Community Methodist Church

After two days of travel we have made it to our partner church Mount Olive Baptist Church, in Lake Charles, Louisiana. After we settled in, we met with our PPM staff and got an overview of the week. We are so excited to see what tomorrow and the rest of the week in this community brings!

Today our host church, Mount Olive, put on a special community event. Instead of a traditional service, the Mount Olive congregation, our praying pelican team, and New Hope church from Texas came together to serve the community. We went to the local high school, LaGrange senior high, and had the privilege of helping them with projects.

After a hard day of work we were able to almost completely finish the science hallway with fresh paint! We all worked so hard today, especially the youth. They did a fantastic job all around! It was an awesome day to join together with two other churches and serve this community! But the real question is… who gets the award for being covered in the most paint? 

This morning we met with Pastor Robinson at our partner Breathe of Life church. He told us about the church and how they have suffered hurricane damage, flooding, and a car came through the building. In February, Pastor Robinson suffered a stroke and has lost mobility in a leg, arm, and some speech. He was so so very grateful for our team to be here and help his church as he is currently unable. We split up in a few groups to help address these needs.

Look who came to visit at our worksite today! Our old church friends, Vanessa and John stopped in with some cookies! A great way to end the work day. We are so grateful for this opportunity to help Pastor Robinson and his church!

We got as far as we could on digging the trench for the rain water. Two days of digging, removing so many roots, and cutting thorny vines. We made great progress and this should put a big stop to the flooding that’s happening inside the church! 

Another look at the incredible work our team did out in the drainage way. The pastor was so thankful as this will help avoid many previous issues!

This morning we headed to the beach on Lake Charles. We assisted with the city’s trash cleanup. It made us realize how poorly we sometimes treat the beautiful Earth God created for us. We are hopeful that as many gather for 4th of July tomorrow they are able to enjoy the clean beach.

Tonight we had the honor of welcoming in community members to a local theater in Lake Charles. The US Air Force band of the west played a special concert tonight in honor of veterans and Independence Day. 

This morning, us leaders cooked breakfast as the youth slept in after a hard weeks work! We had a great breakfast and are off for our fun recreation day before we leave Lake Charles tomorrow.