Update from Don

Our next mission begins Jan. 5th, next Mon. Rosemary and I plan to leave rather early in the morning for the 3 day trip to Key West, some 1100 miles south of here. This is our third year working with the Key West Church. There will be a group of us sojourners there highly involved in evangelism. During the past two missions, we have taught and baptized about a dozen people. We will give special emphasis on this mission in teaching more material to these new converts. Our team leader is Doug Shepherd and his wife Maxine. This couple has been doing this type of mission work for over 10 yrs. They are great leaders. They are great servants. Rosemary and I count them among our very best friends. We are planning to have a "Super Saturday" on Jan. 10th. We will be teaching lessons on the life of Christ. There will be a break for refreshments and at the conclusion of the three hour teaching sessions, we are planning to have a cook out. We will be using this occasion of pleasant experience for the children and adults who attend to set up further bible studies with them. We hope to sign up a lot of people for bible study. The Key West Church is looking forward to our coming as we are looking forward to this effort. Good progress is being made in the area of community evangelism, I really believe good things will be occurring with the church. This is a mission that is developing into a real success story.
Am looking forward in speaking at the Fla. School of Preaching Lectureship in Jan. We will be teaching methods in helping get people back in church. We have had some real success this year in this area of evangelism at Howell. One reason is the very interested friendly brethren that make up the congregation at Howell. There is a great desire for teaching and also a great desire for fellowship. "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." When you go to where people are, you can take them where you are going." More on the lectureship in the next report. Don

Carol Ogle(On the Home Front)

I n my work as the Relief Ministry coordinator I have met many people who have learned this ancient di-rective well. In the dozens of phone calls I take and on our visits to churches on the front lines of hurricane re-lief, again and again we receive what we intended to give. Our purpose is to encourage and bless the de-voted workers and in every case we are the ones who are encouraged and blessed by their courage, love and servant spirits.
What a joy and unique blessing to see first hand my brothers and sisters in Christ living out the grace of giving by devoting themselves to others as they use every means to serve the hurting. The heroes among us are too numerable to mention by name but I am forever thankful to God and to those who live out His life by giv-ing themselves freely to the needy.
Without you, our faithful supporters, the work of helping the hurting could not be accomplished. Your generosity does not go unnoticed by WFR Relief or our faithful Lord. Thank you for all you have done to help us help those who lives have been forever changed by dis-cree

A Pendleton County town in mourning the loss of a man who lost his life in a Christmas Eve crash.

Jason Carr was killed on December 24 when the car he was driving collided with two other vehicles on the AA Highway just south of I-275 in Wilder, Kentucky.

Thirty-year-old Carr was a resident of Falmouth, Kentucky, and a father of two girls, ages 9 and 11.

A friend of Carr's, Brian Owens, says, "He did anything he could for the girls, and even with the rough schedule he would get them through the week to go do something fun like going to the pizza place in Falmouth, taking them to soccer games, playing basketball out back of his house, soccer in the living room with the girls and his dog Dutch when it was cold and wet. Really anything that a Dad does. There are so many people whose lives he touched with his smile and twinkle in his eyes, he loved life and made it so much better for his family and friends."

Carr worked for the Norfolk Southern Railroad.

Services for Carr will be on Saturday December 27 at noon at Peoples Funeral Home in Butler, Kentucky. Visitation is at noon with the funeral service immediately following.

Update from Bayou La Batre

2008 has been a good - if challenging - year at the Hemley Rd. Church of Christ in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. We now have an average of 60 people in attendance and have had ten precious souls baptized this year. Our teens and children's classes have outgrown our classroom facilities but we give God the glory that the children love to come to church and learn more about Jesus.
Our summer intern, Tyler Cope, a student at Oklahoma Christian University, was a great leader for our kids. With the help of our dear friends and partner church in El Campo, Texas, our teens attended Camp Bandina in Bandera, Texas last summer. It was a time of great growth and fellowship with our friends from the congregations in El Campo and Lake Jackson, Texas, along with many other churches. Two of our young men were baptized at camp.
We had a great Vacation Bible School in July which was conducted by members from the White’s Ferry Rd. Church of Christ in West Monroe, La. Their Jr. High group taught our kids many new songs and activities. We have 3 new families in our church as a result of their children attending the VBS.
After Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, we were able to serve hundreds of hungry people through our Food Pantry. Our Hemley Rd. group has also coordinated activities with the local city council, the Local Lions Club, the Fire and Police Departments, and many relief organizations. This is a church that is known around the coast of South Alabama for its love and compassion for those in need. \
Church members recently participated in a day of Christmas time activities. We had Friday night Christmas banquet for team members and parents of children who are active in the Sunday school program. Saturday activities included Bayou Recovery Project workers involved in the Christmas toy Drive sponsored by the New York City Firefighters at the Bayou LaBatre Community Center. Over 2000 children received gifts and got to sit on Santa’s lap. Afternoon festivities in-cluded sponsoring a float in the annual Bayou La Batre Christ-mas parade, complete with “Mr. and Mrs. Claus” (aka Ken and Ann Bolden of the White’s Ferry Rd. where Ken is a direc-tor of the World Radio ministry)
Evening activities included a Christmas play involving over 50 children with more than 150 community and family members in attendance. For information about opportunities to participate in numerous volunteer service projects for 2009, please contact: Daphne German, at daphneger-man@hotmail.com or phone 251-609-0448.
Thank you for all your prayers and support of the Hem-ley Rd. Church and the Bayou Recovery Project. We give God the glory for all His blessings!

