Category Archives: On the Side

spiritual cravings

when i’m hungry i crave real food. when i’m working hard i crave thirst-quenching water. when i’m exhausted i crave a good night’s sleep. this past weekend mike began a series on the holy spirit and ended his message with the allowance that many of us may not even feel the need for MORE connection...

post mission reflections

the team left slidell, louisiana at 5:30 a.m. friday morning. we had scheduled to leave at 5 but gale pence snoozed through his alarm :))) back to ginghamsburg in our two vans + trailer, we experienced great weather and many more laughs and God-connections. when we pulled into ginghamsburg’s parking lot i thanked God for...

Day 6: Mission Accomplished

as mission trips go, today was bittersweet. after quick stops to the rental shop and lowe’s we got right to work at mt. zion. the team was anxious to get as much done as possible and leave a cleanly gutted building- prepared for the building to begin. we wanted to cover the round window opening...

Day 5: demo demo demo

(lori meyer writing)on day 1 it was almost impossible to imagine that we would finish any, if all, of the projects listed on clark’s team checklist. yet, after three days of scraping paint, destroying walls, taking down ceiling tiles and packing 2 dumpsters full of debris we are finally seeing progress! accomplishing these tasks has...

Day 4: a double dumpster day

today was a quick stop at the rental store for scaffolding, then on to mt. zion for a very full day of scraping floors and walls, removal of large damaged ceiling tile @ a height of 40′(and a temp of 98 degrees) and complete gutting of three second floor classrooms. the work is grueling (two-30...

Day 3: demolition begins

you can dress’m up and take’em out, but ginghamsburg servants are happiest when you set’em loose on a work project. this team of 20 is the most insanely hard-working group of people i’ve ever encountered. today we scraped, pulled,tore out and hauled a 30-yd.dumpster full of post-hurricane *&^%! it was incredible to watch these people...

Day 2: exploring the city

(mickey langston writing today)today was a day of many sights, sounds and emotions. we woke up early and headed into new orleans for worship at mt. zion church. the congregation welcomed us with open arms. they were so grateful to finally have a team of people give them the hope of rebuilding the sanctuary they...

Day 1: the journey

we arrived in slidell around 8 p.m., moved our belongings into the dorm room and settled in a bit. half the group went to walmart for groceries and picked up pizza for dinner at papa johns. it’s amazing how adaptable and easy going servants can be. we are going to worship at the church we’ll...

twas the night before new orleans…

i’m watching the 11 o’clock news before going to sleep for the “night.” our bags are packed, the trailer’s parked outside and our dog Buddy is predictably depressed having watched us prepare to leave during the evening. the alarm is set for 3 a.m. when clark and i’ll rise to meet 20 other adults from...

something’s got to go…

i love hearing different people’s “new things” for this year, both on this blog and in recent conversations. ash wednesday i really searched for the one thing that i would give up or take on during lent this year. i always yearn for more connection time w/ God but had no idea how to pack...