Thank You Lord for what You'll Do!

Of course I was all ready to title this blog "here we go..." but before I could type a single word, I received a call from a friend of mine who I met on a team back in 2009.  This just isn't any friend but someone who came to New Orleans on a team, served for a week, and on his ride home with the team accepted Christ as His Lord and Savior! PRAISE THE LORD!!

He told me how he's been meaning to call me and update me on his life and how since his trip to NOLA, his wife has accepted Christ (PRAISE THE LORD!!) and they both were baptized at the Easter service last year!  Praise God their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and it doesn't stop there!  He went on to tell me how since his trip, he has started his own type of local ministry!  He is partnering with the schools in his community to provide backpacks full of food and school supplies for students whose parents cannot afford them.  He says he knows how meeting the physical needs of others provides an opportunity to spread the Gospel. He says his heart for his local community came from our team in NOLA encouraging the teams to not let their "mission trip" stop in NOLA but to take it home.

This is just one of the many stories of lives that have been transformed from a storm that hit the coast seven years ago tomorrow, yes Aug 29th, 2005.  Even for myself, Hurricane Katrina changed my life.  So with Isaac approaching, headed towards New Orleans, who's to say that this storm cannot transform someone's life?? In fact, I am praising God already for how God WILL use this storm to transform lives and I am praising God for how He will USE the Body of Christ to meet the needs of others for the sake of the Gospel!

I will ask for prayer requests as that is how God can use the Body of Christ during this time:

1) pray for the people of southern Louisiana who are now being reminded of Katrina because of the anniversary and for the many many homes that are still uninhabited by Katrina.  Please pray for their emotional well being and for God's peace to rest on them during this time.

2) pray for my church body Castle Rock who has decided to shelter in place.  They are also sticking it out and they are calling for lots of rain and potential flooding.  Please pray for safety and protection for them!

3) pray that Isaac rolls in and rolls out quickly!  We get street flooding on a good thunderstorm so please pray that it moves quickly over New Orleans so flooding is at a minimum.

4) pray for our TouchGlobal staff as we prepare for the storm and prepare to assess damage after Isaac rolls through.  Please pray for wisdom and guidance for our team as we seek God's will for what a response could look like.  We recognize that in the wake of crisis God creates a mission field so we want to be prayed up for being in line with God's will.

5) pray for our safety and protection as we ride out the storm.  pray that power is maintained during the storm and if not that we are able to run off the generators with the fuel we bought yesterday and that power would be restored before we run out of fuel.

Thank you for your prayers! We praise God for you and your partnership in the Gospel with us!

We'll keep you posted as we meet Isaac!
God bless yall!
Katie :)

Lord, you are my God;
    I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
    you have done wonderful things,
    things planned long ago...
You have been a refuge for the poor,
    a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm  

Isaiah 25:1,4