Chelsea is invading Katie's blog!

Hello Everyone!

We are really looking forward to this week and praising God for the team He brought down from Lexington, Massachusetts! There are 61 senior high kids from Grace Chapel and it is their first time down here with Crisis Response! They will be working for Miss Connie, Miss Delores, Miss Pat, Miss Vida, Miss Cammie and the Reveres.
Last week was very exciting for us as we saw God work through the teams that were here from Ohio and Illinios. Dave is still waiting for an occupancy permit, but the team was able to work on the electricity and plumbing at his house. He came to the block party on Wednesday and he was so excited about the progress and the possibility of moving in soon!

Miss Cammie visited her house twice last week and was able to see the amazing development of the inside of her house. The team last week was hanging drywall and finishing the exterior painting. You can't walk through the walls anymore and thats a good thing!

The porch is now painted and it looks GREAT! :) One of the interns has been able to talk to Miss Cammie on a pretty regular basis and she is excited about the relationship that is being built.

Please pray for Dave and his family that they will be able to move into their house very soon. Also, please pray for the relationships being developed with Miss Cammie, the Reveres, and Miss Ruby along with the other homeowners that we will be working with this week. God is doing amazing things in NOLA and we are so glad to be a part of it!

Have a happy 4th of July and a blessed week!

Chelsea Buffington :)

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1: 2-4

One Busy Learning-Filled Month!

Hi Everyone!

First off, I've sent out my June newsletter so if you'd like a copy make sure to send me your email address.

Secondly, wow, this first month has flown by! Three weeks in New Orleans, One week in Alabama, Three girl interns, One guy intern...God has been doing amazing things! It's been a learning experience for me...learning how to be a servant leader, how to guide the interns in ministry, how to encourage them to continue to grow in their walks with the Lord, how to be responsible for 4 people but at the same time trust them in the Lord's hands, how to make time for God, myself, interns, friends, family...I don't think I realized how much I would grow and learn in this new role but I'm praising God for every lesson He's teaching me.

We have two teams in this week: Cornerstone from OH and Arlington Countryside from IL. We are working on Ms. Cammie's, Ms. Ruby's, Ms. Delores's, and Mr. Revere's homes this week. We are also sending a small team to Dave's house to finish up the plumbing and electric along with finding out what else needs completed to obtain the occupancy permit! Please pray for God to continue to provide all that Dave and his family need to move into their home!

Thanks for the continued prayers and encouragement!
Love yall!
Katie :)

"Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say, 'Father, save me from this hour?'
No it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father glorify your name!"
John 12:27-28a

Chelsea IS HERE!!

HI Everyone!!

Chelsea is HERE!!! I picked her up from the airport Tuesday and surprised her by taking her to Dave's home where she worked last summer. The team this week from Lifesong Community in Chino CA was there working on the flooring! It's coming along really nicely!

Also Chelsea will be taken over my blog for the summer to post God stories and update you all on needs and homes we're working on. She's doing a great job getting our EFCA Crisis Response page on facebook up and ready so be sure to "like" it!

One cool story from the week comes from a team member from the CA team. He confessed that at the beginning of the week, he was not that excited about prayer walks...he wanted to work on the house! But after this week he said that the prayer walks have been one of the biggest blessings thus far! He's gotten to pray for a community he's never seen before and for people he's never met before and God has really moved in his heart this week! PRAISE GOD for continuing to use a storm almost 6 years ago to transform people's hearts!!! He is GOOOD!

Check out www.facebook.com/efcacrisisresponse for updates and photos from Dave's home!

LOVE YOU!! So happy to have you in my life!

In Christ,
Katie :)

"But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your ancestors, as it is today." Deut 8:18

Katie Loves Haiti!

pictured: half of the Lakewood team + staffers + and local Haitian helpers/friends! This is taken after we finished building one of the Samartian Purse shelters for a very thankful family!

pictured above: Cleisma, Sophane, myself, and Claudia!! Love these girls!!!

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for praying for me during my trip to Haiti! God's hand of protection was over us as we traveled and worked in the hot hot sun! God provided opportunities to build relationships with Haitians and to serve His people!

One of my favorite experiences was hanging out with the orphans at Operation Love the Children of Haiti (OLTCH). I bonded with the toddler room and even though I didn't speak creole, they couldn't really either so we just hummed songs and made noise and gave lots and lots of hugs! I also bonded with one of the nannies in this room, Cleisma. She didn't know English and I didn't know Creole so we spent time just teaching each other how to say different things around the room in each other's languages. By the end of the week she called me her friend and I can't wait to go back to see her!

One of the coolest things was being there the same week as Lakewood EFC who had 3 couples on this trip in the process of adopting children from this orphanage!! Lakewood had come down in October of 2010 and the team members went back and began praying about how to make a difference in Haiti. God has led many families from our Crisis Response teams to adopt 29 children thus far!!!! GOD really is using an earthquake to cause life transformation for these children to be brought up in a home with Christian values!

There is a lot of sadness, oppression, and despair in Haiti but there is also hope, joy, and love! Keep praying for this country and for the Gospel to spread through the arm of compassion ministries here!

pictured: Claudia and I! She's just the cutest!

In Christ,

Katie :)

"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

I am BLESSED!!

Hi Everyone!

I was listening to "I am Blessed" by Rachel Lampa crossing the causeway last night and thought how true!! Just what a wonderful reminder that we are blessed!!! Don't forget!!!

I can't believe how fast this week back in NOLA flew by! I leave TOMORROW for Haiti for a week! I'm so excited to go back and see what God is doing through our ministry there! Please pray for safety traveling tomorrow and for many opportunities to share and tell others about God's great love!

In my last newsletter I had some big rocks that needed accomplished and with time running short I had no idea how things were going to turn out.

So here's a few reasons why I'm BLESSED:

1) Through my friend Denise and her connections, we now have housing available for my girl NOLA interns for this summer!! PRAISE GOD! It's a HUGE answered prayer and of course it's another testimony that not only does God have it all taken care of but it was through Denise asking that God provided...so one more lesson for me to keep asking so God can work!

2) I have completed my application for my transition to long term status this week!! PRAISE GOD! Once my application is reviewed, there will be an in-home interview, then I'll hear back about an invitation to REV, the Readiness Event, for training and to further investigate my ministry calling!

3) With the interns going to Haiti, I wasn't sure exactly how to balance preparing/equipping them and have their curriculum set up while they are there and I'm in NOLA. So once again God provided Steve and Sarah on our staff to handle the Haiti pre-field training along with coming up with their curriculum!! God is so good!!

4) Praise God we have a guy coming to serve as an intern this summer in NOLA! Dustin came down on a team from Southwest Baptist University and will be serving this summer for 2 months! He will join Ronnie and Chelsea as my first group of interns EVER! God is amazing!

5) God has BLESSED me in BIG ways in just one week with financial support! I am so glad I serve a God who knows our needs and even when I fail at asking, He still provides! With my transition to long term status, my budget has increased. So I am inviting YOU to come join me financially in what God is doing through me and the internship program. My email is katie.hooks@efca.org if you'd like more info!

There are so many blessings God has poured out on me that there is definitely not time or space to tell you about all of them!

Love you!
Khooks :)

Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
Psalm 103:1-2