Wow, so much has happened since I last wrote. Perhaps the biggest news is that I am now officially a Louisiana resident!

Thursday afternoon I was talking to some ladies about where we go to vote from this neighborhood and I mentioned that I still needed to register. One of them let me know that the deadline was October 6. Wow, that was coming up fast. So as I got online that night to see what I needed to get a driver's license I began to panic. I lost my social security card some time ago and just haven't made it a priority to get a replacement.

Well, one of the things you need for a license is your social security card. Go figure. As an alternative form of ID I can use a passport so I tore up my apartment Thursday night looking for that. I finally found it and several documents which contained my SSN.

I arrived at the DMV at 7 a.m., even though they don't open until 8, and there were already 12 people in line. When they opened the doors then you go through another line to get a number for another line. My number came up about 8:30 and when I got up there they told me that isn't where I was supposed to be, but the lady decided to be nice and take care of me anyway. So by 9 a.m. I had my new license!

Because we are so close to the deadline for registering to vote, I couldn't do it at the DMV. So yesterday I headed to city hall to take care of that. It was all the way down at the end of the hall and, of course, there was another line. I told the lady I needed to register and that I hadn't registered in Louisiana before. She told me to fill out the form and when I gave it back to her, she didn't even ask for my ID. Why am I surprised? I don't really know. After all, this is New Orelans.

On another note, we are experiencing a lot of change here in the ministry. We will be moving out of our offices the last week in October and we'll be moving into the Yellow House. For those who aren't familiar with the house, it is where all of our teams stay. There are four main rooms on the first level toward the front, and that is where we will be staying. Behind those are bathroom, shower and laundry areas and at the very back is the kitchen. Upstairs are two apartments and rooms where our teams stay when they come to serve.

It is going to be a tight fit and a big change from our spacious offices. The move is due to a serious financial crunch that has been coming for several months. Our operating budget is very low and we are looking to make some changes to help alliviate that as we work on continued fundraising. Moving out of our offices will save us approximately $5,500/month.

Our other big news is that for the time being we are delaying the building of our new community center. We want to be able to build out of a position of financial strength and know that we will see and increase in both ministry and expenses once we move. We want to be sure we are prepared in every way and so we have decided to delay the project until we are able to bring our operating budget up to where it needs to be. More information about this issue will be available in our upcoming quarterly newsletter. If you are not on my mailing list, but would like to be, or would just like a copy of this newsletter, please leave a comment and I'll be sure to get one to you.

I covet your prayers for the ministry as these are trying times. We have confidence, however, in a God who has known this is the situation we would face at this very time before it came to be and we know that he will provide in ways we can't even imagine. As we go through this we are looking forward to growing in our faith and seeing how God will work. Please pray not only for provision, but for wisdom and discernment about how to move forward and for protection against spiritual attack as we seek to do God's will.