The Magic of Christmas
Timothy brought an iPod that works through the radio. On Saturday, late at night, we were somewhere in KY….or maybe TN, a Christmas album cycled around on the play list.  Instead of switching to a different selection, we were driving down the road in three part broken harmony singing Christmas songs. The not-ready-for-Dog-Track-players.

I guess it was prophetic.

I have always been fascinated with the magic of Christmas. My parents had a way of making that time so special. My wife, Rebecca, has done a terrific job of keeping the special feelings alive for our children. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the joy of the season make us the way we wish we were all year long. The children still wake us up early on Christmas morning. Can you believe that the teenagers are usually leading the way?

Today, I was thinking I am delivering Christmas presents. I came to Indiana. I am going through the house of people who don’t know me and leaving presents (drywall, mud, paint, landscaping). It is a pretty cool feeling. I can sense the joy they will feel when their house is completed even though I won’t be there to experience it.

I realize it is really the gift of Jesus.  He came and died for me and for Lee and and Andy, the owners of the two houses we are working on, for the Methodist church ladies who deliver a huge lunch each day, for the people of the church that are letting us use their building for housing, for John who is working on Lee’s house for free. The joy I have in stepping out and helping someone I don’t know must pale in comparison to the joy of Jesus when one of us understands what he did for us and accepts it as his gift to us.

Today, Timothy started us out with devotions at Andy’s house. We split up on the two houses we have been working on for the past few days.  Lee’s house is almost finished with drywall and we should start working on the finish work tomorrow. The group working on Andy’s house gave him a special present. Since he has been living in a tent behind his house, they dry walled the bathroom and installed the shower and tub. I think Andy was happy. When the group got there today, the sink was sitting right inside the door.

After lunch, the Andy house team went to a local church to help bring ruined items to the dumpster. Charlotte and I went to a retired pastor’s house and worked on the yard clean-up. They are a very dear couple.

As we continue to give our Christmas presents, please pray that we can stay focused on God’s purpose being fulfilled in the trip.

What am I doing here?  What drew me to Indiana?

Just a few weeks ago I was sitting in church.  I was in a comfortable seat at West Oaks, doing my version of passive worship (an oxymoron, I know).  Vernon issued the call for a team that was going to Columbus, Indiana….something about a flood….was it the Mississippi river?  I missed it and Vernon doesn’t have a rewind button.   This was someplace that I couldn’t have found on a map and I had no connection…..but I knew instantly that I was supposed to go.

Huh?

I am a middle-aged accountant with few construction skills.  My family knows that if something goes wrong around the house, we will probably need to “call the man”…whoever that man is.  The plumber, electrician, etc.

But I knew I needed to come.

So I met a group that I didn’t know at a very early hour on Saturday morning to head to Indiana.  I boarded a truck with three other people and a trailer in tow and started driving.  In a short time we were getting to know each other as very close friends.  There was even one large city we drove through that I still cannot tell you which city it was.  All the way, God has been chipping away at me and I am gaining a new perspective.

Martin is an elder at one of the local churches.  He told us about the flood.  What a fluke of nature.  Simultaneously, ten inches of rain fell and two dams broke.  A small creek swelled quickly.  There is no record of a flood ever happening here before.

Today, we met with Monty at one of the two houses we are working on.  He gave us his testimony.  What an amazing life that included a few near-death experiences.  God saw him through.  As he spoke, I could see the love of Jesus in his eyes.  He blessed us and sent us into our work for the day.  It was also his birthday.  Happy Birthday, Monty!

Today, I was working on Lee’s house.  Lee is confined to a wheelchair and her home church has adopted her house as a project.  They have gutted her house and redesigned it to be easier for her to get around.  John is working on the inside and Dustin is working on the outside.  They belong to the church and are working on her house as a ministry.   

I have become very good at putting screws in drywall.  Two full days will do that.  But it is for Lee.  I met her and she is such a special person that fully appreciates each person that is working to help her.  She had a sign erected in the yard that states “This is the house that God and his children re-built”.  How could I not want to help her?

I have felt the love of Christ everywhere on this trip.  I see him in the people that have gone out of their way to tell us how much they appreciate what we are doing.  I see him when John graciously shows me a way to screw plywood that doesn’t go through my finger.  I see him in the people I am serving with.  I see him all around me.  I only hope that I can see him as I do now, once I get back to Florida.

Okay, so thank you God for making it so very obvious that I needed to come.

Please keep praying for the team and the work we are doing.

We left Bowling Green, KY at 6 am on Sunday morning and arrived in Columbus, IN at 9:37 am (digital time). We praise the Lord for safety during travel and for the wonderful weather we had.

Today we worshiped with Columbus First Assembly at the Grand Re-opening of the sanctuary. Today was only the second service they’ve held since the flood on June 7. There were many special guests. The mayor of Columbus, a team from Ohio, guest worship team, and Chad Varga, a former NBA basketball player.

Gretchen and Vanessa joined the team this afternoon and will be here for a couple of days. We got to experience the tail end of Ike. He came through with wind speeds of 40 MPH with gusts up to 65 MPH. There are approximately 20,000 people without power, some schools will be closed tomorrow, and there are several road closings.

The housing accommodations are great. The people of Petersville United Methodist Church are extremely gracious hosts.

BTW…we have the best cooks on our team.

