Spent a lot of time this morning at my house seeing how the construction is going. Today the guy was taping and floating the sheet rock that they installed this week.
He walks around with stilts on.
Talked with the contractor at length about the hardware (doors, handles, etc.) going into the house. They need to make sure everybody on the team has what they need to do the job.
If all goes well they’ll finish up on July 6th when we need to move out of the mission house.
I’ve also been arranging for the exterior of my house to get restained. I’ll have Bill Hickey and Miles come by and work on that. I’ll go by Lowes in a little while and get a gift card for the materials that the guys can use as they need it.
Still working on the various video projects: Bonifay, Palmers and the Fundraising Seminar with Ashley. We’re adding a new button/page to the web site where we’ll have all the fund raising information in one place. We have all of Ashley’s video recorded, still need to edit it.
Here’s the video of the team from FBC Bonifay, FL/Eastern Shores BC, Daphne AL—Part 1.
Part 2–
Kevin Max is playing at FBC Mountain Park this evening. Doubt it’ll be nearly as good as Toby from last night, especially since it’s an acoustic set.
I went to Clarkston this morning to work with my team from Bonifay and Daphne. They were doing a great job on the exterior doors of the church.
The girls went with my partners Cathy Palmer and Terry Earl. They enjoyed seeing refugee families up close and personal. Later, Cathy and Terry made a presentation to the whole team.
I shot some video. Turned out pretty well.
Checked on the team at Woodgate and Azalea Place.
At Woodgate I saw a whole group of Vietnamese and Latino children praying to receive Christ as their personal Saviour! That’s why we do what we do!
Ashley and I finished shooting the video version of our Fund Raising seminar. We’ll have a separate section of the web site dedicated to it.
This evening I had the great pleasure to rock out with Toby Mac up close and personal. I got right up against the stage, which is always my favorite part. They were super tight.
Tomorrow Kevin Max, another former member of DC Talk, will be playing at the Bridge at FBC Mountain Park. I look forward to hearing that!
Saw some of the team from Bonifay at the concert tonight!
One of those days when I floored it and hung on for the ride!
Started out this morning in Clarkston where my team from Florida and Alabama are painting Clarkston International Bible Church. Plans didn’t go 100% since the keys weren’t there to let them in.
While they were waiting to get in, one of my best partners, Terry Earl, showed up and asked them if they’d like to come with her to visit some families. The girls were delighted to do that and had a fun morning seeing moms with little kids.
The church is coming along well, but we still need a lot of help to get it looking really good.
I had a lunch meeting with the property managers in Chamblee and Doraville. We listened to Doraville’s Police Chief John King share his vision for law and order in the International Village.
It’s hard to find the line between the need merchants have for labor and the letter of the law against illegal immigration.
Basically came down to “We’re going to deport every criminal we find.” Fair enough.
I took the last of the food from the meeting over to Azalea Place for the kids to chow down on. I brought back a big portion of fried rice and sesame chicken.
My team from FBC Bonifay is doing great! They made these sled things they were pulling kids around on. Looked like a lot of fun.
Of course the snow cones are a HUGE crowd favorite.
The afternoon I spent my time shooting video and pictures of the teams and loving on the people.
Jesse and I went to eat Mexican food this evening. On the way over there I saw this incredible sunset.
This evening is the Planter’s Moon. It’s supposed to look especially big this evening.
I stayed up late last night finishing the editing of the video for Holly Springs Baptist Church from SC. They did a terrific job at Highland Gardens, Azalea Place, Westwood (Villa Nueva) and Huntington Ridge. Take a look!
I worked with my team from Bonifay today! They’re doing a great job with the kids in the six complexes.
I shot a lot of video with them. I’ll get the rest of my shots later this week.
This afternoon I also edited the video I shot for my team from Holly Springs Baptist Church. Burned the dvds for them and will upload the video to YouTube later this evening.
Ran 4 miles this afternoon. It was still about 95 degrees. I ran in the shade. It wasn’t too bad.
Ashley and I went to Total Grace church this evening to make a missions presentation to the leadership team of their youth group. They were very responsive to what we had to say. I pray that they will get involved and that they’ll have a great influence on the community!
