West Coast Resurrection Community

Trail Trials: from Tuxachanie to Gabrielino

2011-07-29T22:12:00.018-05:00

From Tuxachanie (Mississippi)...One of my discoveries in Mississippi was the Tuxachanie Trail, which offers a 22-mile hike through southern Mississippi's Desoto National Forest. I kept returning to the trail until I had hiked all of it--or at least all of it that was open to the public (and some that wasn't).
..
One of the gems along that route was this plank bridge. The horse portion of the trail splashed for 50 yards or so through the low-lying wetlands along Spike Buck Creek, while this plank trail offered a way for hikers to get through without sloshing mud and water up into your boots. The reward on the other side of the creek was a trail camp which boasted an actual picnic table.

To Gabrielino (California)....
This past July 12 I set out to explore the Arroyo Seco northwest of Pasadena and stumbled across the trailhead for the Gabrielino Trail. I determined to learn more. Here is Gould Mesa Trail Camp, just an hour up the trail. I decided to base camp here on my next visit and try to get farther up the Gabrielino trail, perhaps all the way to the rumored "Switzer Falls".

There are a number of bridges on the trail for autos, but many of them, along with the roads around them, have been destroyed by the recurring floods. This is a more recently-constructed bridge, built to accomodate the equestrian traffic on the Gabrielino Trail.

"Arroyo Seco" is Spanish for "Dry Gulch," an appropriate name only for the lower reaches of the canyon after the City of Pasadena has sucked all the water out of it for its thirsty citizens. The lower portion of the arroyo is the pathway for the nation's first freeway, now an extension of Interstate 110. With its tight curves and abrupt on- and off-ramps, it is a challenging drive during rush hour.

Once above the intake point for Pasadena's water plant, the creek crossing shown at right is more typical of what will confront a hiker on the Gabrielino trail. Some of the crossings are quite a bit more challenging than this one, especially for me as I work with strength and balance limitations on my surgery recuperation trail.

At the Gould Mesa camp, there is a road that leads off the side, climbing to meet the Angeles Crest Highway (California 2) just above the city limits of La Cañada Flintridge. I encountered this sign, which reminded me of the time I drove up CA-2 and came across the place where the Gabrielino Trail reaches the crest of the Angeles Forest--and wished I had time to hike the trail.So I think that's exactly what I'll do. Bit by Bit, I'm going to see if I can reach each section of this 28.5 mile trail. Watch this space for the photos!

WELCOME TO THE WEST COAST!

2011-07-28T13:13:00.007-05:00

Although I have been here along the West Coast since last September, I have been mostly tending to my family and to my personal health, notably for hip replacement surgery March 15. But now God has guided me to Pasadena, California, where I am beginning in ministry once again to the homeless, addicted and recovering communities.

I am working alongside the Rev. Charles T. Myers, who is planting an urban church with an outreach to the addicted and recovering: it is Saint Michael's in the City, which has been meeting for the last seven weeks at 679 East Washington Boulevard at 5pm, not to mention its long-standing Bible Study each Thursday 6pm at Starbucks, 679 North Fair Oaks Avenue.

I am preparing to teach the Common Solution Recovery 12-step class developed by Church Army in Branson, Missouri, and have potentially 7 students who will be attending starting the first weekend in August. I last taught this class in 2007 to the homeless workers that I took into my cabin in Gulfport, Mississippi on the campus of God's Katrina Kitchen.

And I'm still hiking on trails! Watch for a post here soon on the Gabrielino Trail in the Angeles National Forest.

Please pray for me and my ministry. As elsewhere, there are people here hurting and dying from the afflictions of drugs, alcohol, and other addictions.

Thanks,
Rolin

Welcome to the Gulf Coast!

2010-03-04T12:44:00.005-06:00

The log postings below cover ministry during the initial period of rebuilding from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. For the later ministry of Rev. Capt. Rolin Bruno before my move back to the West Coast, see my personal web log over here .

Free Church of the Annunciation Family

2009-04-07T21:10:00.004-05:00

Palm Sunday Procession

Here is Fr. Jerry Kramer's latest update on Church Army Gulf Coast's graduate, Van. (He's at the foreground of the foto inset at right.):

Joining us today for the first Sunday in a while was our beloved cook, Van. He's been away, taking some time to rest and learn skills to stay well. After a warm round of applause, Van told the congregation that Annunciation is the only real family he has and he's grateful for our accepting him, loving him, and standing with him. That's the kind of thing that makes all the hell we have to wade through absolutely worthwhile.

Van and his New Family

2008-11-20T11:36:00.006-06:00

Hi, all! Long time no post. Here's a quick update on the success story of Church Army Gulf Coast graduate Van. When Van came to us he was broke, homeless, living under the Gulfport pier, and addicted to crack cocaine.

But now he is doing wonderfully in his role as chief cook for the rebuilding efforts of the Free Church of the Annunciaton in New Orleans. He has been welcomed enthusiastically by the community and is relishing the role of being one of a beloved member of the extended church family, while he cooks for dozens—and even hundreds—of volunteers who come to help New Orleans rebuild from the devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina. Fr. Jerry Kramer posted his photo in their latest newsletter, which I'm sharing with you here.

You can keep up with my own latest doings in my personal web log, where I expect to post a new entry within the week.

Feather Falls Fotos (Fixed)

2008-05-27T12:25:00.012-05:00

Last November I posted a report of my hiking and camping trip to Feather Falls in California. At 640 feet high, this is the fifth tallest waterfall in the United States. There's no way to capture the entire falls in one shot without a fisheye lens, so I took multiple shots and sent them to my brother Roger. He stitched them together and here are the fruits of his visual composition. Roger normally spends his time producing digital music: his musical compositions can be found over here.

Missouri Update: James and Mary Giles

2008-03-07T16:13:00.008-06:00

James and Mary have been called by God from the Gulf Coast to a new ministry in Missouri. I received the following email update from James, and arranged it below:

Hello dear family,

Mary and I are living in our travel trailer in a large mobile home park in Desloge, MO., sixty miles South of St. Louis. This area is what is known as the Leadbelt, scattered amongst old abandoned lead mines and a few small ones still in operation. This whole region is also known as the methamphetamine capital of our country.

I know this is going to sound crazy but I can’t begin to express how blessed we are to be here at Church Army of the Leadbelt. Yes there are and will continue to be many challenges ahead and the Mississippi Gulf Coast has been our pre-school concerning this culture of substance abuse Mary and I now live and call home for a season. Only a supernatural God could open our hearts so quickly to these dear yet broken and hurting people. As Mary would share, “every drop of love I give them they return to me double”.

But all does not always turn out well:

Becca was found by her sister yesterday, dead of a drug overdose. The news spread through the Church Army Leadbelt community like a California wild fire. Base planter, Mark Hedrick preaches continually, ”substance abuse is a life or death issue”. This first Monday of March his mantra has wrung persistently in my ears as I reflected upon the short friendship I had with Becca and helped pastor those left behind to weep over this tragic but harsh reality of the ministry God has called Mary and me.

Like the rest of the community, I find myself in turmoil over Becca’s death. I’m not unfamiliar with death and I’ve been close to several friends who have taken their own lives which left me second guessing whether I could have intervened in some way. But Becca’s death is different. Relapse equals eviction from our program as the consequences administered in tough love. Becca had relapsed on several occasions in her working towards sobriety. This last time refusing to go back to a treatment center she opted to go live with her sister to fight her disease alone, against all advice.

I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul advising the Church of Corinth to drive one of their own out, to “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” I Cor. 5. I can’t imagine Satan being any more present than in substance addiction. Speaking for our community, we all grieve this tragedy and I personally wonder how Paul must have felt with his advice to the Corinthians.

For some this is especially trying as one woman shared how this is the first death she has had to struggle with sober. I reminded her of the story of Lazarus’ death. How our Lord Jesus wept even though he knew first hand of Heaven and maybe even that He would raise Lazarus from the dead. These are our feeling and we have a God that not only understands them but validates them in us.

This tragedy does end in victory. Two weeks ago Becca had come forward in our evening service declaring Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She prayed the sinners prayer with Mark and several others. She is now in glory where there is no pain, no sorrow, no sickness and no more tears. Hallelujah!

Personally, though I grieve, my only regret is that I did not take the opportunity to hug her and tell her she was loved as many of those around me did before she left. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Love,
James & Mary

PS. Mary’s stopped praying for snow. She’s had to survive being snowed in and iced in with me three different times over the last month. (James)

To make a donation to the ongoing ministry of James and Mary Giles, you may send a check or money order to: Church Army USA, PO Box 178, Leetsdale, PA 15056. ON THE MEMO LINE PLEASE WRITE: JG058

Continuation in Discipleship

2008-02-19T07:03:00.005-06:00

UPDATE: I've settled in to my new digs in Ambridge much more than I had expected, and I have unexpectedly become the caretaker for a grade school lad who will be living with me over the next few months. I already have learned a new lesson in discipleship: this lad contradicts everything I say and imitates everything I do. The lesson: shut up and do right.

You can find my current musings and latest news on my reflections blog.

God is good.

CEEC Christian Worker Martyred in Asia

2008-01-21T20:55:00.001-06:00

One of our Christian workers in a Muslim country in South Asia has been killed for preaching the Gospel, in one of the most dangerous places on the planet to be a Christian. He was one of the leaders of the Diocese of St. Paul under Bishop Kevin Higgins of the CEEC. The following message was sent by Bishop Kevin and forwarded by Archbishop McClanahan. I have corresponded with Bishop Kevin and he has given permission to post the message here, after changing the names of the people and places involved.

Kevin writes:

I got the email below from one of our main Leaders, Andrew. Another man named Alan, one of the leaders of the [People’s] movement has been killed. I know some of the English and Islamic terms will be a bit hard to follow in Andrew’s writing but I think you will get the "feel" for it....

Please pray...

+Kevin

+++++++++

As I was planning to go to the north for the leader training I have received a call from one leader he said “Alan the leader of koleo not showing from last night is he came to you?” I said no. they said “when ever he came to you we knew and he told us that he is going to visit you. But know he is missing from this morning pleas pray that he will be fine and get beck to home his wife and his mother are wetting for him.”

I said yes brother I will pray for him and I will ask other friends to pray for him and pleas let me know when he will come back.
Alan was leader among Koleo People.

As you know I asked you all to pray for him and we all start praying for him next morning again they called me and said pleas came as soon as you can because we have found his dead body bring other leaders those who know him they can come for barrying Mr Alan.

They said He have been killed last night and they found his dead body near the water channel of Makate Lake I think he Killed before we start to pray for home and also they have Found a letter the killers left this letter to Alan's right hand in the letter it have been written

we know that Alan is teaching essayeath to the people and he is muratad Kafar (blasphemy) he left Islam and he need to be killed. If any other will do this kind of activity we will kill him too.
(This is translation from our tongue)

I'm sorry for him and for his family I don't know what to do know we start arranging to get there we have to be there for his Janaza.

We reached there we where 5 leaders from other area of the Koleo when we got there his brother Mr Mateo came and hug us and start crying and said with big voce that Alan is not dead he is shaeed for Jesus my brother give his life Like Jesus give for us.

I was feeling very havey and I asked Lord what is going on Lord please protect our your workers and help us to continue the Kingdom work. I was just asking Lord they took me to his family his mother and wife saw me they start crying they make me cry. I did not know what to say to them. I just sit with them and I was praying for the family in my heart .

They show me the letter but the all family decide to not show this letter to any one only they gave it to me and said he is not dead he is with Lord this first shaeed (sacrificed in Koleo Nation ) [deleted: nation, tribe, and subtribe explained] I feel very encourage because his family in thinking that our Son is with Jesus.

His mother was saying Alan my son is not dead he is with Essa and you are here to tack care of us tack care me and Alan’s family he left wife and four children I said to her don't wory mother we are together our Lord will tack care of us I will help you. I'm with you guys. Our Lord Is With Us.

there were many people I couldn't spent more time with his family because the other men asked me to I need to go and do the service of the funeral we prayed a lot before to coming here for the funereal this is the first Christian funeral in the Koleo people.

We the leaders of the tribe and the spiritual leaders we there I asked the tribe leader to give us permission to start the funeral rusm and pray.

they look with a suspicion eyes but they said yes we start the rusm as we do with other Christian friends this rusm is little different the normal K people we put the dead body frient of all as they do the Janaza Namaz the Imam's place one by one his friend those know him they come and share about the dyad's life and his all good stories what they know and after that we do the Janaza Namaz and tack the body for the barying after barying we all gather and give thanks that He idea with you with faith with spirit we are happy that know he is with Lord..

After these rusms and all we came back to home very late and next day we start preparing to live to the North with other leaders.

Servant of Jesus

Andrew

The Car Chronicles: '94 Mazda RIP

2008-01-17T14:12:00.000-06:00

"But David," I asked my former employer,
"why do you want to give me your car?"
"Because," he answered in his clipped Taiwan accent,
"you're working for God."

He had me there. I had originally figured that my bicycle would get me around Orange County, CA just fine: Work, School, Church, Post Office, etc. (boy, was I ever wrong). So I reluctantly gave in and accepted the gift. But now I had two cars! The first one had just been given to me the previous month, by my niece's husband at my B.A. graduation. He came to the graduation, and told me, "God told me to give you my car." It was a small Toyota sedan, and ran great.

So now I had an argument with God: "God, why do you want me to have a six-passenger van with cargo capacity? Are you planning for me to haul people and stuff around? And what do I do with the other one? David says I should just sell my Toyota."

And God said, "What do you mean, your Toyota?"

Oops. I couldn't sell the Toyota because it wasn't mine. It was God's.
I ended up giving it as a high school graduation present to a young African-American lady who went on to be the first person in her entire extended family (since slavery!) to graduate from college.

So. Mazda MPV. Needed a new radiator. But then, after I finished my M.A. it was ready to take me through the United States starting in California, crossing over Native American Territory (foto above) and on to Church Army Pittsburgh; with all my kitchen, all my office, and half my library packed inside. And after that it was on to Church Army Branson (where I modified the front end—foto at right) and on to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, where God confirmed my call to serve as a missionary for a season.

But first I made a run all the way to California and back to pick up the rest of my library. I did indeed haul stuff around—around the whole country. And in Mississippi, I repeatedly used it to haul people around to distant church services and meetings, etc.

So finally, last month, it was time to move up north to Pennsylvania. But how to get there? Would the Mazda make it? To haul all my stuff I had to add a trailer hitch (not recommended) and tow a U-haul (not recommended) up and down the Appalachians (not recommended). It made it. Thank you, Lord.

But Alas, yesterday was the last of the MPV. I had been driving around hill and dale in PA, and just arrived back in Ambridge when the motor quit. Call AAA. Talk to the mechanic. The timing belt had stripped and the valves and pistons were damaged. Total mileage on the car: 207,000. Today I watched the tow truck haul it off to oblivion.

So here I sit at my window, looking out at the snow and my bicycle (yes, I still have it) with its flat tire. Am I sad? Well yes, a little. But am I joyful? My joy is in the Lord!

