Computer problems

Hello Everyone. Sorry it has been a while since my last blog but we don't have Internet right now and it is hard to get on when we do get it. I have many pictures to put on but with the system problems it won't allow me to put them on. We should be settled by next week so I can put pictures on then and until then please bear with us. We are visiting many people we have not seen in a while and it is good. God is doing an awesome work in many lives.
Well my computer is telling me that it is shutting down right now so I will have to go. Please continue to pray for us and we will pray for you.
Lots of Love...Dovie and Allen

Our Family Away From Home

Hi Everyone. Just wanted you to meet my family away from home. This is our family here who volunteers their time just like us. from the top left, Allen, Joel, Thomas, Monty, Pastor Larry, Mark (bent over) Jansen. Then 2nd row, Dovie, Susan, Pastor Teresa, Carol. Sitting down, Matt, Jen, Ceri, Jessica, Brandon.

These are the short term people, Mark, Ceri, Brandon, they all will be leaving by the end of the summer. The long timers, Me, Allen, Monty, Susan, Joel, Jessica, Janson, and Pastor Larry. The people that live here in New Orleans are, Pastor Teresa, Thomas, Carol, Matt, and Jen. All these people have become our family and we love them very much. I wanted my family and friends that look at this site to know who they are.

Allen and I are having a wonderful time with our son who is visiting us. Thank you all for your prayers. There may not be any new updates for awhile because of some things we have to take care of but we will keep in touch. Until next time... lots of love from Allen and Dovie.

PA is gone but Never Forgotten

Well PA has left and they left early this morning. They blessed us so much while they were here. It was good having someone from our own side of the states with us this week. They worked hard and long. Some of the women worked with me getting the church ready for Sunday and they went through the church like a whirlwind. They had a smile on their face no matter what they did. They ministered to me by helping with the church. I will not forget them. They also blessed us with a beautiful mixer that is so nice and I was so surprised. They did it without any of us knowing about it. I pray God blesses them ten times more than they blessed us.
We had a night of testimonies on Thursday night that just blessed everyone. We prayed for healing for some people and salvation for family members. The holy spirit was present with us and just touched everyone that needed a touch. Allen and I pray that they come back soon because they showed so much love to everyone.
Well everyone our son is here and will be with us till Wednesday. We plan on spending a lot of time with him. I missed him so much more than I thought. I may not be putting anything on the blog for a few days because we will be going home for a few weeks. Pray for us and for God to move on our behalf to sell our home.
Until next time..remember lots of love from... Allen and Dovie

Still working hard in all this heat

Well the PA team is working hard every day even in this heat. They have to take breaks every 20 minutes but they say it is worth it. And really it is. They are working to help people get back into their homes and soon another family can actually be a family in that home. The team is split up into 3 different groups doing different things. One group is mudding out a house and another is doing drywall and another is doing trim on a house. It is very hot in every place they are working. It may be hot but it is worth it says one volunteer. Yesterday they were tackling all the weeds in front of a house that the city is going to tear down if it is not handled so the team went there and got all the weed and lawn looking good. Anyway a person ridding by shouted out the window at them "Thank God for Volunteers, Thank God for Volunteers" it made working in the heat bearable. There has been many testimonies such as this from a lot of groups that come here. One team got to pray with a mother that had a six day old baby. A man that lives down here stopped at one team and said he wanted to buy lunch for everyone and he did. This has happened many times. Another man stopped and bought a team ice cream and another snowballs. The people down here really appreciate what volunteers are doing for the city. It shows in many ways and on their faces. This all can't happen without YOU because YOU are the volunteers. We need you and so does the city of New Orleans. We love you all.
Well our son Alex comes tomorrow and I am so excited. I haven't seen him in almost 5 months. I talk to him a lot on the phone but just knowing he will be here tomorrow makes me so happy. I tell you now there may not be a blog tomorrow because I plan on spending a lot of time with him so please forgive me.
Well I want to say Hi to all the teams that have been here through the summer and know that we love you all. Keep praying for us and we will keep praying for you.
Hi Kelly family!
Lots of love from .. Allen and Dovie

