Rooftop view

Hi everyone,



I shot these pics yesterday as I finished the roof repairs. They were shot from the ridge of the house. We are ready to do the plumbing and the electric. Hopefully we will complete these tasks this week, and will pass the inspections.



The weather has been great lately. It has not rained in 9 days. It still has not hit 90 degrees, but has been in the high 80's every day. Charlotte and I have always loved the sunshine. It has blessed us greatly.



Joan is thrilled with the progress on the house. It is safe to say she is amazed. The house was considered 66% damaged. We have it looking great. The easy work remains. It is like finishing in new construction now.

Have a great Memorial day weekend. We regret that we are not home yet to enjoy time with all of our family and friends. Again, thanks to Peggy, Nathan, Amanda, Mom and Dad Franz for all you have done again this week for us!!

God bless you all.
Brian and Charlotte

Progress on the House - What a View

Hi Everyone,
Well what a view seems to be the response as you come into the new livingroom/dining room area. Well Joan's house is coming along slowly but surely. The floors are straight and level. Most of the new openings are ready for the windows. We have installed the patio door today. The only opening that is not ready is the new garage door opening. That can always be done toward the end. In the meantime it makes the job site more secure.

We have had the Lowe's truck here many times...... they keep forgetting to deliver every item that is on the order, so they have to come back. Since this is how it is working, Joan just continue to have them add items to the order. So far they have not been complaining. They were able to help lift one of the two showers in, but the boys and dad had to wrestle the other one in the old fashion way.
The next projects we are completing is repairing the roof edge and soffit. This will keep the site dry from rain. We will be doing plumbing and electrical soon. We will keep you updated with more pictures.

Enjoy!

Huge chimney

Hi everyone,

Time flies when you are doing 55-60 jobsite hours per week. I am discovering I am not quite as durable as I was at 25. Lots of aches and pains from too much labor.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we removed an oversize chimney to make space in the new floor plan. It turned out to be solid brick, and the mortar was excellent. I spent probably 10 hours swinging a sledgehammer. Nicholas and Joshua cleaned up all of the bricks themselves. Samuel got in on the action a bit.

Things are progressing well with the house. I am now remodeling window sizes and setting bathtubs. Hopefully the windows will be in this week. We are replacing one portion of the roof and will be replacing drip edge and subfascia board to solidify the roof system. Katrina ripped off almost all of the roof edge components. This was at least partially to bad workmanship.

We picked up a kiddie pool for the little kids. It has been fairly warm, but has not exceeded the high 80's. Yesterday we got 2 thunderstorms which left several inches of rain.

On Sunday, we wasted an hour and rode the ferry across the bay between Bay St. Louis and Waveland on MS SR 90. It was provided by Mississippi DOT until the bridge was rebuilt. They opened the first side today! Yeah! We can now travel to the east without traveling 8 miles north to the interstate. It was fun. We also did some sightseeing in Waveland and Bay St. Louis.

Where we are on the bay they receive high and low tide. It's amazing how much difference it makes. These pictures show how much of difference it actually is.

Our van is repaired, but we are waiting for the garage and our insurance to complete their paperwork. It has been a good experience with the insurance.

After hearing nothing but disgust with bad insurance stories, it was refreshing. We regularly see 4X8 sheets of plywood painted with words such as State Farm sucks or State Farm is the Axis of Evil.

This is Ethan's favorite past time. Riding his bike all day.

Hope you are all enjoying our site. Keep in touch.

Greetings from Bay St. Louis

Hi everyone,

It is Thursday night and Charlotte and the boys have once again headed out to serve at God's Katrina Kitchen. Ethan and I will work hard on the house Fri and Sat. The family will return Sat evening.

It will be an interesting week for them. There has been controversy over the existance of this ministry because some perceive it to be a nuicance as some of the lowest in society are there.

The kitchen is located only blocks from a particularly dangerous neighborhood. Volunteers are told not to walk north of the site.

The ministry is being proactive on helping people out of their poverty situation. They are requiring positive I.D. and job applications to be filled out. They are encouraging people to look to Jesus for their answer. Church services are held in the dining tent every night.

The kitchen only has permits to operate until July. I was listening to a program on the radio today and there was testimony about a recent meeting at city hall. The council member from the ward the kitchen is located has made her hatred of the kitchen very well known. Numerous volunteers arrived at city hall for the meeting declaring their love for this vital ministry. Many were praying for favor. The hearts of the people on the council were changed.

Joan's house is coming along quite well. All of the beams are now in and I have managed to level everything in quite well. I am framing walls for the new floor plan. We have permits for construction, plumbing, and electric. I will be doing the plumbing and I will be doing the electric under the supervision of a licensed electrician.
Windows are ordered thanks to a Baptist church.