Thank you, Lord, for loaning me this car. Thank you for knowing what kind of car I needed when I had no clue. Thank you for 65,000 miles of reliable transportation. Thank you for safety and your protection on the highways of America. Thank you, Lord. You are Faithful.

And I thank you Lord, for your plans for me now. I do not know what those plans are, but I do know that they are for my good, and not for my harm. Thank you, Lord, for whatever Your plans are for me and for my transportation. You know my needs, Lord, and you love me. Thank you, Lord.

January 2008 Update

2008-01-10T15:44:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends,

Last month I celebrated the seventeenth month of my commitment to serve the least, the last and the lepers along the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast, following three months of preparatory training with Church Army USA. Now God is calling me into a new training period, while He prepares me for the future in His service.

I have been reflecting upon all that God has blessed me with over the last twenty months through Church Army Gulf Coast, its partner God’s Katrina Kitchen, and the newly formed missionary diocese of Saint Aidan Lindisfarne.

In Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, I learned that every person who walked through the door of Church Army’s coffee shop was a ministry opportunity. In Branson, Missouri, I learned that the Twelve Step Program properly applied was a doorway to a relationship with God, and observed how that door led to the next door, a relationship with Christ. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, I learned how a Native American can open doorways to Christ for his brothers while they recover their ancient heritage.

In the Mississippi Gulf Coast cities of Pass Christian, Gulfport, and Long Beach I worked alongside God’s Katrina Kitchen as they housed thousands of short term volunteers, coordinated relief work for thousands more, served hundreds of thousands of meals, cleaned up innumerable cubic yards of debris, and mucked out and helped to rehabilitate hundreds of homes. I was blessed to serve under Fr. James Giles, who, backed up by his wife Mary, coordinated volunteer efforts, served as assistant director, and became Pastor to the two dozen or so long term staff, all serving without pay.

In its first two cities the Kitchen was open to the public for three meals a day, seven (later six) days per week. Through the red-and-white dining tent walked every manner of people, from displaced homeowners to struggling construction workers to homeless drifters with devastated lives. Each person had a story, and each felt loved by the simple act of someone who would take the time to listen to their stories.

For some of the men, along with homelessness and desperation there came alcohol and drugs, before and after, one reinforcing the other in a slow death spiral. These are the men I invited into the bunkhouse to live alongside me, teaching them sober living, spiritual disciplines, the message of the Bible, and the doorway to Christ. Statistics and numbers cannot tell their stories, only their names and their remembered faces: Dale, Doug, and Mike; Barry, Jeff, and Nate; Bill, Sam, and Larry; Ron, Ed, and Terry; Fred and Van; and the one who would not come in out of the cold, Tom. Each one touched my life as I touched theirs. Each one saw Jesus: some a little, some a lot. Each one grew, some a little, some a lot.

In Pennsylvania I met Alan Morris, a true man of God dedicated to Making Disciples Who Make Disciples. I was welcomed into a fellowship of Anglicans similarly dedicated, meeting in their homes, at house churches, and even in campgrounds. I participated or was present at the ordinations of Kirk, Andrew, and Colin; the consecration of Alan as bishop of our missionary diocese; and of course my own ordination as a Missionary Deacon.
I assisted our archbishop, Russ McClanahan when he consecrated Henry Roberts as a bishop for a cluster of black pentecostal churches in Mobile, Alabama, challenging our church to expand its boundaries.

God's Kitchen continues to operate in Long Beach, Mississippi. They are currently accepting volunteers who want to help rebuild the Gulf Coast, housing them at the Long Beach church, feeding them, and coordinating work sites. My prayers are with them, and I invite you to pray for them also.

My friends, each of you has played a part in this season`of growing God’s kingdom, by your prayers, by your financial support and even just by my knowing that someone cared enough to read my stories in my newsletters or read through this web log. Thank you. Knowing you were out there and that you care has been a blessing beyond words.

Now we find ourselves in a time of transition and waiting upon the Lord for direction as to what comes next. James and Mary are looking toward St Louis, Missouri as Church Army’s ministry there continues to expand to addicts and their families through the leadership of Mark Hedrick. I have moved to Ambridge, Pennsylvania to work with Alan Morris on developing ways to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. I am looking forward to learning much more working alongside my bishop.

James and Mary recently sent out a letter (which I unashamedly have imitated here) to their supporters, recommitting themselves to be Disciples of Christ. I am also recommitting myself in ministry to:

>Serve those who struggle with homelessness and addictions,
>Seek opportunities for others to be transformed by the calling of Christ,
>Encourage religious community among all manners of peoples,
>Provide practical spiritual discipling of the followers of Christ, and
>Love the least, the last, and the lepers of our society.

I will actively pursue these goals wherever God sends me. I‘ve prayed and believe that God is calling me to do His work for a season in Pennsylvania. Leaving behind the room and board provided by God’s Katrina Kitchen has required me to accept the financial penalty for early activation of a pension from my former career. Please prayerfully consider whether God is challenging you to help financially with ministry expenses in this next season as I play the part of a servant sold out to God.

In God’s Love,
Rolin

Ambling to Ambridge

2007-12-31T08:27:00.004-06:00

The ambient ambivalence amassed among the inhabitants of the Gulf Coast toward the ministries of God's Kitchen and Church Army (i.e., "You're doing really good things, but could you please do it somewhere else?") has slowly been displacing its volunteers. Although ample ambition is available, we have been invited to ambulate our aspirations elsewhere. That "elsewhere" could turn out to be the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, where we may be back up to speed about 6 months hence, if that is God's will for us.

During this transition period, many of the long term volunteers with the former God's Katrina Kitchen were taking refuge on the back lot of a church in Long Beach.

Along the property line are RV's and trailers for long term staff, e.g. (left>right), temporary homes for Greta, me, Nashua, and Van.

Farther back, vacant cabins that formerly housed short term volunteers are waiting for new locations with other Gulf Coast ministries, while space in the church buildings is used for short term mission teams still arriving.

The former site for short term mission teams lays denuded of its cabins, its utilities, and its life, seen here beyond my "big rig" packed for the journey north.

The big blue building at Camp Avenue is still in use as storage for the food and construction supplies for God's Kitchen.

Mr. Bill (left) is a graduate of the NoAH program of Church Army Gulf Coast, and he is staying on the Camp Avenue property to keep an eye on it. Nashua (right) has been an associate of the program; I dropped him off in La Grange, Georgia, with a Christian community who will appreciate his construction skills.

In Cartersville, Georgia I attended Sunday church services with my sister's Grandson, Michael Melendrez II and his family. He gave his life to Christ two years ago and is miraculously picking up the pieces of his shattered life. He has moved in with his mother, is looking for a job, and is participating fully in the life of Liberty Square church.

Michael rose to be with the Lord February 28, 2010. For updates on Michael, see : this web post

Next stop was Black Mountain, North Carolina for some fellowship with Colin Munroe and his lovely family. The last time I saw him was at his ordination (pictured).

Then it was time for the 11-hour drive north to Ambridge, stopping only for this photo of the longest single-span arch bridge in the U.S.

There I was welcomed by Bishop Alan and his wife April, who put me to house-sitting for a few days. They helped me find, rent, and move my stuff into a lovely ground floor apartment right in town.

The front door leads upstairs. My entry is through the back door, on a spacious deck overlooking the Ohio river gorge.

None of the feared snow or ice appeared during my drive north (although it may yet appear for New Year's Eve tonight). However, back at my sister's place in Paradise, California it did indeed snow, and she sent me this picture of her house.

For the next few months I will be working with Bishop Alan on developing ways to make disciples who make disciples. In the Gulf Coast, the Holy Spirit brought me just the right people at just the right times to show me, one step at a time, how discipleship might be done, especially among the lost and the lepers. I am looking forward to learning much more at my bishop's side.

That will have to suffice for a New Year's resolution, and for the last post of 2007. Thank you, all of you who have encouraged me with prayer or funds or just a kind word,

Rolin,
December 31, 2007.

Traveling North

2007-12-21T20:34:00.000-06:00

Van has graduated from the Jacob Project in the Life Transformation Program here at Church Army Gulf Coast, and is headed east to New Orleans. Praise God for His faithfulness, and pray for steadfastness in the Word for Van.

I'm headed north for a while, to work with my bishop in Pennsylvania.

My daughter sent me this cautionary video.
I'm not sure I wanted to see this.

CEEC Consecration of Henry Roberts

2007-12-10T10:23:00.000-06:00

Dr. Henry Roberts is founder and pastor of Word of Life Community Church in the Mobile, Alabama area, which operates in multiple locations. The largest location (pictured below) houses a very active School of Ministry (off camera to the left), a health and fitness center (off camera to the right), a 1200 seat sanctuary, conference rooms, and bookstore.On Sunday December 9, Archbishop Russell McClanahan of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches consecrated Pastor Roberts as a Bishop of the Church Universal.

Here is Archbishop Russell, assisted by yours truly as chaplain.
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The laying on of hands is a tradition which stretches back in an unbroken line to the 12 Apostles themselves.

Here +Russell is assisted by four other co-consecating bishops as they lay hands on Henry, strengthened by his wife Sherry.
.
Henry Roberts is a powerful teacher at the vanguard of life transformation in the black communities of southern Alabama and Mississippi. He leads a fellowship of 20 or more churches who support one another in building disciples of Christ.

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My own bishop, Alan Morris, flew in from Pittsburgh to assist in the con-secration. He also had a chance to renew his friendship with fellow Trinity Seminary graduate Fr. James Giles and to counsel me as we seek God's path forward for my own ministry.

Some 60 or so bishops, elders, deacons, and ministers participated in the processional and recessional for the consecration, which was attended by 700 or more people in all.

This is convergence of the three streams of Christianity: the Liturgical, Evangelical, and Charismatic traditions. Convergence of another sort took place on the same day, as multiple bishops took part in consecrations that will fuel the emerging Common Cause.

New Wineskins and the NoAH project

2007-12-03T18:26:00.001-06:00

The Fall 2007 edition of ReachOut, the bulletin of the New Wineskins Missionary Network, is out in print (but alas, not apparently on the web), with a 4-page lead article which features the now-closed God's Katrina Kitchen and our own Church Army Gulf Coast NoAH project.

The article, "WHO IS FEEDING THEM NOW?", was written by the stalwart Mary Edna Thompson, who is currently back among us working diligently, plastering drywall in Katrina-damaged structures, meeting and praying with political figures who would rather that we disappear, and leading nightly Bible studies. Here are some condensed excerpts from her article:

The images of the victims of Hurricane Katrina are haunting and stir a deep desire to reach out and do something to ease their pain. Two years later, Hurricane Katrina is still wreaking havoc on the lives of many. Concrete slabs and piles of rubble are all that remain of many homes and businesses.

The work of God's Katrina Kitchen was awe-inspiring. GKK has fed an estimated 20,000 volunteers, most of whom work in reconstruction and restoration of storm damaged homes. Not only did GKK feed the volunteers but they also fed residents who needed to be fed. On July 2, 2007, the Gulfport City Council voted not to renew the permit for GKK to continue to provide meals for the residents in need, though God's Kitchen (renamed) can continue to provide meals at a nearby church to volunteers.

HOMELESS ON THE GULF COAST: Homeless is too broad a term for the people who came into the big red and white tent to receive three meals a day. Let me introduce you to some of the regulars at GKK—names have been changed.

SALLY is a cute little four-year-old who lives in a minivan with her Mom and Dad. Black plastic covers one area that used to be a window. Sally won the hearts of everyone. Sally always received a hearty meal three times a day. Her mom would fill plastic jugs with water for her bath. They came to Gulfport in response to a promise for employment. The employment opportunity never manifested and now they are caught up in a homeless situation with occasional day-to-day jobs to help them. So now, who is feeding Sally?

MRS. CORA. Across a field beside the kitchen are FEMA trailers which currently serve as homes for survivors who are struggling to rebuild their lives. Mrs. Cora lives there and walked over to the kitchen at mealtime. She is a quiet sort of woman but never hesitated to say thank you to the volunteers. She suffered great loss from the storm. When your eyes meet her eyes you see pain. But, she is quick to tell you about her faith in Jesus. Who is feeding Mrs. Cora?

VAN AND FREDDIE. No report about GKK would be complete without the inclusion of the on-site ministry of NoAH and two of its participants, Van and Freddie. NoAH is dedicated to the rehabilitation of the homeless and the addicted. Van and Freddie were living under the pier and caught up in a lifestyle of alcohol and drugs. They came to God's Katrina Kitchen one night for a free meal. They received far more than food for the body; they received hope and saw a possibility of a new beginning. Jesus led them to GKK and He received them with open arms. Both were given a place to call home while they worked in the kitchen as lead cooks.

Not only did they accept all the responsibility of running their shifts but a great deal of their time was spent in devotions, Bible study, and accountability sessions. Both Van and Freddie graduated from the NoAH program. Freddie has left GKK in order to support his daughters. Van is now with God's Kitchen, in charge of feeding staff members and volunteers. God answered his prayer to use his talents in food service to serve the Lord.

There is much more to Mary Edna's article, along with a photo of NoAH residents Terry, Van and Freddie. Perhaps if you write or call the contact below, New Wineskins will send you their fall bulletin. And don't forget to send something along to these good folk. .

Looking at the New Wineskins Website, there is a page summarizing the 2007 seminar led by Steve Brightwell, the National Director for Church Army USA. Sharing in Jesus' Heart for the Poor reviews what the bible has to say about our response to those around us who are poor. .

Tuxachanie Trail - Mileposts 6 and 7

2007-12-02T19:26:00.000-06:00

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Time to stretch my legs again (not to mention exercising my ~~broken~~ mended hip and ~~broken~~ mended knee). Before I left California I had found a cobbler who repaired my special shoes with the 2cm lift under my ~~damaged~~ mended left leg, so I was ready to roll; off to the De Soto National Forest in south Mississippi.
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But not ready enough to get there on time, apparently. After ruling out POW camp with its 7-acre lake (finding some 50-60 campers there, all outfitted in combat fatigues), I landed at the 1.5 acre Airey Lake, pictured at right and below.

In spite of the lateness of the hour, I tackled a two-mile segment of Tuxachanie Trail from Airey Lake to Big Foot Road near Horse Camp. I found the junction of the western and eastern legs of the trail where a sign advertised 5 miles to POW camp (west) and 7 miles to POW camp (east). The eastern leg showed no evidence of any maintenance since Hurricane Katrina, with major trees still laying across the trail.

Continuing on the western leg, I arrived at Big Foot Road in the gathering dusk of 5:30pm, faced with a decision: return along the moonless trail with no flashlight, or go the long way by following the roads. I chose the fool's route, and before too long I was crying out to God to light my path and protect my feet from stumbling.

After my prayer, the clouds dissipated and my trail ahead was dimly lit by faint starlight. What startled me most was when I entered a more deeply wooded section in the shade: I had been seeing lights off and on for a while, thinking they were distant airplanes or radio towers. But no: in the deep of the woods I was being accompanied by dancing fireflies. I stopped in the pitch dark, and just then a firefly lit up long enough to show me where the trail led.

