Raven team update

10/02/05

Whew...I just noticed that it was 3:00AM as I started to write this update. How time flies when you are having so much fun! Praise the Lord Jesus!

Things are really starting to open up here in the City as the Mayor has allowed several hundred thousand residents to reenter Orleans Parish this week. I know that many of those coming in will be overwhelmed by what they are going to see.

The first time that Melanie and I went to the downtown area and the French Quarter we both wept. The place is a shambles. They may try to sweep the streets, move the overturned cars out of the way and pull back the fallen palm trees on Canal street, but the ominous "stain" that sits five foot off the ground around Claiborne and into the projects and throughout Mid-City reveal that their efforts are merely a cover up for the reality that many will face as they attempt to enter their properties for the first time since Katrina.

We are continuing to help in food and clothing distribution here in West New Orleans (Metairie) and spent today working through a mountain of donated items so that they could be distributed to the hundreds who come daily when we reopen on Monday morning.

A group from Hope Chapel arrived in town today. I am always so blessed by these teams (5-6 teams so far) because they always come with a great attitude and willingness to work. (Those are two of the most necessary things needed here!)

Also, Terry Shuff- a RAVEN evengelist from Elkhart, Indiana arrived today to help out for the week as well. Terry is an awesome brother in the Lord and more importantly a dear friend of mine. He was such a welcome sight.

I met with a brother from Alabama on Friday who wants to help set up a place to serve up to 10,000 hot meals daily. We are looking for a place to work out of (wharehouse) so that we can distribute the hot meals into areas of the most need. This will be VERY important as residents return and find that there are few (if any) restaurants or grocery stores open in Orleans Parish. Most will not have a way to keep food preserved and will need a good hot meal. Pray that we will be able to find the right place (at the right price).

This week we will be heading into Bourbon Street. Even if just two or three bars are opend up--we are going in to let them know that "wherever the soul of our foot treads, is our to take in Jesus' name." We are not going to wait until the devil regains his momentum--we are going to head him off and shut hiom down before he ever has the opportunity to establish his dominance.

The same goes for other areas, like Jackson Square (where the psychic and tarrot card readers were). We are staking our spiritual claim NOW.

Its official---we are now completely homeless (as our Pastor Alex & Holly Hill). Our landlord is trying to merely go in and paint (Kilz) over the mold without tearing out the saturated sheetrock. We have gone in a few times in the past few days to salvage a few dishes and we have immediately gotten severe headaches. We had thought that he might tear it out and redo the house and we could move back in in a couple of months--but that doesn't seem to be the case.

With so much devestation, the housing market is VERY shallow. Please pray for us as we look for a place for our family. With Kayla starting back to school on Monday, she needs a place to do her homework and rest sufficiently as well. I know God will provide.

I was able to go into St. Bernard Parish this past week. It is awful. This area of East New Orleans was wiped out. You jsut cannot image the destruction. There is a thick layer of dried "muck" everywhere. There are boats that have been pushed up onto the road and whole building demolished by the wind and tidal surge. We were scouting an area to take pre-prepared hot meals out because the contamination level is so hight that it is not safe to cook on site.

I ministered to a lady who said that the television did not prepare her for what she encounted as she went to assess the damage to her house. She said she had to wade through a foot of gunk just to get in the door to only find that her home was a total loss with a carpet of filth and black mold cover every inch.

***We are praying for a place to conduct services at several times during the week. There is such a spiritual hunger here right now. I went into a convenience store Saturday night and the line was probably 25-30 people long to get gas. I took the occassion to began to witness to a man behind me (loud enough for all to hear the Word of God) he was VERY open and I could see that the crowd was listening attentively as well.

We just need a place to meet and host ministry teams that come in. The place thatwe were previously using was devestated by the flood waters.

Please continue to give as God prospers you. We take what you invest in the Kingdom and sow it into people's lives through hot meals. supplies, and financial assistance. Our motto has always been, "We do as much as we can with as much as we have."

We are still working on getting a tent to use as a temporay meeting place and mobile distribution center and have raised some of the money to get it. We are believing God for the balance.

Also--a brother in the Lord has given us a 5 ton truck to utilize here in New Orleans. We are just needing to meet up with him in the Huntsville, Alabama area and drive it here. If you (or someone you know) is in that area and would like to help get the truck to us--call me at 504-304-6535 and leave me a message.

You can give your tax-deductible gift online by going to the "Make a Donation" button on this website.

We love and appreciate you all!

Blessings,

Pastor Troy
"The Pastor of Disaster"