"Operation Waveland" Coming Soon!

So, we said that this trip would not be the end of our involvement - and it won't. Here's our next step (though not our last). Bryan Olden has sent me details (I'm not leading this, but will certainly be involved).

"Operation Waveland"

The basic idea is that we are going to send donated items down to Waveland at the end of June. The way we will do this is through a donated "pod" that we will be placing at Alvey and then loading up with donated goods. Bryan provides the following details:

The pod will be delivered on June 1st at 9:30 a.m. to the school (Alvey). So people will be able to drop off supplies from June 1st through June 29th. After the 29th we will have the items delivered to Waveland. So the 29th is the last day for donations.

I need voluntary to stay at the school during the drop off time which will be Mon –Fri 6-8 p.m. / Saturdays 10 a.m. -12 p.m. and 2 p.m. -4 p.m. /Sundays 9 a.m. – 1p.m.

Items needed are: water, razors, canned food, canned fruit, canned vegetables, mac & cheese, spam, vienna sausages, canned tuna, spaghetti sauce, stuffing, gravy, ravioli or chef boy ardee meals, cereals, jelly, coffee, cake or brownie mixes, canned frosting, TOLET PAPER, paper towels, clothes, shoes, diapers, baby formula, tooth brushes, tooth paste, deodorant, etc.

For info call the church office 703.366.3870 or Bryans cell 703.994.2336 or his email at bryan@parkvalleychurch.com

Bryan and I chatted some last night about the plan. I suggested that we should plan on doing a good deal of sorting/labeling of items to lessen the workload on the Lakshore end. We have a number of experts on how the warehouse works, and should put that knowledge to good use. This would include separating clothes by gender/size and making sure everything is clean and fit to give away. Please get in touch with Bryan as soon as you can (or grab him after church on Sunday - he's the bald dude up front leading worship).

We are also working toward getting use of a truck donated so that we can drive it down to Mississippi for just the price of fuel (assuming we can find somebody in the church willing and qualified to drive).

Note that this will not just be a Park Valley Church activity. Bryan is already talking to the good folks at the Bull Run Observer about getting an article published. Any additional ideas on publisizing the effort should be directed to Bryan.

Post of this Morning's Video

For those of you not able to make it, we had a great service this morning, including testimonies from team members: Kerry, Suzanne, and Tony. The movie below was also played. Please let me know if you have any problems viewing it.

March 2006 Update from the Williams

Below is an update from the Williams, currently serving in Peru. I'm working on getting a similar update from the Kensels soon. As always, any typos are my own. Enjoy!

----

March 2006

Evangelizing Missionaries?

Peru is a country of the last minute. So it was not unusual to have th esignup and take the deposit for our missions trip on Sunday before we left on our trip that next Wednesday night. What was surprising was when Jonathan, our church intern, came and told me that Eduardo, who was faithfully attending his small group, had signed up , paid his deposit and that . . . "He's not saved."

So a plan was devised. Eduardo would not be turned away but instead would sit on the bus and room with either Jonathan or Jaime, our evangelism and discipleship specialist.

By Thursday at lunch Eduardo was living the New Life.

Our mission was to help a small church in the Peruvian jungle-mountains. In just two and a half days we presented the gospel at eight different events. We held a three day VBS that averaged 150 children a day, presented the gospel through mimes and art each night and sponsored an evangelistic youth meeting. There were times that nearly everyone in our group of 27 was personally leading someone to Christ. Several adults and many, many children made decisions during those 60 hours. . . just as one of our own missionaries did.

Too often one doesn't get to see the fruit of his missions trip grow, but we get to. Since we've been back Eduardo has not missed a service and is in our New Faith class on Sunday.

The summer (January - March) our family has been busy leading and teaching in two youth camps, one ladies camp, preaching a multi-church family retreat, co-teaching a marriage seminar, assisting a U.S. missions trip, three weeks of Bible Club style VBS and of course, our own missions trip. Together with our partners, the Garrison family, and other fellow missionaries and national pastors we have seen many saved and surrender their lives to fulltime service. Needless to say, we kind of like the summer around here.

Information about Lakeshore and Waveland

Ken Kocher sent along this article, which was published in the Washington Post on September 2, 2005. It was clear even then that Waveland was not getting the attention or the help that they needed and they were deprioritized relative to more populous areas. Ken's only comment was "Wow" I think that sums it up. There is a lot more to do.

While were at it, you might want to check out this site. It includes before and after pictures and stories from residents.

For a look at Lakeshore prior to our arrival, see these pictures. A lot of work has been done to get things up to where they were when we arrived. Despite all of the debris that we saw, based on these pictures, a lot has already been cleared out. I feel bad that I didn't find this site prior to the trip - there are probably a hundred pictures that lay out the site and the work pretty clearly.

Some information on previous monies that have been donated and where they have gone can be found here. It is a long list of donations that an organization has made, but search for Lakeshore and you will find information on the temporary church building cost and timing of its construction.

Also, you can check out Pastor Don's blog. He hasn't yet posted anything since he's been back from the conference, but hopefully will soon. Go back into the archives and read up on what he has seen these last nine months.