Today was a good day. We got out at 7 and went to finish up hauling the logs to the street at the house we were at yesterday. Then our group went to join the rest of the team who had descended upon a lower income neighborhood that I helped assess last Sunday. Pictured below is Allyce, who was elected Safety Queen for the day and the jobsite leader Kit and team leader Ellen.


We worked on all 4 homes we had on our list and got all of them done except 2 and a half rooms in one. That one is shown below and you can see her neighbor wasn't very fortunate.


Once again we were reminded of how our service here is making a huge difference in the lives of the people. The faith-based groups are the only ones doing this kind of work for free. They would have to fend for themselves or pay somebody to do the work for a large fee. The woman above was quoted $2400 for just 2 rooms. They are so incredibly grateful and really want to do something for us like buy us food. Some people we've helped have donated money to Trinity to help continue the work it is doing for the community.

At the end of the day, I found a new friend though he wasn't too keen about being held. He was such a cute little gecko; I wanted to keep him but I didn't know how to get him home on the plane tomorrow.


Once we got back, we had a weenie roast for dinner but our fabulous cooks also made chili and more baked beans and one of the church members who normally cooks us pancakes quite often made an upsidedown pineapple cake. What a meal! We even had a few trick or treaters stop by to gather some candy from us. It was a great fellowship meal.

Once again we attended the early service here at Trinity and then prepared and served lunch to the congregation. After we cleaned up I went out with a few guys to do some yard/tree work since I was feeling a bit better and we did a fair amount of hard labor, working until dark, which is now at 5:30 since the time changed. I even gained a chainsaw out of it though I didn't get to use it. As we were leaving the elderly gentleman we were helping asked if we needed one because someone had given it to him. Maybe I can play with it tomorrow even though it's not a big one. :) I have to make sure I go home with all my digits though or my wife will not be happy. The other part of the team worked on a house that hadn't been touched and sounded like it wouldn't be saved when it comes to that decision point. Sadly, there are quite a few people here in that situation. This evening, Pastor Stokes chatted with us about how things are working (or not) down here. There is so much indecision on the part of various government and insurance entities about whether some people will be able to receive various aid, get building permits, be able to rebuild at all or be able to insure the house if they do rebuild. Nobody knows what is going to happen with the building codes or flood zones so many people are stuck in limbo. There are still a significant number of people in tents and it's been fairly cold for here at night and will get colder as the weeks pass. There's a big need for blackets and jackets now. There are tons of jobs available here but many have still not returned yet and there is nowhere to stay if they did return short of a tent. So despite all the hope that some have, there are still the others who are having a very difficult time of it and you likely aren't hearing those stories from the national media.

I slept the best I had in over a week last night so maybe the end of this cold looms on the horizon. I finished the rest of Trevor Hudson's book this morning. It really is a good read - a must for anyone who considers themselves a Christian. I'll need to read it again soon and get a highlighter. :) I drove over to Pass Christian to the Civic Center where they had a Red Cross relief center set up. They were housing some people in the center and had a clothing and food tent. We learned they were going to shut down the food tent Monday unless they got more food in. So many organizations are shutting down their operations while there is still a need to meet. We're trying to find ways to get more food into this center soon. We were there to feed the people a good hot meal; the UMM from First UMC in Columbus, MS, came down again and cooked up another storm.

They had 47 youth from their church to help out as well and they had a carnival for the kids. I got to help a 5 year old put together a "Bionicle" type toy he "won". Tony Proctor and I also took off to go to the UMCOR office to setup the desktop PC he brought down to replace my laptop we had been using. It will be easier for the volunteers to have a bigger screen to use for sure. Back in Pass Christian, I noticed the "new" post office was next door to the center. There are a few of these along the coast and I finally got a picture of one as shown below. It's a good thing they don't get much bad weather down here this time of year! There still hasn't been any rain here since Katrina except when Rita's outer bands hit.


When we were done, we drove over to Waveland to deliver the extra food that was cooked, but we stopped by the beach first so the youth could get a glimpse of the devastation to get a better appreciation for what happened to the people they were serving. It's not something you can really describe. We had communion on the beach and were invited to spend some time reflecting in prayer for what we experienced today. Here's a hand-held one second exposure.


