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Read about the Mississippi Mission trip here! 

Saturday June 21, 2008

We hit the road around 9:30am in Knoxville and drove straight through back to home and North Bethesda, MD.  We arrived back home around 6:30pm and were all ready for a good hot shower and our own beds.  It was a fantastic trip and we were able to help a few deserving folks in Mississippi get that much closer to moving back into the homes they lost almost three years ago to Hurricaine Katrina.  We pray that this year the hurricane season will be easy on the resident of the gulf coast and hope that you will feel called to travel with us next year to help people across our country in need.

Friday June 20, 2008

Our last day of work in Long Beach, MS.  Most of us worked on the same house we started with on Monday.  It was amazing to see how much work had been accomplished during the week.  I'm sure that by the end of next week this house will have a coat of paint and will be getting ready for floors.  It is amazing to see what a little sweat and elbow grease can do to make a difference in another's life.  This is truly the meaning of being the hands and feet of Christ - affecting someone else's life who could not do so for themslves.  We leave for home around 1pm and will stay overnight in Knoxville.

Thursday June 19, 2008

We really made a big dent in one house today.  About 20 volunteers descended on a home in Bay St. Louis, MS to paint the exterior.   Betsy and Rich climbed up on a hgih ladder and sprayed one side of the house.  Sara stayed safe ont he ground and painted the front of the house.  :)  We managed to put two coats on the entire house before lunch and started installing insulation on the exterior walls.  Drew and Connor became very proficiant with the staple hammers.  Lunch was at the work site today, and then back to work starting on insulation in the ceilings and we were even able to start installing drywall on the ceiling.  It was a great day of work and visiting with the residents.  The homeowners weathered out the storm in their attic and had a scrap book of photos taken during Katrina.  They are living in a MEMA house, or Katrina Cottages, as they are known and provided by the Mississippi Emergence Management Agency.  The small yet quaint home is located on a peice of their property.  After the strom they were able to salvage 6 porch posts that were from their old home.  The posts date back to 1900 and are a prize possession.  Betsy worked to scrape them with care.  This evening the group wanted to go out to dinner to enjoy their last night together in Mississippi.  We ate at Shaggy's and enjoyed the local seafood.  This has been a terrific experience - one more half day of work and then back on the road for the 18 hour drive home.

Wednesday June 18, 2008

We are at the half way point today.  Wayne, Rich and Helen held down the fort and worked in the kitchen.  As you all know, with Wayne cooking, we ate well!  Drew, Connor and I did punch list items at one house, helped install a toilet and finished grouting a kitchen floor.  Betsy did landscaping at another house that will receive a house blessing next Tuesday at which time the keys will be turned over to the owners.  We are making a small but also a large impact on the Gulf Coast in our efforts to help rebuild.  Camp Coast Care is didicated to ten years of rebuilding here and are into the third year already.  We were able to sample some MS cuisine tonight - some of the workers here brought in crayfish.  A few of us join them, others watched - it was fun to have a little of the gulf coast culture come to us.  Tomorrow the Americorp group that has been here for seven and half weeks will leave for a week of rest before being reassigned to a new project.  They have been a delight to work with and have aided Camp Coast Care in many ways.  Thanks for the wonderful cards and sentiments that we have been opening each day.  They have brightened our days and reminded us of the love that travels with us from NBUMC.

Tuesday June 17, 2008

Today we started the day with a tour by the camp volunteer coordinator, Michael.  He tooks us into parts of Pass Christian that is still feeling the effects of the storm that took place 2 1/2 years ago.  Still present was the tent city that I visited in January 2006.  The area did look much better and more "normal" than it did when I was here before.  Michael took us to the site of Christ Episcopal Church in Bay St. Louis.  This is also the site of the youth camp arm of Camp Coast Care. The bell tour of the church is all that remains of the orginal 8 building of their pre-Katrina complex.  The storm surge reached the top of the tower - 25 feet.  Also left were the sign of the parish, the Baptistry and a stained glass window.  All of these have been incorporated into the new temporary quansit hut that is now the church sanctuary.  The second half of the day we split into two groups to mud and hang drywall.  It was a very good day.  We miss everyone and are looking forward to sharing our trip when we return.

Monday June 16, 2008

We worked our first day today.  The Camp woke us up at 5am and we were out the door at 6:30am.  Because it gets so hot during the late afternoon, the camp has adjusted the work hours so we work an 8 hour day by 2:30pm.  Betsy and Helen stayed at camp and helped around the grounds while Wayne, Connor, Drew, Rich and I learned the fine art of hanging drywall and mudding.  Rich really rocked it by getting almost an entire hallway ceiling up with the help of another volunteer.  Drew and Connor worked with two Americorp workers hanging the ceiling in the living area; Wayne hung drywall in the bedroom and living area and I mudded the screw holes and learned how to tape and mud the joints.  It was a very productive day and we are all now pretty tired. 

Rich and Betsy led us in worship tonight - it has turned into a beautiful evening.  We are looking forward to a tour tomorrow morning of the area and learning about the devastration that occured in august 2005.  There have been many changes here since I was last here in January 2006 - but still there is much to do.