The PA Team Is Here

Well the Pennsylvania team is here and is doing a good job. They dug their heals in today and got working. The temperature was 98 degrees but the humidity was in the 90's which made it feel like the temperature was past 110 or more again. Right now it is 92 degrees at night but the humidity is so high it feels like 104. One part of the team worked in a home putting up sheet rock and the other did some mud ding. They had to drink a lot of water. There is an excessive heat warning on for the next couple of days so I am not sure what they will be doing if anything. We all hope the weather breaks and brings some rain soon. Not too much work can be done on days like today.
The first picture you see is of a family that just got back in their home. As you see the sign they display lets everyone know they are back and will continue to pray and have hope for their neighboors. One by one they are coming back. It may be a long time but it will happen.
The other pictures you see are of the team working despite the heat because they wanted to get things done. The last picture (from left to right) is Jess from New Jersey, a member from the PA team, and Jessica from our team. They are saying I love you. Jess from NJ is pointing to her eye, PA is crossing her heart, and Jessica is pointing to you. This message is for their mothers. I thought it was cute they wanted to do it.
Jess from NJ is an awesome girl who is really listening to God on decisions she has to make. Keep her in your prayers.
Also, I would like you all to keep Monty in your prayers this evening, he was not feeling well today and needed to rest all day. We all prayed for him and will continue to pray.
Well until next time...lots of love from ..Allen and Dovie

Minnesota.

We said good by to Minnesota today but they will not be forgotten. I know Mark was sad to see them go. They are from his hometown and he is very close friends with them. It is easy to see why because they had so much love to give to everyone. I do hope they come back soon. You can see by the pictures how much fun they were because of the crazy way they posed. They don't know I was putting the crazy one on the site but I thought it looked so nice. Jessica from NJ is in the picture and so is Mark. Mark is the one on the floor in the middle and Jessica is next to him on the right. Their team did a lot of work while they were here. They even worked in this 1o0 degree heat, the heat is horrendous. We seem to be having one of the hottest weeks ever.

All of our team went to the beach for the day, all except me, Susan and Monty. I had so many things to do and just needed to get them done. Jessica from NJ went with our team to the beach and I am so glad she has the opportunity to be with the team on a fun outing I know she will enjoy it.

Our new team from Pennsylvania has arrived and I am glad their here because they are close to Delaware so it feels almost like hometown here. I am waiting for the day when a team from Delaware to shows up because then I can say my home state was here and I can catch up on whats happening. They will come I know they will.

Our son Alex will be coming to visit us next week. He will be here on Thursday and staying until the following Wednesday. I haven't seen him in four and a half months and I sure miss him. I miss all my family and friends and can't wait to see them the end of this month.

I would like everyone to keep a friend of ours in your prayers, well actually her brother but her name is Sandy so please pray for them.

Until next time..lots of love from.. Allen and Dovie

More Pictures!

Well here are some more pictures of the barbecue that took place. I won't say a lot so I can get as many pictures as possible on here. It was a hot one today and suppose to be all this week and next. The heat index was 110 degrees. We haven't had rain in a few days.
The church is looking wonderful. Ceri is decorating the church which by the way has not been done since Katrina. Susan is helping her and I know they are having a great time doing it. The congregation Sunday will be very surprised as to what has take place. I will get some pictures Sunday so you can see it.
I wanted to let everyone know that you can go to our ministry website called: hishands2go.com and you can get information on the ministry and what the church looked like before and after the destruction. Check it out.
I also wanted to say that our team from Minnesota is doing a great job. They worked out in this heat today and worked longer than usual. They are a wonderful bunch and also lets don't forget that Jess from NJ has come back with us for 2 weeks. She is great! She and the Minnesota team act like they are family. I will have pictures of them tomorrow. Well we love you all and will keep praying for you..until next time...lots of love from..Allen and Dovie

By to our WA Team but God Blessed the Barbque!

Well our Washington team left this morning and I already miss them. The barbecue was wonderful. The community came out from all over and had a good time. Many people appreciated the food and the fellowship that the youth and adults had. It was in the high 90's and still the people came. Not once did the youth complain about anything. They played with the kids and talked to the adults and had fun. They had hola-hoops and I thought Allen was going to fall down. Yes he tried it and even put it around his neck and it was a sight to see. There was chalk drawing on the sidewalk with the kids, and even water balloons. I got soaked and got everyone else around me soaked. There was chicken hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans everything you needed to have a good time at a barbecue.

Also, they gave away bags of groceries to anyone who wanted food and believe me there was not a bag of food left. Little kids was giving us hugs for just being there. What we found out was that the night we had the barbecue was the same night that the city had an even all over town called "Stop the shooting" The people of the city is really trying to get their city back. Maybe not the government but the people want peace and life. The MP's even stopped and had a little something.