Then we stopped by the New Waveland Cafe and dropped off the goodies before the Columbus group headed off for the 6 hour trip home. I stayed at the Cafe to worship with the volunteers who all sleep in a large tent. It was refreshing to have a corporate service like that where I could sing out loud again to songs that move me. I've generally been busy or preoccupied with what I've been doing here to worship God so it was a welcome break. I wished it was longer. I also met one of the main people behind the kitchen there, David McCrary. He and his wife shut down their restaurant back home and brought a lot of the equipment down here to cook for the people. Talk about living out your faith. I'd like to try working over there a while to get among the people more, especially after reading Trevor's book. It will have to wait until after I bring warmer clothes down on my next tour of duty though.

So reading this is starting to get boring now. Oh well. Sorry. Felt about the same in the morning and got better once I got up. Spent most of the day in the UMCOR office, but in the afternoon I went up to the warehouse in Wiggins to check on why the cell phone was doing so poorly and get some things to take to Bay Saint Louis. I set up the phone so the manager could hear it better and we tested it a few times but the reception still remained spotty though we did get a couple good calls through. Interestingly, my wife called while I was there and my phone had some static, too, so that area of Wiggins just isn't a good place it seems. Both my phone and the warehouse one were in roaming mode. Anyway, we decided to leave the phone there for now and I stuffed my car full of needed items and drove over to Main St UMC in BSL. They didn't need the outerwear or all the towels we sent so I took them over to First Baptist just up the block. Then I stopped at the "New Waveland Cafe" where we had taken a bunch of food a few weeks ago. We had heard some areas in Hancock County were critically short on food, but they seemed to be doing OK here at present. Nevertheless, I got a current contact from the main organization behind this relief area, Christian Life Church from Gulf Shores, AL. They plan to stay there for quite a while; the relief centers that had been set up on the other 2 corners of 90 and 603 were no longer in operation. The tent cafe is still serving about 5000 meals a day. I came back to Trinity a bit early and got my shower and am doing laundry now before the rush. I'm also reading some more of Trevor's book. Here's something to chew on: "Any spiritual experience that does not result in a deeper concern for our suffering neighbor can hardly be called Christian."

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I felt worse again during the morning and got better as the day went on and spent the day in the UMCOR office answering phones, making calls and keeping our data up to date. Not much to say, but perhaps I'll share some of the things that come up on a "regular day at the office." We were notified of a critical food shortage at the Hancock Co Emergency Response Center so we notified our warehouse and the Call Center to direct food there. We had a couple requests for PCs, so we coordinated that with the warehouse. A call came in telling us 30 homeless people were going to be put out of a closing Red Cross shelter tonight and if we could help. We called an area homeless advocate and put them in touch with one another. We coordinated the arrival and first work order for a team coming from Indiana tonight. We took several calls for people interested in bringing teams or supplies in the future. We tried finding places to house more teams in Nov since many of our churches are booked full. We need to find how to contact the FEMA billeting people. We also took a couple new work orders. Other than a variety of other interrupting calls, it was an easy day.

Once again I awoke not feeling as well as the night before with more congestion and throat irritation. It seemed to get better sooner today than yesterday, but I still don't sound like myself. Oh, well. I spent the day at the regional office taking in new work orders and incoming team info. I'm amazed by how inefficient this operation is being run as a whole though as we near the rebuilding phase. It's pretty frustrating when you've been on the front lines and see what needs to be done and then be caught up in beauracracy or maybe even ineptness. It's not like this should be a new thing for UMCOR so I don't understand why they don't have some policies and procedures in place to use as a guide. I feel sorry for Elijah who got railroaded into the regional coordinator position and is now having to deal with all this mess. Enough ranting. I did get to talk to Tim Wells from Virginia team 2; he called in to check on the arrangements for the team he's leading to Bay Saint Louis over Thanksgiving.

In the afternoon I drove to Biloxi to assess some of the work orders we had for that area to see what really needed to be done. Most were in the poorer areas of east Biloxi. I found one had been done already, but I gained one from a neighbor of one we had on the list. On the way back, I managed to find a road to US 90 and was able to get through the checkpoint so I had a quicker and nicer drive back to the church at sunset. As a result, I took a couple pics that I think are cool.

No, it's not the S.S. Minnow, but the Treasure Bay Casino.


An American flag waving atop a partially manmade pile of debris.

I wanted to add something that came out of the team meeting tonight. One of the local women who came into prepare lunch for the volunteers tomorrow told the team leader that she wouldn't go back to pre-Katrina times despite having lost a great deal. She said her church was much closer, her family was much closer and she's met so many incredible people that have come down to help.

God always wants good to come out of the bad; we just have to chose to see it through His eyes. Amen.

