YouTube Video Clips Of 2008 Mission Trip To Ocean Springs, MS

YouTube Video Clips
Of 2008 Mission Trip To
Ocean Springs, MS

From April 19th - 26th, Rev. Tim Schwartz led a mission trip to Ocean Springs, MS. The Pughtown Baptist Church along with individuals from other church families took another trip down to the Gulf Coast to help families in need. Below are two prayer messages Pastor Tim sent along with links to YouTube Clips highlighting the trip.

Prayer Update Sent April 23, 2008:

Friends -

Just wanted to send you a quick update from Mississippi. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers for us as we are in MS this week. We have had a productive week and we are making major steps forward in the house that we started building back in December. Here are some quick highlights, prayers and thoughts:

Thanks for your prayers for safe travel - although we hit a couple of bumps on the way down (a forgotten ID, mechanical delays in Dallas), everyone arrived safely and in good spirits on Saturday night.

Thank you for your prayers for the weather. Sunday and Monday were absolutely beautiful. No rain, not too hot or humid. Today it was a bit hotter, and many of us tried not to melt in the heat. But these are great conditions to be working in!

Please keep praying for the work that we are doing! We were able to send a group over to Miss Jackie’s house the last two days to finish up some yard work and shed repair. From the reports, we were able to turn a mountain into a molehill in her backyard! The work on Dana’s house is continuing forward. We have accomplished some great things. We found that there is a lawn around Dana’s house (after a little woodworking and mowing). We have taken an empty shell of a house, added the outer wall boards (sheathing), wrapped tyvek around the house, installed all of the doors and windows, the rafters in the roof are finished and now we are laying down the roof. We still have major steps to take in the next couple of days - so keep praying. Pray that the Lord would make the way straight for us - we have hit a couple of obstacles along the path - a broken compressor hose, other things like that - little annoyances that are costly in time.

Please pray for Dana and her family. I was speaking last night with her about the obstacles that are in the way of her moving into her house. Although many of the things have been paid for, she still needs to pay for a heater (around $6000), cabinets, countertops, a dinette set , a bed for her son and other smaller things like that.

I have been amazed because each day I have seen pictures of the church at its best. This morning, I was watching a group of guys cutting the 24’ rafters for the roof. There were 4-6 guys working together - a couple of high school students, a young adult, two fellas who are recently retired and then our senior statesmen of the group. A couple of them were carrying the boards, others were lifting the boards, others were cutting, and then all together they hoisted the beams up to the roof. It was quite a process, but what struck me was how the diverse group of guys worked together like a well-oiled machine to get the job done.

Another good picture of the church that I have seen this week is the beauty of what happens when God’s people work together in a spirit of unity and joy. We have a great team assembled to work. Even in tough conditions, friendships are being built and teamwork is happening all around the worksite. And, as I have said before, it is amazing to see the amount of work that is being accomplished.

Here is a link to check out with some pictures and video from the past couple of days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGTcS1jpmqo

If we get more video up on the web, I will let you know in the next email. So, there is a quick update! Thanks for your prayers! I will try and send out another update on Thursday!

Grace and Peace, Pastor Tim

Prayer Message Sent April 26, 2008:

Friends -

Greetings from Ocean Springs! Another quick update from Day 6 of our mission trip:

First and foremost, thanks for your prayers - we feel the power of your prayers and the presence of the Lord amongst us. We can sense this in a couple of ways - first, in the safety that you have been praying for - we have a crew of people working on the roof 25 feet in the air, as well as others on ladders on the deck and others moving a woodpile where each board has a multitude of rusty nails attached. Yet the Lord is providing for safety for us - we are thankful and ask that you continue to pray for us as we prepare to work for one more day. We have also felt your prayers in the spirit and strength of the group. Everyone remains upbeat even through long work days and hard work on the site. We are eager to get back out on the job tomorrow and finish the work that we have started.
Secondly - we ask that you continue to pray - specifically for the inspection that will happen Friday morning. We are asking that you pray that the inspection would happen early in the morning so that we can finish siding the house before we leave. Things are kind of at a holding point right at the moment as we wait for that inspection to be happening. Also, pray for a couple of the group members who are either starting to feel the effects of a cold or are battling through physical difficulties.
Thirdly - We are excited about the work of God that is happening this week in us and through us. At this point in the week, the house we are working on has doors, windows, a roof, a lawn, and we have made gigantic steps in bringing move in day closer for Dana’s family. The site has gone from a property to a house with a lawn, from a framed house to a home. I also see the work of the Lord in the fellowship that is happening among the team. Hard work is accomplished through teamwork characterized by laughter, support and growing in friendship. People from different churches and of different ages are all working in unity to get the job done. On top of that, I have had individual conversations and have sensed team member’s hearts turning towards the mission of Jesus and kingdom building. These are the moments where I am so very thankful for the movement of the Lord on these trips - and would ask for prays that the Lord would continue to speak his love, grace and calling to each one of us while we are in Mississippi. On Friday night we are going to talk about what we learned and what we are going to take with us from this trip. Please be praying for this time.
Fourthly, please be praying for the next steps in completing the house that we are working on. There is one team from Georgia planning on coming down in June. There are a couple of other possibilities, but nothing definite. However, there is still much work to be accomplished. Pray that the Lord would raise up some more people to help so that Dana and her family can get back in her home by July.

Here is another Youtube clip with pictures and video from this trip - you will see some people working and also some sites from a trip to New Orleans that some in the group took yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKvLOGhkAyA

Thank you for your prayers - we look forward to getting home and sharing our experience with you!

Pastor Tim

American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware
106 Revere Lane, Coatesville, PA 19320