Disaster Assistance Gustav/Ike Mission Recap

Thanks to you, the first "Disaster Assistance" mission was a tremendous success. This mission started Sept.5th with Hurricane Gustav in Baton Rouge, and ended Dec.9th on the Bolivar Peninsula with the results of Hurricane Ike. There were 39083 meals prepared and served. There were just over 500 people signed up for bible study. We helped unload and distribute 10 semi- truck loads of supplies such as food boxes, cleaning supplies, mattresses and appliances, furnished by "Churches of Christ Disaster Relief" of Nashville and other churches. We would like to especially thank the Churches of Christ at Goodwood, Lake Jackson, El Campo, Broadway, Cox Blvd, Whites Ferry Road and many of the Churches of Christ in the Houston area. not only for their financial support, but also for providing volunteers to help in serving and bible studies. Now we have singled out these churches, but truly churches from all over the country sacrificially donated and continued to donate the funds that were so necessary to accomplish this great mission. God was glorified, Christ was magnified and the local churches were edified.

Now for some more good news. Quite frankly, when we started this mission under the oversight of the elders of the Alachua Church of Christ. Our hope was that we would receive enough donations to at least help people close to home. Gainesville, Fl. Boy were we surprised!!! You made it possible for us to minister to people well over 800 miles away. Churches from all over the U.S. were so helpful, that now we can say we are prepared to go almost anywhere, anytime in the whole country to help in most disasters. Everywhere we go people see our "Orange Shirts" which tells them, "the Church of Christ is here helping." Thank you so much for making this possible.

It is our hope that you and your family have a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to the great doors of opportunity to serve God in the coming year.

As you may wish to continue supporting this mission, a special separate Sunday contribution, ear marked "Disaster Assistance", will enable us to be "ready to roll" at a moments notice. We found that this was an excellent way for each person to give if able and as they see fit.


Remember you and we together are "Combating Natural Disasters with Acts of God"


Donations should be mailed to Disaster Assistance, Alachua Church of Christ, 14505 NW 145 Ave,
Alachua FL 32615

Merry Christmas and please continue to keep us in your prayers

From the Goodwood CoC Bulletin

This past year has been a year of blessings. This congregation has been able to serve the Lord in a variety of ways in 2008. Our Bible classes, benevolent outreach, mission efforts, fellowship with one another, and worship to God have been a blessing to each of us. As the elders of this church, we are doubly blessed by these opportunities and by the wonderful people with whom we serve. Let us commit to increasing our service to the Lord in 2009. The Elders

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It has truly been a blessing to have served alongside of you in 2008. We have rejoiced as many have been added to this congregation and said goodbye to many others, reached out to our community in the wake of Gustav, mourned the passing of a few of our members, spent much time together in the study of God’s Word, and experienced several transitions in our leadership. Kristi, Eden, and I thank you for loving all three of us and for continually overwhelming us with your support and encouragement. During our fifth Christmas in Louisiana, we truly have much for which to give thanks. We pray that the Lord will bless you with a wonderful holiday season and an even better new year.

Love, Doug, Kristi, & Eden

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What a busy year 2008 has been at Goodwood! It was fun to watch the new wall calendar in the office fill up with the year’s events. Some changes were made this year – Camp Maywood, new formats for VBS and Bible Bowl – and all were a great success! We will miss our many friends who moved away this year, but will never forget them. Plans for 2009 are underway, and will bring new opportunities for us all to do the Lord’s work. May you all be blessed with a joyful holiday season and happiness in the New Year! Love, Peggy

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This year has been a mixture of both happy and sad: So happy that we’re here at Goodwood and able to be a part of this wonderful congregation of the Lord’s family; sad that we had to tell so many sweet brothers and sisters goodbye this year as they moved away or passed on to be with our Lord. I’m so thankful for the chance to serve our Lord in such a loving environment with such wonderful people. Clayton and I and the boys wish everyone a heartwarming holiday this year and then safely return to continue the Lord’s work in 2009! Love, Clayton, Chris, Samuel & John

Royce Ogle(White's Ferry Rd CoC) and Hoss Ridgeway(Lake Jackson CoC) in front of Lake Jackson CoC

2009 Hurricane Prediction Suggests Above Average Activity

Hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University are predicting above-average activity in the Atlantic next year: 14 named storms, including seven hurricanes—three major.

