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December 2009 Homeland Mission s Trip to London, Kentucky 

      London, Kentucky is home base for the Crusades for Christ. This organization is led by Brother Joe Mobley. They have a wide range of people and organizations that work and donate their time, equipment, food, clothing, and money to the organization. The country that gets a lot of this is Haiti. They take the Word of God and other needs to the children and people of Haiti. 

      They take all of the donations and store them in a safe and dry place until they get enough to fill a container to ship to Haiti. Brother Joe is going back to Haiti in January. He is also leading 40 people on a tour of Jerusalem in the summer. 

      The following is a list of jobs completed by the following men:

    Homeland Missions from Jersey Baptist Church

      Wiley Bard, George Boehm, Chester Brown, Chuck Gillespie, Bill Mobley,  Don Pahl and Glen Sammons

   Men form the Full Armour of God church

      Pastor Rocky Brown, Harry Miller, David Yeager, Bill Young, Jim  Zimmerman 

One  We removed part of a roof of a building that was leaking and rotting the  rafters. We replaced the rafters and built an overhang that covers the  concrete below. We put OSB sheets back on the roof and put felt paper  back on the roof. 

Two The concrete below the overhang was holding water so we took a saw  and cut out a section to install a drain pipe. We put gravel back in the cut  section and put new concrete back in. 

Three The metal roof on another  was leaking. We repaired all of the leaks on  this roof. 

Four The main beam holding up a 53’ long porch was partially rotten from  leaks. We replaced 20’ of the beam. 

Five We built a saddle on the roof connecting the carport and porch. We  covered it with OSB board and felt paper. 

Six We built 75’ of walls to enclose the porch for storage. We installed 14  windows and a door. We enclosed all of it with OSB board and covered it  with felt paper. It will have siding put on it later. 

            This is our way of serving God and spreading HIS word. 

 

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March 2009 Homeland Missions trip to Lakeshore, Mississippi

In March, 2009 the Homeland Mission Team met to make plans for a one-week mission trip. Chet Brown, Don Pahl, George Boehm, Wiley Bard & I attended the meeting.

The consensus was that if we chose a location closer to home and only went for one week, more men would be able to participate.  We put out feelers in Kentucky and West Virginia but received no feedback.  Wiley suggested that perhaps this was God telling us to go back to Lakeshore, MS.

We advertised the trip for one week duration. Wiley Bard, Don Pahl, Chet Brown, George Boehm, Mike Collins and I signed up to go. Since Don lined up a week's worth of work, we knew what tools to take with us.

When we arrived Wiley was already on the job with the food. If you have never been on mission with us, you really miss out on some great cooking. We have the best of the best in the kitchen with Wiley at the stove. I think by the end of the week we all let our belts out a couple of notches.

Monday we were taken to our job site, given the tour and told what we needed to do. It was a mobile home that had been gutted due to water damage. The electrical work had been totally messed up and had failed inspection TWICE. Also, there were quite a few studs to be added.

Mike and George went to work on the carpenter work and Chet and I lit into the electrical work.          Of course Don was straw boss and some help on the wiring, ha ha.  On Wednesday Chet, Don and George went to Miss Brenda's dug a trench and put in conduit & wire for her grunge pump. In case you don't know, a grunge pump is a garbage grinder at the property line holding tank.

At this point I want to tell a short story. We go on these trips because we love the Lord and love helping those less fortunate than ourselves. We live here in Ohio and most of us don’t really know what it is like to have to scrounge to pay our bills or to put food on the table. We are, for the most part, blessed beyond our wildest dreams. We don't have to live from hand to mouth as some less fortunate. I'm talking about a young man by the name of William and his wife who have been living in a water ravaged motor home hoping to move into a not so new trailer only to find out that it has been under water and has to be gutted and bleached out before it can be remodeled. A family that had at one time a thriving business until Katrina. William had to sell most of his equipment. His wife has cancerous tumors on her throat but they keep on going. William was cutting up and selling scrap metal to put food on the table and stay ahead of the bill collectors. I never heard him or his wife complain. They              were very thankful to have us there helping with their trailer. Being on a mission trip and               seeing what some people have to go through because of a disaster like Katrina is very humbling               to me. Most of us take for granted everything we have when we should be thanking the Lord               for what we have. I will now step off my soap box and complete this edition of Homeland                Mission news.

We were able to get the wiring completed and the inspector passed our work. Hopefully the inside has since been finished and they are in their home. By the way, James wanted the Buckeye boys on the trailer wiring because he knows the inspector likes the way we do it right the first time.  The inspector told us on one of our earlier trips he wished all crews did as good as the Ohio crews did on electric.

James who works for the Lakeshore church that we stay at and sets up our jobs also had me show another crew how to do the circuit layout for the electric in their new recreation and food & clothing distribution center. That included lighting circuits, outlets, light switches, etc.  I have not heard from James so I must have told them right.

Our last trip was to London, KY in December.  But that is another story.         

