Welcome to Nassau Church

It's a Big World ... Shine Brightly

Princeton Presbyterians
Mission Trip to
Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Day Three: Monday, July 3
"Work Begins"

Day Three
Hey y'all … well, today we gladly and successfully began the "mission" part of the mission trip. We replaced our shrimp po-boys and fried "bignets" of yesterday with pickaxes and paintbrushes, separating into three groups for our first day of work. Mine, which included the lovely ladies Hannah Davis, Virginia Farrel, Katie Petit, and Gretchen Sausville, confronted our first task right here at First Presbyterian. Mission: Remove chain-link fence on playground.
Status: Completed - beautifully, I might add, and with all the problem-solving skills and natural grace that wire cutters and sledgehammers necessitate. Though we were small in numbers, we loved the fact that we could "break down barriers" within our group (not just the chain-link fence) and get to know each other, and moreover, be our own foremen. We were then dispatched to help an Ocean Springs community member who, like so many others, has faced the huge challenge of returning her home to its pre-Katrina state. If painting was new to any of us before, we surely perfected the craft by the end of the day. We tackled doors, walls, and molding galore, and will most likely be returning tomorrow to happily finish the job for Linda. Well, I better observe the 10:30 bedtime, so I'm sure more of the day will be related via the words of my fellow sojourners.
Peace,
Margaret

The Ballad of David Dippold
(to the tune of The Addams Family)
He measures and he cuts wood,
He eats a lot of junkfood.
His jokes are always so good,
We thank you David Dip
He's handy with the tools
Won't sit upon a stool,
He's kind and never cruel
We thank you David Dip
He's taller than a tower
He really needs a shower
We love his super powers
We thank you David Dip
He's leaving us for school
But we don't think that's cool
In class he might well drool
We thank you David Dip

Moses and the Burning Bush
Exodus 3: 1-6, 11-15

¹Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ²There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."

⁴When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."

⁵"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

¹¹But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

¹²And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

¹³Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

¹⁴God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

¹⁵God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob — has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

The clean-up and lattice crew
1. Our team gets ready to clean the barn, which was under water.Tom is a neighbor who lent his truck, and stayed all day to help.	2. We backed the truck up to the barn	3. First load (and several helpers) head to the dump
4. Moving a refrigerator the hard way	5. Typical of the sort of damage	6. Irma, who was a potter, lost her kiln
7. Scott nails in a brace for the lattice	8. Manny helps Nick with the finer points of using a hammer	9. Watermelon break
The Habitat for Humanity crew, today's job, roofing
10. John, Evan and Scott, roofers	11. Work at it's peak	12. Can you hear me now? Cory finds that the reception is better on the roof
13. Olivia, Caroline and Tori, flush with heat exhaustion (we think)	14. Todays task was putting up the plywood on the roof, tomorrow the tar paper and shingles	15. Joe finds that the ground is farther than it looks
The school yard cleanout and interior painting crew
16. The ladies try out the swings, to make sure they are safe for small children	17. Watch out! We have tools and we know how to use them.	18. This post has to go
19. Margaret recycles the cyclone fence	20. Hannah and Katie are on a roll	21. Virginia was called in for the hard to reach places
22. Linda, the homeowner and her crew, Virginia Farrel, Hannah Davis, Gretchen Sausville, Katie Petit, and Margaret Ernst	23. Ten months later and there is still clothing stuck in the trees	24. Out on the bayou
25. Lot only, the house is gone	26. Our crew, and the folks from Grove City, prepare our communal dinner	27. We "personalized" our cups, so that we could use them more than once
28. We joined Grove City Pres ...	29. ... for dinner ...	30. ...and for music
31. The Praise orchestra and chorus	32. The Princeton folks clap along	33. Who needs songbooks when you have PowerPoint
34. After the joint Praise service, the Princeton group retreated ...	35. ... to the Chapel for our devotions ...	36. ...and some games