To each according to his own ability…


So many trees…
It seems at every hurricane we work, McDonalds always take a beating…
Pray for this church, they have no insurance. Pray that God will provide…
This is another badly damaged church. Our crew will tarp this church tomorrow. Norm sketched the building but I think she left the boat in the parking lot off of her drawing…
Utility lines are everywhere…
This is the street to the church…
I had to ask someone. It’s a draw bridge.

Transition Day, Hammond to Houma Louisiana…


Thanks to Woodland Baptist Church and Pastor Tim and all his flock. They were very gracious and interested in our DR work. I only wish we could have heard his message. Right after praise and worship an announcement was made that the Red Cross needed help serving lunches around the area. So off we went, driving 15 miles west to help two great Red Cross workers in Independence Louisiana.
Change of command in Hammond as White Hat John from Arkansas DR took charge…
Norm not only served meals, she prayed with people, about 7 altogether…
Another Chaplain showed up, Steve from the Salvation Army and he prayed with people…
I just had our power steering pump fixed and it is leaking again. I’m pretty sure that is why the truck is poorly parked…
The closer we got to Houma, the more severe was the damage. After arriving and getting our rooms situated, we headed out and visited 3 homes before dark …
Don’t know???
Blessing upon blessings have been pouring on us from Heaven. Just like that, out of nowhere comes an attack by the evil one. He used another Christian for that purpose! We prayed our hearts out, we sought wise council and we are blessed by a loving God. Heavenly Father, thanks be to You, all praise be to You for giving us the ability to serve You in this ministry. What a privilege, what a gift, what an honor. Thanks for giving us this time to be Your hands and feet here in Houma Louisiana. In the Name of Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ we pray, amen.

For this God is our God for ever and ever…Ps. 48:14


There is no end to the things that fascinate Norm…
There is a tiny home beyond the trees. There is no job that Norm can’t draw…
Don’t know…
Norm kept one eye on this chicken as she sketched with the other…
Dogs love us. This is Bo, he loved us so much that he took off with my hat as we were praying…
Brings a new meaning to dry dock…
SRO for Arkansas football…This is our last working day in Hammond, based out of Woodland Baptist Church, serving the Arkansas Incident Command team. We have truly been blessed by our fellow DR workers and by the homeowners we have met. Thanks to Woodland and Pastor Tim for giving us a place to stay. All praise to God!!!

It’s All About…


This tree reminds me of people. God created all of us with a space on the inside, a hole in our hearts that He, God only, can fill…We look normal and maybe even healthy and fit on the outside, not so much on the inside.
This is the size of a typical street in Hammond! I guess they only had so much asphalt, they had to stretch it out. Narrow roads, closed for power poles and lines that need restored, finding our homes has and is a real challenge…
Norm’s favorite store!!!
Tree on house…
Many dog visits today. Dogs love us…

On The Job…


The heart of the Hammond area is the Arkansas Incident Command Center. We know a lot of these men and women from prior call outs. Norm is getting our work for the day…
Norm drawing for the chainsaw team…
No ice today…
Bummer
We drove 1625 miles because we had a divine appointment set by God to minister to and be ministered by this fantastic family. We are so blessed!!!
Root balls. We see a lot of root balls…
Bad one

Hurricane Ida…


Gearing up for this Sunday, we leave for Hammond Louisiana. We will be working as assessors/Chaplain team for the state of Arkansas (running the Incident Command). Our latest information on the area, power is starting to be restored, and some groceries stores are opening. Resupply run tomorrow and then an early start on the fifth…

God moves…


“We need to recognize that God moves in our lives as believers. We get occupied with men and things and circumstances, and we look at them in reference to our lives instead of walking with God. We do not live above our circumstances but under them, and then our circumstances weigh us down.” J Vernon McGee.

Psalm 39…


“The holy singer had long pent up his feelings; and though busy thoughts were stirring within him, he would not give them utterance. He could not bare his bosom to the rude gaze of an unsympathizing world. And he feared lest, while telling his perplexities, some word might drop from his lips which would give the wicked an occasion to speak evil against God. And when at last, unable to repress his strong emotion, he speaks to God and not to man, it is as one who feels how hopeless the problem of life is, except as seen in the light of God.” Dean Perowne, The Book of Psalms.

