A Message From Mandeville Christian Church

Here's the latest: About 50 wonderful men and women are currently working here. There's a large contingent of twenty-some from IDES; from Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Kansas. There's a large group from the First Church of Christ in Bryan Ohio; another eager group from the Everett's Cross Roads Church of Christ in Pinetown, North Carolina; and a surprise visit today by Brian Hamilton and a couple men from the Arundel Christian Church in Maryland.

Brian was minister in Slidell before helping this new work back in his home territory in Maryland.My apology to the eight guys from the Cincinnati Christian Church in Bloomfield, Indiana. They are the ones who secured the donation of sheet rock from National Gypsum in Shoals, Indiana for the Slidell building and who installed it. I think I gave credit to Ohio and Bloomington Indiana, but thank you Cincinnati Christian in Bloomfield!

The guys from Bryan and Pinetown are really accomplishing some heroic work. Some difficult jobs we thought needed a crane, but these men have successfully tackled them and are making some powerful testimonies to people with great need.We are constantly reminded of the need to be careful. One of the Bryan men fell off of a roof on Monday, but by God's grace no broken bones; just some serious bruises and he is doing much better today.I wanted to add a comment about a young man who came down a couple weeks ago and worked with the men from Missouri on clearing my back yard. He had cerebral palsy and was crippled in one arm. But he was using his good arm to drag limbs and helped to carry whatever he could to help out. He was such an inspiration to us all. I will remember him whenever I want to make an excuse for not doing something!

Some more good news for those of us at Mandeville Christian. The icemaker sent to us from Maryland is up and working and you couldn't find happier ladies (and guys) than those of us here. A little sidenote: the fellow we were going to hire to install it wouldn't take any money; he is a Christian and wanted to donate his time. When he hooked it up he found the freon had leaked out; it was covered by warranty and the company paid him for fixing the leak and getting it up and going! Thank you, Don, in Maryland for this wonderful gift.Our new washer and dryer donated by the Centerville Christian Church in Indiana has been running constantly since their installation. I don't know how we survived without them. They also donated a washer and dryer for the Slidell Church. Thanks Centerville!

The folks from IDES are wonderful! They are leading devotions at night for the men and during the daytime are finding useful places to spend their support money. IDES purchased and installed two new shower stalls for us on the back porch - along with privacy screening - all plumbed and drained along with a new water heater. Wow! Now our sweaty workers have two more places to clean up and we all appreciate them! New showers have also been installed at the Slidell building. I haven't been over there since my initial visit after the hurricane; but I did see Bill Read yesterday at the Mandeville Church and he is excited about the progress being made over there. I understand there is a family temporarily living there at the present time.

Brian Hamilton and the men from Arundel Christian brought down a trailer for one of the members of the Slidell Church. Wow! It is so terrific to see God's family pull together in this time. There are so many seeds being planted for God by the good deeds being performed. I used to say we (Mandeville Christian) were the best kept secret in town (shame on me), but all of you who are helping here are making a tremendous impact on our community and we are becoming known as the "church that helps people". We couldn't do it without you and you have set a standard that is hard to follow - of course - that's because it is so Christlike and just saying thank you to Him is not enough. That is also the typical reaction of people we are helping. First of they are stunned that it is free, and their response is that saying thank you is not enough. Each of them is being confronted by God's love in action and they must ponder their response. I am praying that there are people here who will say the hurricane is the best thing that has happened to them and as a result they discovered a new way of living in Christ!

I am still trying to find out about the status of our Christian Churches in the path of hurricane Rita. I heard there may have been serious damage to the roof of one church there in SW LA. We have a number of churches in that area and if anyone there needs our help we will gladly divert some of our manpower and resources to help. We still have people calling and signing up for work trips.

Love in Christ,

Norm Schuler
Mandeville Christian Church
http://mcchurricanerelief.org/