What we do we do in the Lords name and he gives us the strength to keep doing his work for those who cannot do for themselves. We invite anyone who would like to join us on any of our trips to contact Don Pahl through the church.

In HIS service,

Chuck

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April ’09 Homeland Mission trip to Lakeshore, MS 

April 19th the Homeland Missions team left JBC for Lakeshore, Mississippi. This would be the teams 5th trip (15th trip overall) to Lakeshore serving Our Lord helping others in need. The team’s members were Wiley Bard (our cook), George Boehm, Chester Brown, Dave Currey (our friend from Akron), Tim Osborn, Glen Sammons, and Don Pahl. A small but mighty team. We were joined by Blair, a fellow from North Carolina who had just been released from prison. He professed to have found Our Lord in prison, somehow found his way to Lakeshore and was helping with carpentry on the homes. 

As in past trips our mission at Lakeshore was to help the local people get back into a home. There are still many families living in FEMA trailers which are being taken away from them. Some are living in tents. This is now going on 4 years after the eye of Katrina ripped through Lakeshore destroying all the homes in and around Lakeshore. Most of the people without a home are the elderly or jobless. Jobs are very scarce in the area. Like it or not the major source of employment since Katrina has been the Silver Slipper, a local casino.

People in neighboring Waveland and Bay St. Louis that had jobs and could afford home insurance before Katrina have been able to rebuild or rehab their homes.  

Lakeshore Baptist Church continues to serve the local people in the rebuilding effort. They expect to carry on the effort for two or three more years. They have coordinated volunteer workers in building over 20 new homes and rehabbing over 150 existing homes in the surrounding area. They also provide a Food and Clothing Pantry which is still serving over 1200 people on a weekly basis. Ms. B faithfully runs both pantries despite heart and health problems. She says she is lead by Our Lord in serving the local people as long as there is a need. The donated food does not stay on the shelves long. We can attest to that as the shelves are almost bare each time we have been there. The food we brought with us this trip was gone within a day. Thank you for your generosity in donating food and clothing this year. 

We have been blessed to help with the rebuilding effort in Lakeshore and once in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. We have worked on homes for James and Ms. B, a little ole lady called Pee Wee who has since gone to be with Our Lord, Ms. Speed, Ms. Gilliam, Vic G., built a handicapped ramp, as well as numerous projects at the church campsite. 

Projects this trip were:

      1) Dave installed rough electric wiring in a home for Brenda, a lady (mid 30’s) who was living in a very small trailer. The trailer she was in had been condemned by the county and must be removed from the property. Check out the picture of the trailer. It is the one tilted at a very high angle.

      2) Chester along with Blair installed kitchen cabinets, finish trim, and doors at a home for an elderly lady. Chet and Dave also installed the finish electric fixtures for her.

      3) Chester totally rebuilt an exterior door and frame for Ms. Patterson, a member of Lakeshore Baptist. The door had been installed improperly and suffered water damage.

      4) Tim was a warrior. He installed a complete water supply system in the Bunk House. The system served two water heaters, six showers, six laboratories, and six toilets. This was all in the attic in high 80 degree temperatures. The lines passed an 80 pound air test for six hours. The inspector was pleased. Good job Tim.

      5) Glen and George had fun running drain lines to the six Bunk House showers and installing blocking for the plumbing fixtures.

      6) Glen, George and Don ran a sewer line from the Buck House to an existing line under the Office Building. This was a challenge in that we had incorrect information resulting in two failed attempts to connect directly to the lift station at the street. God was good though and set us straight. However we were whipped puppies by the time we finished this job. 

Wiley was his usual great cook for everyone. He cooked for 17 people the first week and 36 the second week. We are blessed to have Wiley for a cook. He declined to make his famous “Eggs in a Nest”. Says he is refining the recipe.  

The Bunk House referred to above is being built to house future volunteers at Lakeshore. The elevated level will house 38 volunteers. The lower level will be divided into a material and equipment area and a screened-in patio area. Pastor Don says they intend to use the space for Sunday School, host conferences and be available for meetings by local private and public organizations. 

This mission trip was like all of our past trips. We were able to conduct God’s work in helping His people who lost almost everything because of Katrina. We were not always able to meet the home owner’s, but know our labor was not in vain. Many people would ask us why we would come to Lakeshore to help them. Our answer is always that Our Lord directed us to help and witness to them. 

Members of all the mission teams have always said that we receive as much or more of a blessing assisting others than they receive. The time team members spend together whether working or fellowshipping in the evenings are priceless. 

The Homeland Mission team leaders are currently looking at possible future trips. We are looking at one week trips to the Appalachian areas hit by the floods this year. The area includes Kentucky, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio. We anticipate trips in October ’09 and March ’10. Additional information will be posted on the church web site (www.jerseychurch.org) when available. Follow the Ministries, Missions, and Samaria (Homeland) pages.  

Remember Psalm: 127.1 – Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.