well, the 2009 christmas stuff is all over, new years has never been a big thing for us at the goyer house, so all that is left is to turn my thoughts to the new orleans trip.
before we go any further i need to tell you about the absence of capitals. a few months back i spilled a glass of water all over my laptop. most everything works except the capital key. sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. so - to avoid throwing this through the window i just don't use them. i mean no disrespect to anything if i don't capitalize it.
anyhow - we leave illinois in about 3 weeks. as i look out the window on dec 26th i see snow falling and i hope that it doesn't snow like this when we leave on 1/18. prayers are needed from all.
we have a team of 61 as it stands today. that is just about perfect. a good share (last i heard was over half) come from immanuel dundee. i am so proud of that. we have some new people and some others have decided to take the year off. i am excited to spend time with the new folks and get to know them but i will miss some of those that i have worked with for the last 2 years. there are friendships that will never die. we have all walked hand in hand into the unknown and come away as friends and family. i just read in the latest email that almost half of our team members are first timers. for every new member that means that there is another voice spreading the word that the work in new orleans is far from over.
in november we had a mardi gras in november event. we had a great turn out. the latest information is that we made $3200 plus a matching gift from thrivent that took our total to $4000. this will be split between pastor buss at camp restore and our mission team to buy some supplies while we are in new orleans. there is always something that we need. small stuff like sand paper, nails, caulk, etc. you'd be surprised how fast this adds up.
even though we thank you for the support you gave us, we would still appreciate gas cards for the driving teams. this will free up some of the money each member pays to go for use while we are there to pay for the above mentioned things. there is also time to help someone go who just can't afford to go but would love to offer their help in new orleans. it costs each team member $300 to go on this trip. in this economy this may be prohibitive for some, but if we all work together we may be able to send someone who will make a huge difference in the life of someone. you can contact pastor baerwolf at immanuel dundee with any offers of help.
we will leave from immanuel dundee on saturday january 16th at 6am. we will start with a quick breakfast served by the immanuel men's bible study group followed by a team picture and a prayer for safe travels for all. more on the specifics of the travels in a future post.
pastor baerwolf has provided a prayer request sheet for prayers for the teams. prayers would be appreciated.
saturday 1/16 we ask you to pray for safe travel as we depart at 6:00 am from immanuel dundee and safe arrival to the methodist church is hernando, mississippi where glenda and her helpers will prepare a delicious meal for us and the traveling mission team will worship and spend the night resting in the church classrooms. pray as well for our advance team as they prepare to visit the work sites and make things ready for our arrival.
sunday 1/17 we ask you to pray for safe travel to camp restore in new orleans and safe travel for those that are flying - pray that the Lord watches over all those on the roads and that for those on their first mission trip will be given peace as they experience all the newness of this experience. ask the Lord to bless our worship at camp restore this evening as we gather around God's Word asking Him to bless and equip us for the work ahead. pray for all those involved as we are starting to get acquainted with all our new friends and roommates for the week ahead.
monday 1/18 we covet your prayers for health and strength as we go to our homes and projects for our first day of work so that we may not only work but reach out to those who are in need of knowing our Lord Jesus.
tuesday 1/19 we ask you please pray for our team members so that they are not disheartened if our projects are moved or if the team is changed from one area to another - pray for safety at the work sites and pray also for our family members left behind for spouses and children who are without the ones they love that God would visit them with His presence and help them face whatever challenges they may be facing.
wednesday 1/20 we ask you to pray for the gulf coast and the communities still ravaged by the storms of the past few years and for the trouble they have had to face in attempting to rebuild their homes and lives - while we do not understand all that has happened - we know how valuable our homes are and so we pray that God would give them strength for every day to face all obstacles in their paths and that He would open their hearts to hearing the Good News shared especially by our Evangelism team as they go on prayer walks and talk with the people of the communities we serve.
thurdsay 1/21 our prayers today are on behalf of our friends at camp restore - the staff who lead all the day to day operations of cooking and cleaning as well as all the volunteers in the Laborers for Christ who are in new orleans for three to six months serving as work crew leaders and giving their expertise to helping people get back into their homes - these amazing people have such a servant's heart and we lift them up to the Lord this day. Also prayers for those to get a good night of rest for those leaving on Friday and to be with those who are flying home Thursday night
friday 1/22. ask the Lord to give our mission team a sense of completion as we are at our job sites for the last time-help us to leave our homes and places of work with the assurance that the work will continue even after we leave and pray as well that the families who are blessed by our efforts thank the Lord for His grace in providing this love to them. pray also that God would give a good rest this evening for all those driving all the way the next day.
saturday 1/23 we pray that the Lord would provide safe travel for those driving and flying back home and that the friendships developed on the mission team would be broadened and deepened when we get back home.
we love you all and will miss you while we are gone but you will never be far from our hearts. please keep us in yours. for many of us this is a trip "outside of the box" that we usually live in. this trip will test us in many ways. some of us have never been away from our families for this long, some of us have never traveled so far, some of us will discover that there are no "left handed hammers" and some of us will find the power of power tools for the first time. what a growing time for all of us. some of us will find muscles we never knew we had (they will remind us loudly that they are there), some of us will experience a different tiredness, but we will all experience LOVE.
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