The Block Party

This has been an unbelievable week. Writing a blog about it will be nearly impossible. You'll have to compare the stories in Mark Jensen's blog with mine, because we've lived the last 3 + days together with some huge "God sighting" moments, … seeing Him building with some incredible "living stones."The train ride included meeting Rob, Bob and Jason, with whom I had dinner and laughed so hard my stomach hurt; as well as Frank "Buff Phoon" Bunton, the Christian clown and "balloon artist." It was quite a ride.

But today was a real highlight! Today, Joe (Big Hop) Hopson (aka; Big Joe 3:16) hosted a block party, and he didn't even know he was gonna do it. He didn't plan it, he didn't buy any food for it, he actually didn't do anything but sit in his wheel chair on the porch of his FEMA trailer while a team from Fairmont, Minnesota finished re-roofing his hurricane and flood damaged home in Slidell, Louisiana.














This team worked on Joe's house all week to bring hope and help to one of hundred's of thousands lives, ... by rebuilding one of thousands of homes ... in one of hundred's of neighborhoods that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina last August. There were 2 crews in this neighborhood working on re-roofing homes and our plan was to visit these teams and encourage them with a hot-dog feed.

Right at 12:00 noon, Mark Jensen and I rolled up to Big Joe 3:16's house in Mark's pick-up with a gas grill tied in the back and a cooler with 100 hot-dogs, buns, and all the normal "hot dog fixin's." As the grill got going, we started playing Christian rock (with a little Bob Marley reggae thrown in) through the truck's stereo system.

Team members began to come and get a "disaster dog", as well as go around the neighborhood inviting people to join in. Big Joe simply sat and took it all in. Soon we started to see that as more dogs got grilled, the more the party began to come to life. Another team from another church who were working down the street came by, then guys who were picking up old appliances stopped in, then some neighbors came with boxes of catfish, fried chicken and a big sheet cake! This was true "disaster relief."

The high point of the party came when we presented Big Joe with his new sign; John 3:16, accompanied by an American flag. You see, Big Joe is an avid sports fan and as he watches games on TV he often sees someone in the stands holding a sign that says, John 3:16. But, he never knew what it meant! … until yesterday, when a team member gave Joe a Bible, showed him where John 3:16 was, and what it meant. Big Joe beamed with joy when he heard the true meaning of the sign he'd seen in the football stands. Now, Big Joe has his own John 3:16 sign, and he's telling others what it means! Yes, even hot dogs can be used to build with living stones. And Big Joe can tell you that hope is returning to his neighborhood because of people who know what John 3:16 means.