In The Wake of Gustav

Your prayers made a difference with Hurricane Gustav! God graciously answered and the storm was much less severe than predicted.

Yet, while New Orleans avoided major tragedy, areas west of the city have been severely damaged and your help is needed.

The lives of those living in the Gulf Coast have been thrown into chaos once again. Now is the time to show them the love of Christ in a way they may have never before experienced.

This restoration effort is about so much more than fixing roofs. It is about the heart of our Master. God uses your hands and feet to provide hope to those in need.

Will YOU serve?

Aaron Gordon and Bob Johnson, FEI field staff living in the Gulf Coast area, reported, "We found much need for assistance. The damage is not at Hurricane Katrina level, but lots of roofs were torn apart. Lots of trees are down and the power lines are shredded in MOST places."

FEI is uniquely positioned to help those affected. We have the resources in place to begin restoration immediately, but we can't do it without YOU!

How you can serve:

• Volunteer-join a team or create a team and offer support and hope to the hopeless and disheartened.
• Make a Financial Gift - funds are a necessary component of disaster response. Your financial support makes this ministry possible. MAKE A DONATION NOW
• Pray - continue to pray for those affected. Also pray that the other storms of this hurricane season will be diverted.

To learn how you can show Christ's love to your fellow countrymen and women in desperate need, contact Nate Wieck at 360.574.3343 or nate@forwardedge.org today.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, Love your neighbor as yourself." -Jesus

Thanks From Bay St Louis

Kris and I were in Ocean Springs yesterday showing Pastor Joe and and wife Patty  from South Carolina the rebuilding and need in Mississippi.  The FEI van we were driving was parked on the street, as Pastor Joe walked back to the van, there was a note on the window.  Of course usually a note on the window of your car says either "Sorry I ran into your van!"  or "I wish you would not park here!!!"  So as  he opened the note, he was impressed and surprised to see what it said.  

"THANKS FOR COMING.  WITHOUT PEOPLE LIKE YOU, THE COAST WOULD STILL BE A 3RD WORLD.  MY EOURPEAN FRIENDS SAY THAT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HERE AND THERE IS THAT IN THE U.S., WE HELP EACH OTHER"

SIGNED BAY ST LOUIS

I just want all of YOU that are involved in the Gulf Coast ministry, whether you are a volunteer or on staff or in the field, or support in prayer and finances, you are greatly appreciated here in the Gulf.  We are as a team giving hope to so many that with out us would have not have that future and a hope that our Lord Jesus Christ provides.  As we share our love in actions and words, people are coming to know who this Jesus Christ is.  

Blessings in Christ

Jeff and Kris

Soccer Fun & Blessings

I wanted to share a little word about how things are going in the projects. For those of you who don't know, the projects are the local government assisted low-income housing developments. We have been going to the 26 ^th street projects for a few months now, ever since they dismantled the projects at Charles Warner.

When I arrived today, Bob (the other coordinator), Lynne and the girls had been there for a while. Before I had even gathered all my things to get out of the truck, three of the boys were already unloading the soccer goals. Some of the smaller ladies were unloading the bag of balls that one of the teams had donated. They knew the drill. The amazing part of this is that they were cooperating with each other. It takes teamwork to get the goals out and they were working together. There was neither hitting nor yelling.

This struck me as such a contrast to when we started. We have had hitting, biting, hitting with sticks, every form of aggression one to another. Today, there was cooperation, peace and forgiveness.

For the first time we were able to get an organized soccer game going. Two of the boys wanted to play football (to those of you not in the US this is Grid Iron). One of the boys tried to rally support so he yelled out, 'who wants to play football'. The other yelled back 'I want to play football', while everyone else yelled 'I want to play soccer'. Thus they established that the consensus was to play soccer, so the two who wanted to play football just picked up soccer balls and came over. This was a most amazing demonstration of the Holy Spirit coming to the Projects. I just stared in awe.

Teams were picked and they squared up against each other. Explaining some of the rules along the way the game progressed. Sometimes things got physical, though only in such a way as would be appropriate in the game. All the players got to be involved. Some of the smaller children realized that if they banded together they could get the ball away from the star players. Cooperation showed its face again. Sometimes, someone would get knocked down and the one who knocked them down would apologize and help them up. They would then rejoin the game. The light of forgiveness was showing its face.

As we came together to enjoy cookies, the whole group was able to peacefully wait, though with a few who couldn't be quiet. Even the ones who couldn't be quiet were at least peaceful. Almost all remembered the three rules, even though we did them out of order for the first time. For those of you who don't know, the three rules are 1, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength, 2. Love your neighbor as yourself, 3. No fun allowed. They can only break the last one.

Right before we stopped, a shy little girl came up to me and asked if she could sing me a song. She sang me a little song that said that God loved her. I have never heard the song before, but it made me cry. One little Girl of maybe 4 years knows that God loves her. Three two other girls then joined her in singing 'Jesus Loves Me, This I Know' to Pastor Jerry.

When it was time to go home, there was no bickering and whining. They all headed home with the joy of the Lord.

I Praise God that He is changing lives, and showing his little ones that he loves them. Thank you also to all those who have come down and served. We are seeing the fruit.


PS. The game ended in a 3-3 tie.



With Love in Christ,

David Botha
Field Coordinator
Forward Edge International

---

Watch “Cause Effect,” a show about real people making a real difference. Learn more