Latest Video Montage from our trip August 2008

Well Here it is Hot off the presses. This video will be sent to all of our supporters but we wanted to give our Blog community a Sneek Peek. Come hear the students talk about their experience on THIS SUNDAY MORNING 8/31/08 at SWBC in Old Bridge, NJ email me for directions we start at 9:15 and 11AM.

Day Five in New Orleans

Well all things must end on this earth and so it is with our teams trip to NOLA. We had a great day of serving the Living Lord ( yes Living Lord, if you are unsure if he is your Living Lord send us a comment on this Blog Post we would like to introduce him to you) Our God is good and Faithful and is a patient teacher and Father.

We had a great experience here and seek to take others with us next time.

Shared week long experiences as we came back from a lunch at the Riverside Shack and Coffee and Benignttes at Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter. A quick Tour of Jackson Square and the tourist shops.

One team Served in the Deaf Church finishing the blessing of Pastor John's church. One team served by moving a local into a new apartment. And yet another team stayed behind to clean the Berean facility as we prepare to leave Saturday morning.

The group clearly has grown closer to one another as this week progressed. These trips not only bless the one's we serve but bless the team members as well.

We covet your prayers and God has been sooo.. Good to us. He allows us to see and learn as we walk with him. We can do all things through Christ who Strengthens us 1Corinthians 5:17.

Andrea shared that God has been impressing upon her that her mission field is right outside her front door. Let's take this experience home with us.

Day Four in the Big Easy

Well it has not been EASY for the Canal Blvd. Baptist Deaf Church here in New Orleans. Our teams have been working along side Pastor John L. for the past few days. We are completing a Fellowship hall so that they can move from a house were they are having services (for past 3 years). This photo is of some finish Sheetrock work that our team is doing in their sanctuary.

This Church lost everything and is still working to rebuild. Theft is bad in some areas of NOLA , for example this pastor had a new Central Air Unit destroyed as vandals stripped it out for the copper several weeks ago. There is a new unit in place now and the team is building a containment fence around it. Life in New Orleans is not easy by any stretch of the imagination.

Our team is Blessed to be involved in great projects in a public school supporting teachers and students as the school year has started already. There are classrooms to paint and Bulletin Boards to decorate. Praise God we can serve in this capacity.

The team is Healthy. We are physically tired but spiritually growing each day. We encourage all to travel with us next time and experience the blessings that come from Serving others. Getting ready for a 1/2 day of work tomorrow and some sight seeing in the evening Friday. Thanks for your prayers and support, but most importantly your prayers.

Send your Comments We will update this Blog with Friday's entry on Saturday.

Check out the photos Below:

Day three in New Orleans

Welcome to Day three of the SWBC Missions Trip to New Orleans. We are coming up on Three years since the flooding and Storm that changed it all for the residents of this diverse city.

Believe us to be here you would never know that 3 years have past. We were all working in neighborhoods where 90% of the homes are unoccupied or abandoned.

We celebrated a special time tonight as we invited the families that we are helping on this trip as well as past trips to share a meal with us here at Berean. Well we served pasta and an incredible Italian sauce to 60 people, all the while sharing stories and blessings that this trip has brought about.

Think about this: we are called to be light to a dark and desperate world, sometimes that as simple as providing/sharing a meal or painting a wall. We(I) sometimes get caught up in trying to do something really big, when all Christ requires is the heart of a servant. Think about that. Missions is all around us. Funny we have to travel 800 miles to realize that sometimes.

Well we are all tired but healthy and yes Yolanda Ben is Fine ! More pictures tomorrow of our team. Goodnight and God Bless because He has certainly blessed us !

Grace and Peace- John

Day Two in New Orleans

Wow another great day in the Crescent city. We are blessed to be serving alongside some of the most talented youth around. The weather is HOT and HUMID and no ones complaining. Our teams continued on the Deaf Church Renovation, the Elderly couples Gut out, and a new project hanging Drywall in a newly constructed home. We are asking the Lord to give us boldness while we hammer, crowbar, and wheelbarrow our days left here in NOLA.

Tomorrow night ( Wed) we are inviting past families and present families we served to dinner here at Berean, so we can share some food and listen to their stories of Post Katrina Life.

At tonight's devotional time here is a glimpse into what we discussed.