Back at Airey Camp (7:30pm) I broke out an MRE that I had been saving for just such an occasion as this, and slept overnight in the car. I feel much better today; the pains from my old injuries have subsided, to be replaced by that tired feeling one has after a good bit of healthy exercise.

Accept, O LORD, the willing praise of my mouth,
And teach me your laws. (Psalm 119:108)

Farewell to California

2007-11-27T04:59:00.000-06:00

Sunday I attended Saint Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church (TAC, Anglican Province of Christ the King). I arrived an hour late (actually, they started an hour early) because the new archbishop and diocesan was visiting for confirmations, etc. This is one of the historic buildings of Chico, California.

Saturday I went for a hike on the Sacramento River Rail Trail near Redding. Aside from the ATV's, dirt bikes, and Jeeps it was a pleasant place to be.

I fly out this afternoon at 2:30pm, but I won't arrive in Gulfport, Mississippi until 8am tomorrow. I'll have time in Portland for a late supper at the airport with my brother Roger.

Wednesday update: Make that a late gourmet supper cooked and served at Roger's house floating on the Columbia River, including Picante Vegetable Stew and Maringo Chicken. Delicious!

Heading Back to the Briar Patch

2007-11-21T12:43:00.000-06:00

Apology: for those of you who were expecting to find the Briar Patch Dictionary at this post, it no longer exists (there were only four words in it, anyway). I have withdrawn the acerbic Dictionary because it seemed to be taking me off the track of Making Disciples while Christ builds his Church.

However, the photos are too good to pass up, so here they are:Gray Lodge Wildlife Area, California
After farming and its supportive waterworks structures (1800-1931) had destroyed most of the wetlands of the central California flyway, this portion of the wetlands was reconstructed north of Sacramento on land of a former hunting club. This set of well-regulated lakes and dikes includes a three-mile auto loop (pedestrians not allowed) and a two-mile hiking trail. Most of my photos were taken out the window of my mom's car while on the auto loop. This photo was from the hiking trail. Out of the gentle murmers of placid waterfowl on a misty afternoon, suddenly ten thousand geese launched themselves into the sky simultaneously, with a sound not unlike a jet airplane passing overhead. I was so startled I almost forgot I was carrying a camera. Placid.
Below: A carpet of geese on the misty lake.

The View from Feather Falls

2007-11-07T18:17:00.000-06:00

Hi! I'm on leave, visiting friends and family in California.
Here's my latest activities and news (updated as of Nov. 15).
Update (Nov. 30): Renegade Radio (see item 4 below).

It's been too long since I updated all of you on "what's going on" with the Resurrection Community, so here's another post before I return to Mississippi. In this post I'll be covering:

1: Camping at Lime Saddle;
2: Hiking and Camping at Feather Falls;
3: A Visit to Saint James Anglican in Newport Beach;
4. A Visit to ELM Community Church in Reno;
5. Caring for my Mom in Northern California;
6. The Hope for the Future in Gulf Coast Ministry; and
7. My Schedule for the Coming Weeks.

1: Camping at Lime Saddle:.
I've been visiting my sister in Paradise, California, high on a ridge above the Sacramento Valley, just a few miles north of Oroville. Not five miles from her house is a state campground called "Lime Saddle," perched on a bluff overlooking Lake Oroville. The weather was sunny and marvelous, with temperatures at night dropping into the low 50's. So... you know me... It's time to go camping! . I expected to see some wildlife (squirrels, birds, etc.), but I had not expected to see flocks of wild turkeys browsing in the fields and commuting from and to the lake each morning and evening. I camped here three nights (@ $13 per day) with my rented minicar under the spreading big (!) manzanita trees.

2: Hiking and Camping at Feather Falls:..
At 640 feet tall, Feather Falls is the fifth tallest waterfall in the United States. Without a fisheye lens, there's no way to get a photo of the entire falls in one shot. .. Here's the falls in three parts, taken from the overlook platform. Getting there requires some effort: the falls are some four to five miles from the parking lot at the trailhead. The water comes crashing down the cliff in great clumps of liquid, in an incessant, undulating roar. The splendid overlook platform clings to a rocky outcrop in the Feather River Wild River District, 650 feet directly above a branch of the river. .

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This should be called Tall Country, for I had the same vertical challenge when trying to take a picture of my campsite. These spruces and firs vault some 180 feet into the air, forming an aerial canopy that only allows an occasional shaft of sunlight to break through. A gentle semi-twilight pervades the atmosphere at ground level, where crickets chirp softly at mid-day. This is riparian forestland, where the ground never quite drys out and the trees feast on a constant supply of plenteous water. A brook babbling nearby made sleeping in my borrowed tent a restful treat.

3. A Visit to Saint James Anglican in Newport Beach:
This church was my home for three years as I completed my Master's Degree at nearby Vanguard University. One of my advisers there was Fr. Richard Menees (at right), who is now the Vicar. I was there on October 10 to witness three ordinations overseen by Bishops John Guernsey and Evans Kisekka of the Anglican Church of Uganda. Those ordained were: 1) Cathie Young, Deacon, the very active discipleship pastor for St. James; 2) Brian Schulz, who now will serve as the Priest at Christ Church in Highland, CA, one of St. James' five church plants; and 3) Chuck McKinney, who goes back to serve as Priest in the vibrant new church of Flagstaff Anglican Fellowship in Arizona.

Before leaving Southern California, I was able to spend a relaxing Sunday afternoon exploring the Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island with my daughter, Amber (at right) and her fiancé, "Turtle." We rode the ferry from Balboa Peninsula over to the Island and found a small and tasteful restaurant where we ate a small and tasty late lunch.

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4. A Visit to ELM Community Church in Reno:
In 2005 a job offer in South Lake Tahoe, California, led to my meeting Fr. Karry Crites (at right), the nearest ACN priest and the only one in Nevada. On October 21 I visited his independent, storefront church north of Reno, where a gracious congregation of 18 people warmly greeted me and encouraged me in my ministry. ELM Community Church holds the candle of Anglican orthodoxy for the state of Nevada.

Update: One of the things that lights a candle in Fr. Crites' eyes is talking about his work to support Renegade Radio. The antenna for this 50,000 watt youth-oriented broadcast service is on a remote roadless peak in an Indian reservation, running on wind and solar power. Fr. Crites talks of hiking up the mountain with backpacks to service the antenna site, sometimes in foul weather. It's also available on the web; click the link to give it a listen.
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5. Caring for my Mom in Northern California:
Back when I bought the airline tickets, I had planned to return to Mississippi October 20. But on October 1, My 92-year-old mother, Alma, fell and broke her elbow and bruised her hip, which she had broken two years previously. With my ministry in a dormant phase in Mississippi, I was able to extend my stay in California to help with Mom's recovery. I brought her back to her house from the rehab facility this past Tuesday, and I'm helping around the house as she recovers her strength. She's doing fine, and is determined to resume independent living in her new and spacious duplex in Paradise, CA.
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6. Hope for the Future of our Gulf Coast Ministry:
First, a quick update on the past: I've been working alongside God's Kitchen (formerly God's Katrina Kitchen) which has been on site in the Gulf Coast for over two years. I came in under Fr. James Giles (at right), of Church Army USA to help build a ministry to the homeless. The Kitchen was succesively forced out of the Gulf Coast towns of Pass Christian, Gulfport, and now Long Beach for the unforgivable crime of feeding the homeless.

For unrelated reasons (a lease expiration), as of September 30 the NoAH Project (housing myself and Van) left our "undisclosed location" in the Sanctuary leaving James scrambling to find us alternate housing. There are some 20 long-term volunteers for the Kitchen, some of whom have been working for up to two years without drawing a salary. The city of Long Beach has been increasing the pressure to have them vacate the church property where they are currently living. The message is clear: the political structures of the Mississippi Gulf Coast no longer want us there.

Now, the hope: Fr. Giles is working to close out an agreement to work alongside a ministry which is currently setting up shop in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. That ministry is similar to the Kitchen's, in that it services the groups of church volunteers that come south to help rebuild from the Hurricane. There is no area devastated by Katrina that is of greater need than the Lower Ninth Ward, and the resources available to that ministry are a good fit with those of the Kitchen; sort of like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that exactly fit together. Church Army's outreach to addicts and homeless looks as if it also could coexist well with the other ministries in this location, and the need for this ministry is great there.

Housing for the incoming church volunteer groups has been secured. The major hurdle remaining before joining forces with this group is housing for the 20-odd unpaid volunteers from the Kitchen. Specifically, we are seeking permission from the government authorities in New Orleans to move our travel trailers and motor homes to the Lower Ninth Ward. This permission is required so that electrical power poles can be requested from the utility services. That process is under way, and I solicit your prayers for favor from the political structures in New Orleans.
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7. My Schedule for the Coming Weeks:
My flight from the major metropolitan airport (not!) of Chico, California to Gulfport, Mississippi is booked for November 27-28. It routes through San Francisco, Portland (!), and Houston. One advantage (!) to my circuituous route is a five-hour layover in Portland, where I will be able to have dinner with my brother Roger, who lives on a floating house there on the Columbia River. Roger has been helpful to me in processing digital photographs for this blog. He might even take on the challenge to attempt to stitch together my snapshots of Feather Falls into one tall photograph of its entire 640-foot height.

On December 8, I will be travelling to Chickasaw, Alabama (near Mobile) for the consecration of Robert Henry as a bishop of the CEEC. His Walmart-sized church facilities there serve the black community of Mobile assisted by several of his satellite churches. I have attended his worship services there and brought the men in the NoAH program to the Saturday breakfast of their Men's Week, where we received a challenging message from Rev. Henry about our responsibilities as Christian men. My archbishop, Russ McClanahan will be the principal consecrator, while my bishop, Alan Morris will also be there along with James Giles.

James has cautioned the Kitchen's volunteers to have a backup plan in place, in case the New Orleans negotiations fall through. For those of us in Church Army, backup opportunities include a move to Church Army posts in St. Louis or Branson in Missouri. But Van (at right) and I both feel a call to ministry from New Orleans; we may look to other possibilities there if Ninth Ward is not an option. This may seem confusing to you; at times it seems confusing to us.

Please pray for us.

Welcome!

2007-10-11T16:27:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the web log for the ministry of Rolin Bruno (me). I have been working on the post-Katrina gulf coast since August 2006, and began this blog with the help of Alan Morris in January 2007.

As a missionary deacon, my goal is the Great Commision: to make disciples for Christ--not just converts, but true disciples.

As a captain for Church Army USA, my ministry is to the least, the last, and the lepers of our society--especially those afflicted with chronic homelessness or addictions to drugs and alcohol.

I am currently on leave in California. I will be attending ordination services at Saint James Anglican in southern California, then spending time visiting my mother and sister in northern California.

My most recent newsletter for this ministry is well down the page, beginning here. Older newsletters follow that post.

Before I left, I spent time in New Orleans helping Kevin Kallsen of Anglican TV; that post is here.

Immediately below is the introduction to a 14-part series of posts describing pictorially how this ministry got started.

Again, welcome! And check back every once in a while to see what God is doing!

The Great Leap: a Photo Journey

2007-10-08T16:49:00.000-05:00

On September 19, I began a series of posts that illustrate my transcontinental journey in 2006 from student to missionary. There are some great photos. The posts are best enjoyed by starting below at this entry (click here) and working your way back up the blog by following the "newer post" link at the bottom of each page, until you come back to this post.

Enjoy the photos!

Great Leap Epilogue: People and Places

2007-10-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the photos from October through December 2006, before this blog was born. ..Here's a view of our destination: our new home-to-be in Gulfport.....
These are our nearest neighbors. The man who said he was the owner of the demolished house on the left was known to sleep there on occasion, even though the interior floors had been removed and sold for the value of their rare old-growth lumber. Big Johnny lived large in the house on the right: he spent the first few weeks after the Hurricane wondering what to do with the new skylight Katrina had left in his roof.
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Volunteer teams from out of state came to help us clean up and move, while we served refresh-ments to curious neighbors. .. Here's Dale and Barry, two of our first Church Army residents, with James, Mary and me. .. .. The trucker delivering more of the Mennonite-built cabins
helped us load up and move out of Pass Christian,

while Smiling Al waves good-bye to Pass Christian and its spectacular view of the seaside sunrise. .. .. ..
The Church Army program of spritual discipline was intensive, and a break to go camping was well appreciated. .. .. Back in Gulfport, long after the cabins were unloaded, we were still running generators to keep heaters running at night, while we waited for new power poles to be installed. .. .. And there was still much work to be done to convert the apartments to warehouse space, and to grace the grounds with garlands. .. Jeff (below, on left) filled out the available cabin bunkspace for men struggling to transform their lives. Some did well, some did not. Some partings were tragic, others were hopeful. All of us learned. All of us heard from God. ..

Thanks for coming along for the Great Leap. For more about Church Army Gulf Coast and its history, go to the archive and begin with the first post in January, 2007.

Great Leap: The Landing.

2007-10-07T15:02:00.001-05:00

A Calling Made Sure; plus, California and Back.

.. Arriving at God's Katrina Kitchen in Pass Christian, Mississippi,
I was put up in one of the six bunks in the leftmost cabin shown here. I began working with folks who did not fit the profile that the Kitchen was helping most, that is, home-owners with devastated houses. Most of these others were homeless, many were addicted to alcohol or drugs, and some were violent. Allowing these folks to camp nearby had been a disaster.

James looked at me with a look that said, "What took you so long to get here?" Then he looked around the bunkhouse and said, "We can put five of them in here with you." I looked around the tool-shed-sized cabin and said, "I'm going to need an office." (James later repented: we would bring no more than 3 men into those cramped quarters.) The following days were filled by meetings with homeless people in desperate situations, some of them the victim of lawless violence and attempted murder. Within two weeks I knew: this was where God was calling me: no doubt at all.

.. So now it was time to make a run to California to get the rest of my stuff (i.e., my theological library) out of my mother's garage, before she moved north. On the way west, I stopped and visited with Church Army's Captain Bob Dudley, a Lakota Sioux living near Albuquerque with his Navajo wife. Bob is a native dancer, and disciples Native Americans in how to live a Christian life while recovering their native heritage.
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While in California, I visited Saint James Anglican and set up a booth at their community fair, with photos of the devastated Gulf Coast.
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Here is Fr. Richard Menees at the fair giving away rides in his new-found red toy.

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On Sunday I attended all three services and manned a Gulf Coast information table outside the door, then it was time to drive back to Mississippi.

. I was determined to find a way to avoid the dread 800-mile tip-to-tip trip across Texas, so I turned left at El Paso and headed for New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle. I was startled to see these majestic cliffs in the distance, glowing purple by the light of the setting sun, creating their own misty weatherclouds in the lee of the balmy west wind. .. ..

