don't hear a bunch of people screaming, "NO!" Then I will schedule us to meet and start recruiting for JULY 19th. - Someplace with air conditioning...

Things to figure out quick:

1. For sure dates: Right now we are gunning for October 10th-18th

2. Do we like leaving on Friday?

3. Fund-raising and the cost of the trip per participant

4. Recruiting

5. Schedule of meetings

Email or call (651-248-xxxx) with questions or concerns or "Rod, I want to go on the trip, but I can't make that first meeting." etc.

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

This Time Around...

2009-05-11T23:16:00.002-05:00

Is there anything later than a epilogue? The life of a college student is not conducive to prompt follow up.

So we've been back a little over one week now, but I had some closing thoughts about the trip. AND, since I am so late in doing so, you will get the best of my thoughts over the past 7 days (Atleast that is my spin on being too busy). Oh, this is Ali by the way, I just assume everyone knows (yes, my head may be growing so large I will have to give my hats away).

Now I realize that two trip to New Orleans does not an expert make, but I still use these experiences to get on my soap box every once in awhile (What? A social worker dismantling people and "telling them like it is", that's weird). I feel like these trips and experiences have taught me a lot, and this trip specifically about being grateful. If my family fell into that stereotypical tradition of going around the table at Thanksgiving and saying one thing we are grateful/thankful for, I would have this locked up for the next two decades. I could start with Buffalo Wild Wings, Vera Bradley handbags, a loving family both in my home and in my church, a roof over my head and on and on and on. But, at the top of the list would be God's indescribable gift that is outlined in 2 Chorinthians. The gift of eternal life and forgiveness. For me personally, I always feel like I need to reciprocate any kind of nice gesture or action. I have to stop myself before I start sending out thank you cards for thank you cards I receive. I have this strong desire to "be square" with people. But really, I can never repay God's gifts, but lucky for me He doesn't expect me to.

BUT, (isn't there always a but?), we ARE called to give our money, time and talents (YES, we all have them. Mine is as simple as fitting into small spaces) to accomplish God's purpose. We are to feed, clothe, and house the poor (Or, what NDRI, the organization we worked for, referred to as the least, the last, the lost.. And yes, I am going to steal that and use it in my practice). I think we are to paint, mud (400 lbs worth!), lay flooring, wash houses, learn and grow in each other and the community and show God's love by our actions and tell people about our hope in Jesus Christ.

Knowing God changes our thinking... I know Rod has talked about how it is not all about us, but rather it is about God working through us. When we open every aspect of our lives to God's guidance, we become more effective disciples. We can then bless others as we share what God has given us. I guess I feel like that is a lot of fancy talk (That's what you get after 5 years of college and 2 degrees) for saying that God calls us to show His love to the people who feel forgotten and really need to see His gifts and purpose at work. These trips are an excellent outlet for this.

Soo.. We are back and back at our everyday life and the challenge of keeping the passion and purpose is threatening to creep in as we descend the mountain top experience into the valley and what my Dad calls the "nitty gritty." BUT, I trust that God will provide everything we need and we won't forget why we went and why He called us there.

NOLA 2 Epilogue

2009-05-06T12:30:00.001-05:00

Obviously, we are back. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us and wrote notes during the trip.

We left Slidell, LA just after 8:00am on Saturday. We drove to St. Louis, where we saw the Arch for a few minutes. When we got to the church we stay at, I couldn't find anyone from the church, but the code to get in worked and the rooms we stay in were unlocked. It felt a little odd, but we've been to this church eleven times now, so our routine is pretty set. We unloaded and made a dinner plan. Usually, we have gone to a pizza joint around the corner a few blocks away. We found a new pizza place to eat dinner that was a lot better pizza and a lot better service.

The next morning, we left Kirkwood (St. Louis) shortly after 8:00am. We arrived at our church parking lot pretty close to 6:30pm. This is pretty good considering a stop at McD's for lunch and a stop for our last devotions. Sue L. and several others were there to help clean out the vans and welcome us back. They made signs that were taped to the windows of the church. (IF anyone from the team got a picture, post it on the blog if you can or email it to me?).

The next day, I took the rental equipment back to Midway Party Rental and the van back to Boyer Ford. Jeff took the trailer back to the rental place we got it from. (notice I am not mentioning their name. They gave us a deal on the trailer, but gave us one with no working jack- we had to have people hang on the back of it to get it on and off the hitch. Funny for memories, not funny for paying, although if I spent $5.00 on empty cups, why WOULDN't I spend $275 on a defective trailer?-- If anyone knows where we can rent one from next fall, let me know.)

So for this trip, there is just some paperwork to bang together, and the Show and Tell dinner (May 17th 5;30 at Faith UMC in West St. Paul) before this trip is "over."

And people are asking, "How was it?" - It was good.

Obviously, every trip is different. There are different dynamics based off the projects we work on, where we are, the people that go, etc. The other dynamic is the time elapsed after the storm. The relationships we developed with our homeowners is different than it was right after the storm. The relationship with the neighbors, with the community, with everyone is different. We don't do what we do for thanks or praise, but you notice now, that you don't get it as much. And again, it's not what we are there for. It was a dynamic that surprised us at the beginning. People seemed to want to talk about the storm and where they were and etc. This isn't the case anymore. My team didn't even meet Herbert (our homeowner) until Thursday. So we are not developing the relationships that we did before. In previous trips, we made it a point to try to get out into the community at night to talk with and listen to the people. This time, we stayed at the church compound most nights. - Made a few connections on the basketball court, and with the Indiana team that was staying with us, but generally, we hung out mostly with ourselves. So the "benefits" are more pure. We are helping people get back into their homes because it is the right thing to do. Not for praise. Not for recognition. Just because Jesus loves them and us, and gave us the resources and ability and the desire to help.

There is still a LOT to be done. There aren't as many people going to help as before, either because of today's economy or because people are tired of it or because they don't know the magnitude of people still waiting to get back into their homes. I can hear some saying that it should be cleaned up and done by now. They haven't gotten back into their homes because they're lazy or welchers or whatever. This just isn't the case. Northshore Disaster Recovery Inc., says that the main demographic they service is single women over 70. Its' not that they don't want to do anything, it's that they just don't have the resources. Disaster "specialists" say the recovery period for a disaster is usually 18 months. Based off their own model and the magnitude of the damage caused by Katrina, the recovery time here should be about 11 years. It's only been 4. It's not time to get tired or bored with it. It's not sensational anymore. And house after house gets tedious, I think, but it is still the right thing to do. God has given us the resources, the abilities, and the desire. NOLA 3 this fall. Who's in?

The pic is our team photo- You could be in the next one!

Front row, Rod Sc., Ali S, Jill H., Bob N., Darold S.,

2nd row: Paul A., Mari F., Corrine M., Kathy B. Erin C.

3rd row: Pastor Carolyn, Barbara S., Matt S., Ginger S.,

Back row: Jeff S., Howard N., Jake S., Lewis W., Rod St., Roma B.

