Here is our Church!

Hi Everyone. I am sorry it has been a while but we did not have any Internet service here for a while. However, we got it fixed today so I am back up and running. We have a team in from California and one of the men is a computer wiz and he fixed every thing. His name is Buster so everyone pray for a special blessing for him. He was suppose to have heart surgery but he told his doctor he was coming to New Orleans first. Isn't that awesome! He knew God wanted him here first. We are expecting a full healing for Buster so everyone who reads this take a moment and pray for his full recovery. In Jesus name it is done!

We have another group of teens who have come for a week to help also. They are wonderful. They work hard and are such a great group of teens. There is 14 males and 2 females and 4 youth leaders. We are very proud of them. We have two places where we house teams that come in. There are 2 locations where we house volunteers. The place in New Orleans East used to be the church. After the storm the entire congregation was gone. The church building in the 9th ward opened up and Pastor Teresa moved operations there. The building at East has been transformed for the volunteers, bunk beds, full kitchen, 2 showers and all. The church in the 9th has an upstairs area that has also been transformed for volunteers. No longer are there church offices. Instead there are more bunk beds with a full kitchen in the downstairs area.
Everything changed with the storm. Everyone changed after the storm. And things are still changing by the day. Churches everywhere have transformed the space they have to help others. Some are just doing everything they can to have church again! Without the volunteers neither would be possible!
Both of our locations have the option of having 3 meals a day prepared for them (at a small cost) or they can use the facilities and prepare for themselves. We have both and both work, according to the teams needs and preparations.

One of our family members here with us Susan has taken some pictures of the church we have service in and she has shared them with me so here is the church for all to see. The church has come a long way. The inside of the church itself shows you that the pews are long gone and we sit on chairs for services. The floors are also still concrete and the block walls lasted through the 11 feet of water that stood inside the building for over 3 weeks! The church organ was destroyed but the altar area made it. Pastor Teresa had taken photo immediately after the flood waters were pumped out and it just simply takes your breath away! The thickness of the mud alone is a sight unlike anything I have ever seen! They have come a long way and yet still have a long way to go. These pictures is the way it looks now. I do have pictures that show what it use to look like and will try to get them on the site at a later date. I love our Pastor and you would love her too, She has such a loving heart for everyone.

Well there is so much more to tell you but I will give more info in a couple of days so keep praying for us and we will pray for you.

I just wanted to say also that now anyone that would like to support us can do so and it is tax deductible. Yes tax deductible! All you do is write your donation out to: "Saint Luke Assembly of God" and in the note section put "Donation is for Allen & Dovie McDow." Address: 2201 Franklin Avenue., New Orleans, LA 70117

Thank you so very much for all you support and remember we love you........ Allen and Dovie.

Hi Everyone! It has been a few days since the last post and I am sorry but here it is! I don't have pictures but I will soon. There is a beautiful friend named Jodie who has decided she wants to bless us with a digital camera, YEA! We are so very thankful and excited because that means you will see more pictures soon. We want to thank Jodie for blessing us with this gift of love. I would like to give our address just in case anyone would like to write us or do whatever God places in there heart to do. It is 7420 Vanderkloot Ave., New Orleans, LA 70127.

OK! This is how our day went. We sent to a house today to mud and gut it out. What that means is we took everything out of the house. The house has been sitting with all the owners possessions in for one and 1/2 years but it is no good. Everything has black mold on it and cannot ever be used. Furniture, clothing, appliances, family pictures, everything. It was very sad to see this family's personal possessions like pictures of their children and family memories that could not be saved just thrown away. We had to wear masks and work gloves because of the black mold. You cant breath in the house or get the black mold in your lungs because you can become deathly sick and even die from it if not treated. It took all day to get the house done. The next step is for the next team to come in and gut the house. They will take out all the walls and ceiling, wiring, heating everything. The next team will then come in and spray the beams of the house to destroy the mold that might be leaking in the beams. It is a long process.
After one and 1/2 years there is still houses that don't have families living in them because it has not been cleaned out. There is still so many houses to do and rebuild so families can come back home. We will be doing another house tomorrow so the first step is underway. Hopefully soon I will be able to take pictures of what we are doing so you can see the progress we are making.