On the eastern slope of Guadalupe Peak there is a National Forest campsite where I threw out my sleeping bag and woke to the sound of redbreasted robins.

Carlsbad Caverns was spectacular, but in its subdued interior lighting, photography was next to impossible. Here is a trailside grotto,1200 feet below the surface.

When I arrived back at the Kitchen in Pass Christian, James found office room for me and my library in a converted bunkhouse. .. ..

In Mississippi, the town of Pass Christian had been maneuvering behind the scenes to convince God's Katrina Kitchen to move on. We had had our eye on a beachside site in lovely Long Beach, or even on the nearby Walmart site. But by the time I returned, our choices were narrowing. God was closing the door on the lovelier sites and opened the door wide on a site in Gulfport, just two blocks from a notorious "red zone" known for its prolific drug traffic.

Here is my first view of our new site in Gulfport. The concrete apartment building is all that remains of a complex of 5 or more apartments of similar size, reduced to mere slabs by shipping containers and barges tossed ashore. Across the street (at right) is an RV resort converted into a FEMA trailer ghetto. .

. Next (and final) post in this series:
Great Leap Epilogue--the People and the Places.

Great Leap: Mississippi Calling

2007-10-06T12:45:00.000-05:00

End of July, 2006: time to tighten up the shoestring that adjusts my right-hand headlight and head south. Here is Arkansas' Natural Bridge; its claim to fame is that it was actually used as part of a trade route plied by horse-drawn wagons. .... I asked one of the guys at Branson where I could get some good food in Memphis: ribs, perhaps, with some greens and other fixin's. "BB King's," he said, "you gotta stop there." Stop I did; it was late when I got there. It did give me some pause to pay a cover charge to get in the bar where the live band was playing (and where they served the ribs). That took me back a few years. But the ribs and greens were excellent, and the band wasn't too bad, either.
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Stopped over to visit friends at Free Church of the Annunciation in New Orleans, then on to Mississippi.
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While the flooded Annunciation church would someday be re-occupied, all that was left of Christ Church in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi was the steeple that formerly sat on top of the church building.
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. This scene is Highway 90 approaching Pearlington, Mississippi. At the left is a red tugboat, and at the right is a blue tugboat, both stranded by Hurricane Katrina along the highway. These boats were left behind five miles from the nearest open water. .. Three major bridges along Highway 90 were wiped out. The span leading east from New Orleans across the Mississippi Sound lies in ruins still today. The next span, from Bay St. Louis to Pass Christian, was also swept away, but has recently been reopened. The photo above is the Biloxi Bay bridge as it appeared in July '06; it is currently under construction. .. These photos above and below show the state of rental housing almost one year after Katrina. Some teardown of these ruined complexes has now begun, but to-date no significant rental housing complexes have been rebuilt. Construction completed or underway today is almost exclusively pricey condominiums. .. If you were fortunate enough to own land, you could obtain a FEMA trailer and set it up on your property. Those who lived in rental housing or condo's were consigned to FEMA ghettos such as this one below, on land nobody wanted situated miles from shops and services. This one sits alongside a lonely stretch of Highway 190. ... Volunteers from God's
Katrina Kitchen fanned out into the community helping homeowners to clean up, gut out, and rebuild their ruined homes. But you didn't need to be a homeowner, and you didn't have to prove anything to anybody in order to get a smile and a meal in the red-striped dining tent. Here you could find everyone from yacht club members to long-term homeless and drifters. In the early days after the hurricane there was simply nowhere else to eat. The Kitchen served upwards of 1,000 meals per day from this tent in Pass Christian. ...
Next post: The Calling Made Sure.

Great Leap: Branson Base

2007-10-05T17:50:00.000-05:00

On to Branson, Missouri! In July of 2006 I went to every 12-Step class they held, every AA meeting they attended, every Peace in the Storm church service, and interviewed every Church Army Branson leader that I could buttonhole. .... At left is the prayer room at head-quarters, and at right is the Hall of Fame: the pictures of those that graduated from the program... and of those that died before they could graduate.

With all these classes and meetings and interview notes under my belt I was beginning to feel like Mighty Mouse: "Here I come, to save the day!" .... But this Mighty Mouse was feeling pretty puny the day I wrecked the car. Finally I found a friend of the Army with crowbars and hammers to bend my bomb back into shape. Baling wire and shoelaces (to adjust the headlights) did the rest. ..

Branson's bit was plenty of work, work, work while staying sober, sober, sober. But it was not all work and no play: here is Brian, Ben, and Big Jeremy relaxing by the campfire on a Church-Army-sponsored campout.

Although Church Army was originally invited into Branson by the Episcopal Church, in the end it was found that men and women such as these--recovered alcoholics and addicts, rough-languaged youngsters, and tatooed smokers, were not made welcome in the church.

Eventually, they formed their own church: Peace in the Storm. .... Peace in the Storm holds a church picnic every month down by the river, and every month they baptise six to ten new Christians. .

..... On July 30, seven men and women were baptised in the river by Peace in the Storm. On the left is Brian, seen in the campout photo above. On the right is Donnie, the father of Little Jeremy, the young lad in the first two pictures taken inside Church Army headquarters.

Next time: Onward to Mississippi!

Pittsburgh and the CEEC

2007-09-27T22:06:00.000-05:00

The "Great Leap" continued: from California to Pittsburgh and beyond; from student to missionary.

I completed my June 2006 visit with the Church Army folks in Pennsylvania, where Church Army's "Common Grounds Café" is a light in the darkness and symbol for hope in downtown Aliquippa, the blighted 'ground zero' for the devastation wrought by the closure of the steel mills in the U.S. Every person who walks through the Café door is a ministry opportunity, and the rooms over the café would soon be readied for use as classrooms for life skills training, in cooperation with other social services in the area. But God had more for me in Pennsylvania that I had not anticipated.

.. Early in my visit, I began attending
two house churches led by Fr. Alan Morris, a priest of the CEEC (Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches).

He taught fervently on the need for discipleship.

He said, "The Great Commission--'Go and make disciples'--is not optional, unless God has given you special dispensation to do otherwise."

On June 24 I attended two ordinations. The first was of three Trinity seminary graduates being ordained by Archbishop Russell McLanahan of the CEEC, in which I was crucifer and read the Psalm.

.. All of these photos are from the
second ordination, of seminary student Michael Baba Yemba of Sudan.

Michael Baba Yemba was ordained by Bishop Ezekiel Kondo of the Sudan.
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Bishop Ezekiel Kondo was assisted by Archbishop Russell McClanahan of the CEEC,

Bishop John Rodgers of the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA),

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and by Bishop Mouneer Anis of Egypt (seen here standing with Archbishop McClanahan),

and by Bishops Robert Duncan and Henry Scriven of Pittsburgh.

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Here is the newly ordained Michael Baba Yemba standing pensively as Archbishop McClanahan talks with Bishop Kondo .

. At the reception following this service there was an animated and hopeful conversation about future possibilities in the Anglican Communion. .. The conversation was sparked and led by Bp. Scriven, assistant to Bp. Duncan, moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, working to "contend for the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).

Next post in the Great Leap series: on to Branson, Missouri.

Great Leap: Ahead to Aliquippa

2007-09-26T20:29:00.000-05:00

.. Driving
east through the Navajo Nation brought me to Four Corners: a lonely vendor's complex clustered around the intersection of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Here is the monument at the intersection. Ominous signs warned that only two people were permitted to stand on the monument at a time.
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Durango, Colorado, is the jumping-off place for a real old-timey wild west train ride. However, I missed the last train, and had to settle for a photo of the empty train station.

Crossing over the Rockies at 11,000 feet elevation, I passed through this snow field in the pass--in the middle of May! .

Fixed the flat tire in Colorado Springs. Here's a view looking back towards Pike's Peak. ..

And then there's Kansas. I stumbled across the town of Alma, ..
Kansas, which boasted of the Famous Alma Cheese. So I detoured into downtown Alma (a zero-stop-light town), bought two pounds of Alma Cheese at the Alma gas station (the only store open), and mailed it to my 90-year-old mother, Alma. .. Somebody help me here: What city am I driving through?

Arrived in Pittsburgh, PA, on Thursday, May 18, where my interview with the head of Church Army USA had to be postponed while he went into the hospital for surgery. The assistant rector of my church had recommended that I check out Church Army for mission work; he said, "They take in misfits."

Near Pittsburgh is the town of Aliquippa, devastated by the demise of the U.S. steel industry. Church Army Aliquippa took over this ruined building with the intention of turning it into a coffee house and meeting place for ministry. .. This is John Stanley, the Aussie missionary that worked this project until a successful coffee and lunch shop was in operation; a beacon of hope in a devastated town. Classrooms are upstairs. .. This summer the town of Aliquippa was struck by an unusual flash flood that ruined the downstairs coffee shop. Church Army Aliquippa is currently picking up the pieces and starting over again.

Next: On to Branson, Missouri.

...And Back Again; plus, a Side Trip to the End of the Universe

2007-09-26T14:14:00.000-05:00

Early morning view of the Grand Canyon South Rim from below. .. ..

A nine hour hike back to the top of the trail: Months of inactivity and 20 extra pounds of paunch make for a long trudge.

Nearing the top, I began to encounter day hikers strolling down from above.

Here is one of my fellow hikers this fine sunshining day.

Once on top (and after a lengthy recuperation period), I explored the easterly rim of the Grand Canyon by car. .
. Overnight at Grandview Point; these are the morning photos. .. So now I was ready to head into Indian country: complete with car, theological library, kitchen, bedroom, office, and bicycle. .. Here is my side trip to Monument Valley, an awesome accolade to the Almighty. This national park is managed by the Navajo Nation. .. "And the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle" (Exodus 40). .. .... The road back up out of Monument Valley features a view of the Res-taurant at the End of the Universe perched at the top of the cliff.

Zaphod Beeblebrox, the Maitre' De, was, unfortunately, off duty when I ate there. But they do have excellent mutton and Indian frybread. .. This Navajo-run campground above Monument Valley brought me many blessings, including a view of this sunset scene, my first shower in several days, and two nails in my tires.

Next: From the desert to the snowfields.

Great Leap Day Two: There...

2007-09-25T18:41:00.002-05:00

Journal entry: 8:00pm Wednesday: I'm so tired. I slept 3 hours in the car this morning and now I'm going to sleep 6 hours in the car tonight in the parking lot at South Rim. I set my alarm for 4am so I can leave at first light. -- 1:30am Thur: Psalm 50:24 - Those who keep my way I will show the salvation of God. .. I flagged down a passing group of Japanese tourists starting down the trail to snap my picture leaning on my walking stick.
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Here are the mule-skinners preparing the mules for the trip down. You could readily tell the real mule-skinners (the ones who really owned mules) from the rest of them: they owned their own gear; their mules did not have the cookie-cutter look of the rest of the pack train.

From about a mile down Bright Angel Trail, here is the view looking back up at the South Rim: .

. And a view of the South Rim from my campsite in Indian Gardens: .. From the same site, here's the view looking toward the North Rim: .. And again from the same site, here's a doe and her two fawns resting 15 feet from the edge of my campsite. They watched with aplomb and mild interest as I set up my backpacker's tent. .. With my camp all set up, I headed out the trail to Plateau Point. This is the view looking back toward Indian Gardens, the area of green trees at center. .. The Plateau trail was graced by colorful and flowering cacti. .. .. .. Reaching the Point, I was astounded to encounter two California Condors about 20 feet from the trail, watching me with the same mild interest and aplomb as the deer. I suppose that if I had fallen over the cliff, it would have aroused their interest, and perhaps even their appetites. .. The park rangers say that cave evidence shows that California condors lived in the Grand canyon for thousands of years. Released into the wild, these condors quickly found the same caves where their ancestors had lived.

The first two condors I saw were tagged as number 48 (hatched in captivity) and number A (born in the wild) As the afternoon rolled on, number 19 flew in from above and joined them. .. ..

Looking 800 feet straight down to the Colorado River, I watched groups of people floating down the river in rafts. .

. Journal Entry: 8:00pm - What grander bird could there be to grace the Grand Canyon. They showed no fear. -- I forgot my pill bottle. I've been limping along with the help of some Alkaseltzer and a borrowed Ibuprofen.

Next Post: "...and back again."

Videographer's and Bishop's Assistant

2007-09-24T05:56:00.000-05:00

Friday through Monday, I assisted Kevin Kallsen of Anglican TV as he covered the Episcopal Church house of bishops meeting in New Orleans and interviewed Bishop Bob Duncan.

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On Sunday, I assisted Fr. Jerry Kramer and Bishop James Adams to confirm 10 members at the Free Church of the Annunciation in New Orleans. Kevin videotaped at that service and posted it here.

GO! Great Leap, Day One

2007-09-23T20:06:00.000-05:00

Waystation: The Grand Canyon.. Here's a brief review of the days leading up to the Great Leap:

Day -4: Picked up my thesis from the bookbinder, copies to Vanguard, major libraries and major scholars on the letter of Jude.

.. Day -3: Commencement exercises at Vanguard. Friends and family members came from all over, including St. James and St. Davids. Here's my daughter Amber, a recent grad herself, with a B.A. in biology and plant science.
Day -2: Attended church at St. James; drove to Indian Wells to drop off most of my theological library in Mom's garage.
Day -1: To the printer with the final galleys of The Catholic Apostolic Church in America, edited by my mother and published for her by me.

Day Zero: Six a.m. bible study at St. James. Loaded my entire apartment (that is, my 9 by 12 room) into my car. Evening small group; prayers and sendoff.

Great Leap Day 1: Wednesday May 10, 30 minutes after midnight: Got the security deposit back from my landlord, aired up the tires (I'm packing quite a bit of weight), and hit the highway. Slept in the car at a roadside rest; arrived at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon at 1:00 in the afternoon. .

. The view from the South Rim humbles the soul. What hath God Wrought? Waves of joy washed over me, and I felt like bursting out laughing--or crying.

What a mighty God we have! What a loving God we have! .. Here's a view of the South Rim, where I landed one of the coveted overnight hiking permits for the following day, Thursday.

.. This is Bright Angel Trail, which I will have to share with the mule trains.

Here is one of the mule-borne parties coming up the trail Wednesday afternoon.

I'll hike down Bright Angel in the morning, and camp overnight at Indian Gardens.

Indian Gardens is in the grove of green trees at the center of the photo below.

An Edenic pastoral surprise awaited me there. .

. Beyond Indian Gardens you can see the trail which leads to Plateau Point, at the edge of the Inner Gorge of the Grand Canyon. From this point there are sheer cliffs plunging 800 feet straight down to the Colorado River. Three quite astounding and unexpected creatures waited for me there. Again I slept in the car, this time in the parking lot of the South Rim.

To see the Next Post in the Great Leap series,
CLICK HERE: There... (but not yet Back Again).

Pre-Leap #2: Get Set!