I awoke feeling worse than last night despite sleeping fairly well I thought. Thus, I took it easy yet again and spent the whole day in the regional UMCOR office continuing to straighten things out and helping the volunteer who wouldn't make the greatest secretary. It could be my type A personality (my wife would say Mr. Fix-it), but she gets lost at times and doesn't hear the greatest so I feel compelled to help "fix" things for her. We thought we had 2 lines coming into the office, but that's not the case so it cuts down on the amount of work we can get done because the phone is used considerably. I may end up using the fax line tomorrow to make some calls. I'm feeling better now, but we'll see how that holds up. Perhaps I should pray for myself, eh?

Some good news is they have a lot of work teams coming to the area in Nov so they are running out of available space to put teams up (at least in UM churches). I know Trinity is booked through Nov. Another good note is I got to play a game of Euchre last night so you know some Hoosiers are here. :)

A concern is the weather is pretty chilly at night this week (40 tonight) so I hope all those having to stay in tents have plenty of blankets or practice good safety with heating elements.

Upon completing the first week of my fifth trip to MS, I'm still sick with a cold of some sort I brought from IN. Grrrr. As such, I took another easy day. I spent the first half of the day in the regional UMCOR office continuing to make more sense of what the coordinator had been using all this time. We now have all the work orders and incoming trucks in spreadsheets and have started on the incoming teams. This will make it much easier on those who have to upkeep this info than using 15-20 Word documents. They are beginning to deal with the issues of the rebuilding process as well since they will have some money to help individuals soon. We need to come up with a simple yet equitable system to determine who gets help and what the requirements and limitations will be. This isn't an easy task though I'm frankly surprised that something like this hasn't been needed before.

After a quick lunch I went out to finish the last part of the grid Trinity had laid out to make sure we had as many potential work orders as possible. Theirs are totally separate from what the regional UMCOR office has, which is very few comparatively speaking. We probably have 50 inside orders and 50 more for yard work. This will be enough for a few more weeks provided the people don't get the work done by others means before we can get to them.

I took a nap once I got back and read some more of Trevor Hudson's book before dinner and devotions. I need to start trying to write my blog entries earlier in the day so I can put more of my thoughts down rather than trying to rush to bed! Oh well. I should be helping out with UMCOR for a few more days (maybe just mornings) and I hope to get over this cold quick so I can get back into the houses. The teams started on 2 today that had not been touched at all, 8 weeks after the storm.

I slept until 7:20 today but still feel somewhat yucky. This is getting annoying. I attended the early service here at Trinity and it was a struggle to sing. The teams helped cook and serve lunch for the congregation again but I didn't feel like I should be doing much in that area since I'm sick. I did get to make an ice run since the icemaker seemed to be having trouble and also bussed the tables.

I had thought the guys from Florida were going to assess after church but they left early so I called Roy up once we were done cleaning and got in on the last hour or so of the grid they were working in. I'm glad I did because that's the best job to do here - getting out in the neighborhoods and meeting folks who need help and someone to talk to. By God's grace we met a couple more people just as we were leaving the area who needed help. One woman hadn't really gotten much of anything done in her house and was overjoyed by our offer of free help. "Thank you, God!" She had just gotten a quote of $2400 the day before to do just a small portion of the work.

The team from northern IN arrived as we got back. They seem to be a good bunch. I left for Biloxi to assess the house of a church member we had learned about while we were assessing in west Gulfport. They had a beautiful home in a nice neighborhood, but had gotten 8 feet of water and discovered like many people their insurance did not cover the contents. While we have heard some good insurance stories, the great majority will not cover most of the costs faced.

I started reading 'A Mile In My Shoes' by Trevor Hudson. It's about cultivating compassion, which is one of the main things I've been asking of God for many months. So far it's a great read and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who desires to deepen their faith walk. I don't even have to read it to know that because I met Trevor 2 summers ago at the Soulfeast conference at Lake Junaluska. He's a pastor from South Africa who's been instrumental in healing his country's scars from apartheid. My wife recommended I read this while here and I can see already it's quite appropriate for anyone who does mission work. I hope I can keep up with reading it. Well, it's time for the team meeting now.

Well, I can't seem to shake whatever is ailing me. I've got allergy symptoms though I haven't been around anything. Medicine doesn't seem to help either. :(

I did sleep in a bit until 8:30 and then went over to Gateway UMC and worked on getting Elijah, the regional UMCOR disaster response coordinator, more organized in his absence this weekend. I have decided to make 2 spreadsheets to contain the majority of info - one for work orders and one for work teams. That will at least save us from having to open a large number of documents and allow us to sort. If it were me, I'd just do a paper system like they have been at Trinity UMC, but he seems to frown on that.

