I Need Your Help
To be more exact, Lakeshore, Mississippi, needs your help.
To any of my faithful, occasional, once-in-a-blue-moon, or brand-new blog readers: please stick with me for a minute.
There's something you can do.
On August 29th, a weather catastrophe struck the United States - the worst in its history. It's now three months later, and there are still people living in tents on the ground in Mississippi. (Let that thought sink in a little bit.)
I know there are people suffering in other places around the world. I know, I care, and I pray God will continue to show me and my church what we can do to help those situations. I know our servicemen and women need our support, and I pray for them, and am open to whatever I can do there, too. But for today - literally today - this is what God has called me to do, and I share it with you, so you can help.
Lakeshore Baptist Church was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. The destruction hit the property - but not its mission, nor its heart. It is now the anchor for an entire community, and the source of physical and spiritual solace for a wounded part of the United States.
And Christmas is just around the corner.
If you go to RebuildLakeshore.com's Christmas section, you'll see a magnificent, God-ordered plan to meet the Christmas needs of hundreds of people - and we can be a part of it.
Today, I committed myself to sending down several items. I said I'd send down 200 Christmas stockings (empty, just the red stockings).
Yes, you're reading correctly: two hundred stockings. (If you read the RebuildLakeshore site, you'll realize that a Christmas for the whole community is being planned, hence the numbers. Much, much more than this has been called for, much has been provided, and much more is still needed. This is what I committed to sending down.)
I also said I'd send down 25 plastic Christmas trays (the kind you find in party stores).
Not the best picture, but you get the idea. Then I said I'd send down 30 Christmas CD's.
Imagine a Christmas with no music? (And the CD here is just an illustration - any great Christmas CD would be great.) And you have to hear the music - so I said I'd provide 5 small boomboxes, complete with batteries (I'm a little chagrined at that one. They need something like 50 more of these, and I said yes to five. Pathetic. I'm thinking of upping this to 10.)
Then there are the teenagers of Lakeshore. Everyone wants to help the kids with gifts - but the teenagers get forgotten. Imagine the impressionable heart of a young person, having lost everything - and what it would be like to receive a real gift at Christmas. So - the RebuildLakeshore people want to give out gift cards in $25 increments (understand that the RebuildLakeshore people are not giving out the gift cards themselves - they're providing them for parents to give to their own teens as Christmas gifts). The gift cards are to be from Old Navy
and Best Buy. I said I'd provide 30 giftcards for Old Navy, and 30 for Best Buy.
Even as I type this all out, I can't tell if I've just publicly lost my mind, or climbed onto a wonderful adventure.
I forgot to mention the most important part: I need these things to arrive at my church in New Jersy on or before Tuesday, November 29th. Yes, that's Tuesday, as in right away. We will ship the items to the RebuildLakeshore people, who will have them all ready for the "store" (everything free) for the people of that community.
Can you help? Yes, they also need blankets. They also need real (metal) silverware (I hear the plastic gets old after awhile). And yes, I've committed to 25 each of hammers, rechargeable battery-operated screwdrivers, toasters, and hand mixers. But I don't need those for two more weeks, so...
I'm just asking for these items right now.
I've never asked for something this way before - but it's time.
Let me know what you, your family, your church, your homeschool group, your office can do. Leave a comment, or e-mail me at chapelonthehill@juno.com. Send your items - making sure they will arrive on or before Tuesday, November 29th - to
And please pray. When I spoke with Pam (RebuildLakeshore's Christmas Coordinator) on the phone today, she told me about the impact this sacrifice is having on those who have lost so much.
I'm sure. And I pray for that.
I also know the impact this is having on those who go, and those who give. And I want to be part of that.
Let me know what you can do...
To any of my faithful, occasional, once-in-a-blue-moon, or brand-new blog readers: please stick with me for a minute.
There's something you can do.
On August 29th, a weather catastrophe struck the United States - the worst in its history. It's now three months later, and there are still people living in tents on the ground in Mississippi. (Let that thought sink in a little bit.)
I know there are people suffering in other places around the world. I know, I care, and I pray God will continue to show me and my church what we can do to help those situations. I know our servicemen and women need our support, and I pray for them, and am open to whatever I can do there, too. But for today - literally today - this is what God has called me to do, and I share it with you, so you can help.