2007-09-22T20:42:00.000-05:00

In April 2006, after four solid months of sitting in front of my computer moving nothing but my fingers (and gaining 20 pounds of paunch), I successfully defended my thesis, Jude and the Scoffers. Graduation was not until May. One month of time off! .. With the extra time off, I lead a team from St. James on a mission/relief trip to New Orleans. Here is the "Moonwalk" in New Orleans along the Mississippi River.

The six of us from St. James pitched in at Annunciation's relief center, handing out everything from dustmasks to diapers. .. This is the Annunciation campus, in the morning setting up the distribution center. The trailer with the cross is the "doublewide" where services and meetings were held; the trailer to its right held a temporary medical clinic; and the building above it is a former rectory. All this land was under 8 feet of water.

We also went out on assignment to muck out a house not far away. .. Here is the 81-year-old Fr. Cam (in the yellow hardhat) helping to muck out this house, which also had 8 feet of water in it. Fr. Cam and I drove his mini-pickup from California to Louisiana and back for this trip, 200-mile shifts, non-stop except for meals.

I borrowed Cam's truck and drove the 70 miles to Pass Christian, Mississippi, to visit Fr. James Giles at God's Katrina Kitchen. (GKK).. This is the GKK dining tent. At the time they were also operating a relief supplies distribution center. GKK was housing and feeding dozens of church mission groups who came to the Gulf Coast to muck out, clean up, and rebuild.

James and I drove out as far as you could go on the ruined Highway 90, approaching the ruined bridge to Bay St. Louis. .. Here we talked of many things, indeed, of cabbages and kings. James helped confirm for me my call to the order of deacons. Was this to be my new job site? I still did not know, but I was itchy as a frog on a lilypad in a thunderstorm. But first I had to go back to California for Graduation.

Pre-Leap #1: "On Your Marks!"

2007-09-21T08:52:00.000-05:00

First Job Offer, near Emerald Isle, Lake Tahoe:
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In the fall of 2005 a former employer offered me a job managing a hotel complex in South Lake Tahoe, California. The job would be part-time, set-my-own-hours, plenty-of-time-to-write-my-book, and included a free four-room apartment. This was too good. I took two trips up to South Lake Tahoe to check it out. But alack, where's the ministry? The nearest ACN priest was 60 miles away in Reno, Nevada (a very lonely diocese for an ACN priest). Was this my new call? I checked my closet for a fleece to throw out. Didn't find one.

This was My World in Orange County, California:
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Three years in a nine-by-twelve room, bathroom down the hall. At this time I was hot and heavy into the research phase of my thesis, and needed a cart to lug books back and forth from the Vanguard library. The only thing that maintained my sanity was the window over my desk, looking out at the birds in the tree and the hummingbirds attracted to my feeder.

After Christmas, I went with the youth pastor of my church on an exploratory mission trip to New Orleans:
.My second job offer was from the rector of these church-folk in New Orleans: No pay, uncertain future, and a place to throw my sleeping bag. Sounded attractive. Still couldn't find my fleece to throw out

New Year's Eve, 2005 (never mind the date stamp):
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A busload of baptists arrived from North Carolina and I went with them and "Lance" from the relief center. Lance carried his 9-foot cross (with the wheel in the tail), all of us carried copies of A Letter From God to hand out, and we walked down Bourbon Street handing out tracts, praying with people, and singing hymns. On New Year's Eve. At Midnight. On Bourbon Street.

The Great Leap

2007-09-19T14:38:00.001-05:00

This post serves to introduce a series of posts coming up, which will give me an opportunity to publish a few photos I took on my journey from Southern California (where I'm from) to South Mississippi (where I'm at). But why "The Great Leap"? To explain that, I'll have to get just a little bit autobiographical.

For nine years I was a student: 3 years with Victory Outreach collecting all the academic certificates and diplomas they could muster; 3 years with the Latin American Bible Institute and with Vanguard University of Southern California, collecting a B.A. in Religion/Ministry; then 3 more years with Vanguard, collecting an M.A. in Religion/Biblical Studies, and publishing my 277-page thesis, Jude and the Scoffers.

Along the way I served as director of a Victory Outreach men's rehabilitation home for a year, and then as the assistant pastor of a storefront Assemblies of God church in Skid Row Los Angeles, for two years. But by the time I received the M.A., I had been out of active ministry for four years.

What did God want me to do? Where did God want me to go? I had gone back to the church of my roots (Episcopal) and discovered what I thought to be an oxymoron, an evangelical Episcopal church. I asked the advice of Fr. Richard Menees, the assistant rector, and he recommended that I check out Church Army USA, telling me, "They take in misfits."

So that begins my story. Church Army USA headquarters was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; their biggest "base of evangelism" was in Branson-Missouri, and they had an outpost doing Katrina relief in Pass Christian, Mississippi. I was determined to visit all three to check them out, and I had an ancient Mazda MPV to get me there. My prayer was that God would speak to me along the way, answering my questions: "What to do? Where to go?" I was jumping from what I'd known for nine years, off into the unknown: The Great Leap.

I'll try to post every day or so; Watch this space!

California Dreamin'

2007-09-10T11:24:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a gracious and generous gift from the Free Church of the Annunciation in New Orleans, I will be able to travel to California next month to visit my equipping church, Saint James Newport Beach, and possibly my daughter and even my sons. On the return trip, I will swing through Paradise, California to visit my sister and my 91-year-old mother, Alma. God willing, I'll be departing Mississippi on October 11, returning October 23.

Here in Mississippi I've been developing relationships with two of the folks working for the county. The chaplain at the county jail is interested in the Church Army Gulf Coast program as an aftercare resource for released detainees, and he has already approached some of them to see if they would be a fit for what we have here. The public defender is also interested in the program, and said that he would be talking to some of the judges about the possibility of using our resources to assist those going through Drug Court. In the meantime, we are waiting for God to send us the next person for the NoAH project.

Otherwise, it looks to be a slow month here. God's Kitchen (the 501c3 organization over the now-closed God's Katrina Kitchen) has a team of volunteers from Vision Quest who arrived last night for a week's stay, but after they leave, few volunteers are expected for over a month. We'll be going into vacation mode here while everyone else is at work or school, and when their vacations start up again in November, we'll be back to work here.

Over the next week or two, I'll be posting a reprise of the GREAT LEAP, the journey that took me from California to Mississippi. I have a few great photos (Grand Canyon, etc.) that I'd like to share with all of you. Keep checking the blog every few days; it should be interesting.

Thanks for all of your support. This would not be possible without those of you (churches and individuals) who have sent encouragement for me and finances for the ministry. If any others of you would like to support this ministry, the directions are in the sidebar. Monies donated through Church Army USA are used for ministry needs only, and not for my personal support.

Thanks again,

Rolin.

ps: About the photo: If anyone has seen any ice floes floating past California lately, let me know. On this reversal of the GREAT LEAP, I'll be looking for a few days of cooler weather.

Battle of the Briar Patch

2007-09-08T15:28:00.000-05:00

Our Sanctuary site holds an unwanted mystery bonus, which attacked me twice, plus one of the Vision Quest youths. No one has seen any poison ivy, nor poison oak, nor even any Virginia creeper. Yet the two of us had a nasty, itching rash break out, diagnosed as poison ivy/etc. by the medics.

My suspicion centers on this particular
specimen. It is a light, climbing, clinging vine, similar to wild grapevine but thinner and less woody stems. It has spines along the stems as tough as rose thorns.

One of these vines reached out and grabbed me (it seemed), and leafy dust fell that felt like tiny pop-rocks (remember that candy?) going off on the back of my hand. Three days later I was under a 7-day steroid therapy. I sure would like to put a name to this my enemy.

Anyone got any ideas?

NoAH, Jacob and Joshua: the Program

2007-08-23T08:26:00.000-05:00

PROLOGUE:

I had to pinch myself every morning. Over the last two months, the new guys in the NoAH project were doing so well that James and I could hardly believe it. Perhaps it was the ninth set of modifications in how the program operates. Perhaps it was the difference in the new people coming in. Perhaps it was the modifications God has been working inside me as he challenges me again and again. More likely, it was all of the above, and then some. God took us to a new baby-step up the ladder.

Van and Freddie, both professional cooks, came into NoAH just when God's Katrina Kitchen really-really needed a cook or two. They were determined that they were not going to go around again on that cycle of addiction that they had been caught up in for way too long. And they jumped into the Camp Avenue kitchen operations like seasoned professionals. Van and Terry were to become the second and third successful graduates from the 60-day NoAH project.

Van especially seemed to have a knack for working with people, and for getting along even with difficult people. (Do we have difficult folk come through here? You bet.) This week I listened to Van counseling one of the other workers here, and thought, "Wow. I wish I could talk like that." But Van knows that he still needs much more grounding before he can be sure of long term success against his former drug life.

The air around Freddie sniffed like a man who was called to preach--and had been avoiding the call for a long, long time. His transformation from street-based drug user to budding preacher astounded not only himself, but all the people he had known on the street. His sermon at the Camp Avenue nightly worship service was powerful, as he described his new direction and his steely determination. But there was still a certain broken-ness lacking; that missing limp that Jacob carried all his life after he wrestled with God.

Terry came in three weeks later, and slipped smoothly into Kitchen life as Van's assistant and dishwasher. But like most new NoAH members, he soon found he had to deal with the real issues in his life. His street life as an alcoholic mendicant morphed into a camp life as an ailing mendicant. Eventually he revealed that Terry was not even his real name.

Terry left us this Monday, holding a bus ticket to Vicksburg, Mississippi where his parents live. His goal had been to get sober so that he could return home, and the bus ticket would take him to a family that would hold him accountable. The former Terry, reclaiming his real name, left holding a 30-day sobriety chip in his pocket from Alcoholics Anonymous.

Freddie left us this Sunday, returning to help the mother of his youngest daughter through difficult circumstances, and determined to use his skills as a senior cook to pay his child support, become the father that he wanted to be, and become the man that his recently deceased father had always wanted him to be. He called me last night, and wants to stay in an accountability relationship as he struggles to make it in the culture where he never made it before. If we had the staff in place to open a Sober Living House, Freddie would be a prime candidate to move in.

Van is staying on. As he puts it "I ain't going nowhere." With the recommendation of Gabe, our former head of cooking operations, and with the support of James, Van was offered and accepted the position of head of cooking operations for God's Kitchen. Also, he especially wants to stay on for the next phase of the Church Army Gulf Coast Life Transformation program, the Jacob project.

THURSDAY MORNING:
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Van has various portable grills and stoves available to him to use outside at the Sanctuary, and he has begun to use the upstairs kitchen in the Mansion. This morning he had four volunteers from the Vision Quest team help him prepare breakfast here.
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Vision Quest's 24-member team arrived late Sunday night, and has immediately set to work. The day for these young people often begins with vigorous calisthenic exercises, and with "circling up" to share and receive direction.

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Vision Quest, like Church Army Gulf Coast, also has a goal of life transformation. They work with teenage men and women who have had problems coping with society or have fallen afoul of alcohol, drugs, or the legal system.
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Van is working with a four-person team of Vision Quest teens assigned to him for cooking, washing, and cleaning up. Here is Van taking a break on the upstairs screened porch of the Mystery Mansion after breakfast operations have been completed.
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EPILOGUE:

The NoAH project kicks off the year-long Life Transformation program with an intensive 60 days of 12-step classes, Bible studies, worship and accountability. The next phase is the Jacob project; five months of transformation as we wrestle with who we have been, wrestle with who we must be, and inbetween these, wrestle with God until he gives us our blessing--and our holy limp. Completing the year is the Joshua project, five months in which, having found who we are and having chosen whom we will serve, we prepare to re-enter society and to join in Christian fellowship as we go forth to claim the land that God has promised us.

I have been talking lately with the Chaplain at the Harrison County detention center, where he runs a pull-out program for inmates based on spirituality and the Bible. He has been looking for places to send his people for after-care, and I suspect soon that he will have a candidate or two for us to interview for the NoAH project. All in God's time.

Every few months, God cleans house here at Church Army Gulf Coast. Then shortly, He sends us new people. Each time we learn. Each time we move up to a new level, one baby step at a time.

God is getting ready to take us up to next baby step.
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Serving from the Sanctuary

2007-08-22T15:39:00.000-05:00

Church Army Gulf Coast lives on!
We're still working, still watching God transform lives, and still working alongside God's Kitchen, the umbrella organization over the former God's Katrina Kitchen.
Here are some photos of the not-yet-complete evacuation from our Camp Avenue site:
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While the signature red-and-white dining tent came down July 31, it was a few days later before the kitchen's cooking canopy could be disassembled and moved into storage.

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James drove the Barney Bus off to its storage site, while Ray and Steve and a full crew of helpers moved the volunteers' cabins two at a time. Here we see Cabin One, the former home of Church Army's NoAH program (and my home also) loaded and ready to move to storage.

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With all the cabins moved into storage, the former volunteer housing site begins to take on a desolate look. The queen of James' sunflower garden looks on unperturbed, while six of God's Kitchen permanent staff remain housed in trailers on Camp Avenue.

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Meanwhile, NoAH project volunteers Van, Freddie, and Terry prepared the first meal for the first team of volunteers to be housed at the Sanctuary.

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This team was housed for a week at the undisclosed location of the Sanctuary in the Mystery Mansion, which is also the site of the Clubhouse (below) which now houses the Church Army Gulf Coast life transformation program.

In the upcoming post I'll update y'all (I've been down south too long) on the exciting things going on with the NoAH project, and the newly named Jacob and Joshua projects. Stay tuned!

Bad Night Out

2007-08-16T13:00:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday I was determined to get out and go camping, despite (or because of) all the turmoil involved in moving from one home to another. Besides, it had been so long since I have gotten out hiking that my legs had stiffened up to the point that I was hobbling around half lame.
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Around the Sanctuary (our new home) lies dozens if not hundreds of acres of woods. "I'll go for a backpacking hike right here!", I thought. Right.
Between the underbrush and the Katrina-felled trees, hiking (as you and I think of it) was out of the question, especially backpacking my tent, food, kitchen, bedroll, etc.
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Once I was truly into the woods, I made only about 50 yards headway before I was worn out and confused. I picked this lovely clearing (?) to pitch my tent.
I did manage to cook a meal (ham&rice pilaf), and settled in to rededicate myself to writing in my sadly neglected journal, while waiting for nightfall and the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.

Alas! The sky was overcast all night with nary a star to see, let alone a hint of a shooting star.

And Alack! I waited for the night to cool me off from the 98 degree temperature (and 110 degree heat index), but not a whiff of wind was stirring. In the morning when I put my shirt back on, it was still just as soaked with sweat as it had been when I took it off.
This was not one of my better camping experiences. Perhaps better than the time I waited out a two-day blizzard under a tarp, but not by much.
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But I have not given up. I left my tent and sleeping bag behind, carefully marking the trees on my outward trail, lest I should never see my gear again. I'll give it a try again soon, for the night-time temperature is now dipping into the frigid (brrr!) high 70's.

Missing Tent; Noah's Cottage; Mystery Mansion

2007-08-01T15:15:00.000-05:00

On July 31, 2007, God's Katrina Kitchen served its last meal to the general public and took down its signature red-and-white tent.