The 50-year average is 9.6 named storms, 5.9 hurricanes and 2.3 major hurricanes. Researchers William Gray and Phil Klotzbach say in their extended-range forecast today that there is a 63 percent chance that at least one major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. coastline. The long-term average probability is 52 percent.

This is Gray’s 26th year of forecasting hurricanes. His predictions are watched closely by emergency responders and others, but many say such long-range forecasts don’t have a lot of practical value beyond focusing public attention on the dangers. The hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

From Royce's Blog

Twins with one heart!

Jane Smith and Judy Peter are twin sisters from El Campo, Texas. They are very active members of the El Campo church of Christ where my friend John McCord is the preacher. We first got to know this “dynamic duo” as a result of our joint work in the South Alabama town of Bayou La Batre. These ladies are like servants on speed! (I mean this in the best possible way) They are high on Jesus and want to serve people in His name and make Him known to everyone possible.

The winds of Hurricane Ike had hardly died before Jane and Judy snapped into gear gathering ice, coolers, water and food for those who had been devastated by the storm. They loaded a pick up truck and were off on a trip that would be repeated time after time in the next months. It is amazing what these two gals have done! Just ask Mike Bumgartner with Disaster Assistance and you’ll get an ear full of wonderful comments about them.

When Carol and I recently visited several churches and hard hit communities, these delightful twins insisted on treating us to a beach front lunch of scrumptious hamburgers and the very best onion rings. After a great visit we followed them to the relief site where Mike Bumgartner was cooking up a storm and preparing to serve 800 or so meals. I was recruited to help unload the twins truck. They had huge cans of vegetables, drinks, cleaning supplies, and other things hurricane victims need. What for us was a big deal for them has become routine. They seem to think nothing about getting in the aged pick up and driving a few hours to deliver the goods, most of which I suspect they paid for out of their own funds.

If I could lawfully clone anyone, I might just start with these dear sisters who know no fear, see no obsticles, and can get more done than a small army. My hat’s off to the “Turbo Twins” from El Campo. What a joy to know them and their families and to have them as friends. You go girls!!

His peace,

Royce

TOTAL MEALS SERVED TO DATE 39083

Plan Now For 2009 Disasters

Brethren,
For sometime you have been receiving our emails concerning "Disaster Assistance"and the work we have been doing in the hurricane affected areas. Your generous support of this work has made this possible.
It is because of the effectiveness of this work in not only helping people, but also the great opportunities of this work in evangelism that the Disaster Assistance Mission will be able to continue working in areas
effected by hurricanes, floods and other disasters. As you make your budget plans for 2009 please
try to set aside some funds for Disaster Assistance work in the future.

Friday and Saturday were 2 of the busiest days we have had here at Port Bolivar around 250 lunches and many, many boxes of food & supplies passed out

Notes from Don

Because of your support, we at "Disaster Assiatance" are going to be involved in more mission work than we originally planned. Under Mike's leadership, we had hoped to be able to minister to people affected by the late summer and early fall storms. We knew it would take a lot of support, but we hoped and prayed to be able to do this. Your support has simply been overwhelming and because of it, we are now able to plan to be involved in other disaster work as in weather related events such as spring floods and the like. We will be notifying you on Mike's blog www.mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com and on our blog www.donchudson.blogspot.com as well as other means as the need arises. You may want to give consideration in helping us. We can use people to help cook, serve and wash up after cooking. The days are long,usually from 7:30am until finish, mostly around supper time that night. If you can help set up and teach bible studies, the opportunity is great. We do not single in on any specific method, but I personally use the Jewel Miller Videos and a method very similar to the Safety Chain.
Again thank you for your support of "Disaster Assistance" and we will do all we can to continue to merit your trust. As you know, "Disaster Assistance"is under the over sight of the Elders of the Alachua Church of Christ. You may contact them at Alachua Church of Christ P.O. Box 237 Alachua Church of Christ Alachua, Fla. Don

Today was another very busy day unloaded another semi load of food and cleaning supplies, served 158 meals and passed out many boxes of supplies

Today we unloaded a semi load of food and supplies from CoC Disaster Relief Nashville

Eva 1 & 2 the Sojourners that are here helping, delivered food and supplies door to door today

Loading appliances to be delivered here on Bolivar Peninsula

We just finished unloading a trailer load of appliances tonight

Thanksgiving Story

We decided to deliver some meals door to door on Thanksgiving day and here is what we found. Two or three of the ladies that came to the door started crying because they thought that was so wonderful. Than the biggest surprise was when we knocked on the door and the lady opened it and when asked if she would like a Thanksgiving meal she said that she couldn't believe it, they had just started to fix peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for their family holiday meal. They were overwhelmed went from PB&J to Turkey, stuffing, yams, green beans and corn, cranberry sauce, roll and pecan pie.

Charlotte, Al and Chantel from Houston brought some supplies and hot food for our Thanksgiving meal and helped serve the dinners

We are up early here getting the Thanksgiving meal ready. Will have photos later today.

