No Place Like Home...

I’m back in Wisconsin presently. I left Louisiana about 3 weeks ago to revisit Iowa, and then to my home area to work on campaigning for long-term missions.

In Iowa, it was great to see how much progress churches are making both in Iowa City and in Cedar Rapids as far as transitioning from immediate relief efforts to developing a long-term ministry. Iowa City is continuing to do a few Saturday work days a month. They have a team formed for looking at long-term recovery and they are looking for ways to help the nearby neighborhoods. They are in the process of rebuilding themselves as the church was flooded by 6 ft of water. With the help of their congregation and other volunteers, they were able to clean out the church and the surrounding property. They are now entering the rebuilding stage, so please keep them in your prayers. They are temporarily operating out of a school and other buildings. That creates a lot of extra stress on top of rebuild decisions.
About 5,000 homes were flooded in Cedar Rapids along with many businesses. Cedar Hills EFC is also hosting teams a few weekends a month and working towards long-term unmet needs in the area. The church was not directly affected, but was preparing to move into another building as the flooding has hit the area. They have a busy schedule with preparing for and making the move along with trying to host volunteers and further form a crisis response ministry. Please pray that God will continue to help their transition and future plans. They have a FEMA park that is in the backyard of their new church building – what a mission field!

LaValle, WI was also hit with flooding in June. The Community EFC there took on 3 feet of water and had to be gutted out. It’s a small community with lots of surrounding small towns that all took on damage from the flood waters. Please pray for rebuilding efforts and outreach opportunities around the church and in nearby communities. The pastor’s vision is that disciples would be made in several surrounding towns through outreach efforts. He can really use help and teams that wish to do relational and construction ministry.

I’m taking the rest of August to campaign for long-term missions. Please pray for me as I continue in this process. It can get overwhelming at times with all that is going on in the field and trying to find the time to contact people, keep everyone updated and visit churches. Please pray for refreshment as well as balance!!
When I get back to Louisiana, I’ll be moving again. We have to remove the trailers that we have been staying in from the church property. That means we have to find other homes for staff to stay in. Please pray for us as we transition. I’m reminded of Matthew 8:20, “…foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.” In leaving to follow Jesus, I am beginning to understand how places to rest are only temporary as they exist. I don’t believe that I am supposed to get too comfortable while I am in this world!

Thanks so much for all your prayers – I can feel them and know that God is listening!!