Pastor’s Blog

This is my first blog in more than two months. Many of you know that I took a part time job as an ESL para-educator in the Goffstown school district in mid-November. I’m working there 25 hours a week, so keeping up with ministry demands has been overwhelming. But God is gracious, and I’m learning some valuable lessons.

Last month Allie and I reflected on a tough 2007 and the financial and growth challenges at CTR. As we looked ahead to the new year, she said, “I wonder if 2008 is going to be a breakout year for the church because you don’t have time to build it yourself.” Well, the jury is still out on that, but we have had four consecutive weeks with new visitors every Sunday while we went about three months without one in the Fall. One thing I’ve been doing more of is focused prayer on Saturday nights in the chapel where we meet. I’ve been learning that prayer is to be more than “asking God to spare my reputation” and merely back up my plans. It is a genuine cry for help and acknowledgement of my inability.

Please pray for Coleta, a Sudanese refugee who has been living with us for a couple of weeks and for whom we’re trying to get housing, employment and legal help in seeing and hopefully gaining custody of her children that were taken from her. She has been a victim of oppression by a husband who has abandoned her and used the US legal system (which she doesn’t understand) against her. She is a sweet believer who is blossoming with some basic TLC from our church family.

sdg

On Wednesday our team split between house #1 and house #2. The team at house #1 finished clearing out the house of debris, cleared out the yard and trimmed it completely. They even pulled up some of the floor and planned on going under the floor to clean up debris in the crawlspace. The Redeemer intern was amazed, saying no team had ever come close to accomplishing what we had in as much time. The team at house #2 finished gutting the ceiling, pulling wires out and cleaning up the yard. I worked with Doug Quattrochi on the patio and we discovered that it was at least three times bigger than we thought–most of it was covered by three inches of bermuda grass and dirt. We felt like archaeologists as we unearthed the remains of the original bricks. Later we tore off the roof of a carport that had been used by rescue boats as a landing pad after the storm. Sherri, the owner, told us that they had evacuated before Katrina hit but were about to come home the day after because the damage seemed to have been done. They checked out of their hotel and went out to breakfast when suddenly they saw their home on CNN under nine feet of water with a helicopter flying over it. Unbelievable. Sherri was thrilled with what we accomplished on their house.

Wednesday afternoon we had another “key issue” when the keys to the rental van got locked inside. This necessitated about a three hour saga of transporting people across the city, getting me back to the van to meet the locksmith and spending most of the time in the horrible traffic that is a daily part of life for New Orleans residents. We had been invited to a dinner hosted by members of Redeemer Presbyterian, which we had to attend without showers because of the lateness of the hour. We had a wonderful dinner of gumbo and rice and other goodies and got to meet several members of the church. Many of the members are young people who have moved into New Orleans to teach school or work other jobs and help rebuild the city. It’s exciting to see how God is calling people to come here.

On Thursday we worked at a third house, which was over in “New Orleans East,” an area right on Lake Ponchartrain but not as affected by the flood because the levee break was further west. What we thought was a “small job” (there really aren’t any here) turned out to be anything but small. We tore down a greenhouse, cut down a 175 year old tree that was growing too close to the house, tore out all the ceilings, emptied the attic, cleared out insulation, pulled nails and wire and filled a large dumpster with debris. Working in air filled with dust and insulation fibers seemed to affect my eyes more that day, and the toll of the week was adding up. We were all exhausted by the ride home. I can tell when this group is tired because their mouths are closed. It is truly a wonderful group of people to lead and work with. Our strengths and weaknesses seem to complement each other so well. Yes, we snap at each other at times and disagree (yesterday we had a vigorous discussion about gambling on the front porch of the house where we’re staying), but it’s so neat to see how different people rise to the occasion and use their gifts. One person has taken on the organization of the tool trailer. Another takes out the trash. Two or three women handle the meals, another supervises the work detail and others find Ray Stevens songs on the internet late at night to keep us entertained.

Today is our last work day, and I’m going to haul my sore body up and get to work…

sdg