Last things: The Blog- www.rodscof.blogspot.com There is a link to our pictures. (I think you could also see my family's Christmas pictures if you tried...) Erin and Ali and Jake can also post on there, and they might put in some closing thoughts or more pictures. We will also put in some other tidbits, like the date that Dale Kimball from NDRI will be speaking in St. Paul, and some of the notes/etc. from some of the devotions that different team members gave.

Ending with this:

Isaiah 61:1-2

The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me.

He sent me to preach good news to the poor,
   heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives,
   pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace—
   a celebration of God's destruction of our enemies—
   and to comfort all who mourn

Amen

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 2 Friday

2009-05-02T01:39:00.001-05:00

Last work day-

Howard's house finished the first coat of mud on their drywall. Bob N. said they used 400 lbs. of mud.... they also finished the porch roof and started putting soffit on it.

Darold's house finished the laminate flooring in both bedrooms, washed the house, finished painting the inside, and did a lot of cleaning up of Herbert's stuff (Herbert is the home owner-- I have posted some of this info on the Picasa pictures site, and some on previous blogs, can't remember what's repeat and what's not)

The people at NDRI (Northshore Disaster Recovery, Inc.) wanted their tools back by 3:00pm, so we had to stop early. I think if hadn't had to cut out early, Roma and I could have gotten a good part of the laminate flooring done in the living room. - And Bob could have had the folks there get a couple more rooms 2nd coated with drywall mud.

But that's not the only reason we are here. It's not all about trying to get all the work done. It's about interacting with people, serving where needed, growing in faith with each other, and learning more about the area. For some, the value of getting as much done as possible, verses the value of positive relationships with the people are we are working for and with is a difficult conflict to reconcile. The best thing to remember, I think is "It's not about you/us." If we have a huge desire to get something done, or see one more site, or whatever it is, I think we need to check the motivation and ask if what we are trying to do glorifies God or assuages our earthy wants. Much easier said than done.

So we knocked off a couple hours early. We ran a few errands around Slidell and went to dinner at a new restaurant called "Crayfish Paradise." It just opened around Easter.

So have you ever had Crayfish? They are boiled in something spicy. And they look like mini-lobsters. They look EXACTLY like something I dissected in High School! - So anyway, you break off the tail, peel it, eat the meat on that's on the inside. Then you take the other part you broke away from (The head) and you suck the juice out of it. Ask Jake S. how that is. He was a trooper and tried it and liked it and at a lot of it.

Howard flew out today.

We are kicking off early (8:00am....) and going as far as St. Louis tomorrow. I usually have a tough time finding a wifi signal at the church we stay at, so don't look for an email from me tomorrow night.

Roma and Jill fly out tomorrow p.m. It was great working with Roma on the flooring project. And it was great to have Roma and Jill from my hometown in MIchigan along with us. It was good to catch up and hear the latest news.

Ok- that's all for now.- Go to the blog and click on the link for the pictures. There are over 100 pics there and they almost all have captions. Some are out of order but you'll get the ideal.

Pray for:

Safe travel.

Continued unity

Low gas prices?

Thanks all!

R
--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 2 Wed. and Thursday

2009-04-30T23:29:00.005-05:00

Thanks for your patience yesterday. We worked a half day, and then went to New Orleans. We walked around a bit and had dinner at a Gumbo restaurant in the French Quarter. We drove back across the long bridge that spans Lake Pontchartrain and got home kinda late. Jake S. needed to try to experience every single cultural thing about the South and New Orleans. So whirlwinded a bit. On our way in, we did a tour they gave us around areas mostly affected by

Katrina. We went through St. Bernard's Parish and the Lower 9th Ward to name a couple areas. There is more life in the Lower 9th and in St. Bernard's Parish than the last time we came through. But there are still many many many homes that are not being lived in or even worked on. The next picture is of the Lower 9th from a hill near the levy.

In the Lower 9th, there are a lot of houses that haven't been touched, a lot of cement slabs just sitting there, and some houses that are showing activity. Most notable, I thought, were the houses that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are having built. There were several of them in a few block radius. The houses all looked really neat- a non-traditional architecture. I thought other people were getting pics of some of these houses, but not many did. Even still, there is still sooooo much to be done. The next two pictures are of Branjolina's homes. The link for their website is : www.makeitrightnola.org/

Disaster Recovery says that Slidell and the northern area around Lake Ponchartrain is 85% restored. The greater New Orleans area is about 15% restored. This is due to several factors, some political, some geographic, some logistic. Remember that at first, they weren't letting people into New Orleans. Slidell was not closed off and took all the volunteers they could get as soon as they showed up. This organization hopes to be "done" with St. Tammany Parish (North Shore of Lake Ponch.) by the end of 2009, and can then focus all their attention to the South Shore. They say they have logged 2.6 million hours of work. There are other statistics, but I invite you to pay attention to announcements in this blog about when Dale K. from Disaster Recovery will be in St. Paul. If you're anywhere close by, we would love to have you stop in when he speaks. He is compelling.

Other things we have done:

Darold did devotions Wed. night

Paul did devotions Wed. am

Jill did devotions at night

The team working with Rod Sc. started laying laminate flooring. See the picture below.

The team working with Howard continues to be a drywall machine. They will get as much as they can done before it's time to go on Friday.

Our team (Rod) met our home owner today. His name is Herbert. We are taking him out to lunch tomorrow. He is really excited to be getting so close to getting back into his house.

Chicago won by 1 point in triple OT. I don't know who got voted off the island on Survivor yet. (DON'T tell me! I'll watch it when I can!)

That's all the news I can think of.

Prayer requests:

Team Unity

Safe travel for Howard (He has to fly back to St. Paul on Friday afternoon)

Herbert's health (our Homeowner- he didn't offer specifics and I didn't ask.)

Continued safety on our job sites

Pastor Carolyn and Jeff S. left kids at home with their spouses.

Pray for Jeff S.'s back

And that we get adequate sleep. (I keep telling them that when I was on my trip in Cuba, we took a nap after lunch each day. Nobody is getting the hint. )

Ok- thanks all!

2009-04-30T22:16:00.007-05:00

Greetings from N'awlens!

We are still dragging. As Lewis put it, we just didn't have it today. We still got a lot of stuff done and had a lot of fun in the process, but we didn't quite have our usual pep and energy.

That being said, we wouldn't trade our experiences here for anything, not even extra sleep.

Though we weren't moving as fast as we have earlier in the week, we are seeing completion on some projects, and much progress in others.

In process...

At my site, Howard, Lewis, and Jake have finished the ceiling on the front and back porch, and have started the siding part of the job. (For more details, ask one of them, as I was inside taping and mudding drywall all day long.......)

After the craftmanship of Howard and his trusty assistants.

Ali really getting into her work...

I like to mud.

I like to mud.

I really do like to mud....

That has been my mantra today. I really do enjoy taking the sheets of drywall attatched to studs and making them into walls. I like to and am fairly good at smoothing the ridges out and filling the holes. But we are working on the whole 3 bedroom 2 bath house, and *all* of the walls and ceilings need to be done. We have each found our niche, though. Matthew takes a screw gun and makes sure the screws aren't sticking out. Corrine and I have been doing the inside corners and ceilings, working corner to corner and meeting in the middle. PC and Ali have been sharing the duties also, Ali doing the upper part while PC gets the lowers. Mari seems to always be hiding out in closets, Rod and Jeff are the go to guys for finding the studs to screw the drywall in more securely, while Bob is just a blur, a one man mudding machine!

