April 7, 2008
Dear Friends and Family of CLC/CAMP KATRINA,
GRATITUDE:
First, I want to sincerely thank all of you for your prayers and commitment to Christ’s mission in Waveland, MS. The last three months have been awesome as the work continues to be accomplished! We have been blessed with an amazing team and incredible volunteers committed to the mission of fighting despair and igniting hope!
UPDATE:
So what’s going on? We have helped almost 30 home owners get past the finish line and ‘beyond the storm’ in this first quarter of the year! So Exciting! For them, for us, and for all of our visiting teams! Our objective is to complete another 100 homes for the year – we look forward to your active assistance in accomplishing that goal as well!
Our Thrift Store traffic has gone up dramatically and has generated tremendous awareness in the community about the Christian Life Center. Community members continue to be grateful to have a place to replace their lost items for reasonable prices. In addition, they also enjoy the opportunity to connect with each other and share their stories with others that have “been there”.
The Church Plant is doing well; Pastor Dave is doing a great job getting the word out through weekly connections with the community through events like the Coffee House and Saturday Movie Nights. We are seeing a lot of folks that might not darken the doors of a traditional church show up weekly. It’s so much fun to see God begin to break down those kinds of barriers!
Our Volunteer numbers are up compared to last year! We praise God for this amazing blessing! We are hoping and praying for a steady flow of volunteers through 2009 and into 2010. We continue to receive 5 to 15 applications for reconstruction help each week. This tells us that the job is far from over. We desire to connect these real needs with real people wanting to help and are praying for 3000 volunteers over the next two years. We are determined to get the job done!
STORIES:
We are working with a single mom and her daughter who lost everything as a result of the storm. They rented before the storm and have been in a small 20 ft FEMA trailer for the past 2 ½ years. Thankfully, they will be moving into a Katrina cottage soon! We are ecstatic for them! The smiles on their faces have introduced me to a level of humility that I have not known in my lifetime. The Mom is a remarkably hard working woman who has sacrificed everything for her kids. It dawned on me the other day that every time I saw this mom it seemed that she had the same shirt on. I asked her about it and learned that she only owned three shirts - everything else had been destroyed in the storm. I also learned that she had a tree fall on her face during the storm and smashed her teeth out of her mouth. That same tree knocked over the raft they were in along with a number of children from the neighborhood who could not swim. A 9 month old that was in the raft fell into the water and drowned. This mother and her daughter watched the whole thing helplessly and are haunted by it to this day. The Team at the Center is building a relationship with this family and is committed to helping them get back on their feet. In addition, thanks to a grant from a Church in New Jersey we are able to help this amazing family truly move beyond the storm. What an awesome God we serve! This mother recently left me a message thanking everyone at the Center and all the volunteers for giving her and her daughter a chance to survive and move beyond the storm. She and her daughter are Christians and are living examples of depending on God for everything.
Thanks, friends, for helping this family! You are apart of something deep and beautiful!
OPEN POSITION:
We have seen an increase in volunteers this year and as a result are in desperate need of Construction Coordinator to assist John Rohrmayer, our Construction Manager. The Construction Coordinator will be working in the office helping to organize the applications for work and to follow up with home owners. We can offer room and board and an opportunity to be a part of history as we continue to work to rebuild Waveland. Time frame would be 3-6 months and starts immediately.
LONG TERM VOLUNTEERS UPDATE:
Peggy and Del: The Kitchen Managers for the past six months headed back to Iowa April 3rd. We are so grateful for their remarkable work in feeding the many volunteers that come from all over the country to engage Christ’s mission in Waveland.
John Hovey: John left at the end of March; we cannot say enough about how God used John to start the Thrift Store and promote tremendous good will in the community. John will be (and is already) missed. We are praying that the Lord leads him back our way again next fall J.
Mandy Wieser: Mandy joined us last week and is our new Kitchen Manager. We are thrilled that she has answered God’s prompting and has joined in Christ’s mission to Waveland. She is a valuable addition to our Team!
Dave Bartell: Dave joined the team three weeks ago and has hit the ground running! He is managing the Thrift Store and helping us develop a permanent store on the property.
Shannon & Heather Lenox: Wedding bells are finally ringing for these two love birds! They were married on April 5th! We are thrilled for them…and are also delighted that they will be back with us again after their time away. Many blessings to them as they begin their life together!
Thank you for all you support and please keep CLC/Camp Katrina in your prayers!
Embracing His Mission Together,
Mark Young
Christian Life Center
"Fighting Despair, Igniting Hope"
Waveland, MS
Please contact me with any questions or inquiries.
Mark@clcgulfcoast.com
719-659-4638