Eva1 and Eva2 are Sojourners that joined up with Disaster Assistance in Galveston and decided to come with us to Port Bolivar.

Judy and Jane from EL Campo CoC delivered us supplies for the upcoming Thanksgiving meal yesterday

Volunteers unloading trailer of supplies from Impact Church of Christ

Volunteers having lunch today

Mattress from Impact CoC

We are just short of 40 THOUSAND meals served sense we left Florida for this mission trip on September 6

Worship service today before volunteers went to work

Locals and volunteers having lunch

Volunteers getting ready to go out to job sites

Disaster Assistance and Hilltop Coordinators talking in front of registration desk

Below is some of the locals having lunch with us today

Update from Doug Burleson(Goodwood CoC) also goodluck to JD Eddins and his family from all of us here at Disaster Assistance

In my life I have learned that we are always in transition. While 2008 has been a year filled with many successes in ministry together, we have also watched several of our families move away to work in other cities. Last Sunday morning the elders shared that at the end of this year J.D. Eddins and his family will be moving to Searcy, Arkansas where J.D. will be working with the Capstone Program which specializes in the treatment of teenage boys. The 3½ years that have elapsed since J.D. joined our team have passed quickly. I have enjoyed working alongside of him and his family in the midst of Katrina and Gustav, along with daily opportunities to enjoy watching what the Lord has done at Goodwood in that time. I am thankful that J.D. and Meg will continue teaching here until the day comes for them to move away, but want us to express to them how thankful we are for the service they have rendered here. I also know that those of us with young children will be affected as their special friends Gabie, Lexie, and Lucie prepare to move away. In an effort to honor this family, a special dessert fellowship has been planned for Sunday night, November 30 after services. While I know times of transition can be challenging, let us be comforted by the fact that God is sovereign and as long as we trust in Him and do His will, our work together in this congregation will continue to flourish. To God be the glory.

Next Thursday we will have our Thanksgiving meal. The planned menu is Turkey, Greenbeans and Corn, Cranberry Sauce, Dinner Roll and Pecan Pie

We are planning for 150 or more volunteers to be here working this weekend

Impact Church of Christ in Houston delivered us a nice load of water, food and cleaning supplies today

Update from Don

May I suggest that you read the blog about "Disaster Assistance"? You can read about the latest updates at http://mikesmissionupdates.blogspot.com When Mike started this service back last summer, Rosemary and I were privileged to work with him from the beginning. At that time, there was no funding, and few people had ever heard of us, but Mike, our director, with the input of others, wanted to have an organization that could go right into the affected area. We wanted to be able to be of help as soon as humanly possible. We wanted to be able to go in whether there was electricity, water or anything else. As long as there were "hurting people" we wanted to be there to help. It was also our effort from the beginning, that this would be more than an organization that just helped physically, we wanted to be able to help spiritually. If there was a natural disaster, we wanted to show God's love, to teach God's word, to show thru the haze of hurt that we as God's children cared for them. We have been able to achieve this beyond our greatest hopes. This is being done, because you saw the potential for this work in being of service where there was destruction and also the potential in the building up process, showing the love of God. This work of "Disaster Assistance " has meant so much to the image and knowledge of the Church of Christ in areas where we have serve. People are saying such things as" thank God for you Christians and your church has really helped us". Is it any wonder why we were able to set up 505 bible studies? The people really responded to members of the Church of Christ because of our help. One last note, many of us have worked and worked hard. Cooking and serving up to 1000 meals a day is hard work, but our director, Mike has set the example of hard work. It is his routine to start preparing meals, often before 5 a.m., and then not quit until "dark thirty" that evening. All of this work is important, but I am persuaded that those of you who made this work possible financially, are just as important and just as helpful as those of us who work so diligently in this work of the Lord. God has been glorified, Christ has been magnified, and the Church has been edified by all of us working together. Don

This photo is where the Crystal Beach Church of Christ building was before Ike removed it

Photo below is of the snack bags that was put together by youth from the Watters Road Church of Christ area

Just Finished Meeting With The Fire Captain. He Would Like Us To Make His Station The Major Distribution Site For Bolivar Peninsula

Meals Served Thur Friday 11/15 - 37,390

Below Photos Are Of Me Getting Setup At The Fire Station, Damaged House Across The Street And The Back Wall Of The Bolivar Fire Station That Is Gone

Monday 837, Tuesday 907, Wednesday 861, Thursday 886 and Friday 825 meals served

Port Bolivar Fire Station

Bolivar is a narrow peninsula on the upper Texas coast between the Gulf of Mexico and East Galveston Bay. It lies in a northeasterly direction separated from Galveston Island by the Houston Ship Channel and the Bolivar Roads, 3 miles wide. Free Public Ferries link the Peninsula with Galveston Island.