Through this process of living and working together so closely, sharing meals and sleeping in close quarters, you really get more of a glimpse into the heart of each person. Bob is a perfectionist, but really cares about people and is very encouraging and empowering. Mari seems shy and quiet, but there is a passionate powerhouse somewhere deep in there. And Lewis was a bounty hunter! Who knew?

It is just past midnight, and I am a little sad, because we only have one more day here to do the work we are meant to do, to see and hear and experience and learn what we are meant to, and to make whatever difference we can. Please pray we can be effective, productive, and open to God' leadings, and that despite our sleep deficit, we can finish up strong.

Thank You for all your support and prayers!

NOLA 2 Wednesday

2009-04-30T00:02:00.001-05:00

It has been a long day and we are all pretty wiped out. We spent a half day in New Orleans (as opposed to Slidell where we are usually at) looking at damage in other areas and doing a little cultural enrichment. (We saw Jackson park and ate dinner near the French Quarter.)

It is pretty late and I am pretty tired and nobody gave me their cameras to download pics off from.

Pray for energy for us for the next couple work days. There is still a lot to do on each of our sites. We will post again tomorrow.

Check out previous posts on the blog: www.rodscof.blogspot.com

Peace-

Rod

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

NOLA 2 Tuesday

2009-04-28T22:42:00.002-05:00

Today I had a petty moment. Very petty.

My team went out to a new site out in Mandeville. Our team didn't have a bathroom onsite, so we went over to Wendy's so a couple ladies could engage in bathroom activities. (No need to be specific, I suppose). Jill and I were talking about painting, and said it would be nice to have some cups or something to use for paint for dipping the brush in for cutting. I had the brilliant idea of using chili cups from Wendy's. I ran in and explained to them that we were from Minnesota and helping rebuild their community (not exactly in those words, but I tried to convey that) and could I get three cups they us for chili? They said that was "product" and they couldn't give it away. I was surprised (Don't they want to help us?- feel free to detect a little arrogance on my part) and asked how much it would cost to buy the cups. They don't sell the cups. OK Fine. "Give me three orders of chili, but without the meat or sauce." I'm not kidding. I was going to make a point. It was going to cost me almost $5.00. But I got those cups. She asked if I wanted the lids. I said OF COURSE I did!

That's not the worst part. When we left town, I stopped back in and said I didn't get the spoons and could I have them please?

I felt like I was entitled to those cups. Who in their right mind wouldn't just fork them over? I realize now, how absurd that sounds, but at the time, I was offended. So once I got over myself, I thought about assumptions and what we think we deserve, and attitudes about serving, and motivations about serving. Because I feel like we're not getting much done this time. We're not meeting our home owners (for the most part), we're not getting out into the community much. And I have to remind myself that this about following God where HE is leading, and serving God where HE calls us. And maybe this trip isn't about all the interactions with the community, but with each other. Lewis did a devotion last night about supporting each other as God's traveling workers. And at devotions today, Ali and Mari talked about how we are like Social Workers, which can be a thankless job.

I don't want to be thankless. I want to be thankful. Thank you, God for calling me/us. I am grateful for the opportunity to be here at this time with these people, serving His people, without expectation or condition.

The other stuff:

*Howard's team kept working on their house.

*Darold's team got a new house about a half hour out where they (we) are painting, cleaning, and will be laying laminate flooring. I'm not going to say that the floor in this house isn't level, but playing marbles in this house would be a challenge, and someone sleeping could possibly roll off the bed...

*and AMAZING pot roast for dinner! Thank you Ginger and Barbara!

* Ice Cream and Apples to Apples game for fun

* Devotions by Kathy tonight.

* We are going to New Orleans tomorrow.

Thanks to those that are supporting us and praying for us.

Prayer requests:

Pastor Carolyn's son is having a hard time with her being gone. (We think that's why he "doesn't feel good.")

Jeff did something to his knee. Pray that it feels better

Team unity

The Homeowners we are working for.

Ralph P. from Hale, Michigan. - struggling with cancer

Check out Erin's post on the blog, and click on the link to see more pictures on our Picasa site. www.rodscof.blogspot.com

Peace!

Rod

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

2009-04-28T21:53:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures, taken by Kathy, Corrine, and Erin.

This is the sign for our hosts, called the cadillac of volunteer housing (Are we blessed or what!)

Howard on a ladder, on the porch, by the cow.

Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil, the next generation.

Our very own Rosie the Riveter! (Corrine)

Some of us went for a walk and finally got to take some pictures of these beautiful trees!

Can you find the Pastor hidden in this picture?

2009-04-27T21:18:00.000-05:00

Erin here ~

PC, Ali, Mari, Corrine and I played in the mud all day!

Mari having great ideas...

We are working at a house that has most of the drywall up, but the places where the drywall meets needs to be smoothed with tape and mud. Matt was taping for us while Rod St. and Jeff and Bob, among other things, were sinking the screws in deep enough for us to work and making sure the drywall stayed on the wall, very important stuff. While we were inside, Howard, Jake, and Lewis worked on the porch, out by the barnyard.

Yes, barnyard.

Though lacking an actual barn structure, there were chickens, turkeys, ducks, 2 huge dogs and a cow.

I think they might both be Bovine!

We met our homeowner, Will, and he is really funny! He was a Marine and told us of his travels to Okinawa, Greece, Thailand… He has some great stories of his cold weather training in Korea, of all places! Hopefully we can get a picture of him for you tomorrow.

After the workday, we came back to home base and made spaghetti dinner, then devotions by Lewis. Bed is sounding better and better by the moment…

But I had to get this pic out to you first...

Bedtime stories in Memphis...

NOLA 2 Monday

2009-04-27T21:01:00.000-05:00

Rod here-

This morning, we had orientation with Dale and it was very inspirational. I would like to grow up and be like him. His passion for serving people is evident and contagious. He speaks well and enthusiastically about getting people back into their homes. I talked to him about coming to Salem UMC on July 12th. He will be in MN anyway.

So we got our work assignments and headed out. Erin and Ali are posting about their job site, but here are some pictures from there.

At my job site, we worked for Cheryl Z. Cheryl showed up for a few minutes, but didn't stay long and didn't say much. She is staying somewhere off site. We washed the outside of her house- vinyl siding. We had to scrub it with a big brush and spray it with chlorine (?) Barbara and Ginger, etc. painted doors and a closet inside. Roma started to mow the lawn, but ran out of gas. (The mower, not Roma). Besides the lawn we finished everything at our house. Here is a picture of the house.

And I got my phone fixed.

I got a bunch of other pictures from other people, so they aren't exactly in chronological order.

Here's Bob N. He is pretty amazing about what he knows how to do.

And here is Ginger and Barbara and Kathy visiting Carol A., a homeowner we worked with last year.

Click on the link for the picasa site that has the rest of the pictures.

Back at it...