Dear friends, miracles continue to happen on the Gulf Coast. Here are three items of breaking news (and private disclosures) of events over the last few days: 1) GKK's last meal; 2) NoAH's new and undisclosed location; and 3) the Mystery Mansion which will house Katrina volunteers for a time.

The Missing Tent:
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About mid-day July 31, kitchen volunteers took down the red-and-white striped tent that has been the landmark for the GKK feeding facility for almost two years. The cross that sat behind the lectern in the tent still calls out, Cast Your Burdens Here.

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With most of the tables folded up, volunteers sat in a circle on the concrete to eat their luncheon meal. Strong showers visited us during the evening meal, when volunteers and public alike huddled inside the kitchen with the cooks.

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The press corps has been near and among us constantly: here a reporter for the SunHerald wraps up her 3-day visit talking with visitors to the Kitchen. If her story appears online, I will post it here.

*NEWS FLASH* On Tuesday, WLOX TV did a story on the shutdown which included an interview with our own NoAH volunteer Van. That video may be found here:
http://www.wlox.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?LaunchPageAdTag=Homepage&ClipID1=1632473&h1=Toni%20Miles%20Reports%20On%20Last%20Meal%20At%20God%27s%20Katrina%20Kitchen&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=134234&activePane=playlist&playerVersion=1&hostPageUrl=http%3A//www.wlox.com/&rnd=76796291
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Meanwhile, across the street the permanent staff was loading up the first of the volunteer bunk houses to be moved into storage on a local church property, until they can be pressed into use under the ministry umbrella of that local church.

A Cottage for Noah:
Little more than a week ago, Fr. James told me that they'd been looking at a site where one could house some 50-60 volunteers already scheduled through the month of August, and that (get this) there were one or two buildings on the site that could be converted into cottages to house the NoAH program.
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On my first visit there, the property seemed like an overgrown jungle. Here is the cottage being prepared for us (dead center of the photo, really!), hidden by the bushes.

The building consists of two rooms, one quite large and the other a former garage. Drywall was already in the first room, and the second was waiting to be righted, for the hurricane had tilted the endwall six inches off center.

By the next day, volunteers had painted the first room, insulated the second room, and had scurried about to find a large and beautiful window to add grace and light to the building.

Then by the following day they had righted the building and begun framing in a wall in place of the former garage doors. All of the buildings on this site had 12 feet of water in them during Katrina.

The Mystery Mansion:
The most spectacular building on the site is a large lodge, which I have begun to call the Mystery Mansion. Other volunteers have dubbed the entire site The Sanctuary.
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The downstairs may be used to house 50 or 60 Katrina relief volunteers at a time, while the upstairs can be used for overflow.

Between the house and the garage is a large open air pavilion, where volunteers can be fed out of the rain. (Dinner on Tuesday was almost rained out without the tent.)

Here is a large interior room of the lodge graced by a fireplace.

The lumber on the floor is the makings of bunkbeds that have been disassembled and moved from the Camp Avenue site.

The back window of the Mystery Mansion opens onto a spectacular veranda, which may indeed earn this property the title of Sanctuary.

We're hoping to have NoAH moved into the cottage and have the volunteer feeding operations up and running at the new site this week. Stay tuned.

Requiem: Gods's Katrina Kitchen RIP

2007-07-19T09:41:00.000-05:00

On July 31, 2007, God's Katrina Kitchen will serve its last meal, and cease operations on August 1. The Long Beach city council met last Tuesday and denied our request to share a 10-acre site with a local church. Numerous other offers of property to move to have been received, but none of them included political support from the surrounding community and city.

Although GKK will no longer exist, the need and the mission continue. Current plans are to parcel out all of the donated equipment and bunkhouses to one or more ministries here on the Gulf Coast. There are more than 20 permanent volunteer staff associated with the Kitchen, but none of them have heard a call to stop ministering to the Gulf Coast. It is likely that most of them will continue to serve God's call, but under a local ministry with a different name.

Church Army Gulf Coast will continue to operate under the same name. We now have three volunteer residents of the NoAH program seeking to transform their lives from homelessness and alcohol/drug addiction into what God would have them to be. Our residential location as of August 1 is still uncertain.

Here I offer a photo requiem for God's Katrina Kitchen:

This composite overview photo was taken from the balcony of the concrete apartment building, shortly after GKK moved onto the site at 554 Camp Avenue in Gulfport, Mississippi. The following photos show the many improvements made to our home in the succeeding months.

Members of the public who come to eat at the kitchen enter across a flowered garden with a picket fence.

James planted a rose garden to grace the lawn beside the tent, and the owners of the property brought additional roses to plant last fall.

The south end of the lawn has the Cross and flagpole transplanted from the former site in Pass Christian,

and another flower garden graces the south edge of the slab on which the tent sits.

Okra thrives at the east edge of the slab.

Throughout the site, de- construction has already begun. Here is a trench opened up to prepare for the removal of the conduit and wires.

A massive power grid supports the tent, office, cabins, motor homes, and travel trailers that serve the Kitchen.

The power grid supports this laundry room, while wastewater drainage is routed through the sewer systems of the existing slabs, the only remains of a 120-unit apartment complex.

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Cabin 88 is the residence of Tool Room John. This palm was transplanted here to grace the volunteer housing area.

North and south views of volunteer housing in the interior of the camp,

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and the housing that faces the street.
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This new neighbor is missing from the overview photo at the top, when the Waffle House site was an empty slab.
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The fire pit is the late-night gathering place for the permanent staff. We sang to the Lord here this Monday and Tuesday.
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Between the trailers near the fire pit is the Kid Parking Lot.
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. And here is Mary Giles with two of the Giles grand-kids.
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The sunflower garden runs up to a massive pokeweed plant. So far, none of us have tried to cook any pokeweed.
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James' and Mary's front porch features a porch swing,
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facing the vegetable garden with its tomatoes and peppers.
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So now it's story time. Come August 1, God's Katrina Kitchen may seem like it continues only in the stories that will be told and retold, to grandkids of grandkids. But look closer: you may find that the work of the Kitchen never ceased, indeed never missed a beat. Stay tuned.

Soggy Retreat

2007-07-17T08:56:00.000-05:00

Behold, a great and strong wind came and tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind came an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.

And after the fire, a still small voice.

Sometimes you just have to go camping.

At least, that's my motto.

The weatherman saith: scattered thunder- storms on Saturday, more thunderstorms on Sunday. But then, what does the weatherman know?

Sometimes you just have to go camping.

Besides, it was time to take Freddie and Van on retreat, to break from the frenetic rhythm of the camp, and to find a quiet place to listen for God.

And we each asked the Lord, "What am I doing here?"

And the Lord in a still small voice answered each of us.

And in reverse order from Elijah, then we had the thunder and the lightning and the wind. But we didn't notice any rocks being broken, nor did we notice an earthquake.

We did, however, notice the puddles inside our tents, and the wet sleeping bags and the soggy clothes. Saturday night's rain cancelled the steak, which had to be deferred to Steak and Eggs in the morning.

We also noticed the dead battery in the car. I had tried to entice Steve to come along with us, and thought the dead battery would lure him. But it was James to the rescue. Once the car was running again, we took a side trip to the flowered trail beside POW camp, then headed for Camp Avenue in Gulfport.

While we were getting our visitation at Bigfoot Camp, the folks back home also had a visitation. When the thunderstorm passed through, it was accompanied by a pretty significant waterspout just offshore of God's Katrina Kitchen.

REPORT: The Move is On?

In the meantime, the camp had been hearing mixed reactions from the councilmen of Long Beach about the impending invasion by God's Katrina Kitchen. But on Monday when the mayor returned to town, he invited WLOX TV to join him and the camp leadership and Pastor Larry of the church that invited us onto their property. Pastor Larry's impassioned speech was carried on the 10:00 news, along with the mayor's statement that he was not opposed to GKK coming to Long Beach.

Today, Tuesday July 17, at 5:00 the Long Beach city council will meet to consider whether to welcome GKK to their city, and what kinds of conditions they may wish to impose on us.

Today we are in prayer.

Sneak Preview: On the Move

2007-07-12T05:35:00.000-05:00

As promised, I'm sharing the breaking news as it develops about our eviction from Gulfport. Please pray alongside us as we move closer to our July 31 deadline to move from our current property.

By a unanimous vote, a church in the interior of nearby Long Beach, Mississippi, has invited God's Katrina Kitchen and Church Army Gulf Coast to move onto their 10-acre church site. Last Sunday the staff from the Kitchen attended their service and we were received with open arms. Their church was in the forefront of the early relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina and was the site of one of the major relief supply distribution points working alongside the Kitchen.

Final approval for this move is dependent on the results of a meeting with the Mayor of Long Beach, who is on vacation and will not return until July 16. Please pray for God's favor for us, and for our favor in the sight of the people of Long Beach.

We also need prayer for divine help in coordinating and executing this massive move, involving an institution that houses 200 volunteers at a time and coordinates and sends out work teams for up to 200 additional volunteers housed elsewhere.

In the meantime, here is a SNEAK PREVIEW of GKK on the move:

(Some of you may remember this photo from my email post about our last move in October 2006)

Thanks to all of you,
Rolin

The Widow's Mite; A Date to Move; Lives on the Move.

2007-07-06T12:55:00.001-05:00

THE WIDOW'S MITE:

Jesus watched a poor widow put two very small copper coins into the temple treasury. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." (Luke 21:1-3)

One street over and a block north of my bunkhouse at Gods Katrina Kitchen you may find a row of fairly nice homes along Woodward Avenue. Most of them were damaged by Hurricane Katrina, but they are beginning to show new attractiveness as the residents make repairs and clean up their properties.

But just a few steps farther, walking north to cross the railroad tracks, you will find a different picture. Looking around, you might think the calendar had been rolled back to 1907 instead of 2007. Ramshackle wood shacks which were hardly livable before Katrina show decades of disrepair, with no sign of any improvements since the devastation of the hurricane. This is a neighborhood which speaks of generations of grinding poverty and lack of hope, a neighborhood neglected, ignored and despised.

Last week as I was walking back from the nieghborhood store I was hailed by a resident south of the tracks, who assailed me with the bitterness she felt about the presence of God's Katrina Kitchen a block south. She spoke of alleged crime and occasional litter, but some of her most bitter words were reserved for the residents north of the tracks who would walk through her neighborhood to eat at the Kitchen. Some of them were young mothers leading 4 to 6 small children for one or two meals per day. "This was a nice neighborhood," the woman said, "before all these people north of the tracks started walking through here every day."

A different viewpoint can be seen in this letter to the local newspaper from a woman who lives about four more blocks to the north:

http://www.sunherald.com/editorials/letters/story/91458.html

This Tuesday while I was in the office trailer of the Kitchen, a young black woman came in, dressed as one might expect for one of those residents that live two blocks away--that is, north of the railroad tracks. She told office manager Vicki that she wanted to make a donation, and handed her a fifty dollar bill.

Vicki looked misty-eyed. "That's the kind of thing," she told me, "that makes it worth going on here."

A DATE TO MOVE:

Other donations have been coming in the last few days, along with a few offers of places for God's Katrina Kitchen to move to. You see, on Monday the city council of Gulfport denied the kitchen's request to stay on the property for one more year, and the city sent a notice to vacate by July 31. The council meeting was covered and reported by the local TV station whose article may be found here:

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=6740591

A video clip of the meeting shown on the evening news, with clips of founder Greg Porter and director James Giles can be found here:

http://www.wlox.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=1558461&h1=Elise%20Roberts%20Reports%20On%20Future%20Of%20God%27s%20Katrina%20Kitchen&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=133700&LaunchPageAdTag=News&activePane=info&playerVersion=1&hostPageUrl=http%3A//www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp%3FS%3D6740591&rnd=33258236

The staff of the Kitchen have been kept busy for the last few days pursuing possible places for the Kitchen to stay, and following up on new offers. In the meantime, the Kitchen continues to feed 1000 to 1500 meals per day, and James' children's ministry has been reaching out to the kids in a neighborhood park, where the children share the turf with a local street gang.

What the future holds for the Kitchen and for the ministry of Church Army Gulf Coast has yet to be revealed, but no one here finds it easy to believe that God wants us to stop doing what we have been doing. Please pray God's peace for all of us as God unfolds his plan.

LIVES ON THE MOVE:

Three weeks ago the kitchen staff were steeling themselves for long hours and extra shifts after our cook Mister Bill (our first graduate from the NoAH program) moved on, and other cooks were expected to be on leave.

In the meantime, two men came to me and asked to be admitted to the NoAH program. They had heard about it from Eddie, who had recently left the program. Freddie and Van had met on the West Side Pier near the Kitchen, and in discussing their lives (and why they had to sleep on the Pier) resolved that they were never going to use drugs again. I showed them the NoAH covenant and, as usual, asked them to pray about it overnight before signing the covenant.

The next morning Freddie and Van were not to be seen, and we wondered what had happened. But late that evening they showed up at the Kitchen and told us they had been arrested for sleeping on the pier and had spent the night in jail. After being released, they had walked directly from the jail (in the north of Gulfport, 6 miles away) to the Kitchen. Nothing was going to deter them from trying to get into the program.

James and Steve and I found some lodging for Freddie and Van that night at the Rescue Mission in Biloxi, and interviewed them extensively the next morning before admitting them into the NoAH Life Transformation Program. Today is their 20th day, when they will be presented with their personal study bibles. They have been taking in all they could of what Church Army could give them: Morning and evening devotions, spiritual growth classes (Making Peace with Your Past), bible studies, AA meetings, 12-step classes, and work, work, work. They are doing so well that I am afraid to boast.

Oh, and did I fail to mention? Both Freddie and Van are seasoned professional cooks. They stepped into the breach in the kitchen and have been pairing off for the morning and evening shifts leading groups of volunteers to feed 1000-plus people each day. In addition, Freddie has been helping out with the outreach to the children at the neighborhood park.

God knew exactly who to send to us at exactly the right time when our programs here had matured to exactly the right level. Please pray for Freddie and Van as they look forward to new lives as New Creations in Christ.

I will try my best to keep you all updated on the news from the Gulf Coast. I pray that this time will be our time of blessing, and not the Time of Trouble.

In Christ,
Rolin

North Carolina Trip

2007-06-25T14:09:00.001-05:00

Carolina! Carolina! Heaven's blessings attend her!

I have a great capacity to find things to fret about. The first week of June was my time to fret about the car: “Did the old jalopy have one more trip in it? Would it make it to North Carolina for the weekend of 9-10 June for the baptisms of Timothy and Peter, the sons of my Pennsylvania friends, Kurt and Katie Grossman? Would it make it in time for me to assist as Bishop’s Deacon in the ordination of my friend Colin Munroe to the priesthood, and the baptism of their daughter Catherine?"

As often, my fretting was misapplied. Steve Anderson here at God’s Katrina Kitchen replaced the plugs and checked the fluids for me, and the car achieved more than 27 mpg, a new record well appreciated at the going rate of $3 per gallon.