At 6:30 am on Saturday, September 13, a team of seven gathered before leaving for Columbus, Indiana. They were joined by spouses, grandchildren, Pastor Gus, Gretchen, and a couple of dogs. Before leaving, Pastor Gus prayed a prayer of traveling mercies, for the relationships that would be built, safety for the team, and for the Lord to be seen in all that is done and said. Susan, Tim, John, Charlotte, Tom, Lucky, and Tanya left Northland at 7 am for a long day of driving. While we didn’t hit any bad weather, the effects of Ike were noticed. Gas prices were extremely high, some gas stations were out of gas, and some stations only accepted cash as their processing centers were in Texas.

The team is traveling in two vehicles. Each group is working through the booklet “Before You Pack Your Bag, Prepare Your Heart.” It’s great to see how the Lord has knit this team together.

We’ve seen some great scenery. This picture is from Tennessee.
We arrived in Bowling Green, Kentucky at 10 pm, CT. We will leave no later than 5 am CT for the last part of the trip. We’re scheduled to arrive in Columbus, Indiana in time to attend the 10 am service at Columbus First Assembly.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. We appreciate you. We ask for your continued prayers for safety, for His provision, and that people would see Christ through us and want to know Him personally.

Please pray for our Indiana Distributed Journey that leaves in the morning for the looooonnnngggg drive to Columbus, IN. The team will be helping to repair/renovate homes that have been severely damaged or completely decimated by the catastrophic floods in that part of the country. They are taking air mattresses with them (to sleep on, of course), but they will leave them in Indiana for the teams that will be following them. They are also purchasing and donating a gas grill to be used to cook food for the hard-working teams helping out with this mission and missions beyond this. Pray for safe travel, a good sense of humor and alert hands and minds behind the wheel on the long haul north. Pray for good weather, strong bodies, minds and spirits. Please continue to pray for those who have lost their homes in the floods and that our team would be able to offer some Jesus sized love and care for those they meet and serve.

The team has just returned from their preview of the flood damage experienced by the town of Columbus, Indiana. The community is a combination of business owners and farmers and has a population of 39,000 people. The beautiful downtown area is filled with amazing architectural structures. On June 8, 2008, two dams upstream broke due to the excessive rain, sending water downstream and flooding over half for the community of Bartholomew County. In addition, over 15 inches of rain added to the rising waters. There are currently 2,300 homes that have been identified as destroyed or significantly damaged, most families have moved out and are waiting to rebuild their homes and return. The community has come together; the local organizations and churches are working together, and some progress has been made in the past 2 months. The community can use our help in rebuilding their homes and helping to return their lives to a sense of normalcy. From the
outside most homes look unaffected, except for the waterlines near the roof lines left by the floating debris. Most of the trees and bushes have remnants of mud and debris still on them. The interiors of the homes have been gutted and in most cases only the studs remain. Several foundations collapsed, most basements were damaged. We have connected with Pastor Don at the Columbus Assembly of God church located in the center of the flood area. This church is doing amazing work, rebuilding their totally damaged church while providing food, clothing and cleaning supplies out of their Hope Center to the community. For additional information on the floods in Columbus, please read Pastor Don’s blog that he has been writing since the floods first hit. You can find it at http://pastorandreasen.blogspot.com. The local hospital was closed due to the damage of the flood waters. Doctors and nurses had been treating emergency room patients in tents in the parking lot and the fantastic mobile units deployed from Med 1 in North Carolina. While we were there, they celebrated the emergency room grand reopening, a momentous and significant indication of the progress the community is making.

There is a gentle spirit in all who we came in contact with. God is moving in so many lives, although we could also see the hurt, pain and anguish on the faces of the victims. Hope brings joy to their faces. And we look forward to bring a tremendous amount of hope over the next months and years through the continuing relationship with Pastor Don and the Columbus Assembly of God Church. We look forward to the Distributed Journey planned for September 13th which will be a blessing to the families in need of rebuilding. It will be a great opportunity to ministry to these families and develop relationships with them and others in Columbus.

The Midwest was recently devastated by massive flooding. We now have an awesome opportunity to serve the many families that were affected by these floods in Columbus, Indiana located about an hour south of Indianapolis. Northland has connected with a local church in Columbus that was totally devastated and has lost everything. The church is rebuilding, they are hosting teams to assist the community with rebuilding, and directly serving the needs of the community through outreach activities and food distribution. After visiting with the Pastor in Indiana, touring the devastation to understand the needs and how Northland can assist, we have scheduled a Distributed Journey to Indiana in September to assist with the rebuilding. The information is listed below. Please contact the team leader Susan Cholewa if you have questions or an interest in participating.

Rebuild a Hurting Community in Columbus, Indiana
Do you like to build relationships? Do you like to rebuild homes? New opportunity to help restore 2300 devastated homes and change the lives of families who lost everything in the floods of June, 2008.

Saturday, Sept 13, through Sunday, Sept. 21
Various skills needed (training provided)
Kitchen help needed
Only 15 spots remaining
Planning meetings scheduled for August 14 and 21
Details: Susan Cholewa (407-937-0544 or susan.cholewa@northlandchurch.net )

A team of Northlanders is traveling to Indiana this week to assist those affected by flooding in portions of the state. Please be in prayer, and check back here for frequent updates!