Mike Shared that even when we are serving other Christians we are blessing to them as they continue to rebuild the deaf church.
Ken Shared that they (their team) were called Guardian Angels, because we were sent to help them when no one else would.
Minor bumps cuts and bruises but all are OK
Kelly shared that she was impressed by the deaf church pastor and how he made no excuses, but communicated with joy, a lesson for us to learn.
Rich our Drywall mentor from Berean is leading us through a great rebuilding project his direction is invaluable in getting this job done.

Think about this:

1John3:11
11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. 13Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything

Love in Action................................1John 3:11: John was battling Gnosticism all around him when he wrote this. Gnosticism was blatantly wrong. The Spiritual and the Physical are so wrapped together. What we do is combined with what we believe. You don't have 27 people going to NOLA for vacation, we are here because we love because we were first loved by GOD. Let us love with actions and truth.

It was great to cook dinner along side of our brothers and sisters from Florida. We learned allot and heard testimonies from them.

OK for the Moms reading this Blog. Everyone is Healthy and OK, tired but OK and we are all eating quite well thanks to Mr. Dee and Matt A.

Check out today's Photo Picks :

Also don't forget the youth group blog at www.sayrewoods.org/ym

Day One in the Mission Field

Hi Y'all,
Greetings from New Orleans. Well our team arrived safely and completed our first day of work. We Split up into 3 teams and traveled to different parts of this great city. One team did massive brush cutting and landscaping work at a gutted out Nursing Home looking to be re purposed as a community center of sorts. Another team gutted out a couples home ( 83 and 84 years old) getting it ready for new Sheetrock. Our third team is rebuilding a damaged church outfitting its sanctuary.


We are all physically tired but pumped up about serving tomorrow. We sat in our Devotional time and here is some of what we discovered.

• Mike Dee: Jazzed that this trip is about the Fellowship and Serving, Not necessarily about the work. Serving at a Deaf church rebuilding sanctuary and Fellowship hall.
• Linda Praying for people on the roof of the gutted out Nursing home. Sharing Christ Like Jesus bold and Loud
• Ben got crushed by a pew, but he's OK Bobby helped him out.
• Andrea out of her comfort zone praying in a house of a family that invited them in.
• Team A: We were all excited about using the giant Weed Eater.. Bush Wacker tool.
• Robert and Matt took out their frustrations by gutting out a bathroom tile and all. Mild injuries some bandages.
• Alyssia Using a Claw hammer to comb her hair. She says it works. Use a clean hammer though.

As you can see we are sharing God's Love and having fun at the same time. Think about this :


2 Corinthians 4:7-12

Jars of clay are simple not elaborate vessels Our power is from GOD not from us. We are pointing people to Christ not to us or Berean Bible Church. To God. The good life does not mean easy life necessarily but a life as close as possible to what God wants for us and others.

7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

Ultimately we want to point people to Christ, Show love of Christ to others.

13It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."[b]With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

We believe therefore we spoke. The reason perhaps missions exists is because worship might not go on in certain places. Missions is not just New Orleans its in our backyard. The hurting are right in front of our face.

We are a Blessed team here are some of the ways people in our teams were blessed today:

Carlton asked boldly to go visit the neighbors next to our project They were invited inside and sat with the family.

Matt was impressed by Alyssa's servant attitude.
Teams shared and Lawrence was given a meal from a team.
Ben kept on going even after his injury.
Rob noticed Maria outside sharing with the lady who owns the house.
Mike D. shared Paul was great to work with using the Chop saw.
Maria was affected by the 83 and 84 year old couple who worked along side of them throughout the day.

When we go home we will not only tell the people about NOLA but about the relationships between the teams as we get to know each other better.

POST YOUR COMMENTS WE WILL BE READING THEM

Check out our YOUTH GROUP BLOG at www.sayrewoods/ym

See today's photo picks below.

Rebuilding See this Short Movie

Check out this short Video set to Coldplay's "CLOCKS"

All the Images you see are from a previous trip with a team back in August 2006. We did grueling "Gut Outs"of homes in 103 degree heat. We are going back, this time to rebuild. With 27 People, several vehicles and hearts ready to serve our prayer is that lives would be transformed both in New Orleans and within our team.

I was in New Orleans this March 2008 and it is saddening to see the amount work that remains to be done. We will be there to lend a hand and an ear. Most importantly we pray our presence would create an opportunity to share the amazing story of God's Love and Restoration.

Grace and Peace- John