2009-04-27T20:17:00.000-05:00

This is the essence of PC and Erin

We decided to get creative with lunch bag art

Erin serenaded us with song and let it translate onto her lunch bag

Unicorn lunch bag

Jeff playing peek-a-boo at lunch

These are a few of the pictures from my camera. I am trying not to duplicate other pictures.

As I am writing this message, (This is Ali by the way) I am surrounded by team members on their laptops. We have taken to communicating through our computers rather than face to face. Joking, but we do spend a fair amount of the evening "nerding it out" on our computers.

We began our day with orientation from the organization we are working for and they really reiterated the fact that the work here is done when people stop coming. We are sharing the facility with a team from Indianapolis who has come so frequently that the staff knows them by name. It is really cool to be one of the "repeat offenders" and see people who have come back over and over again. I am fueled by people's heart and passion and coming here is like going to the gas station. I know that I will leave here again with a freshly topped off tank and a renewed passion for the purpose.

The team I am working on spent the day mudding and taping dry wall, tightening screws and doing something outside that I am unsure of (I remained indoors for the most part, sorry my view is somewhat skewed) but I know they were on ladders and cut things. PC, Erin, Jake and I described our job site as cozy, great natural views and smells, rustic, and having great farmland atmosphere. It is an interesting home with interesting challenges. I think the biggest challenge that I faced today was the massive influx of water with a minimal bathroom facility situation. It's a slippery slope. The ladies took a quick trip into a gas station to expel all the H2O we forced into our systems. Besides the trivial bathroom struggles, I think that this site has good potential for progress.

All in all, it is enough for me to know that God was working here before we came, He is working here now, and He will continue working here after we leave. Now THAT is a team I am blessed to be on.

I think I am going to shut it down for the night, I hope this maiden voyage blog was acceptable to all of our readers and supporters. We love you and thank you all for checking up on us and following our trip.

2009-04-27T20:01:00.000-05:00

Hello from Kathy!

First thing this AM, we were updated on the status of the recovery in the Slidell – New Orleans area. There is still about 6-7 years work left to do. Slidell is about 85%recovered and New Orleans is about 15% recovered. The work is done when volunteers stop coming. There will be plenty of room for you next year. Let me know!

The entire crew set up chairs for 250 people registered to attend an event at Aldersgate and then we were off to respective work sites.

Our team painted doors and closets inside Cheryl Z’s home and power cleaned the outside of her home with chemicals to get rid of mold. Darold, Paul, Roma, and Rod were the washers; Ginger, Barbara, Roma, Jill and Kathy the painters.

Oh, Oh, look who’s on the roof.

Don’t fall Rod!

2009-04-26T23:10:00.001-05:00

Hi! This is Erin writing to you from Slidell, LA!

Friday we arrived at the Lutheran Campus Ministry Center with only minor police involvement... (Fret not, we just asked directions!)

Saturday morning we got up about 7 and I did devotions. As we started south the trees started leafing out and the flowers started blooming in fast forward! So cool!

We lunched at a park near the Mississippi River in Hannibal, MO overlooking Illinois (another state for our rookie travelers!).

In the van, the activities ranged from watching movies together on laptops, munching, playing car twister, great conversations, listening to music, munching, challenging one another to sudoku, groups of 6 playing apples to apples, munching, complaining about the temperature or the bumpy roads (pretty much just to annoy Rod!), munching, trying to read, planning our devotions, munching … We liken it carbo-loading before a big race!

Lewis started our ministry on Saturday night – at Corkey’s, the rib restaurant we ate at, he struck up a conversation with a group of baseball players there to celebrate, just being his friendly encouraging self. What an example of doing God’s work anywhere at any time.

We stayed the night at a great church in Memphis, Covenant UMC, where we had our breakfast and Pastor Carolyn did devotions before heading out.

We got in to Slidell around 3:30ish and met Roma and Jill, who had arrived here this morning and scouted out the sleeping arrangements. We are staying at the volunteer housing at Aldersgate UMC. These are the best bathrooms we’ve had - 4 to 1 people to shower ratio! We unloaded and went our separate ways to go visit some of the families we served on the last trip.

Barb, Ginger, Kathy and I went to go visit Carol Avery. We worked for her all week last trip, and one of the days she made us homemade, authentic red beans and rice for lunch. Mmm mmm mm mm mm…. Excuse the drool…! We liked them so much we got the recipe. Ginger’s church, Faith UMC in West St. Paul, put out a cookbook and Carol’s recipe was in it – she is a author! She didn’t know, so we were able to surprise her with a copy of the recipe book with her recipe in it. She was happy to see us and is excited to tell her friends that she was published!

By the way, if you come hear our stories on May 17th at the Show and Tell dinner, you too can try some!

We stopped for some groceries for tomorrow’s dinner and Pizza for tonight before heading back to home base (Aldersgate) for the night. After Rod’s devotions and discussing the logistics for tomorrow, most headed off to bed… as I will shortly.

Tomorrow we learn what our tasks will be. Please pray for us as we get settled into our places and roles on the job site, and that we don’t limit our ministry to just fixing the tangible, but that we are open to all the needs around us, and that we step outside our comfort zones.

Thanks so much for your prayer and support!

NOLA 2 Day 2 and 3

2009-04-26T22:49:00.000-05:00

First, notice that I have invited an empowered Ali S., Jake S., and Erin C., to post on this blog. I think Jake already put some pics up. This is a good thing. - although from looking at his pics, you will think all we do is eat. Come to think of it, that's all we do on the traveling days. Kind of.

We arrived without a hitch in Memphis. Howard was able to swing over to Kirkwood, (MO) and pick up his brother, Bob at the rendezvous point. Bob was waiting when Howard got there, so they didn't get very far behind. (In fact, Howard beat the other two vehicles to Memphis.) Covenant United Methodist Church in Cordova is an amazing church with amazing people. They welcomed us warmly. We ran out and got the obligatory ribs in Memphis, did devotions, logistics, and went to sleep. There was no wifi there that we could log into, so I had to wait until today to get pics and responses, etc.

We left Memphis this morning around 8:00am and arrived in Slidell, LA around 4:00pm. Roma and Jill had arrived in the morning via airplane and rented car. It is nice to have someone here from my hometown of Hale, Michigan! I am somewhat humbled that of all the trips they could have done, they chose to come with us.

After we arrived, we split up and went to visit some of the homeowners we have worked for previously. Ali, Pastor Carolyn, Lewis, Jake, Mari, Matt and I went to see Deryl and Betty B. It was such a joy to sit in their living room with them and catch up and listen to them interact. We got to know Betty more and I can tell you she keeps Deryl on his toes! Deryl reiterated to us the continuing need for help here. This is one of the things I worry about. People think it's done and everything is back to normal. That just isn't true. After almost 4 years, there are still many people not back into their homes.

Howard and Darold went out to find the house they were helping at. (Howard still had the address saved in his GPS unit....) They said the homeowner was nowhere to be found, but the house is standing and looks almost ready to live in.

Ginger, Barbara, Kathy and Erin went out to find Carol. She was delighted to see them again and was doing well.

I just talked to Erin, who is sitting at a table next to the one I am at, and she is summing things up also. We are going to race to see who posts first. I am more concerned about repeating things.