Gila Bend Arizona Day 8


This is how our day started. AZDR will go to any lengths to get a signed work order! Norm and I drove to Litchfield so our team could get started on one of our last homes
How many DR guys does it take to assemble a new shop vac? Ours gave up the ghost yesterday.
Our sleeping quarters. My bed is hidden by Norm’s huge air mattress…
DR Chaplain Mike found a hidden surprise in the wall…
New born kittens, from left, Chaplain Mike, Blue Hat Eldon, and our historian Mindy…
There is a long history to this “borrowed” trailer. It has certainly angered me in the past, just saying. It is now aptly named…
Patty supervising the complete cleaning of our flood recovery unit…

Gila Bend Arizona Day 7


Sun rise from the old gymnasium…
Everyday looks like this…
After some morning miscellaneous jobs, Norm and I got to start this home…
Home full of mud…
We think the water lifted up their fridge and laid it on it’s back on the floor…
See the changes?
Blue Hat Les, keeps us all in line…
We made this…
After a long day serving the Lord, Disaster Relief at it’s best. Rose from Lake Havasu and her husband John were first time volunteers. They worked hard and are great people…
The end of a long day…

Gila Bend Arizona Flood Day Two


Big change from yesterday…

We dodge heavy equipment and remediation work all day.
Dark line mid window is the water line…
Kitchen drawer full of mud…
I like trains, but they are annoying here. All of the jobs involve crossing these tracks. These are short trains either! I thought there’s a law about the length of trains. Guess I was wrong about that…

Gila Bend Arizona Day 1…


I sometimes think that a disaster brings out Jesus in people that don’t have Him. We hear good things in bad situations…
We are barely recovered from our work in Colorado, but God has given us the strength to start serving Him again in Gila Bend. We are based in the high school gym with the Red Cross and Salvation Army.
These roads look like dirt roads, but this is actually dried mud. The city is out in force clearing debris.
Massive debris pile that continued to grow all day. It is a terrible tragedy just on a smaller scale. It’s heartbreaking to see homes that are full of mud and mold. Norm prayed and used her Chaplain skills all day…

Camping at 10,000 ft


From Currcanti NRA we traveled west along hwy 50 to Montrose. It’s a nice town with one of the better Walmart’s we have shopped in. Turning south on 550 we stopped in Ridgeway Colorado, one of our favorite towns. Very laidback with friendly people.
Lunch in Ridgeway…
Afternoon cold brew. We then headed to the local thrift store…
Continuing south to another favorite place of ours, Ouray. It was crazy busy, with cars, jeeps, motorcycles, and people. So we just pushed on.
South of Silverton, just east of Molas Pass, we found this dispersed camping spot
This is what we woke up to. Too cheap to run the furnace, we had coffee with Jesus, and headed south ASAP. Arriving in Durango a short time later to a very nice 71 degrees and sunny…

Day 12, Grand Lake Colorado


Our longest day was saved for our last day of nonstop work days. But, CBDR was up against a time crunch, so Team Arizona and CBDR’s best stepped up and completed filling two roll offs in ten hours. CBDR Blue hat Doug and his spotter (wife) Carolyn are in the photo above.
It takes a lot of moving of debris to get all in order for loading.
Our crew awaiting the chance to swing into action…
Poetry in motion, is CBDR Doug on the mini-x…
My machine. I spent almost the entire day operating it. Yes, now heavy equipment operator can be added to my AZDR resume.
Our hats tell the tale of this call out. As I write this we are already praying, thinking and planning for the next time we can be in service to our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. God’s word says “WHOSOEVER” do you know where you will go when this life ends? You can know! Be sure today…