The Peninsula is called "an offshore sandbar at the eastern end of a chain of islands extending along the Texas and Mexico coasts". The widest point of the Peninsula's 27 miles is between Crystal Beach and Caplen, (about 3 1/2 miles). It is also known as a barrier peninsula.

Bolivar Peninsula was named in honor of Simon Bolivar (1783-1836), a freedom leader fighting to free South and Central America from Spanish rule.

More opportunities ahead

Disaster Assistance and Hilltop Rescue & Relief will be working together in Port Bolivar. Port Bolivar is a short ferry ride away from Galveston. This island was one of the hardest hit areas and no relief teams have yet to work there. Hilltop has made arrangements to have our base operation at the Bolivar fire station. Disaster Assistance will be cooking meals for the local people and volunteers. Hilltop will be bringing in many volunteers to help with the clean up and rebuilding. I will have more information on this in the coming days. Above are some photos of the Bolivar area. If you are one of the congregations that was planning to have a special donation Sunday for Disaster Assistance please continue with those plans as the need is still here. The address to send donations is on the left side of this blog.

Note from Don

Over 800 meals served today in the pouring rain as director of "Disaster Assitance" Mike, the "Big Fellow" with help from sojourners and other christians cared for people today in Galveston. That's dedication. This work of "Disaster Assistance" has caught the attention of Christians from seemingly all over the country as we have had people constantly calling and asking how can we help? And help you have. The tremendous expense of feeding over 500 meals a day, 7 days a week is enormous and it could not be done without your sacrificial help. We do hope to have some totals before long as to the number of people fed, the number of bible studies carried out and some of the results of these studies which may be on going at this time. Again thank you so much for your help. We will continue to try and live up to the trust you have placed in us. Don

Rain-Rain-Rain

Today it started raining around 9:30 AM and hasn't stopped yet. We still served 837 meals.

1404 meals served yesterday and today. That brings the total meals served to 32,624

828 meals served today

Friend Ships(Port Mercy) www.friendships.org delivered us a pallet of water today.

Another new high 1056 meals served today

Notes from Carol Ogle

WFR Relief Ministry Survey Trip—October 27-30, 2008
Royce and Carol Ogle

Monday, Oct. 27
Clear Lake, Texas - We met preacher Byron Fike and elder Ben Glisan. What a great church! They are hosting the Hilltop Rescue group and other volunteer teams who have used their building for food, rest, and spiritual re-freshment. Ed Perry is the current on site coordinator for Hilltop Rescue. They have accommodations for about 70 volunteers. The church has constructed addi-tional shower facilities for the volunteers there to serve the Clear Lake community. Byron and Ben were gra-cious and informative hosts. If you are ever south of Houston, don't miss visiting them.

Tuesday – Oct. 28
Lake Jackson, Texas - Youth minister, comedian, and relief worker Hoss Ridgeway and many volunteers have done a wonderful job of helping the hurting. When it was decided that the dead tree in front of the church should be cut down, Hoss suggested a cross should be left. What a fitting reminder that in the face of storms God prevails!
We met with Hoss and preacher Allen Ritchie and heard about the great work that has been done from the Lake Jackson church of Christ campus. Work continues with the help of volunteers who are removing debris, mucking out houses, and repairing them. Hoss took us on a tour of the community of Surfside where there was extensive damage. The picture shows one of the the ocean front areas where only 4 of 17 houses on the street are still standing.. God bless the Lake Jackson folks who were first in with ice, food, and smiling faces.

Galveston, TX -
We enjoyed a great lunch with our sisters in Christ Jane Smith and Judy Peter from the El Campo church (where John Mc Cord preaches). We have been closely associated with these great ladies in the work at Bayou La Batre, Alabama. Jane and Judy have been making several trips a week to deliver food and supplies to the Broadway church location where Mike Baumgarner (Disaster Assistance, Inc.) has been cooking and serving hot lunches for more than a month now. He has been averaging over 800 lunches a day. Mike has done an unbelievable job. He also spent a few weeks cooking at the Goodwood church in Baton Rouge right after Hurricane Ike.
The beautiful area of the famous "Strand" and the historic homes along Broadway St. in Gal-veston bear the marks of Ike. Boarded windows, blue tarps on roofs, and debris everywhere are representative of the broken lives of the residents. There is much yet to be done but be-cause of very little press and newspaper coverage, money and volunteers are in short supply.
Two days after we were in Galveston, Daphne, Billy and Tina (from Bayou La Batre) arrived there. They brought dozens of homemade cakes and cookies from the church members at BLB to serve to the folks in Galveston. This is truly a case of Christians giving “out of their poverty ..out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. II Cor. 8:2. They spent Friday and Saturday helping Mike with the food service and also visiting other parts of town, including the Ave. K. church which is predominantly black.

