My friend Packy Thompson who pastors Bayou Blue Assembly in Houma is leading the relief efforts in Southeast Louisiana. Convoy of Hope is stationed in the parking lot of his church, providing essentials to that community. Journey is recruiting teams to head down there to help with the work. I will be going down there this week to volunteer. Many pastors and churches came to our aid in 2005 in the aftermath of Katrina, so we know how vital outside help can be. If you want to join the relief efforts you can sign up this weekend at Journey. If you do not live in our area but want to help Packy you can visit their web site for directions and information. www.bayoublueassembly.com . Lots of ministry to do this week. How long before hurricane season ends ?

   We hope you’re all home safely from the evacuation. Can’t wait to see you this weekend at Journey. We are resuming our NORMAL WEEKEND SCHEDULE. Sat. 6 PM and Sun. 9 & 11 AM.
Our office phones are working again. Incoming and Outgoing. If you need to speak with a pastor or require assistance please call us. 985.882.4124. The church office is OPEN.
   The Ninth Ward Campus took a hit from Gustav. Pastor Robert is assessing that today. We were nearly finished with the construction there so we will have to backtrack a bit to repair those damages. The Compassion Building at J9 looks great. We should still be able to open that campus on schedule in November.
   Journey is partnering with Convoy of Hope to bring relief supplies to our sister churches in Southeast Louisiana. If you want to volunteer to serve on one of those teams you can sign up on your Comm. Card this weekend or email us. We will be working with Bayou Blue Assembly in Houma. Pastor Packy Thompson leads that awesome church. I spoke with him today.
    Reach Deep Classes resume on Thursday September 11 at 7 PM. Full children’s ministry is in action too on Thursday night. We will add one week to the fall semester to make up for the one we lost to Gustav.
  Rachel and I are looking forward to seeing you all this weekend. We will celebrate  Communion at all three Experiences. That should be a sweet time of worship together. 
                             I love this church,
                                                         Pastor Doug 

    Most families who evacuated from Gustav’s path are beginning to return, including us. Rachel and I returned on Wednesday from Pensacola. We spent the first two nights in the RV and the last two nights in a hotel. It’s so great to be home again so soon. The damage to the Northshore is severe in some places and many of our Journey family is still without power. We are grateful that our new campus seems to be in good shape in Lacombe. Our sign at the entrance was blown away though. We hope to inspect the Ninth Ward Campus tomorrow. Our staff will meet today and plan for the weekend and what aid we can offer to those affected by the storm. The phone system is down at the church offices. We CAN call out but we CANNOT receive calls. AT&T is telling us it may be next week before they can repair our phone lines. If you need to reach a pastor please email us. Or you can leave a comment here. For now it’s GREAT to be home. I love guys.
 
                       Pastor Doug & Rachel

    Good morning Journey family,

   We hope you are all well today. Most of 2 million people from Southeast Louisiana are still evacuated, I’m sure most of you are to. Thanks for emailing us your locations and status of your well-being. As far as I know everyone from Journey is safe. That is pleasant news in the face of our current challenge. We survived Katrina and we WILL overcome this hurricane also. My family is in Pensacola today and waiting for the opportunity to return home. We slept in the RV on Saturday and Sunday night. On Monday we checked into a hotel in Pensacola, FL. It’s nice to have room to stretch out. The wind is pretty strong here and the surf is dangerous. The beaches are closed due to Gustav. We plan on heading home on Wednesday morning. We have heard reports that the power is out on most of the Northshore. Once we survey the damage to our community we will post Journeys response to the relief efforts and our Weekend Worship Schedule. Keep the faith. 
    We are very concerned about our New Orleans Campus. It is located in the Ninth Ward and some of the Levees there were overtopped by the tidal surge. We will go down there as soon as the city reopens. Be encouraged today, God is still in control. We are going to have many opportunities in the coming weeks to serve our Community and do the work of Christ. We will turn our misery into ministry. You are in our prayers today. See you soon.

                                             Pastor Doug & Rachel

   Hey Journey
      I have been praying for each of you today. Rachel and I evacuated on Saturday night with our 5 children. We are in a RV park near Pensecola watching the weather channel. Bob Breck(my favorite weatherman) thinks this COULD be a Category 4 sometimes today. He is a voice of reason and always looks for the positive. www.bobbreck.blogspot.com . If Gustav causes us to be separated for any length of time please let me know where you’re family is staying. You can email me at pastordoug@jfcemail.com . I can access it on my mobile phone. I will post on this blog as often as necessary. And we will post updates on our response to the storm. If the aftermath of Gustav calls for relief efforts we will be ready. Also look for our worship schedule on the main page of www.journeyfellowshipchurch.com . It’s possible our worship times will change in response to the post storm conditions. I want you to know we are praying for you all. I’ve been in touch with all of the pastors from Journey. At this time they are all well.
   
                                   with much love,
                                                       Pastor Doug and Rachel

   Journey Family

    Our team has been monitoring the progress of the hurricane and the possible need for evacuation. We have determined it would be in our church family’s best intrest to suspend this weekend worship schedule at Journey Fellowship Church. The storm may not be a direct hit on the Northshore like Katrina was, however we will be on the western side of Gustav. It may be a Category 4 hurricane and as you know the west side is usually the worst. If you leave town you can get updates on this blog or our website. You are in our prayers and thoughts. I love this church.
       
                                                   Pastor Doug

In the middle of hurricane tracking here in Louisiana big news comes out of Alaska. Alaska? I’m still a little shocked by John McCains announcement of Sarah Palin as his running mate. She is a sitting Governor, former mayor and City Council member. She has been married to her husband for 20 years and they have 5 children. Gov. Palin is a committed follower of Jesus and a strong ProLife advocate. I believe she is authentic in a way Washington hasn’t seen in decades. Bold move Senator McCain. This is great news for America. Congratulations Governor Palin.

   We sent out an email blast to everyone on our mailing list about this weekend’s worship schedule. I have received several responses from the Journey family saying they plan on coming to Saturday Worship at 6 PM. As of this writing we will follow our regular Sunday schedule too. I’m hearing that the evacuation may be called for Sunday, IF the storm remains on its current track. We shall see.
   Do not worry and do not be afraid. God is greater than the storm.

    If you are planning on evacuating this weekend to beat the rush why don’t you also plan on coming to the Saturday Night Experience at Journey? We are operating our regular weekend schedule. Saturday 6pm and Sunday 9am and 11am. We will have worship and Communion at all the weekend Experiences. We can also pray together for the Hurricane to miss the Northshore and New Orleans. Hope to see you soon. I will update the blog as the weather develops.

    There is storm brewing in the Caribbean tonight. Some of the models have him in the Gulf by Sunday. He’s going to make landfall sometimes next week. (Monday or Tuesday). I don’t wish him on anyone but we DO NOT want him in Louisiana. Gustav go away. We are gearing up for our three weekend Experiences, hurricane notwithstanding. Pray for those in Haiti  and Cuba who are already feeling his wrath.