The new team from Virginia got in while I was gone so they should be in fairly soon now. A team from Indiana should also be here.

It was an easy day for me today. I left about 7:45 for Gateway UMC where the UMCOR regional coordinator has been working. I took along my old Win98 laptop to setup for them to use. It took a while to get the HP printer driver to finally load and to get his XP machine to see my PC, but I finally got everything working fine. Then I started figuring out what kind of documentation system he had set up to deal with all the work. It turns out Elijah had gotten assigned to this job after the hurricane hit (both of his churches were severely impacted) and had no training for it so it's no wonder things have not seemed very organized on the UMCOR end. He also had no help so his wife has been assisting him and a former church member had been driving down daily from Wiggins as well until a volunteer showed up recently. Had I known I would have gone over there sooner, but lack of communication has been a huge issue from the start for all organizations.

Elijah is gone this weekend for a special conference meeting so the volunteer and I will handle the office for a couple days and try to come up with a "better wheel" to be more efficient. He just had to throw something together real fast and hasn't had time to breathe since then let alone improve upon what he had.

I left around 4:30 because the van from the Wiggins warehouse had a tire problem on the way back to Wiggins so I took over a jack to them and then continued on to Trinity from there. Some people wanted another tour of the coast so this time we drove toward Biloxi. Here we see Humpty apparently didn't fall off his wall.


This is US 90 on the Biloxi bay area with a couple guys fishing near the remains.


I'm feeling a bit worse today. I do have some sinus issues now and Claritin isn't helping any. I'm going to bed early tonight and I should be able to sleep in so that should help.

After lunch I made it over to Gateway UMC in north Gulfport where the Regional UMCOR Coordinator is working from so I could get the wireless network operating. He is so overwhelmed from the amount of work so a few of the Virginia team had been helping get the office more organized the last few days. It appears that I will be taking the laptop I donated to the cause over there in the morning because they really need 2 PCs to be effective. It also appears I will be working with UMCOR more regularly in the future in some capacity. Hopefully I'll know more tomorrow after I talk with Rev. Mitchell.

Our devotion tonight was pretty cool. It was similar in some ways to one done before in which we got a nail from a house we had worked upon, but we then laid that nail at the foot of a cross made from material from the Dyer's home. We had written on a small piece of paper something where we needed rebuilding and then nailed it to the cross so it was very similar to "dying moments" on a Walk to Emmaus. We also shared communion and prayed together as a group.

I am feeling better in general. The body aches are gone and my throat isn't too "tight", but I do have some congestion now. Hopefully another good night of rest will get me fixed for good.

The moon was still out yesterday morning after we went outside from eating breakfast. I'm still not feeling well though. The Virginia team had a new assignment to start this morning. We drove to the Dyer's house, which was a large, beautiful 1 story with 2 courtyards on a nearby bayou. We got right to work doing what we do best - gutting drywall, carpet, panelling, etc. and going through personal items for possible salvage. It's interesting to see the transformation in the owners while we're there. They almost always start out apprehensive and not wanting to see much or watch us but they really get into going through things after a little while and seeing hope in situation. That's why we are here - to give these people hope. Mrs. Dyer had been very concerned about a neighboring elderly man who wouldn't ask for help so a couple of the group went over to see if he'd let them do an assessment. Once they explained everything to him he said, "Now I don't have to kill myself. You are my savior." You talk about hope and God's perfect timing!

After lunch I really didn't want to go out again because I was very wiped out and feeling worse. However, it worked out best that I do assessments because I was going to give the team tours of the coast starting with those going door-to-door first. Most people were not home because some have not returned permanently and some are living elsewhere and some are back at jobs. We did come up with a couple houses that needed work in the neighborhood we were in and saw several that really needed some work where we just had to leave flyers. It was nice to see flowers blooming and birds flying around. Some even had some interesting landscaping as seen at right. This house also had potted bushes ready to be planted. I never thought I would think this but I was pleased seeing Halloween decorations on some houses around town because it's yet another sign of hope and people getting on with their lives as best they can.

I gave 3 sets of tours of the coast. I finally got a picture of the Waffle House where the seats and tables were about all that remained of the restaurant. There have been a couple others like that I've seen during my time down here. We joked that the next hurricane you should strap yourself to one of those tables and duck to survive. They have made many cleanup improvements since I was last on the Gulfport coast a couple weeks ago, especially near downtown. The casino they imploded and cut up that had been laying on US 90 is totally gone now and almost all the shipping containers have been recovered. There are just a few remaining, which are shown in my sunset photo below. There were hundreds of these containers thrown into the coastal neighborhoods and many of them like those shown somehow made it around several large buildings to end up here from the port.

