Category: Personal Reflection

Editor’s Note about Dennis

I’m taking the time to make a note about Dennis, pictured here..

He’s a good guy, and I always smile when I see him at church.

Dennis was our team leader for the 2007 team, our church’s first team. Going into uncharted waters, he led our team with grace, humor and strength.

I had the time to talk with him about his reasoning and timing for the trip. We both had commented that we were able bodied and available during the time of the trip, so why not go?

For the sake of Dennis’ privacy, I don’t want to get into the details, but I found out later that Dennis had recently recovered from dealing with cancer, was able to lead our team, and then after returning from Mississippi, had another physical battle. If you saw the guy, or even worked alongside him, you would have never knew. But all during the mission in Biloxi, he had a window where he was able to respond perfectly to God’s call.

If he hadn’t trusted in God, and God’s timing, he would have missed out on an opportunity to have a lasting impact on his family, church, team, and a family he’ll likely never meet.

Just because he made himself available to God’s timing.

It’s extremely encouraging to see a man “Seize the Day,” and to have worked alongside with him.

As a new team forms, Dennis will be supporting us from home, but his building skills will live on in more than in building a house, but in building the men that he led.

Thanks Dennis, carpe diem, my friend.

I mean, come on, look at this guy 🙂

Tommy walked in with probably the most technical skills and the least amount of attitude. He also was the resident chowhound researcher for the trip. Here are some excerpts from his thoughts

Feeling His pleasure.

My one line quote for our support letter was, “I’m looking forward to experiencing a new part of God’s kingdom and hopefully ‘feel His pleasure’.” I definitely “felt His pleasure,” but not quite in the way I imagined. In the movie “Chariots of Fire,” the main character Eric Liddell says,” I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

I thought I would feel His pleasure when I was using some of my construction skills, but that literally didn’t happen until the very last hour. Instead throughout the week I was struck by the reality of one of John Wooden’s quotes: “It’s amazing how much work can get done when nobody cares about who gets the credit.” Time and again I sensed God smiling as He saw ten guys working vigorously towards a common goal; like a basketball coach delighting to see his team selflessly sharing the ball on offense and actively helping each other on defense.

Thursday night or early Friday morning I sensed the Lord reminding me of Pastor Ron’s desire that we be in prayer throughout our workday. Pastor Ron actually got down on the ground, laid his hands on our feet and prayed that God would use our feet to bring blessings to those in Mississippi.

I realized that the first four days I had been so caught up in the construction phase that I hadn’t taken any time to pray over the house, its future occupants, my teammates or the other people we came in contact with throughout the day. So I asked God to remind me to pray during the last day. And so through the Lord’s prompting, I prayed many times, mostly five to ten second blessings and more than a few times wiped away sweat and tears together. The source of the sweat was obvious, the tears a little less. I think they mostly came from an overwhelming sense of privilege of being used by God towards furthering His kingdom, privileged to be on a team with such a single-minded obedience of serving God and privileged to be part of a larger body that sends out and fully supports teams of people to help fulfill the great commission.

If I were to personalize Liddell’s quote it would be, “I believe God made me for a purpose, and He also made me a part of EBCSGV. And when I am able to obediently serve with others in the body I feel His pleasure.”

An excerpt from Team Leader Dennis’ reflections

Through My Shaded Window Pane

I wish I had the wisdom and insight to be able to write a deeply introspective and touching synopsis of our recently completed mission trip to the Gulf Coast. But I’ve learned a man has to recognize his limitations, so I’m leaving the deep writing to others on the team that are blessed with that talent. 🙂 Though I leave the Pulitzer-prize-worthy writing to my more talented teammates, I do want to share with you a few thoughts that stand out strongly for me.

Seeing the remnants of houses, buildings and personal property destroyed by Katrina reminded me of what we have been studying recently regarding the treasures that we store. Indeed, the treasures we have here on earth are very, very temporary.

Our team was diverse in age, skills, talents and thoughts. We did not recruit for specific talents, skills or roles. By God’s grace alone, the volunteers for the team numbered exactly what we had planned for and provided a blend of skills that fulfilled every role needed. Though all different, each person’s contribution and role was invaluable in accomplishing what we were able to do during our week in Mississippi. No one was more important than another and the team operating as one body was able to achieve more than I imagined possible. We had a common thread that tied all of our diversity together – God.

In building the house, we faced many setbacks. We had walls that didn’t fit together. We had windows that were too long. We had a door that was too wide. We had windows that were too narrow. We had roof trusses that were out of alignment. We ran out of building material. We were flooded out. We didn’t always have the right tools. We didn’t have the right building plan. We learned the three most valuable tools to have on the construction site are: Sawz-All, Sledge Hammer and Palm Hammer*. This was a microcosm of our lives and the challenges we face daily. The three most valuable things for our daily living and the obstacles we face? Without a doubt, it is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

It was an honor for me to serve with the nine others who made up Team Katrina 2007. The camaraderie that we enjoyed equaled, if not surpassed, any other adventure I’ve been on. There are so many untold stories that time does not permit to write about. Suffice to say, I was truly blessed to have been able to participate on a mission with nine men who are embraced by the Holy Spirit.

Six months ago, I wondered what purposes God had in bringing me through my battle with cancer. I can now see that this Katrina Mission was one of them. I am so grateful He gave me the chance to honor Him through this opportunity to serve others in need. And most importantly, an opportunity to testify what a great God we have to everyone I came in contact with.

May God’s grace and blessings be with you always!

