April 21st – 28th, 2007
It seems like an eternity ago that hurricane Katrina unleashed indescribable devastation upon the Gulf Coast in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed and thousands of people were left homeless. Evergreen Baptist Church, San Gabriel Valley extended offers at that time to assist in the form of sending volunteers to help rebuild along with monetary contributions to fund relief efforts. After a season of waiting, God’s timing and plan for us is such that our offer has now been accepted!
In partnership with American Baptist Churches USA (ABC-USA) and Habitat for Humanity (HFH), Evergreen Baptist Church of SGV will be sending a team of ten men to assist in the rebuilding efforts to provide homes for those in need along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. The team will fly down and stay at the Salvation Army Volunteer Village for seven days while working on the construction of homes sponsored financially by ABC-USA. We have the honor and privilege of being a part of the team.
God has called each of us to go on this mission, and we are all quite excited about the opportunity to serve in this way. However, this trip will not be possible apart from people like you coming alongside us to support us with prayer, finances, and encouragement. So our hope and prayer is that God would show you how He would want you to partner with us.
If He calls you to intercede for us, both now as we prepare and during the 7 days that we’ll be in Mississippi, here are a few requests: for strong relationships and cooperation among our team as well with other volunteers that we will be working with; for safety in our travels; for physical protection while working on the construction sites; for protection over our families while we are away; for weather that will be conducive to our construction tasks that we will be assigned; and for God to use our efforts to bless and help the families that lost their homes to the destruction of hurricane Katrina as well as to others providing assistance in the recovery efforts.
If God calls you to contribute financially towards the roughly $8,500 that we as a team need to raise, please fill out the response form and send it with your check in the enclosed envelope. And if He calls you to write a note of affirmation or encouragement to one (or all) of us, feel free to do so on the back of the response card.
Thank you for considering how you can partner with us on this mission. May God’s grace and mercy always be with you.
In His Service,
Evergreen SGV Katrina Recovery Team April 2007
Katrina Recovery Team April 2007
Gary Yee, Art Fong, Peter Lau, (Mathias Nakatsui drawn on whiteboard), Mo Nakatsui, Steve Ogata
Robert Nishikawa, Dennis Cho, Tommy Yamada, Frank Murakami
Dennis Cho “This is an opportunity to give a little of myself to help so many in need. It’s the least I can do considering all the blessings God has bestowed upon me.”
Art Fong “I am truly honored to be used by God in this way and anticipate the many blessings that will come from this as a result.”
Peter Lau “One thing that impressed me about this one is that even though we may not be rebuilding all the homes in a particular region, even a few new homes in an area can help retain and build up property value in that area. Hopefully that will encourage others to stay and rebuild on their own, and help them and investors have confidence in the region.”
Frank Murakami “I am glad I finally get to go to the Gulf area to help those who were devastated by Katrina. To go with a great bunch of guys from our church is a real plus.” “I want the people there to know that I care.”
Mo Nakatsui in Matthew 25:40 it says, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” I see this as an opportunity to give back to God in a small way for the many blessings He has given me.
Mathias Nakatsui “I am looking forward to serving the people in the Gulf Coast by building homes.”
Robert Nishikawa “Serving the Lord is one of the greatest things I can do for a God who has given me so much. I am going take this opportunity and make a difference.”
Steve Ogata “In addition to all the more serious and heartfelt concerns, this is my opportunity to use power tools and enjoy the camaraderie of encouraging joyful Christian guys.”
Tommy Yamada “I’m looking forward to experiencing a new part of God’s kingdom and hopefully ‘feel His pleasure’.”
Gary Yee “I want to be able to put the love of Christ into action…to live out my sacrifice.”