Lake Charles, LA — One of the lessons that God has been teaching us this year is to walk by faith and how doing so grows our faith.  I know some of you reading this have testimonies of how stepping out in faith has increased your faith and trust in the Lord.  If so, please share them with us!

One way God is teaching me (Mark) to walk by faith is through my role as the Construction Supervisor. Over the past few months, we have been praying about what families to serve next as some of our other projects were wrapping up.

I assessed Ms Cayla’s home back in July 2024, but honestly I was reluctant to start it; it was going to be a huge undertaking.  

Hurricane Laura caused widespread damage to the roof and much damage inside as well so Ms Cayla had the roof tarped and the inside gutted.  Since it was a dry place to store things (at the time), she let her brother move some of his stuff into the home for temporary storage.

Unfortunately, at some point the tarp failed and began to leak on everything in the home.  In this time, her brother passed away as well, leaving her with a houseful of waterlogged stuff.  It was overwhelming for Ms Cayla and the little she received from FEMA was long gone.  Click on the picture below to check out what it looked like as we first walked into Ms Cayla’s home.

Because I was reluctant to start Ms Cayla’s home, I tried to get other jobs started for the teams that were coming in.  Each attempt was met with some kind of major obstacle or closed door.  God was pushing me to step out in faith trusting Him to work and to provide for Ms Cayla.

So we said yes to rebuilding her home, not knowing how we could get the home to a safe condition for all the volunteers coming, where the funds would come from, or how we could even do some of the repairs needed.  You may say “it’s just a house” and rightly so, but for Ms Cayla, it was the home she was living in before the storm, the home she spent much of her childhood in, the home her family built, and the home where I could say, I won’t lean on my own understanding, but acknowledge You, Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6).

As we emptied out the home, and started tearing out the rotten floors, I was still struggling to trust God.  I kept saying to myself “how?”, how can we do this, how will this come together, and on it went.  But God kept bringing me back to the lesson He’s been teaching me this year: walk by faith, not by sight.

Walking by faith is good for us, it forces us to grow.  God never changes, but He does expect His children to change and grow, to conform into the image of His Son.  This week we reflect on Jesus’ death and resurrection.  He trusted in a good God who had a good plan for His life.  His willingness to submit to the Father’s plan has given us salvation to spend eternity with Him.  May we each cling to God as we walk by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Galatians 2:20 says: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

It’s amazing how God also reinforced this lesson through His Word; at church Pastor Phil was preaching through 1 Peter, and in staff Bible study, we were going through James.  Both books talk about how trials and challenges grow our faith in God.

So we kept pushing forward, asking God to help and asking God’s people to help. God has provided over and over so far at Ms Cayla’s.  He provided a group of skilled guys (pic above with Ms Cayla and her mom) to get the roof decking replaced and shingled, all the plumbing redone, all the electrical redone, and the subfloor replaced and He provided all those materials we needed as well!  God continues to work at Ms Cayla’s; providing for her and her family.  Click here to check out the progress at Ms Cayla’s.

God has used His church and His people to provide siding, insulation, drywall; for each step of the way, He has provided!  As for me, my faith continues to grow.  Daily, I need to remind myself to trust in the Lord with all my heart and not to lean on my own understanding, to acknowledge Him, and He’ll make my paths straight.

Remember, if you have stories of how stepping out in faith has increased your faith, we’d love to hear them.  Click here to email us or reply to this newsletter.

Thank you for your partnership, we are so grateful for ya’ll!

Love, Mark, Katie, Ruthie, Bekah, Jojo, & Zach

Praises and Prayer Requests Praises: For God’s work in us, growing our faith. For God’s provision at Ms Cayla’s.  For Ms. Rosie moving back into her home! (pic below of our Welcome Home Celebration where we prayed over her home) For the successful tonsillectomy and recovery for Josiah. In May, both girls will finish school: Ruthie will finish 2nd grade and Bekah will finish kindergarten.  On May 15th, Zach will turn TWO! Time sure does fly! For the people and teams God is providing to serve with us in Lake Charles Prayer Requests: For more short- and long-term staff to join our ministry and for adjunct staff who can help serve one or two weeks. For God to lead us to the families He wants us to serve and that God would bring together the details as we step out in faith for a summer Bible study for our homeowners. We need wisdom and strength for parenting our children. We need prayers for lives to be transformed by the gospel and that we continue to practice our ministry value of “people over projects.”

As we look ahead to the summer, we are in need of more adjunct staff who can come serve with us. We have many weeks of youth groups signed up and would love for God to supply willing servants who want to invest in the next generation.  If you have a week of two this summer you’d like to come, reach out to Mark at [email protected].