Well I have to say by for now but I will put more information and pictures soon on this site. I am glad you cant see me now because I look pretty bad. The next information I put on the site will give some information on the church and hopefully I will have some pictures of the church and give you the details. I will try to get that done tomorrow if not this weekend. Until then we Love you all.

Oh yes! We ant to say hello to our son Alex who is still in Delaware and looks at this space. We love you Alex!

Love ya later....... Dovie and Allen..

Here is a few pictures of our trailer we are staying in. Here we are and Jax of course. He loves it here. Plenty of room to run.


Also a picture of Allen putting up a roof on the church. He is the one in the middle.







!!If you click on the Pictures they will get bigger!!

"""OK HERE IS OUR STORY"""

Back in January, 2006 God put it on our heart to come to New Orleans and do whatever it takes to help the people. We got in touch with an organization called PRC Compassion, gave them the date we were coming and they put us together with a wonderful Pastor named Teresa Reiger. Our date was set for April 2006 and were very excited to come and made preparations for the trip because the people needed us. Little did we know that we would be touched by the people more than we touched them.

So, April came and we went me, Allen and our son Paul (who is still single) with anticipation of what we wanted to do but not knowing what was ahead of us. Needless to say when we got here it was beyond what you could imagine and much worse than what we had seen on TV. Pastor Teresa Reiger was a wonderful and compassionate person that loves the people and New Orleans. Her love so touched our hearts that I knew this was not going to be a one time visit. Little did I know that God was doing a work in Allen and Paul also.

We worked harder and longer that week, helping people more than we ever had before but, it was so gratifying nothing like we had ever known. We met wonderful people who opened their arms to us. We stayed for a week and left however, Paul decided to stay and continue to help the Pastor and the people. We got home and the Lord spoke to us that we were to go back for a longer time. We came back in July 2006 and started preparations for the move here. We have committed one year of volunteer service here to help rebuild.

We do miss our family and friends very much but we carry them in our hearts where ever we go. When I relinquished my position at Bank of America they were very supportive, especially my manager Yolanda Briggs and my teammates whom I dearly love. (They know who they are) They gave us a gift that we needed so much. Thank you guys!

Well that is our story and I did try to keep it short. Those of you that are looking at the grammar, STOP IT! I have put some picture on the site and will be putting more on when I get a digital camera. I am believing God for it. So pray for us and we are always praying for you. Oh Yes, you can email us through this site and we would love to here from you!

Until next time.... WE LOVE YOU ALL!

"""""PS""" Don't read the information below it was a test copy yesterday and the same thing you just read. However, do look at the pictures."""" I am really done now"""" Really I am"""""

"Home Sweet Home"

We are finally getting settled in to our new home. I will be getting pictures of our new home soon. It is very cozy and we thank God for the commendations. Let me start from the beginning on how we got here.

Back in January, 2006 God put it on our heart to come to New Orleans and do whatever it takes to help the people. We got in touch with an organization called PRC Compassion, gave them the date we were coming and they put us together with a wonderful Pastor named Teresa Reiger. Our date was set for April 2006 and were very excited to come and made preparations for the trip because the people needed us. Little did we know that we would be touched by the people more than we touched them.

So, April came and we went me, my husband Allen and our son Paul (who is still single) with anticipation of what we wanted to do but not know what was ahead of us. Needless to say when we got here it was beyond what you could imagine and much worse than what we had seen on TV. Pastor Teresa Reiger was a wonderful and compassionate person that loves the people and New Orleans. Her love so touched our hearts that I knew this was not going to be a one time visit. Little did I know that God was doing a work in my husband and also my son. We worked harder and longer that ,helping people more than we ever had before but, it was so gratifying nothing like we had ever known. ***More to come***