I am not trying to be redundant, but the dire need of this disaster is amazing. The need for skilled trade laborors is huge. Today, Carol from the Salvation Army visited the site. She has been assigned 7 new cases this week. All 7 are total rebuilds and all 7 do not have any help.

A recovery program called Project Recovery has logged 350,ooo phone calls in the last 19 months.

Serious, if you know of anyone willing to spend time here and they are skilled in any construction related trade, they are desperately needed. Have them contact me and I will connect them to people who will put them to work.

I am regularly hearing comments from people who are touched by the countless Christian volunteers. Joan's 70 year old brother loaned us his lawnmower. He told me the generosity of all of these volunteers has touched his heart and that he felt he needed to re-evaluate his life.
Christian pastors and leaders feel the coast is ripe for a very major revival. This will be the springboard God uses to touch people.

We are all homesick and cannot wait to return, but it will be bittersweet. It is hard to return when thousands need skilled remodelers. It is hard to tell people no, but I am now having to do that. It is safe to say we will return next winter. This recovery will no doubt take at least 10 more years.


Thank you to everyone helping at home. We could not do this without you. Peggy, Amanda, and Nathan, we appreciate and love you! God bless you for all you are doing for us!!

In His service
Brian and Charlotte and the family

Rosa's birthday

Hi everyone

Today Rosa turned one. She is such a blessing. You will be amazed at how she is advancing. We will hold a party for her upon our return. She is walking very well and communicating well also.
We did not do anything special here for her today.

We are working hard for Joan.
Joan has already told us that we are a specific answer to her prayers. We are enjoying working for her. She is an awesome person.
We are nearly complete with heavy structural changes to remove all lower interior walls.
The weather is great. Highs in the 80's and lows in the 60's.

We will work hard to complete this project so we can return home.

We miss everyone.

In Christ

Brian and Charlotte

Working for Joan

Hi everyone

It has been a busy week working for Joan. I am completing the demolition aspects of converting the home into the new design. New beams will be delivered tomorrow. The floor system has sag problems from poor construction and the mud from the flood waters. This home was flooded at least to the ceiling of the second floor. Yes, this is at least 19 feet of flood water. I have not determined if the attic was flooded.

It has been a blessing working for Joan. She is so humbled by all that has been going on. Things are falling into place for her. A local Baptist church ordered her windows today at their expense.
The Salvation Army is donating thousands. She will be amazed at what we will be able to do with the funds she has available.

Charlotte and the children have spent the week at God's Katrina Kitchen in Gulfport. They are serving over 500 meals.The staff there loves my family, in fact they offered Charlotte a leadership position. She was flattered but will decline the offer. Ethan and I spent Wed night with them after church in their bunkhouse. Ethan has spent the week with me at the jobsite.

It has been a hard week for them at the kitchen. They are incorporating a new system. A voucher is necessary to receive meals. Criteria such as job applications must be met. It is good.
Charlotte challenged someone about how Waffle House was hiring and this person was hired.
Waffle House of Gulfport opened this week, right in front of the kitchen.

We are very pleased with our car insurance. They approved repairs of $3360.00 to our minivan. They have been awesome through this whole ordeal. They are IMT of Des Moine, Iowa. Charlotte and Samuel have been seeing the choiropractor and are feeling better.

We love hearing from you. My cell is 7156134601. Charlotte is 7156134602. You can respond to this page. All you need is a simple Google account. It only takes a minute.

God Bless you all!
In His service

Brian

We have moved

Hi everyone

We have completed our move to Bay St. Louis, MS. It is about 35 minutes west of Biloxi.

It is actually closer to the heart of the damage of Katrina. I was near the beach area today. There is nothing standing within 2 miles of shore. Unlike last year, the debris is now cleaned up. There is nothing but slabs. There are countless missing homes here.

We are at a site on a canal just off of the main bay. Joan's home has parking for 4 yachts. We see many tropical birds and fish are jumping out of the water regularly. There is only one home beyond us on a dead end road.

It is our hope to help Joan rebuild her home, but are unsure how this whole thing will turn out.
I believe we have earned her trust and it will be interesting for sure.

Charlotte and the boys are at God's Katrina kitchen in Gulfport again tonight in their cabins. They must report to duty at 5:30 a.m.

They spent the evening with me here at my camp. I have Ethan. I spent the day doing set up things and have cleaned the mud out of Joan's main sewer. I hope to get into forward progress in the morning.

We are looking forward to returning. Sorry no pictures. I am not the technical expert.

Brian