Well I would like to say to a new friend Roberta that she and the team did an awesome thing here and I hope they come back. God Bless you all.

My nephews went home today and I am a little sad because I miss them. It was nice having family here for a while. They did a lot and were changed also. I love you guys.

Until next time...Lots of Love .. from Allen and Dovie

Well the team has done int again. They have went through the neighborhood and cleaned up so many houses and yards. I cannot believe their drive and exuberant attitude toward their work. It was so hot today and so humid it felt like it was 100 degrees but they kept working all day. I have had a chance to work with some of them and they didn't care if they were pulling weeds or cleaning bathrooms which some of them did. I do appreciate their attitude and drive.

Tomorrow is there Bar-B-Que for the community and I know it will be a good one. They are very excited and ready for this event. A little girl in the neighborhood came up to one of the girls and asked for a hug. It was such a small thing but meant so much not only to the little girl but also to the teen that gave the hug. They have had people stop and ask for prayer and just talk to the people in the community. There was a contractor that just stopped and bought them snowballs simply because they were cleaning up the trash in the neighborhood. That is what they concentrated on today cleaning up the trash. They are hard workers. Tomorrow I will have a lot of pictures for you to see and a lot to tell.

Just as an FYI for anyone reading my blog, we are coming home from 8/24 - 9/9 and would love to bring the pictures and information about being a volunteer for a week to your church if at all possible. Just email me on the blog with your email address and I will get back to you. Until then keep us in your prayers and remember...lots of love .. form Dovie and Allen

Hi Everyone. Another couple of days since my last blog but I am back. I first want to say a farewell to our California team of men that left Saturday morning. They were a great group of men who did a lot for us and the community. The church looks awesome! Thank you guys for coming and giving you all to get things finished.

We work colsely with SUM (School Of Urban Missions) which had another team form California with them and most of them were women. These women put on roofs for the whole time they were here. This is the first pictures you see. I could not believe the way they maneuvered their way around on the roof. There were men that came with them and worked hard too but the women really showed them what they could do. We ribbed the guys a lot because the women was working around them. All the team worked really hard. It is a chore in itself trying to take off a roof then going to another house and putting on a roof. They were a great bunch of people who I take my hat off to. I do not like heights and don't know if I could do it.

We still have the Washington team of teenagers here and they are doing a great job. They have cut and pulled so many weeds down from houses so the houses can be worked on. They have dealt with bees, mosquito's, fire ants and they still kept going. They had a barbecue for the community Saturday and it went great. I could not attend because I had other commitments at the church but Allen said it was great. They are having another barbecue for the community at the church, St. Luke's on Tuesday so I will be attending that. I will take lots of pictures of the event and let you know how it turns out.

This is the last 3 days I will have with my nephews and Robin so I am going to try to spend more time with them. They are working so hard and I am so proud of them. I really have enjoyed their stay. Please keep them in your prayers.

Allen and I will be going home at the end of August so those of you at home we will see you soon. To all of the teams that look at the blog I will make sure I let you know when we leave and come back.

Until next time... Lots of Love ... from Allen and Dovie

Welcome California and Washington Team!

We have two teams this week one is a group of men from California with many skills and is doing a great job. The other team is from Washington and they are teenagers YEA! I love teenagers, I think I have said that before but I will say it again. Any way the team from CA is doing a great work on the church. It looks so beautiful with the new floor down in the side entrance. It was really in need of a floor and now it has one. The men work so hard everyday and even go back after dinner and work because they want to get things done. I pray God blesses them more than they can bear.

The teens are great too! They have been here one day and they are tearing it up. They went through the neighborhood today and pulled up weeds higher than the houses that they were pulling the weeds from. They fought bugs, wasps and other elements getting those weeds out but they did it and didn't complain once. It amazes me how teens will take a week out of their summer to come and help us. They have a lot of compassion which is wonderful to see.

The first picture is of Allen and our two nephews and their friend that are visiting with us. They saw the big cross at the warehouse that has been cleaned out and it reminded them of the cross that Jesus bared for us. I took a picture of them and now their parents can see them too.

The second picture is of the chapel this morning with the CA and WA group together. The third picture is of the CA men. They will be leaving Saturday and we will miss them.

Well it has been a long day and I will get more information on the blog for you so keep looking and planning on coming down. Until next time.. Lots of Love coming from..Allen and Dovie