*Editor’s Note:

These tools were often used during this mission to undo work we had already done. The Sawz-all and Sledge Hammer were particularly useful to cut apart work that had to be redone 🙂

Steve was one of the most interesting, if not energetic, of those on the mission. Here’s an excerpt from his notes:

Life’s Moments… Dressed and Pressed

I thought it best to write down my thoughts whilst they are still fresh and felt, so in no particular order:

One of our goals as members of EBC’s Katrina Project was to intercalate (to join, or combine or unite with others to increase the quality, quantity, size or scope of) ourselves into the culture of this devastated region and serve as envoys of God’s hope and love to the people so devastated by this “act of God.” It seems we did. In the process of building a home, we also did other things; have fun, learn about ourselves, each other, and most importantly about the God we serve and worship.

We ate. History has it that during a bitter local transit union strike, two brothers took pity upon the jobless “poor boys” and gave out inexpensive sandwiches. They evolved into a signature Southern-style po’ boy. Take fried meat or seafood placed between sub-style buns, add mayo, lettuce and tomato(dressed) and smash it down in a machine to make it more crisp (pressed) and there you have it. We had these at the beginning of our trip and on the last day. They reminded me of ourselves, humbled and grateful to be used by God.

Po’ in spirit.

Dennis and I created this contest to determine which team member would ultimately do the stupidest things, both in quantity and quality; the BoneHead (BH) award. The problem with the BH point system was that as soon as someone earned a point, for say, letting go of a hammer mid-swing and thus raising a welt on my arm (Peter), he would step up, stay on the roof all day nailing down the OSB boards, and negate that point. Or at a layover in Atlanta someone lost his cell phone on the plane (Dennis) holding everybody up from making the connecting flight to Gulfport, then turn out to be this patient, organized, flexible leader that I would follow just about anywhere. It was like that the whole time. And I still don’t know who won the award.

I totally enjoyed a wonderful mix of meal time espirit de corps and bunk house cruel banter. I think others call it “fellowship.” Speaking of accommodations, for 10 guys, make sure you have enough outlets to recharge 3 laptops, 7 cameras and 11 cell phones. And don’t volunteer for KP duty unless you know how to use a 1600psi power washer and compressor strong enough to blow your toe off. Yes, I was able to use all the power tools I could have imagined and then some.

On the Saturday that we were flying home, Dennis and I fully intended to make the hour and a half drive to New Orleans. Before the trip, I had shared with three self-indulgent ladies (Ju Lo, Yets Saguchi and Ruth Hata) about our missions trip to the South, and all they could think about were beignets, French doughnut delicacies, especially from the Café Du Monde.

Right before we were to leave Biloxi, a local said we shouldn’t even think about driving to New Orleans because of the weekend’s Jazzfest there. The city was a zoo. Sorry, ladies, God is sovereign.

On airplanes, NEVER give free drink coupons to a passenger next to you unless you want to hear her chatter on for the next four hours. ALWAYS give candy to a crying child, even if the candy is not yours to give. And The Holiday, with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet is still a great film even for the third time.

When we prayed over the house we built those last moments before we left for our last dinner, I thanked God that he gave us all a foretaste of heaven, to be co-laborers in an act of worship to the Father. It seems like guys don’t like to cry.

After getting back, I tell everyone who asks me how it was, that theyneed to go and feel what I felt and see what I saw and do what I did and be a part of something greater than yourself and be a part of a community rebuilding and regaining its dignity and distinctiveness by the grace of God. Dressed and pressed.

Robert made a few sacrifices during this trip. Some expected and some unexpected.

His anniversary fell on the Friday during this trip, but had prepared for it by having a surprise gift waiting for his wife, Tobi, back home. He had a big smile and took great delight that he had planned it out in his absence. Unfortunately, also on that day, Tobi’s grandfather passed away on that day as well. You could see the sadness not only of the loss, but also that he couldn’t be there in person to support his wife.

Here’s an excerpt of his thoughts:

Before I began this missions project, I did not know what to expect.

How much of the house are we going to build? Will I be able to hammer some nails? Am I going to eat rice and red beans every night? In the end, the Lord went beyond my expectations. As a team, we were able to build the frame, put in windows and doors, pound the OSB into the frame, build the trusses (roof), and put the OSB into the roof frame. The only thing we did not do was to put shingles on the roof and put siding on the sides of the house.

And at every meal, we had something tasty, like spaghetti, ham and pineapple, and pot roast. Throughout the week, the Lord kept each member safe and more importantly everybody had a great attitude. In the end, I realized that our entire team had two things in common. We love the Lord and we had the desire to work diligently on the house. Without the Lord, I believe we would have not accomplished as much as we did because we faced many adversities throughout the week.

Thank you for your support and God bless……

Dennis has been doing a great job keeping the team organized, happy and on track. And yes, he requested the above title for this post 🙂

An incredibly amazing mission thus far! So much to share, so little time to do it. I have new found admiration and respect for every member of this team!

My memorable moments so far:

• Praise the Lord for providing nice meals! (I was really worried about a red beans and rice diet!)
• A flying hammer that fortunately didn’t kill any one! (Ooops, it slipped!) Power tools in the hands of amateurs and no one’s gotten hurt! (Whew!)
• Missing the first game of the Lakers/Suns playoff series because a couple of girls wanted to watch a chick-flick on the community TV. (They beat us to the sofa.)
• Seeing one side of the house we are building fall over. (Another “Oooops”)
• The look on the HFH foreman’s face as Tommy nailed down the tarp we bought to build a “shaded break room” at the work site. (He wasn’t so surprised that he didn’t take advantage of
  our shade!)
• Tour of the “kitchen on wheels” where all of our meals are being prepared. (Perhaps the VBS budget could spring for one of these!)
• I’d write more, but Game 2 of the Lakers/Suns Playoff series has begun and the men have claimed rights to the TV tonight!