Wednesday – Oct. 29
Orange, Texas – At the 9th and Elm church we met minister Barry Jones. In addition to the duties of preaching and all the accompanying duties of ministering to a sizable congregation, Barry has assumed the job of relief coordinator. Twenty families of the 9th and Elm church suf-fered significant damage to their homes. With the help of volunteers, much of the damaged dry wall has been removed. The next step will be the installation of new drywall. They have a source for the sheetrock but need workers to hang and finish it.
In addition to the stress of having two fulltime jobs, Barry has been ministering to two families in the church whose son and brother committed suicide just a few days ago. This man lost his business after the hurricane, his home was badly damaged, and in despair took his own life. In the face of so much loss and tragedy, the remarkable be-lievers at the 9th and Elm church are still smiling, still trusting the Lord, and doing all they can for others. The church building had several inches of water in it and one lady who stayed in the building had to be rescued by boat. In the nearby community of Bridge City, virtually every home was damaged with water from a few inches to several feet. Please pray for and the work at Bridge City.
Remember to keep Barry and the 9th and Elm church in your prayers. Spread the word about the need for workers.

Sulphur, LA - Maplewood church of Christ. We met with elder Roger Corley and spent a few hours with him learning about the work of Maplewood and enjoying his contagious optimism about the work yet to be done. He, too, says the greatest need is for volunteers. It is very difficult to get enough folks to do the work. They have been able to clean and help repair many homes in Cameron Parish but also have distributed thousands of dollars of appliances and bedding (from Disaster Relief in Nashville) to people who lost everything. Their goal is to plant a church in Cameron Parish. Maplewood is also hosting a Hilltop Rescue group.

Thursday, Oct. 30
Baton Rouge - We met our friends Fred and Dee Franke from New Orleans for a late breakfast. What a job Fred and his Project Nehemiah have done in New Orleans, first after Hurricane Katrina and now in wake of the latest hurricanes. Fred's ministry has helped to plant churches, feed and clothe people, supply appliances, cleaning sup-plies, and brought hope to so many hundreds of people. He also needs funding to continue. The recovery work in the New Orleans area has only scratched the surface. There is much to be done. I am very thankful for men like Fred who stepped out by faith and tackled the situation head on. Fred is not only a leader, preacher/teacher, but a brilliant strategist as well.
It is very difficult to see all the damage, destruction and oftentimes despair in the lives of people we visit who have been affected by the hurricanes and storms. But it is very rewarding to be able to give them a hug and remind them of their many unseen friends around the world who care about them and send their support in the way of funds and prayers. We pray with them and always leave feeling that we are the ones blessed by our visit.
Please remember these people and the ministries who are doing so much to help them. Thousands still need help and hope that only Christ can give
Royce and Carol

956 meals served today

Update from Don

Just talked to Mike, the Director of "Disaster Assistance". They served a record number of meals today. 1005 meals were served today and as of today, since beginning with the Goodwood Church of Christ in Baton Rouge, La. "Disaster Assistance" has serve 28,380 meals. You can imagine the enormity of the cost to be able to help like this. It could only be done by your sacrificial support. During this great effort, God has been glorified, Christ has been magnified, and the Church with its' participation has been edified.

1005 Meals served today. Total sense September 8 is 28,380.

Photo below shows Daphne from Bayou La Batre and Jane from El Campo passing out tracks. We served 700 meals today.

We have now served 26,242 meals sense or mission started on September 8

Update from Don

Work feeding and careing for people in Galveston is progressing well. There were 884 meals served today. As you can imagine the cost of preparing these meals everyday is most expensive, but "Disaster Assistance"is able to provide this service because of so many christians like you sacrifically helping in this great work. Christians from Bayou La Batre, Al. came over to help. They are Daphne, Billy, Tina, Judy, and Pam. Christians from El Campo came over to help also. They are Larry, Jane, and Judy. Of course Mike and DD work everyday preparing and serving these meals. The Church of Christ is greatly appreciated in the area for showing their caring concern.

Today we served 858 and yesterday was 796. Below is photo of the volunteers we had today from Kingwood, Pearland and Alvin, TX

Today another big day 809 meals. Also it was nice to have Royce and Carol Ogle here with us today. They are with Whites Ferry Road Relief Ministries

Yesterday was the last day for the Salvation Army & Red Cross to serve meals here in Galveston with that said we served 909 meals today

Below is update from Don.

Just talked with the Director of "Disaster Assistance", Mike, who reports that there were 909 meals served today. There is still a great need for this service in the Galveston area. Several Christians from the Lake Jackson Church as well as some Sojourners were there to help today. It was still a very full day. This work, including the opportunity to reach people with the message of Jesus, is made by not only your prayers, but also your sacrificial financial support. You can imagine the cost of serving 7,8,900 meals a day, seven days a week for this period of time. This work could not be do without you. God is being glorified, Christ is being magnified and His Church is being greatly appreciated and recognized for the caring concern Christians are showing. You are making a great work possible. We are doing our best to live up to the confidence and trust you have placed in us.