After everyone got back from visiting, etc., we had pizza and devotions and then bed time. The people we are sharing this facility with are from Indiana, mostly, and seem to be pretty flexible and easy going. -

It is good to be back. It feels like the right thing to be doing.

If anyone knows about formatting things in Blogger, maybe give me a shout. Feedback on layout and format would be appreciated. ALSO- anyone trying to call me- My phone is on the fritz and only seems to work sporadically.

Bob and Rod St. went to see kids from a house they worked on last year.

Pastor Gregg Swope at commissioning: "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon you."

Darold S.

Exactly WHAT does Pastor Carolyn have in her hand????

Pics from Jake's Lappy

2009-04-26T19:48:00.001-05:00

Banana Pudding anyone.
Here the part of the team at Corky's for dinner.
Ali (Aslan) and Mari at Corky's for dinner.
Here we are for lunch in Hannibal, MO

NOLA 2- We depart

2009-04-25T01:32:00.001-05:00

I know I usually send an email a week or so ahead of time saying we are getting ready to go to the Gulf to work on rebuilding from the damage from Hurricane Katrina. This time, it snuck up on me and here we are.

So tonight, we are in Cedar Falls, Iowa, at the Lutheran Campus Ministry Center. For those of you who haven following our trips since the beginning, you may be saying, "wait, it's only Friday. They shouldn't be leaving until morning." (For those of you brand new to these emails, welcome and you don't know we are doing anything different anyway, except that now I just told you.) We had our Commissioning service tonight at Salem UMC. Pastor Gregg Swope gave a great, inspiring message. "The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me." (See Isaiah 61) Then we had communion and we got in the vans and left. We went as far as Cedar Falls, IA. Tomorrow, we go to Memphis, and that should put us into New Orleans (Slidell) earlier in the day on Sunday.

There are 20 of us on this team.

Rod Sc. (me)

Barbara S. (her 6th trip)

Howard N. (6th)

Erin C. (5th)

Lewis W. (5th)

Corrine M. (5th)

Bob N. (4th) Bob will be hooking up with us in St. Louis. He is from Indianapolis.

Rod St. (3rd)

Ginger St. (3rd.)

Darold S. (3rd)

Ali St. (2nd)

Carolyn W. (2nd)

Kathy B. (2nd)

Matt S. (2nd)

Roma B. (2nd) -- Roma will be flying to meet us in New Orleans. She is from Michigan.

Jeff S. (2nd)

Jake S. (1st)

Mari F. (1st)

Paul A. (1st)

Jill H. (1st)- Jill will be coming with Roma from Michigan.

Susan L. and Darlene L. are our home base team mates in Minnesota and Michigan respectively.

I have been told that our first projects will be vinyl siding and soffit, some drywall, and some plywood on some porches. Louisiana Disaster Recovery is very organized. They seem to be doing everything they can to make this as easy as possible for us.

It is good to be on the road again, serving people. We are going to be coming at this with eyes wide open, empowered by the Spirit of the sovereign God, to offer hope, relief, and love.

We are grateful for the people that have supported us. We are grateful to be called to be involved in this ministry.

I think after today, I will just post on the blog, and send a link to the blog. I have blind copied everyone so that you don't have to look at all the names. (There are 197 of you, plus the team!) After today, I will try to get pictures up every day.

Things to remember today:

Gregg Swope: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon you! Be Crazy for God!

Being ON THE ROAD!

The HUGE bucket of chocolate chip cookies Ali brought.

The hospitality of the Lutheran Campus Ministry Center for housing us.

Prayer requests:

Safety in travel

Our hearts being prepared to see the things God would have us see

And to understand what we are seeing.

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
-- Howard Macey

An Amazing Video!

2008-12-04T12:41:00.001-06:00

I found this video while checking out my ex-wife's sister's blog. I thought it was amazing.

Merry Christmas!

Fwd: NOLA 2

2008-09-14T13:28:00.001-05:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rod Scofield <rodscofield@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Sep 14, 2008 at 1:27 PM
Subject: NOLA 2
To: (Suffice it to say that I sent it to a bunch of people)

Friends-

Some of you know about my job situation- I have resigned from the party rental effective Sept. 26th. I felt like it was killing my soul and I am just unable to continue with them. On one hand, this makes me pretty open to go to NOLA or Galveston or wherever pretty easily. ON the other hand, since I resigned, I will not get any kind of severance/unemployment I should probably try to land a job first.

This being said, I will not be able to lead a trip this fall. I just don't see how I could do it and pay the bills. ("Oh by the way, I have a trip planned for the middle of October. Would it be ok to have that time off?")

I was offered a job at Batteries Plus, but they pulled the offer when I asked for more money. (They offered $10.50 per hour for the first three months.) They said they were worried about my back, and not being able to physically do the job they want done.

I got an email from Elijah Mitchell in Mississippi who sent some publications about how much Mississippi still needs help rebuilding. So we are not done. But I need to be on "hold" for a little while.

I may try to drum up some free lance work leading some trips for some other churches, but I would charge them for my time and efforts. If I do score some of those trips, I will keep you in updated so you could hook up with them.

Looking for manna.

rod

Dates and more info for Iowa trips:

2008-07-16T14:31:00.001-05:00

River Bend Church admins and pastors- Please publish this info in your next and subsequent bulletins as you see fit. Thanks!

All- There are dates and some ideas set for some upcoming trips to Iowa for flood relief.

Who- we are looking for making teams of 10 or so (15 at the most). We didn't talk about age limit. I think we are still looking at adult trips. If you think a youth age trip would be a good idea, we could consider it, as long as there is a leader for the trip. Some of the trip weekends we have in mind do not have ANY leader yet.

What- Most of the work is still demolition and clean up. This means carrying, knocking down, cleaning up, etc. I think most people of all abilities will be able to find something to do.

How much- We are asking for $15 per day. This will cover meals. There is some left over NOLA1 money to help offset some of the other costs.

Where- This depends on the week- We will typically leave on the Friday night before, and return on Sunday afternoon. Obviously, other arrangements can be made since this is not a very far drive (compared to New Orleans!) In some cases, a team leader may leave a day or two before and the rest of the team will meet them down on Friday night. These are details that can be worked out with the team leader.

When-

July 26th-27th-- Going to Mason City. - More details available about this trip- Leader: Linda Emerson and Rod Scofield

August 8-9 -- Going to ? (Probably Cedar Rapids) -- Leader: Rod Scofield and ?

August 15th-16th- Going to? --

August 22nd-23rd- Going to? --

September 6th-7th- Going to?--

How will we get there?-- Probably take our cars and trucks. This is a pretty easy detail to work out.

Where will we stay?-- Probably in a local church on a floor.

What to bring- Sleeping bags/pillows, work clothes, (long sleeves and pants recommended!), gloves, boots recommended, your own hygiene equipment (shampoo, etc.- I will try to find us a place to clean up each day.) More specifics later. (when we know more about what, "exactly" we will be doing.)

How to sign up- Send an email to Rod Scofield (rodscofield@gmail.com) or call him at 651-248-8495. He will make sure you get signed up and the info you need. Call or email with further questions.

