"You Go PA"

Hi Everyone. Today's blog is dedicated to the Pennsylvania Team. They have blessed Allen and I so much. It is great to see a team from our home town (somewhat). We are all in the same area, DE, PA, NJ, MD. Anyway this team has worked so hard. Everyday they want to work longer and harder. They have done so much but always wanting to do more but yet they have done so much more than they could possibily know. They are mud ding the walls of a house owned by a mother in our church called Janice. She has been waiting two years to get back in her home and with this team doing the mud ding (which is called spackeling) all that is left to do is painting and finish the floors and she will be back into her home. They should be so very proud of everything they have done. They truly have the heart of God. We love them and pray for the next time they come back. In the bottom picture they are getting all the old paint and dirt off of another house not far from Janice's house. They have worked on 2 houses this week. They will be leaving tomorrow and we will miss them. Pray for them and we will all pray for you. Until next time.. Lots of Love coming you way from.... Dovie and Allen....

This is What It Looks Like After the Gut Out.

Hi Everyone. Well remember yesterdays pictures of the Michigan team doing the gut out of the house with all the mold well this is pictures of the this is what it looks like after they tore out all the walls . The ceiling had to come down also. There is nothing but the studs of the house left. Now they have kill all the mold that may be in the studs by going in and using bleach in a sprayer. You have to wear protective suits and masks and gloves to do this part of the process. Well I wanted you to see some of the process that takes place here. This team has been awesome doing this job and never complaining. They are a blessing.

The next stage after the killing of the mold we will be putting back up Sheetrock which means new walls for the family and starting to look like a livable house again. The team from Pennsylvania is doing the mudding of the walls of another house so I will show you their pictures tomorrow. They have done such a outstanding job on this other house and always wanting to do more. God Bless both teams. Well more tomorrow so for now know that we love you and will keep praying for you. Lots of Love coming your way.....Allen and Dovie.

It is a Mess Inside but Help is on the Way!

Hello Everyone. I have been showing you pictures of houses that need to be rebuilt but I have only showed you the outside of the houses. Well I thought you might like to see what the houses look like inside. The pictures you see are pictures of a house we worked on yesterday and what it looks like inside. This is what we see before we go in and tear everything out. What you see on the walls is black mold. You have to wear breathing masks and gloves at all time because the mold is dangerous if you get it in your lungs. Every room has the mold up to the ceiling. All the furniture has already been removed. Nothing was salvageable. The people lost everything. This was a beautiful home at one time. Imaging coming home after the storm and walking into this. However, everything you had worked for was destroyed ,your furniture, cloths, jewelry, and most of all your pictures. Your family pictures of your children growing up. Pictures of your children graduating from school. Birthday pictures of your children's 1 birthday party. Holiday dinners and get together. Everything just gone. Whenever I walked into a house I thought I knew what to expect but each time it is somewhat different. Especially when you meet the owner and they share their lives with you. I thank God for my husband and family.

I want you to know that there is a team of teenagers from Michigan that is working on this house and they got it all tore out in one day. The are awesome. They came with their hearts and hands and never complained. We are very proud and blessed to have them here. Tomorrow I will have pictures of the house after everything was tore out.

We also have a team from Pennsylvania, Yea PA. It is nice to have someone close to where we came from to come and help. I will have pictures of them and what they did this week on Thursday. They are an awesome team too. Loving and kind. I will give you more about them later.

Me, Mark, Jessica, and two teens from Michigan went out today and handed out free lunches to people that needed food. God told us to go and share the food and that is what we did. We just wanted them to know that we care and we love them. Some asked us for prayer and others wanted more information. God keeps telling me to just show them Jesus and the way to do that is to show them my heart. I am trying to let my heart show so please keep us in your prayers.

Well I know I have said a lot tonight so I will stop for now. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. Until next time... Lots of Love coming your way... Dovie and Allen.

A Day I will Remember

Hello Everyone. Today is my birthday and I just wanted to give you an update of how all my family here made me feel so special. The pictures you see tonight are of my day and family. These are the people, Allen, Susan, Monty, Jessica and Joel. Mark came back today also. This is my extended family. Of course there is Pastor Teresa, Greg, Pastor Larry, Ezra, Brian and Diane. Some of these people are not here they are at home visiting their family or at another country volunteering there for a few weeks. Anyway this is how my day went.

We have devotions at 7:30 am so when I walked in to devotions there sat Susan, Monty, Joel, Jessica (she has 3 friends from her home here with her visiting) and we have a team here from Pennsylvania (12 of them) that were there also. Anyway they had a big sign on the door saying Happy Birthday Dovie and it was signed by my family here. I know it was Susan's idea and I love her for that. Then all day different people were singing happy birthday to me.

