from your red-necked pastor

Greetings from your red-necked (and pink-armed) pastor, as well as the rest of the crews in Dulac and Slidell. Today was the turning point of the week. Mission trip Wednesdays are where we "hit the wall" and push through to renewed energy; when team turns into family and humor abounds. What a joy to discover there's not a whiner in the bunch! Today, while Jeff, Doug, and Chuck led their teams to conquer unfathomably angled multiple roofs and equally cockeyed dry-wall challenges, Susan Baker and I took off for the Bayou to check in with team 2. Under Eric's supervision, they had just completed a 2 1/2 day insulating project----undera house. Imagine seeing a beautiful flowing stream jumping with fish and overseen by cardinals, herons, egrets, and other regal water birds. Well, seeing it when you crawl out from under a house sitting on six high stacks of cinder blocks and regain mobility in your neck! The Dulac group is living in an Indian (Native American) community just down from "shrimpers row" and saw their first alligators up close and personal at 1:00 pm today. We have so many stories to share with you about what God is doing in these communities and what resources we are discovering in and among ourselves. Each night after dinner we spend a few minutes bringing scripture and Kents Hill Core Values together in conversation about what the day is teaching us. Today was also the turning point toward home: 4 days done, and just 4 to go. While we're not quite ready to reconcile ourselves to snow again (we assume you have a little left), you are all much in our hearts and prayers. We wish we could share this experience first hand with every one of you and pray that a mission trip is in your future. (And not just because you haven't really lived until you've eaten in Chez Nona for a week). We count on your prayers as well, for our safety, for us to take in the extraordinary witness to Christ we experience in our interactions here, and for the temporary community that forms between teams from Muncie, Indiana.....Debuque, Iowa......Missourri, Arkansas, Italy......where else do strangers offer to do each other's dishes? Please pray also for the situation in Northern Ireland where people are standing up to say "enough," no more violence. ....for Peter and Lisa DeWolfe who are working in a clinic in Bethlehem for the next few weeks. ....For the increasing stress on those who wonder about job stability, or what their next one will be. For the Joy of having a faith community to see us through all times, and for the Holy Spirit to inspire and direct us. In Joy, Karen