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Mission Reports
Read the Article at PE.com
Going Public/Camp Pendleton Chapel
Services - by Gaye Hawkins New Orleans Trip - by Gerald Peterson July, 2007
The two year anniversary of Hurricane
Katrina is fast approaching. I can still remember Fox News Reporter
Shepard Smith standing near the Super Dome describing the devastation
caused by the storm and predicting that New Orleans might not ever
recover from this disaster. Newspaper and TV reports gave us vivid
pictures of the destruction, the rescue efforts, the looting, and the
masses of people trying to find food and shelter. All over the Nation,
people felt compassion and wanted to help in some way to ease the
suffering of so many people. Now, after almost two years, much help is
still needed to rebuild and restore the area in and around New Orleans.
Come Build Hope - by Mike Lovato June, 2007 Every year our high school ministry takes a dedicated team of students and adults down to Mexico in order to build houses for families in need. This year we had a total of 48 people from Magnolia participating in the trip. Some were students who spent a week off of school serving rather than just relaxing. Others were adults who sacrificed a week of vacation time to help build a home alongside teenagers. Still others were adults who served behind the scenes by cooking meals, not just for our team, but also for approximately 150 more people from The Grove Community Church that joined us. We were able to build two homes for families this year. The home sites were unique because one house was being built for a mother and her children while the house next door was built for this mother’s son and his new bride. We were able to provide hope through a physical shelter for an existing family as well as for a family just starting out. I’d like to take this opportunity to brag on our high school students. You need to know that we have a GREAT group of students who are part of our church family here at Magnolia. Our Mexico team was full of students who had servants’ hearts and desired to see God work. I consider it a great privilege to be able to work with these students. Our ministry in Mexico is still just beginning. I am excited about what the future holds for this endeavor. We are hoping to see us expand to 3 houses next year over Spring Break. We also are looking at putting together a couple one-day building trips over the course of the year. I’d encourage you to think and pray about how you might be involved.
I Volunteered… Anonymous April, 2007 MABC has been MY church for over 30 years. I care about the church and I care about the people. When I noticed in the Connection publication that some of my brothers were involved in an SBC Disaster Relief project, I volunteered to help. The project was located in Pioneer Town near Yucca Valley. Several homes had burned when wild fires swept the area. Our job was to remove fire debris from the burned structures and surrounding property. We had three huge trash bins staged at the site and we were to sort the debris and place it in the bins. One was for metal, one for plant material, mostly yucca and Joshua trees, and the last was for ashes and other burned material. The structures had very little volume. Since the firefighters were trying to stop the rapid spread of the fires they had little time to extinguish burning structures and as a result most were reduced to ashes. We would find some metal, in that the appliances were recognizable, but little else. We found very little wood at any site. It was reduced to powdered ash. In most cases the homeowner would meet us at their property to assist and guide. That gave us an opportunity to have a devotional time and offer a prayer on their behalf. Some were apprehensive about the motive of this group of people who were doing work, that would cost them several thousands of dollars, and not charging a cent. By the end of the day that apprehensive attitude would turn to hugs and sometime tears. We would separate anything that escaped the flames and pile it up for the owner to consider. That was usually metal tools or ceramic objects. At the end of the day we would journey back home to nurse our aching backs and decontaminate our filthy bodies. Because of an intense vacation schedule, (hey, I’m retired!), I was only able to assist on about nine house sites. On our way to our last day of cleanup in Pioneer Town as we approached Banning, we could see the smoke and flames of the Esperanza fire to the south. It was not long before we were back at it. This time it was in the Twin Pines area. More ashes, more burned trees, this time oak and pine, more melted metal and glass. Because of the ongoing schedule conflict, more vacation time, I was only able to assist on three sites. Most of the crew was made up of us retired seniors, largely because of the lack of an employer telling us to get back to work, so I’m sure we all felt the same pains and aches when we got home. Hey, Pastor Crews said that when we get older, if it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t work. The people we met and the satisfaction of doing something tangible for people who had suffered a loss, only exceeded by the loss of a loved one drove us to return again and again until the work was done. Wild fires are an ongoing problem in Southern California so I am sure these services will be needed again in the future. If you have time to give to help others who have suffered from a disaster of one kind or another, please consider volunteering your time and energy to this cause. Training is available, unfortunately so is the work, and the rewards are immeasurable.
Disaster Relief in Lebanon – Eldon
Dryer Here I was, sitting on a tractor in Nebraska, helping with the corn harvest, when the phone call came from Mike Studebaker. “Do you have a passport?” “Why, are you going to deport me?” I asked. “How would you like to go to Lebanon?” was Mike’s reply. About three weeks later we are in Beirut, Lebanon, part of a team of six who have come to see if we can be of any comfort to a country of people damaged by war. We were the third rotation of teams who came for a ten day Disaster Recovery Mission. Who would think that 6 volunteers from California would be able to go to a village in Lebanon to give aid and comfort to a people suffering from a war? We went to a village named Khiam, located about three miles from the Israeli border. It was about 60% damaged and we were able to meet the people and offer them gifts of water tanks and heaters. We found a gracious, loving people who welcomed us into their homes and accepted our gifts and our prayers. Our presence there as Christian Americans, I believe, was a well received gift to them, and showed that we really do care and we hurt right along with them. At the end of our final day of work, we were invited to the local Hezbollah office. We met with the manager and two of his special men. We thanked them for their cooperation and they thanked us for our work, gifts, and the sharing we did with them. Pat, our team leader, asked about praying with them and they agreed. We stood up and all held hands and prayed. We prayed for peace for each other and for the world. Praise God for His protection and for this opportunity to serve Him.