Today is the Download Firefox 3 day. We’re trying to set a Guinness book of world record on the amount of downloads in one day. I’m a big fan of Firefox. It’s very secure. It’s open source software so there are LOTS of people making sure that the bad guys can’t mess with it.
http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/?_
I also installed the new plug in “Piclens” for Firefox. It’s super cool! Give a 3d wall of pictures or videos to choose from. Try it.
I had one of my favorite teams come into town today! The great group from FBC Bonifay, Fl. We’ve been working together for four years now and they are always a blessing to me.
This trip they’ve focused on bringing families to serve together. They are covering six locations around Chamblee and Norcross.
I expected them into town around noon. The whole team didn’t roll into Atlanta till after six. So we ate supper first and then went to promote the Backyard Bible Clubs around the six communities. Worked out great but I didn’t get home till around 9pm.
I worked this morning on my financial report which I dropped off at my treasurer’s house before lunch.
Ashley and Kathy both wrote me super sweet notes. Made me feel very special. Jesse gave me a few good pats on the back.
We went to the Bridge service at FBC Mountain Park yesterday. I thought Pastor Bob Bochat did a great job. He was especially helpful in laying out resources for the families to use. I think we’ll be able to use a number of those books at the missions.
Spent most of the day resting and hanging out with the family.
Ran 4 miles. Saw some beautiful clouds on my run.
Love you guys.
We had a nice birthday lunch at Asian Square for Ruth Sullivan!
Her husband David and son Jason were there, along with Deborah and Bill Doverspike,
Paul and Luke, Ann and Bob Mitchell, Orene Duvall, Kathy and I.
I always have a good time with that group!
Spent most of the afternoon working at the missions with the teams from Holly Springs, SC. I took more pictures of the teams at Azalea Place and Huntington Ridge.
Went through the Publisher program with Cathy Palmer. Sometimes it’s pretty hard to figure out all this stuff. She catches on pretty fast and the program is pretty straightforward. Part of our role as a missionary is to let supporters know what’s going on and the troubles we face.
Just this morning, there was an altercation with a man with a gun in the next building over from them. The cops had to go over there three times. A couple of African-American women were screaming at each other.
I’ve tried to show a little of what it’s like in these complexes where I work. And I don’t have work in “good” neighborhoods. That’s why they call it “missions!” But when you see it up close and personal, it’s a whole different part of “real.” It’s really real. People get thrown out of their houses and have all their stuff on the curb,while their children wail on the sidelines.
Or when you see the children in the neighborhood crying because their daddy was arrested because “He had no papers.” It’s a sad piece of business.
We depend on our team to raise up these issues with the Lord!
It’s a lot easier when I can concentrate on shooting video and let Ashley take pictures. She really is a phenomenal talent.
Whirlwind is adding a very important section to our web site focused on fund raising. It’s an important issue for most of my partners. She’s written a handbook on what she’s learned from seminars she’s been too as well as what I’ve seen work in the real world.
This afternoon she worked several hours on video taping herself do her promotion for her work. It can be used as an example of how to structure your request for support.
We’ll be editing that and adding some more to it next week. We should be able to post the handbook she’s completed soon. I’m really proud of what she’s done and I think it’ll be really helpful.
We had a good time with the teams at the four locations. It wasn’t too hot!
I ran four miles this afternoon. It was hot enough.
Had a great day with my team from Holly Springs Baptist Church, SC today! Ashley and Jesse and I went over to N. Peachtree BC to give a briefing to the team then we took them over to the four locations they’re covering. Ashley shot most of the photos, while I worked on shooting video.
They’ll be in Chamblee at Azalea Place and Highland Gardens. Then over in Norcross helping our new missionaries at Huntington Ridge and Westwood–which is now called Villa Nueva.
After working at the missions, Ashley and I went over to TJ Max to get her some new luggage. I got a new suitcase too!
Our stuff was messed up in the fire. It’s always fun to hang out with Ashley.
Jesse was really tired today. He said he didn’t sleep well last night. Hope he’ll feel better tomorrow. Keep praying for him!
We saw some fantastic clouds today. Huge cumulus clouds with massive vertical development.