Invite to Iowa

2008-07-05T22:53:00.001-05:00

First let me tell you that I've sent this out to a buhzillion people. (85 to be approximate.)

We are talking about taking a few teams to Iowa for helping clean up and rebuild as we are able. These would be weekend trips- probably leaving on a Friday evening, and returning on Sunday afternoon. There are no dates set in stone yet. There is no cost approximation. There are no logistics planned out yet. There is really just a vision to help out.

We will have an info / interest / planning meeting on Sunday, July 13th at 2:00pm at Salem UMC. Let me know if you are interested but unable to attend. We will welcome your input.

Carol- feel free to forward this Jim and Connie and to anyone else you might think is interested.

I have also already invited past team members and River Bend pastors.

We look forward to hearing from you / seeing you.

Email or call with questions or comments or snide remarks.

Rod

Home again home again

2008-05-04T23:36:00.001-05:00

We left about 8:15am Sat. in a "squall line" very dark and very rainy. Lasted about 10-15 minutes. Troll took Darlene to the airport, and then left for Atlanta. (He had to go back to Slidell to pick up his suitcase because he forgot it!)

Darlene left a message for me around 2:30pm saying she was on the ground in Michigan.

Troll called me in the early evening saying he made it back to Atlanta.

We got into St. Louis around 8:00pm.

Next morning, we got up and left a little later than we planned, but in the morning, nonetheless. Bob left for Indianapolis, and I'm assuming no news is good news. He told me it was about a 4.5 hour drive. He should have gotten in around 1:00ish pm CST.

We got back to the church around 6:00pm.

Bottom line: Everyone is home.

Thanks for praying! - More coming later.

NOLA 1 Day 7

2008-05-03T00:07:00.001-05:00

The last day of work went well. Sounds like Bob's group went to three of four different sites. Bob bonded with some kids at one of his sites. See the pictures. Howard and his team took their homeowner, Rosemary, to lunch. It was a great experience for everyone. Gary's group, (minus Gary) got the rest of the porch painted. Rod worked on the plumbing (new toilet, hook up the sink in the vanity). Mostly, he sat on the floor in the bathroom trying to figure out the complexities of plumbing. Erin's team got a lot of projects done at Carol's house. Someone described it as going from a construction site to a remodeling site.

We did our rootbeer float party tonight. It was not well attended, but it was rainy. (again?!) I think this is a tradition that needs to get reevaluated. Troll tried to do some magic tricks, but the wind made it impossible.

We are all pretty tired and getting ready for leaving in the morning. Troll is going to take Darlene to the airport in the morning. We are going to try to get on the road by 8:00am. There is a lot to get ready. We have to unload the trailer and repack it. We have to take some things back to the UMCOR field office. We have to pack and have breakfast and devotions and and and. I should probably go to bed.

Day 6 NOLA1

2008-05-02T01:19:00.001-05:00

Each team got more done today than they expected.

Today was Gary's last day with us. He is heading back ASAP in the morning. I (this Rod Sc.) am leading his team now. Tomorrow I get to set a toilet and use caulk. This'll be fun.

Lot's of logistics for tomorrow. We are doing the root beer float party at the same house Gary's team was working at.

Ate alligator sausage tonight. And Turtle Soup

Thanks to the people that sent letters. We got a bunch today! Gary got a billion cards. It was really cool.

Thanks to everyone that sent email notes. I was able to read a lot of them

Thanks to all that have been praying for us. here is a list of things we pray for each day:

Corrine M. and her daughter Laurie-- Corrine was supposed to come and couldn't at the last minute.

Jim P. Surgery recovery

Maureen (Darlene's step-daughter) for recovery from surgery / cancer

Our home owners

Betty and Betty- two women we met at the community breakfast yesterday.

Jeff S's. and Dave W's kids, who are having a hard time with their dads being away.

All the work with pictures takes me several hours each night- I copy everybody's pictures each night.

Pray for our rootbeer float party. We don't have a big tent or lights this year. And I just don't see when anyone will have time to make and distribute flyers for promo. -

The pictures are -

The homeowner that Howard's team is working for

(This) Rod on the roof

Bob working on grout on the countertop

Troll hard at it.

Deb doing devotions in a park on a bridge

Barbara after doing texture on a roof.

Day 5- New Orleans

2008-05-01T00:31:00.000-05:00

It has been a long day.

The highlights:

Troll got in around 8:00am. Very good to add him to the team.

Worked a half day, then went to New Orleans for a half day and into the evening. On this trip, we saw the devastation of the Lower 9th Ward. Unbelievable. At our orientation on the first day, the leader told us that in Slidell, they are back to 85%, but that in New Orleans, they were at 5%. There are several factors that play into the severity of the devastation. One of which is just the amount of people living in New Orleans verses places like Biloxi and Gulfport. Keep in mind, also, that in Mississippi, when the water came in, it left right away. In New Orleans, it sat for weeks and had to be pumped out.. There are some areas that have their houses rebuilt, and are shooting for normalcy (however this situation defines the new normal.) Even if rebuilt, however, there is so much changed. There are so many people that didn't come back, and that affects the economy of the area, which impacts the jobs available, which impacts WHO can live there, etc.

In the half day of working, Gary got the tub installed and is trying to finish that bathroom completely before we go. Darold led Howard's team today (added Rod Sc., Matt, and Troll) and got a lot of the shingles on. Bob did a lot of misc. stuff in the house he has been working on. It sounds like they keep adding stuff to him. Howard was asked to go fix some last minute things for a home they are going to rededicate to the homeowner, so he did those thing on his own. Erin's group is waiting on the supervisor from UMCOR to supply some tools they need for fixing a bunch of doors. Sounds like they are getting a lot done there, too.

There are so many pictures on our photo album pages. You can click on this link to get to them. I think tonight, I'm just going to give you the link instead of uploading these pictures. http://picasaweb.google.com/RodScofield/NOLA1 That will get you to our pictures. I think there are about 79 pictures in there. For some reason, I couldn't reorganize them so they are chronological.

Thank you to everyone that has sent emails and cards supporting us. No cards have arrived yet, but I'm hopeful for tomorrow. It means a lot to the crew to hear from y'all.

Goodnight - I have to sleep fast.

NOLA 1 Day 4 Tuesday

2008-04-29T23:00:00.000-05:00

Howard's team (Darold, Dave, and Lewis) got a lot done on the shed they are working on. It's not completely square, so they have been struggling. - They have the decking and the paper on the roof of it. Still to put on shingles and vinyl siding

Gary's team (Rod Sc., Darlene, Deb, Ali, and Matt)- got a lot of painting done. Gary worked on installing a new tub. He was frustrated with it. I never heard him use curse words. Matt stayed home sick today. Something gastro. The picture of him sleeping was in the TV room the night before. He fell asleep watching an NBA game. The picture of the couple shows the homeowners for Gary's house.

Bob's team (Vern and Rod St.,) ended up getting a lot of projects added on to the house they were working on. They worked on it all day, and are going to finish it (again?) tomorrow. Apparently, they have earned a lot of trust by our work supervisors from UMCOR, because they gave Rod St. the key to their storage trailer.