Day 9, Grand Lake Colorado


Not the kind of day we want to have. Hitching our fire response trailer to the DR truck, we noticed that the wheel did not look normal. After lifting the left side we checked how secure the wheel actually was. Not at all! There was no washer to secure the axle nut, so the nut was one or two threads from coming off. The bearing was out of place allowing the wheel to wobble. With the help of CBDR Doug, we spent a lot of time fabricating a way to secure the nut. After finishing the left side, we thought we probably should check the right side. That is the photo above. No washer, no lock washer, and no NUT! Our Blue hat Patty and driver Joe spent all morning searching for the parts, only to have to order them…This is a brand new, from the factory trailer. Sad…
The only real job Norm and I had was to go to a property and report to CBDR White Hat Dennis, if the always elusive, and rare roll off dumpster had appeared. As usual and sadly, not. So we thought we would take this photo… Not sure why…

Day 8, Grand Lake Colorado…


First thing Billie puts the ‘Krav Maga’ smack down on these concrete blocks. After these blocks have been exposed to fire, they become brittle.
Out of uniform, Norm is trying to keep from getting a farmers tan
We were Arizona 2 today and this was our first task of the day.
When a roll off shows up at your job site, it is a time for celebration!
Who knew? Dust devils in Colorado. We counted five today.
First task completed…
We joined up with Arizona team 1 and finally got to work together. This was tough going at nearly 9,000 feet elevation.
Ash pile made by hand.
Just a small part of the beautiful view from this property.
A long hard day is almost completed…

Day 6 Grand Lake Colorado…


Today the team was split into three groups so we could try to finish these properties…
Our debris bags…
Metal has to be separated from ash…
This property was supposed to be completed, we were just cleaning the outside area and found this piece of gold.
We try to always leave a signed Bible for the property owner. God’s Word, something more valuable than gold…

Day 4, Grand Lake Colorado


This is the view from the house we worked on today…
This is the first time we have met with actual homeowners…
Gary and Terri center and right making me look good…
My first of three jobs today, spotting for Colorado DR Doug. Doug is a master with these machines. I praise God for heavy equipment…
My second job site of the day…
Third job and then a nice meal with the Colorado DR team…

Day 2, Bluff Utah to Meeker Colorado…


We drove more miles than we wanted, but it seems that you can’t get an RV site without planning ahead. We are more of the plan on the fly type of campers. Leaving I70 we turned north on hwy 13 and found an RV park that left us dry camp for a nominal fee…
Yesterday we spent the night next to the San Juan river, today, lunch next to the mighty Colorado river.
Safe and secure…

Psalm 63: 1-5


1. O God, You are my God, 
   And I will seek You so earnestly,
   My body and soul thirst after You,
   In a land that is so dry and weary.

2. I have seen You in the sanctuary,
   And beheld Your power and Your glory too.
3. Because Your love is better than life,
   My lips will praise and glorify You.

4. I will praise You as long as I live,
   I will lift up my hands unto Your name.
5. My soul satisfied as with rich food,
   Praise to You, my singing lips, proclaim.

The complete Psalms in Meter, by Ryan Stewart.

Arizona SBC Disaster Relief…


Just last week we got a message from one our former Pastors (and favorite) Dean Stanley. His church, Golden Valley Baptist church, through their week of VBS had collected an offering for AZDR. We were just overwhelmed, so we made plans to go last Sunday to receive the check on behalf of our state director.
Pastor Dean and his wife, Rhonda, gave us a check for $1000.00 for Arizona Disaster Relief!!!… This could not have come at a better time, as two teams from AZDR will soon be traveling to Colorado for home cleanups from the 2020 fires.
In addition to the check, ( did I mention that is was $1000.00?), the VBS guys and gals collected a wheelbarrow full of much needed supplies…Praise the Lord for His goodness and grace. Praise Him for churches that would think of the pretty much unknown missionaries of Disaster Relief.

Day Six…


Laundry day. This is how we do our laundry, find one, choose a spot to park out of the way, and enjoy lunch while waiting for your clothes to get done…
Lots of logging going on in Idaho.
Turkey family…
We are standing next to our RV parking spot for the next two days. Ravenwood RV Resort, Athol Idaho, $54.00 per day for water and electric only. We wondered if this spot is like getting a table next to the kitchen in a restaurant???