Mission trips are more about the people we meet than the things that we do.  Tonight, we'd like to share with you the story of Brother Houston.

Brother Houston is in Port Sulphur as a guest of Brother John, our revival preacher from Tuesday night. Brother Houston has been floating around our various work sites--in the school, in the church office, in the warehouse--looking for ways he could help.  In fact, on Tuesday, he drove to Belle Chasse just to get popcorn supplies for us.  He has always seemed happy and joyful.  We were especially privileged to hear Brother Houston give his testimony at last night's revival, and were left feeling that we wanted to know more about him.  He has endured many hardships in his life, yet he still believes firmly in God's promises.  Brother Houston told about how he was saved as a child, but he fell away, and found himself struggling with alcoholism.  After many years of struggle, he went back to church to make his uncle happy--in his words, he thought he'd "go just to shut him up".  The result?  He rededicated his life to Christ.  Some time after that, on his way to go hunting with his dog, God called him to preach.  He turned his truck around right then and went home to tell his wife that he was becoming a preacher. 

Two years ago, in the span of three months, Brother Houston had open heart surgery, then endured a car accident that most people wouldn't have survived.  Most tragically, his only son was killed in a car accident.  Even through all of these trials, Brother Houston's faith has endured. Not only does he seem joyful, he is joyful! His faith is visible in his face, in the way he quietly helps the people of Port Sulphur, and in the way he worships.  Brother Houston has been an inspiration to us this week, and we're glad that we can share his story with you. In fact, Brother Houston wants to join HRBC in Port Sulphur with a team from his church sometime in the future.  Make sure to come to Port Sulphur so that you can meet Brother Houston!

We're writing this on the way home from New Orleans.  After spending the morning continuing our work from yesterday, we headed to the city for a little sightseeing.  We toured Mardi Gras world, then Greg gave us the Greg Carr tour of the Garden District.  Now, we're all a little sleepy from the beignets, so until tomorrow....