Erin's team- (Barbara, Jeff, Kathy, and Ginger) installed some doors and some window sills. There is still a lot of painting.

We had a very good team meeting tonight. Devotions were by Bob. Gary has been playing his guitar at devotions. That has added a nice touch.

Troll is on his way. He left Atlanta at 10:30 EST. He said he was going to sleep part of the way and get here mid morning.

This trip has been a lot different for a few reasons. We are such a big group, and we are split up to 4 different sites. Darlene and I talked a little bit about how it's been two and a half years, and while there is a lot to be done, still, The people that are here are moving on. Most likely, the people in the Gulf will define their lives two ways- before the storm and after the storm, but they are trying to move on. They don't NEED to tell their stories anymore. They have been telling it for the past 2.5 years. Would you get tired of it?

I am really proud of Erin. I have treated her like a work crew leader, and she has stepped up into that nicely.

The new people, Kathy, Vern, Ali, Gary, Jeff, and Dave have been fitting in well.

Tomorrow, the UMCOR people suggested and encouraged us to New Orleans tomorrow. We are going to do it. So we are going to work a half day and see the 9th ward and other places around New Orleans.

Things to pray for:

Matt's health

Corrine M. and her daughter, Laurie

Jim P., who was a part of our planning team, now recuping from cancer surgery.

Our home owners

Jeff's kids are having a hard time with him being gone.

Dave's kids ditto.

Ok, that's all for now.

Goodnight!

NOLA 1 Day 3 (Monday)

2008-04-28T23:41:00.001-05:00

Today we got some work done. We were divided up into 4 teams.

Bob has one team with (That) Rod St., and Vern E. They have installed cabinets and are already finishing up both of their two work orders.

Howard has Dave W., Lewis W., and Darold S. they are working on putting a roof and vinyl siding on a storage shed for a woman out in the woods. More on her later.

Gary has (this) Rod Sc., Darlene, Ali St., Matt S., and Deb S. We put orange peel texture on walls and got things ready for painting tomorrow.

Erin C. is leading a team. Her team is doing door jambs, painting, and building window sills. She is working with Jeff Sh., Kathy B., Barbara S., and Ginger St.

We heard a lot of interesting information and statistics about the progress in the New Orleans area. Slidell is much farther along than New Orleans.

Most of the pics today are from Erin's team. I couldn't load Howard's pictures, and Ali has yet to bring hers tonight. (I'm not holding my breath!)

Troll might join us tomorrow. Maybe Wednesday.

You can see more pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/RodScofield/NOLA1

Ok- that's it!

Thanks for your prayers!

NOLA day 3- Monday

2008-04-28T23:19:00.001-05:00

Anyone want to write a card or a letter to a team member or to the team? There are two ways to do it. You can email and I'll read it to them at devotions or, preferred, better, great idea!, more effective, is writing a card they can keep. Send it to:

Riverbend Mission Team

% First Presbyterian Church

1041 9th Street

Slidell, LA 70458

The people on the team are:

Kathy Berhendt

Erin Clayton

Deb Solmonson

Barbara Schroeder

Ali Stemme

Ginger Stemme

Darlene Leiva

Rod Scofield

Rod Stemme

Darold Sanderson

Matt Sanderson

Dave Westlake

Howard Newton

Bob Newton

Lewis Whitehead

Jeff Shaw

Vern Emerson

Gary Baker

NOLA1- day 2

2008-04-28T00:54:00.001-05:00

Day 2- Sunday

We left Kirkwood (St. Louis) this morning around 8:00. I should have looked back at my old notes, because apparently, we used to leave at 7:00am. Howard and Lewis did leave a couple hours earlier so they could go and pick up Darlene from the airport in New Orleans. We kept in contact throughout the day. It was nice to have them running scout, because Howard would call back and say, "It's raining cats and dogs here in Memphis. Maybe you want to eat lunch before you get here." So we did.

And the rain was amazing! From half-way through Arkansas until about an hour south of Jackson, it rained hard.

One of the best quotes of the day, "I LOVE salt! I'd even salt my sugar!"

Erin talked about how neat it is having new people along because we get to see things from an brand new perspective all over again. This is Erin's fourth trip. Sometimes, you have to be very deliberate about not making things old hat.

We are very sad to not have Corrine with us on this trip. Corrine had a family emergency and was unable to come. It happened just before the trip. We are praying for her and her family each time we do devotions. I would ask everybody to pray for her and for her family, and for us, having to do this trip without her.

Gas continues to be very expensive. We estimate that we will be $2000 for gas for all three vehicles down and back.

Gary B. has joined our team for this trip. He is a pastor from northern Kentucky. He was one our youth leaders when I was in High School in Michigan. Darlene L. has joined our team again. How fantastic for me to be reunited with my aunt! Not only is she my aunt, she really is one of my best friends and partner in ministry, and a mentor. I am looking forward to spending time with her this week.

The last story for the day. Right after we left Kirkwood, we got caught in a traffic jam on I240. We couldn't see what was going on, so we sent Matt to the front of the line to see what was going on. Just a downed power line.

Just a little bit about the facility we are staying at. Lots of people in small spaces. The common spaces are big. The sleeping rooms are pretty crammed. Erin asked me to ask people to pray that the women jammed in the rooms together are flexible and understanding of each other's needs.

Goodnight. Amen.

NOLA1 Day 1 on the road- Saturday

2008-04-27T00:03:00.001-05:00

If you don't want to get these emails, please let me know. I'll take you off the list. If I told you before I would take you off the list and I didn't, sorry about that- I'll really do it this time!

NOLA1 - Day 1 (Saturday)

We are on the road again! It came out on me quick. I had been so busy at work, and at church, that while I knew it was coming, all of a sudden, we were leaving the next weekend. I am glad to be on the road, but even though it is the first night out, I am still not quite ready to leave for this trip. I think I packed everything I need. I got up early this morning to pack. It got to be time to leave, and I still hadn't found the padlock for the trailer, nor enough two-way radios for all three vehicles we were taking. Just before I left for the church, I thought, let me look one more time. And sure enough, I saw a box I hadn't looked in before, and there they were, the padlocks and the radios. Amazing.

We met at the church, some arrived at 7:00am, some at 8:00am. Erin led devotions before we left. She talked about a CEO's daughter acting with authority because she is the CEO's daughter, and when she asks someone to do something, it was understood it was from the father's authority. When we go out, we have that authority as Christians, as children of God to do kingdom work. Let's use it. Amen. Thank you, Bridget W. for the Cinnemelts from McDonalds! And thank you, Chloe for the muffins! What blessings we have!

So It was snowy. This is the first time we have left in the snow. It seemed like a lot of false starts, because we didn't get moving south until about 8:40. In spite of that, we made good time. As I mentioned earlier, we have three vehicles this trip. We rented a van from Boyer Ford again, and we have Howard's truck, and we have (That) Rod St.'s van. Each vehicle is chock full of treats. - The drive was very windy most of the way down. We saw some flooding in Iowa. Since it was so cold, we didn't eat our lunch outside. Instead, we went to a McD's and got a few sandwiches to go. It saved us a lot of time. Gas is mighty expensive. I filled the van twice, once for $94, and once for $80.