Allen, I and Paul (our son) went to dinner and we had a good time. When I got back to our home my family here had a cake for me and a gift. It was a gift certificate to get a pedicure. Let me tell you I am so excited about this gift. My feet are so bad right now even I am afraid to touch my own leg without getting scratched. No kidding and I don't care who knows because it is true and I need one. My poor husband has to deal with it so you know he loves me. I have to say this has been the best birthday in a long time. Anyway I love my family here and I wanted you all to know how special they are. Please keep them in your prayers. You know after putting these pictures on here I realized I don't have any good pictures of my family. Joel is the only one I actuall have a good picture of. Well I will take better pictures of my family and put them on so you can actually see their faces, wouldn't that be nice.

Anyway, my family back home especially my sister Della and my son Alex called me several times to wish me a happy birthday. I miss all my family and friends there very much also. Well I will say good night for now so until tomorrow...we love you.... Dovie and Allen

A Day of Growth

If you look closer at the picture below (you can click on the picture and it will get larger) you will see some stairs leading to a slab of concrete where a house use to be. It was swept away by the flood. There is still all kinds of rubble from other houses torn down behind it.














These other two pictures are of empty houses on empty streets.














Hi Everyone. Today was a day of growing. Things happened to make me think very deeply and to see that God does have everything in his hands. I have some missed communications and missed opportunities. But God is faithful and patient with us and helps us to learn and grow. I am learning and growing so much every day and I thank God for it. Sometimes growing can hurt but the end result is wonderful. I want to thank God for my husband Allen because he is a very wise man.

Anyway, we had lunch for a lot of volunteers some from SUM (School of Urban Missions) and the volunteers are from California. Also, we had Teen Challenge join us for lunch and fellowship. It is so uplifting to have so many people love and care about you and each other. They are giving of their time and we love them so much for doing it. It is such a pleasure serving them lunch for the day.

We had a wonderful dinner last night at our Pastor's house (Pastor Teresa). She gave us so much to think about, asking us to think outside the box and minister to people where they are not where we want them to be. Go to them and not wait for them to come to us. A lot of times we wait for the Lord to present the opportunity for us to minister to someone but if we really noticed our surroundings of where ever we are we would see all the missed opportunities. They are right there in front of us but we are so busy and caught up in every day things that we miss it. I have had a lot of thinking to do and I have been praying harder and longer. I pray for all of you that visit our blog that the Lord will bless and keep you always and that the pictures and words spoken on this site will minister to you.

Well I will have more tomorrow so until then may God be with you always. We love you.

More Pictures!

A little something different for you. This is what you see when you come over the bridge into the lower 9th ward. It is a monument made to all the victims and survivors of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. The sign that says I am coming home is on homes throughout the city.




I also wanted to talk about two teams that came last week. One was from New Jersey and the other was from Kentucky. They were two awesome teams. New Jersey worked hard to get a church reopened and Kentucky worked hard on 2 or 3 houses to get them fixed for families. Their attitudes were wonderful. They worked hard every day and wanted to do more. I pray that God blesses them beyond their wildest dreams. One thing, I sure do miss that sweet tea. Kentucky knows how to do tea. From all our hearts here, Thank you teams. God Bless you all!

"Still More To Be Done"

Hello Everyone. Here are some more pictures that are telling a story. I .am having trouble with the internet this evening so I can only get 3 pictures on here but tomorrow I should be able to get more on here.
These houses you see are in a community that is still not rebuilt. Many streets with no families, no children playing in the streets or families gathering together. It is very quiet and empty on these streets. We meet families all the time that are still waiting to come home. In this one picture (the 3rd picture down) you can see the house on the left looking better than the rest and that is because it is being rebuilt. However the house next to it is still in ruins. Remember this is all hurricane Katrina's mess nothing more.


" I wanted to say that we'll be saying goodbye to a wonderful lady here named Diane who will be leaving us for 2 months. She is a volunteer also and hopefully will be coming back in September to continue rebuilding with us. I want you all to pray for her. She is excited to see here children and grandchildren. We will miss her dearly.

Until tomorrow everyone, we love you! God Bless you and keep you all safe.
Allen and Dovie...

A Lot of Work Still To Be Done!!!!!!

Hello Everyone! I have gotten a lot of requests from people saying they want to see pictures of New Orleans the way it is now and I am happy to comply. Many people tell me they thought that New Orleans was all rebuilt and didn't need any help. Well it is not and we still need help. I have decided to make all this coming week nothing but pictures week. I will not be writing a lot about the pictures because I feel the pictures speak for themselves. I have taken many pictures and the pictures you are seeing were taken today. Yes today! It will be two years this coming August and the 9th ward still looks like it just happened yesterday. Something I want you to keep in mind, there are still one million people not back in their homes. Yes one million people! Every day we meet people who are trying to come home. These pictures are of communities and there are 20 or so houses down a street and only one on the block has been fixed and being lived in. Then there are other streets that are no fixed houses on the block. We are trying to help as many as possible so please pray for us and the people of New Orleans. I will have new pictures everyday this week so keep looking. Also, please pray about supporting Allen and I while we are here as volunteers. We will be praying for you. God Bless you all!