Just got back from dinner with Dick & Nita Stockton they are Sojourners that are here to help us for a few days

Don's Notes

Another attitude that can greatly diminish our effectiveness in out-reach, goes something like this, "People are not interested in the bible, church or religion anymore." May I tell you this, as a christian, I have found people are very interested in spiritual relationship with God. But don't just take only my experience, just look at the TV. Turn on any religious program. What do you see? Generally a building filled with people listening to a preacher, isn't that right? Now ask yourself this question, how many of those folks that you saw in the church house on TV got up in the morning and said, "I believe I'll go down to the church and get some false doctrine". I dare say none of them did. They thought they were going to hear a message from God's word. The point is today there are people who are not interested in spiritual things. There were those even in Jesus' day. Today, however, there are thousands, no doubt millions who are looking for relationship with God, and we have the "treasure in earthen vessels". You see the devil wants us to believe that people are not desirous of being right with God, but what did Jesus say? He said, "say not you there are three months and then comes the harvest? Behold I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look unto the fields for they are white already to harvest." Jesus teaches us to see the possibilities. The formula is simple. See the possibilities (goal), determine the price(needed effort), go to work.
Our next lesson will be, we can do it. We will look at how God helps us. Don

Photo is of volunteers from Kingwood CoC, Kingwood, TX they brought 35 people down to help today

Today 6 members from Lake Jackson CoC came to help serve the meals

683 Meals served today which brings our total to 21,112.

Notes from Don

It was our privelge to speak at the West Fayetteville Church of Christ last night and to be able to tell them some of the results accomplished by the workers of "Disaster Assistance". Well over 12,000 meals served and over 500 bible studies set up. As a supporter of "DA" we wanted to personally bring them up to date. The elders expressed appreciation in learning first hand the results of their efforts.
This is the first year of operation for "DA" and those of us associated with it are appreciative and really over whelmed by the support so many of you and so many congregations have given us. With your continues support we will continue to reach out to the hurting and those that do not know Jesus thru this ave.

Another attitude that sometimes we hear expressed concerning church growth is, "they got to be doing something wrong to be growing that fast." This attitude will certainly not contribute to the growth of the congregation from where that remark is made. It has been my experience that when a congregation makes a real concerted effort for out reach, people respond, bible studies take place, people become christians and the church grows numerically. This should come as no surprise, didn't Jesus teach us to see the possibilities when he said, "look unto the fields they are white unto harvest". Now we never want to practice anything unscriptural nor do we want to encourage anything unscriptural, but a growth attitude might be, I want to see what they are doing that leads to their numerical growth. When I find out, if there is anything unscriptural, I don't want to do it, but if there is something a growing church is doing that is scriptural I want to see if I too can put it into practice. Now out reach takes work, it takes study, it takes prayer. It is my opinion that only seeing the faults of others is often an excuse for doing little. That's my opinion anyway. On the next lesson we are goingto discusss some church growth principles and attitudes. Don

Windy Night

We had 35 mph winds last night. I was sure we were going to lose our canopies but they stayed in place. Everything was covered with dust and had to be cleaned before I could start cooking. We served 809 meals today.

752 meals served today. I was able to get 3 local Galveston residents to help serve the meals today

Message From Don

Let's discuss some methods which we use in getting a bible study. We especially use these method in "Disaster Assistance". We try to adapt our methods to the situation we face. Remember when we are working with "Disaster Assistance", under the eldership ot the Alachua Church of Christ in Alachua, Fla. (near Gainesville) , it is not difficult to go to where people are. It is obvious. Distress, in need and often in sorry. A good meal and supplies for the house are greatly appreciated.
When we go in to the community with food and supplies, we have pad and pen ready. We ask, " my I write you name so that we may check back with you to see if you can use further assistance"? If they give their name and almost always they do we then ask, may I have your telephone number please"? We assure them that someone from the church will be calling them in the next few days checking on them and ask them could we come by and visit, could we pray with you, could we read the bible with you, could we study the bible with you? Again the answer is almost always yes. In fact it is not unusual, if we miss someone for them to come to me and say, "can I sign up for bible study"? If we have the opportunity we, ourselves set up the bible study with them. It is good, however, when members of the local church go to these studies as that gives people at opportunity to meet members who obviously care about them and that they will see when they attend the local church. It is a good idea when you visit with people to let them know you will be looking for them when they get to church and you want them to sit with you. We have found that people want to belong to something they appreciate and admire. We have also found the people do not want to leave where they feel like they belong.

Disaster Assistance Galveston 2 week update

We have been here in Galveston, TX for two weeks. In that time we have served 10,204 meals. I have cooked all of those using only 8 rosters and all meals have been cooked and served outside while fighting off these huge Texas flies. Most everyone of the locals tell us each day that the meals that they are getting from us is the only food they are getting and without them they have no idea how they would have made it. I met with leaders from Lake Jackson and El Campo on Friday to review how much longer we will be able to continue serving these meals. The funds are running low. We feel we should be able to continue until the end of the month. At that time we will review again and see if we have the funds to continue if needed. I am sure it will be needed. I know a lot of you have helped us with donations. Lake Jackson, El Campo and Goodwood Church of Christ have been the main source of funds. If you have been waiting to help in some way now is the time before we are forced to leave due to lack of money. Volunteers are also needed.