The weather in St. Louis were much nicer. It was odd to see flowers and trees with leaves and grass and etc. We had pizza at our favorite pizza place again. Devotions were by Barbara. It is getting late and I'm going to get to bed.

Fwd: Updates and last minute requests

2008-04-25T16:55:00.001-05:00

Wendy and Bruce and Jake-

Wendy and Jake- were you planning on coming to the commissioning service?

Wendy- can we do a couple songs? Do you know if Ron is coming?

Bruce- any requests? - - do you have any power point needs?

Jake- Maybe I'll try to throw you some pics of the past trips to have circulating on the screen. -

Everyone else-

Updates

Bendu will not be able to come with us. She has some other commitments that she will be attending to.

Corrine will not be able to come with us. We need to pray for her and for Laurie. Laurie has not been doing well, and in fact, was hospitalized. She was released from the hospital, but needs her mom right now. Corrine sounded pretty sad that she can't come and we will surely miss her.

Elbert will not be coming.

Current plan is that Troll will be meeting us down there on the 30th and staying with us until we leave.

Jim P. is back in the hospital. You may know that last week he had surgery to deal with some colon cancer. He was released, but readmitted the next day because things just weren't working properly. He said he is going to stay there until he knows for sure he's far enough on the road to recovery. He said that the pre-surgery checks showed no evidence of cancer in the lymph nodes, but there is a small, mysterious spot on his lung that the doctors pointed out, but don't seem too concerned about at this time. We talked awhile on the phone, and he sounded like the same Jim that we all know.

I need a couple things done before the big migration-

Jeff- Howard will need a check for $175 made out to A to Z Rental. He is going to pick up the trailer on Friday.

Jeff- Can you pick up the T-shirts either Thurs or Friday? They are in St. Paul at Merri Lynn Printing on Como. I don't know how much they will cost for sure, yet. I'll call them Thurs. to see if they're done, and let you know. If you can't do it, let me know and I'll see if I can get Ali or LInda B. or Dave or Susan to go get them, but then they would need to get a check from you.

I will need someone to help me pick up my car after the commissioning service, or to ride with me to pick up the van. Problem is that I won't know what time I can get out of work until I get out of work.... - After commissioning, my car will be in Minneapolis, up by Broadway and Stinson. Kind of.

Erin or Ali or Matthew- can somebody pick up window paint for the vans? You guys hash it out.

Darold- On that sheet I gave you, there was a list of who is doing devotions. Can you do devotions on Thursday evening?

Deb- Can you do change your from Thursday evening to Saturday morning?

Rod and Ginger- Thank you for letting us use your van. Let me know if you need anything done to get it ready.

Gary, Darlene, Bob, and Troll- Can you each see if you can bring a flag from your state. I have a Minnesota flag from the party rental we can use. They like to fly flags above their headquarters of the states represented by volunteers. They like that 3x5 size. If you can't, let me know and if I have time, I might see what it would take to track one down. Depends on time. (Troll-- please do not bring a Confederate Flag....)

Darlene- Sandi H. may possibly be making brownies to send with you for me. Maybe you want to call her and see if they're ready yet....

That's all I can think of for now. -

Rod

Fwd: SLDR Jobs

2008-04-25T16:25:00.001-05:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ashlie Junot <ajunot@ladrmse.org>
Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 9:30 AM
Subject: SLDR Jobs
To: Rod Scofield <rodscofield@gmail.com>

UM Southeast Louisiana Disaster Recovery
7100 Read Boulevard
New Orleans, Louisiana 70127
Office: 504-248-7558
Fax: 504-248-7584
SoutheastCenter@LADRMSE.org

Rod,

I talked with the construction supervisors and they have several jobs that they want your group to help close out, finish, and clean up. Your group will be doing primarily finishing work at several locations. We will also be rededicating a home while you are here.

Thanks,

Ashlie

Slidel, New Orleans, what's the differnece?

2008-03-05T22:47:00.000-06:00

We have been assigned to a housing site in Slidel, LA. It's about a half hour outside New Orleans. I am unclear right now whether we are working in Slidel or New Orleans. We are getting more and more ready to go. If anyone is interested in buying tickets for the Outback Steakhouse dinner, please let me know ASAP! We still have about 60 tickets to sell.

Our team represents 4 states and 10 churches. Amazing. I have 20 slots reserved. I have 19 people that have said they are coming, and about 8 that are maybe's. Following is list of people. The number before their name tells how many of these trips they have participated in.

5 (This) Rod Sc.
5 Barbara S.
5 Corrine M.
5 Howard N.
4 Erin C.
4 Lewis W.
3 Deb S.
3 Darlene L. (from Michigan!)
3 Bob N. (Howard's Brother- from Indiana)
2 (That) Rod St.
2 Ginger St.
1 Jeff S.
1 Dave W.
1 Gary B. (From Kentucky!)
1 Allison St.
1 Mary J
1 Kathy B
1 Vern E

Troll and Kristen I think, are going to come for part of the trip.

The Maybe's
2 Elbert G.
2 Harold M.
2 Darold S.
1 Duane L
1 Wayne B. (From Wisconsin!)
1 Wendy B. (From Wisconsin!)
1 Kendra S.
1 Rich Q. (From Texas!)
1 Matt K. (From Michigan!)

Please pray that God makes clear to the people He wants there, and that they go.

R

Getting ready for our mission trip to New Orleans

2008-01-27T22:25:00.001-06:00

Hello All!

We are getting ready for our next trip to the Gulf to help restore and rebuild for survivors of Hurricane Katrina. This time, though, we are going to New Orleans.

This email is going to about 200 people, and I worry about how many junk email boxes this is going to. Could you let me know if this got to you and you want to continue to get it? And could you let me know if this got to you but you would prefer not to be involved in this mass emailing? A few people told me last time that they would like to get the first and last emails while we are on the trip. We are a few months before the actual trip.

I updated and revamped the blog. Now it has , a calendar with upcoming meetings and fundraisers, etc., and more pictures from the last trip. It has a new format (just a little different) and of course, all the past posts. You can get there by going to:

www.rodscof.blogspot.com

Upcoming:

March 15th- fundraiser at the Outback Steakhouse in InverGrove Hts. $15 per person for a steak dinner. ALL proceeds go toward the trip. The money we raise goes toward paying the expenses of going and helping rebuild.

Prayer requests-

1. We are slotted for the third week in April, but have to change to the fourth week if we can. We signed up for 15 people, but I think now, there may be a couple more.

2. That God provides the financial resources for the trip

3. That the team can prepare logistically, and spiritually for this trip.

4. That the churches that are sending us will be behind us and be excited about sending us. The more we do this trip, the more "old hat" it gets. We would love to see a revitalized energy behind us. I guess that means, pray for ways that we can involve more people, even if they are not going.

Thanks everyone, and again, let me know if you get this and want to continue (maybe about once a month between now and the trip, and then each day on the trip.) or if you would prefer to not get these emails cluttering up your box.

Peace and Joy!

Rod