Hope City

[kevin]

On the road again to Hope City. I know every bump and bad place to eat. Only 1093 miles to go... It is hard to believe I haven't been to Hope City in 5 weeks...

As I was cruising down I-65 (doing the speed limit of course) I was thinking how much I missed that 16 hour drive. I am so glad that Kevin Moss showed me some compassion and agreed to drive down with me instead of flying. I could not have made it without him. Well, that's not quite true; he did, however, make it much more bearable.

It is so good to be back at Hope City. I can't believe how much has changed. As I look around at all the improvements and all of the new equipment, I am reminded how blessed we are. Thanks to K-Moss and Ed from Sugar Grove Church of God, we have a new tool shed. Man, is it handy. For those of you who have been down to Hope City the tool shed is located behind the kitchen. The other nice additions are the vehicles donated by the city of Ft. Wayne and Larry Campbell from Columbia City First Church of God. Thanks Larry, we are using the vehicles on a regular basis.

Another nice addition is the skid-steer (aka Bobcat) that was donated by our good friends at Samaritan's Purse. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the nice addition of our new long term volunteers, Larry and Vicki Arnold from Grabill Missionary, a Hope City partner church. Vicki is a retired school teacher and Larry is a retired mechanical engineer. What a blessing they have been in the short time they have been here. They will be with us until Thanksgiving. Welcome aboard!

We also had two Hope City friends stop in for a few days. It is good to see Kevin and Kristen Ridgeway. I know what you are thinking: the Four Kevin's Ride Again.

This is going to be a very short trip for me as I need to be back in Indiana on Thursday to continue our work on the floods. So the next few days are packed. The team this week comes to us from Fellowship Missionary Church. In keeping with FMC tradition, we have a top-notch team. We have had a great time so far and they are doing a great job. Our dear friends and clients Loren and Sally are coming for dinner tonight and for bible study. Thursday night our friends from Mississippi Power will be putting on a shrimp feast. Thanks Ann and Michelle.

On a side note, the weather has been horrible down here. It hasn't stopped raining for three days. It doesn't sprinkle here, it pours. We have had three tornado warnings and flash flood advisories. But it hasn't affected the Volunteer Spirit in Hope City. It's going to take more than bad weather to stop this team from doing God's work.

George and Gloria's home should be done in the next 30 days and we will be breaking ground on two homes sometime in November. Currently, we have funding in place to complete five more homes and then we will be building for the Long Term Recovery Coalition of Harrison County. We are one of two rebuild teams and expect to carry a large portion of the duties. The LTR will fund all of the homes that we will build in our remaining time in Mississippi. Continue to pray for the recovery efforts here. as well as Indiana and please keep Hawaii in your thoughts and prayers as well due to the earthquakes they are experiencing. Until next time...