My Yucca Valley Experience – by
Mike Studebaker The day began early when the alarm went off at 4:45 am. I was up and out the door by 5:40 am. Others were waiting for me at the rendezvous point. We were scheduled to leave for Yucca Valley right at 6:00 am. A moment of light heartedness broke out at 5:55 am as a group of us volunteers celebrated our oneness of accomplishing something worthwhile. We were going to serve our Lord. We were going to assist those that lost everything due to a forest fire that ripped through their community. At around 6:00 am, we began our journey up through the high desert to Yucca Valley, actually Pioneer Town. I gazed out the window of the back seat watching the sun come up and trying my best to wake up. When we arrived in Pioneer Town, we met up with volunteers from other churches who were also there for the same purpose. We worked all day shoveling and raking up debris. Wood and shrubbery went in one dumpster, metal went into another and unrecognizable debris went into a third dumpster. If you stepped back to take in the big picture it was quite a sight. Twenty-five people, some with and some without their yellow disaster relief shirts, all swirling around a burnt down structure busily going about their assigned task. Some with chainsaws were clearing a 20 foot parameter around the remaining slab foundation. Dust engulfed the air as rakes and shovels were filling wheel barrows with debris. Young strong backs were driving those wheel barrows to and from the dumpsters. A skip loader drove around doing most of the heavy lifting. We cleared 3 sites on that day. At one of the breaks, we had our morning devotional where we dedicated our service to the Lord. Encouraging comments came from members of the group. I noted one man’s comment. He was a victim himself having lost everything due to the fire. I had worked alongside him all morning assuming he was your typical disaster volunteer, somewhat removed from the devastation. I was wrong. He was a homeowner from one of our earlier job sites. After being blessed by Southern Baptists who cleaned up the remains from his home, he said that he just had to get involved with us somehow. I am not sure if he was a believer. But, I am sure that he was impacted by our service to the Lord and wanted in on the action; that’s powerful! Words can’t express my gratitude and appreciation to all of the volunteers from our church that helped out with the clean up and recovery effort in Yucca Valley. All of you are heroes in my book! Thanks for serving others. Thanks for serving our Lord.
Going Public 2006 – by Gaye Hawkins June, 2006 As I reflect on our recent high school choir tour/mission trip, one word keeps coming to mind and is infused in my conversations...“amazing.” An AMAZING God… an AMAZING group of students and adult leaders… and AMAZING results. This was our 14th Going Public and once again, God proved faithful in directing our efforts to a location where He is already working. Initial dialogue with local church and denominational leaders quickly turned into concrete plans which would effectively couple our skills and experiences with their needs. And from the moment we began training, and through every event of the trip, we all felt God’s direction, His Spirit leading, and an almost supernatural revelation of His plan for us as individuals and as a team. There were many times we would just look at each other and smile, and say “God is amazing.” If I said this was the “best” group of students I have had the privilege of leading, I would be in “such big trouble” with their predecessors. But, I do need to brag on them and will certainly include them in my description as “one of the best.” When asked to leave their iPods at home and to greatly reduce their cell phone calling and texting while on the trip, they complied with a level of understanding that let us know they understood what their focus needed to be. And when it came to their work: the dirtier and harder the job seemed, the more they rolled up their sleeves. The more unsightly the person they came into contact with, the more love and time and energy they poured out. The longer the work day and the higher the expectations, the more determined they were to find that extra energy and adrenaline to greet those at the end of the day with the same energy and enthusiasm they had at the beginning of the day. There were many times the adults would look at each other and smile and say, “These kids are amazing!” And as for the results… we tend to share numbers; numbers in attendance or numbers of professions of faith. This account will include no numbers, but experiences which resulted in life change. We experienced life-changing worship. From the charismatic African-American congregation to the “radically conservative” Filipino congregation, from the fellow believer in Union Square to the homeless at the Rescue Mission, we joined unashamedly in worshipping a God who came for all. We experienced life-changing prayer. From prayerwalking, prayer-driving, intercessory prayer, spontaneous prayer, heart-rendering prayer, we saw how God shows up when we humble ourselves before Him. And we experienced “life change.” Students and adults alike were convicted of misplaced priorities, misplaced devotion, and wrong attitudes. If no other results were acknowledged, God would be honored that expressions of profound love and gratitude to Him and for His goodness were outpoured. Perhaps during that week, and even in moments since, Jesus smiled and said, “amazing!” On behalf of the students and adult leaders, thank you to our church family for your support as we represented you in the SF Bay Area. And a special thank you to our prayer partners for committing to pray for each of us. We love you and felt the power of your prayers. We have received many thanks and acknowledgements from those we worked with in San Francisco. We have posted those on the website for all to share.
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