I should've reserved my fretting for the timing of the trip. About half-way there Alan Morris, my bishop, called to see if I would make it to the 2:00 pm rehearsal for the baptism. I swallowed and said “Sure, I’ll roll in there just about on time!” Then I recalculated the miles and kicked my freeway speed up several notches.

Later, Alan called me again: “How are you doing?”

“Fine,” I said, “I’m 40 miles out and I’ll be there on time.”

“But,” Alan replied, “It’s 2:15 right now.”

Oops. I had neglected to factor in the switch from Central time to Eastern. After a harrowing downhill trip through the Great Smoky Mountains, I pulled in to the church in Black Mountain, NC. To Alan I seemed a bit dazed, so Colin stood in for me as Bishop’s Deacon for the baptism service, pictured above.
By dinnertime I was feeling a bit more myself. Around the table here is pictured Timothy, Katie, and Peter Grossman, Colin Munroe, Alan and April Morris, Kurt Grossman, and myself. We had all met in Ambridge, where Kurt is working towards his degree from Trinity Episcopal Seminary. Colin has since moved to a little town called Black Mountain, near Asheville, NC. Some of you may know this as the location of the Wineskins conference. Nearby Montreat is the location of Billy Graham’s retirement home.

The conference center in Montreat has a lovely campground perched beside a rushing brook, where I stayed both Saturday and Sunday nights. My campsite was right on the camp road, but on the other side it was situated just above the rushing stream. With my car blocking off the road I had just enough room to pitch my backpacker’s tent, and slept quite peacefully to the babble of the brook.

The Grossmans were camping right next door to me, but their campsite was secluded in the trees at the end of a short entry trail. Peter and Timothy were delighted to explore up and down the creek, discovering the orange juice I had stashed in the water to cool. We had time to bring each other up to date, to fellowship, and to sit by the fire and relax.

Colin’s ordination service on Sunday went much more smoothly, with everyone (namely me) arriving on time. I had a chance for the first time to wear my deacon’s stole from Guatemala, prepared lovingly by Colores del Pueblo (coloresdelpueblo.org). Here’s a photo just before the ceremony of (from right to left) the Reverend Deacon Colin Munroe, soon to become a priest; the Right Reverend Alan Morris, bishop of the Diocese of Saint Aidan Lindisfarne, and the Reverend Deacon Captain Rolin Bruno, missionary deacon.

My job as bishop’s deacon is to hold Alan’s crossier (shepherd’s staff) and hand him anything he might need to conduct his business—sort of like Radar O’Riley’s task for Colonel Henry Blake of M*A*S*H. Here I am wondering what to do while the psalm is being recited in unison by everyone except Alan, who could not recite with us because I had not handed him his prayer book situated just at my right hand.

Here’s Alan giving Colin his charge to serve as a Priest in the One, Holy, Universal Church. Both our services were conducted here at the Church of the Incarnation in Black Mountain, North Carolina; a parish of the Charismatic Episcopal Church.
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Before his ordination, Colin prostrates himself before the altar and cross of Christ, symbolizing his complete abandon- ment of service to anyone else but Christ. This is a very solemn moment.
.

And of course we need the “after” picture. Here we present the Reverend Colin Munrow, Priest and Presbyter in the Diocese of Saint Aidan Lindisfarne, of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches. On the left is the Reverend Shirley Wood, also of the CEEC, who assisted with the ordination service.
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Bonus Photo:
Here is the only photo I have so far of my own ordination as deacon last January 6.

I found it on the ministry news page of the website for our diocese.

Much is happening back here in Mississippi in the NoAH program and at God's Katrina Kitchen. I'll do my best to bring you a new post within the next week.

Of Huckleberries and Retreats

2007-06-08T12:27:00.000-05:00

A locally known "super-virus" sometimes called the "Katrina Krud" has been making the rounds of the staff at God's Katrina Kitchen, and it grabbed hold of me with a vengeance the first two weeks of May. When my fever broke I took it as a chance to head for the woods, ending up back at POW camp with a shank steak to toss on the fire.
Toss it I did, but I had little energy for much else, and spent much of the time napping by the side of the seven-acre lake, watching the box turtles pop their heads up and listening to the frogs and birds.

Poking around a bit, I found (Alas!) that the lucious blackberries were no more to be found. However, the Huckleberry bushes were replete with small black semi-tart berries, quite a bit more flavorful than blueberries.

After grazing in the bushes for a time, I started collecting huckleberries, and brought back at least a half pint of these tender morsels, sharing them with James Giles as we sat in his porch swing back at the Kitchen.

SPIRITUAL RETREAT:

June second and third was time for another retreat into the woods.

I was joined by the new member of our NoAH program, Ed. He and I hiked to "The Duck Pond" (on which no one remembers seeing a duck), a two-acre lake beside the Tuxachanie Trail. We sat pondside and listened to the most marvelous symphony of sounds: frogs, insects, birds, and who knows what else. A good tape recorder could an make ambient sound backdrop for a jungle movie there. Next time I'll try to bring back pictures of this lily-pad covered watersite.

The idyllic pictures posted here belie the thunderstorm that was to burst upon us later. We had just got a really good bed of coals going, the sweet potatoes wrapped in foil were buried in the hot coals, and the two inch thick chuck steak was on the grill when it hit us.

My coffee cup on the table indicated that the forty-minute downpour dropped about a third of an inch of rain on us. The bed of burning coals survived the downpour, but the steak turned out quite a bit more rare inside than I had hoped. Nevertheless, when the storm ended we feasted on salad, steak, sweet potatoes, and broiled corn-on-the-cob.

Ed is no longer with us: he seemed to be doing so well, then he got homesick for Kentucky and hooked up with a streetperson who said he was going there. We don't know if Ed will make it out of town, but we do know that the demons that were besetting him when he arrived with us have seemed to fade away.

Oh Lord, remember those you have called to yourself, and call them again. Call your child Ed, Lord, and keep calling until he hears and obeys.

Amen.

May '07 Update

2007-05-12T13:58:00.000-05:00

Branson Trip; Housing Project; and Announcing: The NoAH PROJECT.

Hello again, my Dear Friends.We’re still here faithfully following God’s call to serve the Least, the Last, and the Lost along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. This is my first update for you since March; I will try to be more regular.

BRANSON TRIP:At the end of April the leadership team for Church Army Gulf Coast drove 11 hours north to visit Church Army Branson's base of evangelism; to observe, to learn, and to attend a special event. The team consisted of James and Mary Giles, Steve and Lezlie Anderson, and myself; and we were accompanied by "Mr. Bill," the first graduate from our on-campus housing program at God’s Katrina Kitchen. Mr. Bill had completed 60 days of residency and training with Church Army Gulf Coast before being accepted into the staff of God’s Katrina Kitchen as a much-needed chief cook.

In Branson I arrived a couple days early to move into one of their “Peer Houses,” which are fueling an explosive growth in Branson’s 12-Step discipleship program. Branson now houses over 100 men and women in a self-supporting program in which they pay rent while recovering from addictions in a supportive family environment. The enthusiasm, excitement and hope is palpable, and overflows in joy at the church service of Peace in the Storm, where the shouts of joy from the 200-plus congregation almost drowns out the 8-piece band.

At the church service, James and Mary and myself along with Stephen Baughan, director of Church Army Branson, were commissioned as Evangelists in Church Army USA, and given the title of Captain. (I don’t know what to do with this new title: “The Reverend Deacon Captain” is way too cumbersome for my taste.) Each of us pledged to do the work of an evangelist in Church Army Here is the Branson website: http://churcharmybranson.org/

HOUSING PROJECT:Two homeowners near the Kitchen have expressed an interest in leasing to us for a Sober Living project, while another is interested in buying a house and leasing it to us. These modest homes were severely damage by the storm and remain in disrepair. In the interior photo you can see the 5-foot-high waterline on the wall from Katrina’s storm surge.

We hope to bring houses such as these on line with volunteer help in exchange for an affordable lease rate. Although volunteer relief workers have been in short supply since Spring Break, we are looking forward to capacity crowds arriving at the Kitchen through the summer.

NoAH LIFE TRANSFORMATION PROJECT
(Narcotic or Alcoholic/Homeless):To help populate these houses, we have launched the NoAH project, on-campus at the Kitchen. While Branson has detox and 28-day recovery facilities nearby which feed people into their program, Mississippi has few such services. NoAH will take hurting people directly into an intensive 40-day recovery period after which they can apply for entry into a Sober Living Home. (Remember that Noah didn’t open the window of the ark until 40 days had passed?) We already have admitted the first person into NoAH: I ask your prayers for Ed, who has 180 days of sobriety and desperately wants to keep his life going in a positive direction.

We are especially encouraged by our meeting this week with the chaplain for the local county prison. He operates a vibrant Christian program with segregated housing within the prison walls, and has been concerned for some time about after-care for those who are released. He was especially pleased that we offered to pick up at the prison gate those men that he would recommend to the NoAH Project.

STRUGGLE: Not all our news was cheery last month. Samuel and “Choo-Choo” relapsed into their addictions and ran afoul of the legal system: I ask your continuing prayers for them. Though it seems as if “sometimes the dragon wins,” yet we are not discouraged, for it has been promised to us that God’s Word that has been implanted into them shall not return void.

Thank you again for all your prayers and your generous gifts to the Gulf Coast, and may the God of All Mercies, the God of the Peace that Passes All Understanding, the God of Promises that will not fail, continue to bless each one of you abundantly beyond your expectations.

...In Love and Peace, Rolin

Tuxachanie: Trail's Rest Mile 12

2007-04-21T14:41:00.000-05:00

A week off to go camping! I headed straight for the Desoto National Forest, to the end point of the Tuxachanie Trail, known as POW camp. This site was a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, but little trace of those days remains, just a grassy meadow under the pines beside a 7-acre lake.

I arrived just as the trail was exploding into a riotous bloom of pink flowers, running alongside and overarching Tuxachanie creek. From the camp there is a two-hour loop renowned as the most beautiful stretch of the Tuxachanie trail.

Alas, I was unable to locate the 'Mystery Bush' that I photographed last month. My daughter Amber, a recent graduate with a degree in biology and plant science, asked for some closer pictures and a better description in the hope that we could identify what I had seen three weeks ago. Now I have a date to return here March 25, 2008, to search for this short-lived floral wonder.

Flowers weren't the only notable growth: huckleberrys could be found on the bushes, blackberries were rumored, and a good-sized raspberry patch lay just 50 feet from my campsite. Have you ever tried romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and bell pepper sprinkled with balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, and chopped wild raspberries? Delicious!

Back at camp, the morning alarm clock was provided by Canada Geese arriving by the pair (or one, or three) announcing their landing run on the lake with enough honking to satisfy rush hour on the Los Angeles freeway. Their joyful noise thoroughly made up for the puddle in my tent after the overnight rain on Wednesday.

Oh God, Creator of the Universe, Lover of your Creation, I give thanks to you for the Fifth Day, on which you declared that everything you had made was Good. I give thanks to you for the Sixth day, when you took some of that Good Stuff and made humankind in your likeness and image. And I give thanks to you for that Resurrection Day, when you restored us to yourself through the death and resurrection of your Son, our Savior, Jesus the Messiah.

MARCH '07 REPORT

2007-03-29T14:05:00.000-05:00

Gulf Coast devastation; Housing project; Samuel relocates.

Hurricane Katrina is gone, but still this month we are struggling on the Gulf Coast: struggling with devastated homes, devastated lives, and turbulent times. Please continue to pray for us.

Hurricane Katrina was the most costly hurricane in the history of the United States, causing devastation along much of the central Gulf Coast of the United States. Due to its sheer size, it devastated the Gulf Coast as far as 100 miles from the storm's center. At least 1,836 people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina and in the subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since 1928. The storm is estimated to have been responsible for 81 billion dollars in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Most prominent were the catastrophic effects on the city of New Orleans and in coastal Mississippi.

It formed in the Atlantic on August 23, 2005, crossing southern Florida before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico to become one of the strongest hurricanes on record while at sea. The storm weakened before making its second and third landfalls on the morning of August 29, first in southeast Louisiana and then at the Louisiana-Mississippi state line.

Katrina's powerful right-front quadrant entered the west and central Mississippi coast, bringing with it a powerful ‘storm surge’ of water up to 27 feet above sea level, causing catastrophic damage to Mobile, Alabama; Slidell, Louisiana; and the Mississippi Gulf Coast cities of Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Gulfport, and Biloxi. Rebuilding has begun in many areas, but today, a year and a half after the storm, a tour of the devastated area still impacts the visitor with shock and awe.

At the current site of God’s Katrina Kitchen in Gulfport, dozens of shipping containers were flung from the port into coastal residences. A huge red sea barge pulverized an entire community of motels and rental housing, coming to rest a block north of the coast highway among modest single family homes.

Housing on the Gulf Coast remains a critical shortage item, especially rental housing. This picture shows the devastation where the sea barge ravaged a 120-unit complex of modest rental units on Camp Avenue. One of the concrete-block apartment buildings (right center of the photo), was narrowly missed by the barge. There is little likelihood that affordable housing will be rebuilt on this prime land adjoining the beach.

Today, a year and a half later, the apartment building has been put into use by God’s Katrina Kitchen for storage and short-term bunk housing. But along Camp Avenue, many of the modest houses were severely damage by the storm and remain in disrepair.

The first house, which can be seen in this second picture, is a total wreck. The owner of the second house is repairing it in his spare time and has brought it to almost a habitable condition. As of last week, the third house remained in the same condition that Katrina left it: everything inside tossed about by the water from the storm surge. But this week the owner’s daughter gave the Kitchen clearance to send in a volunteer team to clean and gut out the house. The fourth house is being repaired part-time by the owner, the fifth is ready for insulation and drywall, and the sixth has had no repairs as of yet.

On the left side of the street, the first house is being rebuilt from scratch, while three out of the next four (a duplex) sit in disrepair. The owners of these houses are often octogenarians or older, living with kin and flummoxed as to what to do with the beloved but ruined household property where they raised their families.

Church Army Housing Project: We are continuing our quest for housing to provide a sober living home for those who complete the first phase of our Spiritual Transformation program. Since rental housing is in such short supply, we would prefer to restore one of the hundreds of Katrina-ruined homes sitting vacant all around us, and use the "sweat equity" to inspire our workers and help pay for the rent. Here on Camp Avenue we have been talking with the owners of the fifth and sixth houses on the right and the duplex on the left, and we have been preparing estimates for the cost of the repairs, with a view toward leasing the restored housing.

With the help of Church Army USA leadership, we have sketched the outlines of a potential funding plan, and hope to present a proposal by next month. Please pray for the Spirit to guide us into the right house, the right plan, and those donors that God has already prepared in advance to provide this blessing for the hurting people of the Gulf Coast.

