Hello to my new Carthage family. Today I’m packing up and preparing to head your way on Monday morning. I’ll be in the office and working starting Tuesday. I can’t wait to be with you all on Palm Sunday. I’ll also be visiting LifeGroups throughout my first several weeks with you.

As I stated previously, I sincerely want to get to know each of you. If you’d like to meet with me, just call the church office and we’ll make it happen. For now, I’d love for you to be my friend on Facebook (several of you have already done this). Facebook is a great way to get to know the real me, see what I’m up to and follow the adventures of my family, music, movies and favorite places to eat. You can send me a friend request here.

Finally, I’d like to strongly encourage you to consider…

Well, we made it safely!

The flights were smooth and customs was crazy, but there were no problems entering Haiti. We were picked up by Pastor Paul (English Baptist Church of Delmas) and taken to our lodging for the trip. While it is a huge downgrade from our usual sleeping arrangements, I feel extremely blessed knowing that we are sleeping and eating better than most in Haiti.

Tuesday was our first workday. We went to the church and began to build upon a current wall. The church is trying to create a small play area for the kids (their old one is now three large tents that are used for school). As I came to find more than I imagined, since the earthquake many buildings, homes, schools, churches, etc. have been abandoned. Even some buildings that seem to be fine have been left to memory due to the fear of…

These photos were taken during the second day of Elevate 2010 and the Haiti Relief Rummage Sale.

These photos were taken during the first night of Elevate 2010.