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Mission #2: Team #1 Slidell, and Team #2 Franklinton, LA

Our second mission to Louisiana saw Team #1 working to help the Calvary Baptist Church in Slidell and some of their neighbors, while Team #2 distributed food, water, supplies, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the very rural area around Franklinton.

Team #1 Members

  • Alan Smith
  • Tim Sanders
  • Brad Winsted
  • Cleveland, Wesley, Andrew, and Sam Morton
  • Albert Lummus

Team #2 Members

  • Bret Smith
  • Michael Sr. and Michael Jr. Morton
  • Noah Sanders
  • Marc Davis
  • Barry Plath
  • Brian Wilson
  • Frank and Nicholas Campana
  • Robert and Arthur Lummus

 

 

 

Our staging area was Michael Morton's home, where several of the families waiting while their men were in the field. Through the generous giving of several families, the Smith family was able to purchase several pallets of supplies from BJs. Robert Lummus also brought a Suburban full of supplies from Vidalia. Our caravan inluded the Morton's van, the Lummus' Suburban, and the Smith's truck pulling Joe Reed's trailer.

After driving all night, we parked the vehicles at the Calvary Baptist Church in Slidell, where Pastor Charles Starnes gave us the use of the school house on church grounds to set up our base. After a reconoitering of the situation, we divided the group into two teams. Team #1 stayed in Slidell to help with the enormous cleanup effort at the church and the neighborhood. Team #2 went to Bogalusa, a rural town the local police said had been hit hard by the storm but was not receiving much outside assistance.

In Bogalusa, our team was fed by the local sherrif's department, who were very grateful we were there. A detective escorted us to a church in Pines that was coordinating relief efforts. From there, we were directed to Franklinton, and another sherrif's deputy escorted us there.

We began our distribution on a small parish road running north out of Franklinton. Frank took the motorcycle and acted as our scout, riding ahead and up and down rural roads, finding where the needs were. At times, the trailer was overwhelmed with people needing assistance, and the men worked nonstop boxing and bagging supplies to give out. Many people asked for Bibles, and we gave out over 60 Bibles, each personalized with a message of repentance and the phone number of The Homeschool Advantage.