Samuel’s Relocation: Samuel is our resident who was called to be baptised last month. By occupation, Samuel (see February report) is a specialist in flooring and tile. Shortly after he joined us, he told of receiving a vision in which he was laying tile in a church. When we visited the Free Church of the Annunciation in New Orleans, he was sure that he had found the church where he was supposed to help. This month, Deacon Milton called from New Orleans to say that the tile work was ready to start and housing was available for Samuel. Although this had been a turbulent month for our men in recovery here with challenges from their past lifestyles, yet God was gracious to call them back into obedience to Christ, and to call Deacon Milton to help supervise Samuel’s continuing road to full recovery. We are praying earnestly for both Milton and Samuel, and are giving thanks to God for providing both a place for Samuel and an expert tile-setter for Annunciation.

This month for our spiritual growth program, we are beginning the video series "What’s So Amazing About Grace?" and reading Philip Yancey’s accompanying book. We viewed the first installment last week, and we’re enthusiastic about seeing the rest of them. I highly recommend the book for your reading.

Mystery question of the month: Can you identify this magnificent flowering bush I stumbled across along the Tuxachanie Trail? (More on that hiking trip in the comment to the post below.) You’can post your answer to the mystery question as a comment here.

Thank you for your prayers and your generous gifts to the Gulf Coast, and may the God of All Mercies, the God of the Peace that Passes All Understanding, bless each of you abundantly.

….In Love and Peace,
Rolin+

Tuxachanie Trail, Mile 10+

2007-03-13T15:52:00.000-05:00

Sunday-Monday, March 11-12:

Approaching mile 9 of the Tuxachanie Trail on Sunday, I crossed Spike Buck Creek via the plank bridge which winds for some 50 yards across the marshy bottomland.

I found a tiny clearing beside the trail just past mile 10, pitching my tent under one of the many trees felled by Hurricane Katrina.

Monday I hiked packless another 3 miles or so, as Spike Buck Creek joined Tuxachanie Creek itself. The creek is a deep cut in heavily wooded forest, often hidden by the morass of huricane-tossed trees.

A deer skirted around my path, keeping 60 yards distant. His snort sounded like a horse; his large hoofprints on the trail bespoke a heavy buck. A shiny blue-black 3-foot long indigo snake lay across my path, languidly considering my presence. She challenged the end of my walking stick to a fight, then thought better of it and glided off. A scream from a bald eagle rang out overhead.

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not be faint. Is 40:31.

Tuxachanie Trail, Mile Nine

2007-02-26T19:04:00.000-06:00

Journal Entry: Monday, February 26, 2006; 11:00 am.

The bald eagle has moved on. The wind converses with the tall pines, punctuated by a woodpecker's knock. The distant pack of hunting dogs is gone now, leaving a ghostly echo of the dozen coyotes who prowled this hollow last night. The windsong murmurs in the forest .

"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8 ESV).

FEBRUARY REPORT

2007-02-23T10:51:00.001-06:00

Baptism,
New Orleans trip, and a
New Housing project.

Also: Michael Melendrez and his miracle (see comment section). An update is over here .

Exciting News: Rev. Deacon Rolin Bruno of the CEEC conducts baptism at God's Katrina Kitchen, for the Church Army Gulf Coast life transformation program!

This month in our spiritual transformation program we have been presenting the video series “Forty Days of Purpose” and reading Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life.” Participants in this included “Choo-choo” and our new volunteer, Samuel. After reading Rick’s chapter on being “Formed for God’s Family”, Samuel was led by the Holy Spirit to seek to be baptized. Samuel and I spent some time together the next 2 weeks praying and exploring the depths of the meaning of baptism.

Last Saturday it was chilly (50 degrees F), and when the appointed hour arrived the sun hid its face from us. Nevertheless, Samuel was undaunted. Taking a break from remodeling a nearby house, he came to the beach to recite his baptismal vows and wade with us into the brisk wind sweeping across the Gulf of Mexico. It was low tide, so by the time we reached deep-enough water we were over 50 yards from shore. James assisted me in immersing Samuel into the Gulf, and bestowed a blessing on him when we returned to shore, where he was greeted and hugged by all. Samuel's baptism will be permanently recorded with the Gulf Coast Resurrection Community and the Missionary Diocese of St. Aidan Lindisfarne.

Samuel is struggling with issues in his personal life and in the dysfunctional lives of his family members. Day by day—sometimes less, sometimes more—he is learning what it means to give up one’s own life and turn it over to Jesus. He is digging into the Bible, and revisiting the 12-step program. Sometimes he will notice a change in himself, saying “Normally, I would have [done such-and-such] when someone did [or said] that to me, but that was the old Samuel. I’m not going back to doing things my old way.” Please pray for Samuel, and for his family members.

BAPTISM PHOTOS (thanks to Mary Giles and Lezlie Anderson).
1: Rolin and Samuel.
2. Preparing for baptismal vows.
3: Video by Ray of the Kitchen.
4: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
5: Back to shore with a new member of God’s family.
6: Welcome into the Body of Christ!
7: A hug from Steve Anderson.
8: A hug from Gulfport resident Thurmon.

New Orleans Trip:

Last Sunday I traveled to New Orleans to attend Church of the Annunciation, taking with me three men from Church Army and one from the Kitchen. We got there just in time for Holy Communion, because the service time had been moved up to 9am to avoid the onslaught of Mardi Gras parades that close down much of the city. Fr. Jerry Kramer greeted us, and was pleased that we would be returning once a month to visit him. He insisted that I bring my deacon’s stole next time, so that I could participate at the altar. They are making good progress on refurbishing their Katrina-flooded sanctuary, and Samuel is enthusiastic about helping to retile their floor when they are ready to do that.

Housing Search:

We have begun searching for more permanent (and more house-like) housing here in Gulfport, to provide a sober living home for those who complete the first phase of our Spiritual Transformation program. Rental (and all other) housing is in short supply along the Gulf Coast and is at inflated prices. Our preference, rather than to use up some of the available housing, is to restore one of the hundreds of Katrina-ruined homes sitting vacant all around us. This should not only give us some “sweat equity” in paying for a new residence, but also will help give the men a bond with it and a sense of self-worth.

Whether this project will take the form of a purchase, lease, or simply a rental we do not yet know. We also have no idea at this time how God plans to pay for all this. Next month, with the help of the leadership of Church Army USA, we will begin to formulate a potential funding plan. Please pray for the Spirit to guide us into the right house, the right plan, and those donors that God has already selected to provide this blessing for the hurting people of the Gulf Coast.

Thank you for your prayers and your other gifts for the Gulf Coast, and may the God of Hope bless each of you richly.

….In Love and Peace,

Rolin

January Update

2007-01-29T21:54:00.000-06:00

AND THEN THERE WERE SIX…

Photo: From left to right is Lezlie Anderson, Steve Anderson, Mary Giles, James Giles, Rolin Bruno, and standing in front, Michael Brent.

Many of you, beloved, have followed with my updates since last May as I left California on the “Great Leap” into whatever God might have for me post-schooling. You will remember that I was not all that sure what might lay ahead. On the advice of my friend, Father Richard of Saint James Anglican (Newport Beach, CA), I drove to the Pittsburgh headquarters of a home missionary group called Church Army USA, which reputedly took in misfits such as myself.

While in Pennsylvania I not only got to know the leadership of Church Army, but also came to know a bunch of folks developing a house church missionary movement under The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches (theceec.org). Next, I spent the month of July getting steeped in the ministry of Church Army Branson (Missouri), where a vibrant new church has sprung forth from years of work among men and women afflicted with addiction to drugs or alcohol.

But Mississippi seemed to be calling to me, where church army members James and Mary Giles were working alongside the hurricane relief efforts of God’s Katrina Kitchen. The long-term volunteers there were struggling to respond to the homeless and afflicted who showed up at the Kitchen, but needed oh-so-much more love than just a meal.

I arrived at the Kitchen August 2, and immediately felt that I was in the right place. Within two weeks God had put before me whole communities of homeless peoples, many of whom were in quite desperate straits, and some of whom could be greatly helped with just love and attention. I dropped my plan to spend a whole month investigating and discerning, and instead drove back to California to pick up the rest of my belongings and say goodbye to my dear friends at Saint James Anglican. I told them about the hurting people of coastal Mississippi and a dream formed in the mind of God for a new ministry.

When I got back to the Kitchen, James and I watched awestruck as God unfolded his dream. In an area where there is virtually no help for recovery from addiction, God had us inviting homeless addicts into my cabin home and trying to love them into His Kingdom. Then God moved the whole Kitchen operation, along with our fledgling Church Army Gulf Coast, six miles east to Gulfport where we were in the midst of hundreds of hurting, hungry, desperate and challenged people.

This month I write to tell you the amazing story of the six people who are trying to keep up with God as he brings His dream for Church Army Gulf Coast alive and moving along on His path.

After James’ ordination to the priesthood, he and Mary heard the call to help hurricane victims on the devastated Gulf Coast, and in January 2006 began coordinating relief tasks for the short term volunteer teams arriving from all over the United States. When God moved the Kitchen from its lovely site overlooking the serene waters off Pass Christian, MS, it was a struggle and a challenge. At the same time, James’ involvement was growing to become one of the key leaders for the overall mission of the Kitchen, multiplying his responsibilities and reducing his time available for ministry to the hurting people arriving to be fed. Mary also took on new responsibilities helping to operate the busy office of God’s Katrina Kitchen.

When I arrived, James and Mary joined others in saying that I was an answer to their prayers. They had been praying for someone to show up who had a heart for the homeless, and I seemed to fill the bill (this despite my tendency to become imperious when frustrated). Drawing upon my experience in Victory Outreach men’s rehab homes, and attempting to employ the 12-step methods which were working so well in Branson, we patched together a program and began accepting men onto the Kitchen campus to live in my tiny bunkhouse with me. I think perhaps God has kept our ministry small because of all the mistakes we continue to make as we learn what our tasks are through hands-on experience.

Already on site were Steve and Lezlie Anderson, who arrived at the Kitchen in October 2005. As an alcoholic in recovery, Steve had wanted to begin having Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on campus, for all those struggling to maintain their sobriety. After my arrival, we began weekly meetings in October 2006 of what is now the Camp Avenue Group, known to the AA central office, and hoping this year to become a fully recognized AA group. Lezlie has also been a great help to us with contributions from her years of experience in Al-Anon.

Most recently arriving is Michael Brent, who has a heart for helping those who are caught in the cycle of addiction. Michael and James had become friends when they attended seminary together, and after an exploratory trip here last month, decided to join us in our pastoral team. Michael’s cabin expanded our capacity from three to five men transforming their lives, and one of the men already here moved in with him. Michael is working on expanding our ministry to help the continued flux of homeless and devastated men and women who drift through the kitchen, in need of counseling, referral, case management, and advocacy.

Tampa, Florida trip
And finally, a personal note. Growing out of my relationship with Alan Morris (another seminary friend of James’, now a bishop), I felt a call to make The CEEC my new church home, in the missionary diocese he was founding. This January 6, I was ordained as a Missionary Deacon in the Diocese of Saint Aidan Lindisfarne. www.staidanlindisfarne.org. Ordination was the end of a long road for me, and the beginning of a new one. It has given me a new sense of peace, and has had the effect of removing some of the shrillness from my words and actions.

May God’s peace remain also with you as you keep each of us here in your prayers.
….In Love,
Rolin

Bonus picture:
“Choo-Choo,”
who may become the first graduate from our program, working on rehabilitat- ing the former apartment building on campus.

I am just beginning a personal web log. As I become more familiar in how to use it, I will post more frequently there; and each of you may enter your own comments: http://resurrectiongulfcoast.blogspot.com/

To make a donation to this ministry,
you may send a check or money order to:
Church Army USA, 210 W. North Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15212.
ON THE MEMO LINE PLEASE WRITE: GULF COAST GC096

Please pray for us,
Rev. Deacon Rolin Bruno

December in Gulf Port

2007-01-16T10:48:00.000-06:00

Even the air seemed tense. It was 2:30 PM on Tuesday when the Gulfport City Council meeting was called to order, and far too late to get a seat as the restless crowd overflowed out the double doors and down the stairs.

Yesterday, December 4, the permit had expired for God’s Katrina Kitchen to continue in operation at our new site just off the beach in Gulfport, Mississippi. The day before, we had just completed two months of arduous and sometimes frustrating work to complete our move from our previous site six miles west in Pass Christian. But today we had no permit, and were again at the mercy of the city council. What would these seven councilpersons do? Would they listen to those voices complaining that three meals a day at the Kitchen was attracting “undesirable” transients?

The mayor presented his proposal. His plan was for us to move again, to a grassy site in a flood plain owned by the city, where no permanent structures were allowed to be built. We wondered whether, when the weather turned bad, the kitchen would be able to feed people in a tent pitched on a grassy flood plain. We wondered whether we would have to move all 24 cabins again, including the ones housing myself and the Church Army Gulf Coast volunteer relief workers—those men who are seeking so desperately to transform their lives.

Councilwoman Ella Holmes-Hines recognized her friends from the Kitchen that were present in the room, and made an impassioned plea to allow them to stay at our site. Other councilpersons indicated that they had already pledged to deny our request. Finally, they voted. The mayor’s proposal was defeated, 3 to 2. Those from the Kitchen were dismissed, and television interviews were being filmed on the stairway landings.

God gave us the victory! Or did he? The city administrator said that we no longer had to move. But the mayor pointed out that our permit to operate had expired. Still, we returned home, with the feeling that God had performed a miracle. James called it an exhausting spiritual battle.

Then at 6:00 the phone call came. It seemed that the mayor had pointed out the council’s unfinished business, and we were needed back at the council chambers. James, Greg Porter, and others returned as they sorted things out. Ella continued to defend us. Greg was asked, “What do you want us to do?” The answer: “Let us stay through the end of our year’s lease.” The vote was taken. The verdict: 4 to 3 for YES, we can remain where we are as requested—until July 31.

God is good. OUR GOD REIGNS!

God is beginning to reign in the lives of the three men He has given us to shepherd in Church Army. We had lost Dale, and then Barry left when the internet-ink was barely dry on last month’s report. But God already had in mind the two others he was ready to send us: “Nate”, a young man trying to sort out the direction for his life while battling recurring binges, and “Choo-Choo” (his street name), a veteran construction worker and addict who had been recycled from the streets to jail and back so many times he had lost count.

Nate was locked into deep withdrawal when he arrived, but now he has taken an interest in life around him and is getting used to the routine of spiritual disciplines and work. Choo-Choo has made it through his first rough week and is resisting the call of the drug-filled streets. And Jeff is well on his way through his second month, striving to put God’s will in control where once there was only Jeff’s will.

God is on the move, and may be getting us ready to expand the ministry here. Watch this space for exciting updates, and please continue to pray for us.

May the God of all peace richly bless you.
....Rolin

Photos:
1: The poles are up! When we get the rest of this tent up, we'll be distributing Toys for Tots for the entire 3-county region.
2: The old brown tool shed is now the "blue room" where we hold AA meetings.
3: The apartment building has a new paint job, but we're still waiting for permission to hook up electricity to it.