Well we can tell the weekend is over we were back to 752 meals served today

Lake Jackson CoC was here today to help serve and cleanup. El Campo CoC went shopping for us and came back with a truck and trailer full of food and paper products.

Busy day today many meals served and lots of food boxes, clothing and supplies passed out

Today just after we were finished serving the meals another semi load of supplies arrived from Disaster Relief

Thank goodness the group from Lubick was still here to help unload.

Another feel good story

Today we had a lady come by for her meal. She is here each day but this time she said she had $80.00 saved to pay her electric bill but sense she had no electric service this month she wanted to give that money to our Disaster Assistance work because we were here everyday serving meals to her and others in need.

The above photo is of volunteers from Lake Jackson CoC and some of the stuidents form Lubick Christian serving lunch today.

732 meals were served today.

Another busy day 834 meals served

Each day when the volunteer that are helping us leave they ask if we have any help for the next day and most of the time we have no idea. But each day someone shows up to help. Like today a group of students from Lubick Christian University. They help us serve all the meals and clean up. They will be here until Sunday.

Today we served 787 meals.

Many thanks to the volunteers from Churches of Christ on the mainland who have been helping us serve meals. Lake Jackson and El Campo have been helping with fund raising and bringing us supplies along with continued support form Goodwood CoC.

757 Meals Served Today

We Were Back To Cooking From Generators Today But Still Served 865 meals

This Weekend We Served 1306 Meals With The Help Of The 120 Stuidents From Oka Christian College

We Served 642 Meals Today, Unloaded Semi From Disaster Releif and Passed Most Of It Out Today

Many Thanks To Don & Rosemary Hudson For Their Tireless Help Over The Past 4 Weeks. Below Is Update From Don

Rosemary and I will be leaving Galveston, Tx. tomorrow morning, Sat. for Marshall, Tx. and our workshop with the Sojourners. This is a real opportunity to better learn how to be more effective in evangelism. Mike, our Director of "Disaster Assistance" has led us in serving people in Baton Rouge, Lake Jackson, and Galveston. All together, up to the present moment, we have, with your sacrificial help, served 11052 meals and have set up 505 bible studies. The churches where we have worked have been thrilled with these efforts and some have already started with these bible studies. Thus far I am aware of 6 baptisms and am confident there have been and will be many more as we receive the reports. I do know the brethren where we have been are very busy with these bibles studies. Disasters can be very sad and yet it does turn some people to the importance of spiritual things. People have been very thankful for the quality of the food you have helped provide and have been very receptive to the invitation, for visitation, prayer and bible reading and bible study. " People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care and when you go to where people are you can take them to where you are going." It has not been difficult in showing our care and concern for them and it has not been difficult in determining where they are. This has been a great opportunity to show the love of Christ to people. It was especially impressive to me as I read in my early morning devotions the other morning that Luke would write Acts 1:1, The former treatise have I written unto thee excellent Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. What an eye opener that passage was to me. We can really get peoples attention as we are " doing Christianity" Jesus set the example and this is what we together have been doing in this disaster work. No wonder so many people signed up for visitation, prayer, bible reading and bible study. Yes we are a little tired, but what a privilege it has been to have this opportunity for mission work. Again a very special thanks to my wonderful brethren at the Howell church who not only support this work, but with " gentle insistence' want it to be done. You have made a real difference for the Lord on this mission and Christ has been magnified and God has been glorified, and the church, the body of Christ, has been edified. Good Night Don & Rosemary

Urgent Need For Funding

Today I was informed by Broadway Church of Christ that they have no more funds available to assist us in buying food used to cook meals here in Galveston. They are going to use there funds for members and to repair the church building. We served 816 meals today. These meals went to workers, families who are homeless and families who have no gas or electric. Many times each day we hear that if we weren't serving them a meal that they would not eat. Disaster Assistance will use funds sent in to us and with help from Lake Jackson, El Campo and Goodwood Church of Christ to continue feeding as long as we are needed or until we are no longer able to purchase food. Please help us if you can. Donation information is on the left.

Disaster Assistance, Lake Jackson and El Campo working hard in Galveston

Today we served 757 meals even though a BBQ place just opened and was giving away free meals also. Lake Jackson CoC is planning another trip here with volunteers and supplies for us. El Campo CoC has been here 3 straight days with food, supplies, large refrigerated cooler and a golf cart for me to get from place to place. The two things we need most now are volunteers during the week and funds to buy the food that we are serving. Don and Rosemary and another Sojurner couple will be leaving us this weekend to go to the Sojourner meeting in Marshall, TX. They will be greatly missed.

Our first day cooking here in Galveston we served 731 meals

Photos below are of our serving station, cooking area, one tent for cooking supplies and one for volunteer to live in & the unloading of semi