Lakeshore Baptist Church was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. The destruction hit the property - but not its mission, nor its heart. It is now the anchor for an entire community, and the source of physical and spiritual solace for a wounded part of the United States.
And Christmas is just around the corner.
If you go to RebuildLakeshore.com's Christmas section, you'll see a magnificent, God-ordered plan to meet the Christmas needs of hundreds of people - and we can be a part of it.
Today, I committed myself to sending down several items. I said I'd send down 200 Christmas stockings (empty, just the red stockings).
Yes, you're reading correctly: two hundred stockings. (If you read the RebuildLakeshore site, you'll realize that a Christmas for the whole community is being planned, hence the numbers. Much, much more than this has been called for, much has been provided, and much more is still needed. This is what I committed to sending down.)I also said I'd send down 25 plastic Christmas trays (the kind you find in party stores).
Not the best picture, but you get the idea. Then I said I'd send down 30 Christmas CD's. 
Imagine a Christmas with no music? (And the CD here is just an illustration - any great Christmas CD would be great.) And you have to hear the music - so I said I'd provide 5 small boomboxes, complete with batteries (I'm a little chagrined at that one. They need something like 50 more of these, and I said yes to five. Pathetic. I'm thinking of upping this to 10.)
Then there are the teenagers of Lakeshore. Everyone wants to help the kids with gifts - but the teenagers get forgotten. Imagine the impressionable heart of a young person, having lost everything - and what it would be like to receive a real gift at Christmas. So - the RebuildLakeshore people want to give out gift cards in $25 increments (understand that the RebuildLakeshore people are not giving out the gift cards themselves - they're providing them for parents to give to their own teens as Christmas gifts). The gift cards are to be from Old Navy
and Best Buy. I said I'd provide 30 giftcards for Old Navy, and 30 for Best Buy.
Even as I type this all out, I can't tell if I've just publicly lost my mind, or climbed onto a wonderful adventure. I forgot to mention the most important part: I need these things to arrive at my church in New Jersy on or before Tuesday, November 29th. Yes, that's Tuesday, as in right away. We will ship the items to the RebuildLakeshore people, who will have them all ready for the "store" (everything free) for the people of that community.
Can you help? Yes, they also need blankets. They also need real (metal) silverware (I hear the plastic gets old after awhile). And yes, I've committed to 25 each of hammers, rechargeable battery-operated screwdrivers, toasters, and hand mixers. But I don't need those for two more weeks, so...
I'm just asking for these items right now.
I've never asked for something this way before - but it's time.
Let me know what you, your family, your church, your homeschool group, your office can do. Leave a comment, or e-mail me at chapelonthehill@juno.com. Send your items - making sure they will arrive on or before Tuesday, November 29th - to
Chapel on the Hill
560 Ridge Road
Cedar Grove, NJ 07009
And please pray. When I spoke with Pam (RebuildLakeshore's Christmas Coordinator) on the phone today, she told me about the impact this sacrifice is having on those who have lost so much.
I'm sure. And I pray for that.
I also know the impact this is having on those who go, and those who give. And I want to be part of that.
Let me know what you can do...
posted by Donna-Jean at Tuesday, November 22, 2005
6 Comments:
hey dj...i'll send out an e-mail to the reunion family tomorrow morning and see what we can do at this late notice...great stuff...thanks for prompting it...
Donna-Jean, I put your link on my blog. I will visit with dh tonight and see what we can do personally. God bless!
Oh my goodness..you have undertaken a hugh task. Wish I could help. I am overwhelmed at present. I WILL pray that you meet your goal. God is able!
Just an idea and ignore it if you want but a paypal link on your blog could allow some of us to send you money that could be turned into these items.
Great idea, Athena! I'm working on it. I hope to have it up by the end of this afternoon.
Thanks, everyone, for your interest, support, and prayers!
Donna-Jean:
With out a doubt, one of the most rewarding things we have done recently was shopping for the Mississippi Christmas items. Amid our own family holiday celebrations, what a blessed joy to provide these items to these fellow christians and others who have lost everything. God bless Chapel on the Hill and other churches that have joined in this activity....
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