During team meeting many commented how great this team has come together. That's been the same for all 4 Virginia teams really despite what one may have thought when first seeing the people who made up each team. One even described it as a "well oiled machine", which is precisely what someone in the second group said. It's no surprise to me though; I suspect all the teams here are experiencing that. It is clearly God-ordained so how can it not go well as long as we continue to be His servants? It was cool to hear all the ways they've seen God while here. The team member who was charged with writing the blog comment for their church website wrote about the difficulty of describing this when we return to the "real world". He went on to write (in my own paraphrase) that despite our inability to accurately portray what we've experienced back home we ARE in the real world right here. We are doing God's work, and it's making a huge impact. While we've had countless blessings poured out on us, you can hear what we've done for the people here in checkout lines or while serving food to those that have lost everything but their spirit. I can't write it any better than that.

I'm felt even worse tonight so my plan was to sleep late and then go help the regional UMCOR rep with whatever I can. Tony Proctor told me his wireless network needed to be set up so I'll try my hand at that.

I did go back to sleep this morning and slept another 2.5 hours. I do feel better so hopefully this trend will continue.

I slept horribly last night and the bit of tightness in my throat from yesterday is more pronounced so that normally means getting some type of cold for me. I'll take it easier today than I would have. Please pray for my health. We'll be off to the worksite shortly.

Well, it's been a few days and I'm back in Gulfport tonight. My family and I spent a few days relaxing. We stayed at Caribbean Cove 2 nights and enjoyed the waterpark quite a bit. One of the slides was too much for Merrie, but the boys and I enjoyed them all. Merrie and I liked to soak in the hottubs as well though we wished they would have left the jets off more often; the chemicals were pretty strong and get to your eyes. One hottub had a waterfall which was a good massager. That was probably my favorite spot. It was good to be home with my family for a while. I really didn't see anybody else because we weren't back in town for church.

The team coordinator at Trinity UMC was nice enough to pick me up from the airport. The current team from Virginia here is large. They have 28 people this time and have been getting a lot done in their short time here though they've discovered just how "fun" floors can be already. They are somewhat apprehensive about a house they are doing tomorrow because it could be in pretty bad shape and the homeowner is pretty emotional. Luckily I'm a vet and one of the other members was here last week as well. It seems I'll be giving the team a tour of coast area tomorrow afternoon.

Flying in tonight was pretty cool. The moon is nearly full and it's a clear sky. Gulfport was lit up nicely so that you'd never know anything happened if you weren't knowledgeable of exactly where the coast was. The first block or two was dark of course since it's been wiped out but the rest of the city was alight and you couldn't see the destruction. I wish I had a camera capable of taking a shot of a night-lit scene while moving, but you'll just have to deal with this not too good shot of the moon. My zoom is only 3x and you can almost see the outline of the pine trees.

I was more useful today. I was up at 6 or so and we were off to a new house this morning. It had actually been worked on by a previous group who gutted the first floor but we gutted the second floor because there was a lot of roof damage so we also took out all of the second floor ceiling and some of the first floor ceiling. I need to leave now to make my flight so it may be a while since the next update. I hope to make it to Word Power Radio in the morning to get the word out to the folks back home. Y'all take care now, ya hear!

I sort of slacked off today. I awoke about 6 and decided that was too early to get up and then the next time I checked my cell phone it was after 10! My boss had left a message asking if I could pick up another check and get it deposited so I drove over to Biloxi and took care of that. It turns out that client is the defacto volunteer coordinator at his church (First Pres in Biloxi) so that's another contact I made. I deposited the checks and then went by UPS to pick up my laptop and then spent the rest of the afternoon getting it cleaned off and set up to donate it to Trinity for the work teams.

I'm still not sure what role I may play in the future coordination efforts. There's supposedly a big meeting next week so we'll see. I'm excited to get back home tomorrow and enjoy some R&R with my family for a few days so don't expect many updates until next Tues or Wed.

Peace

I didn't do much today either. It's pretty agitating to have to rely on people for info to do your job and not have the people or info you need. It was a very frustrating day for me, but at least my work with my "boss" is over so I can get back to church work. I made it back to Trinity just a few minutes into the team meeting so I got to hear most of it. What they were describing was very similar to what the first 2 teams saw and experienced - incredibly thankful people who were mostly full of hope. Someone mentioned one of the houses they gutted the man put pictures up on his bare stud walls. Tomorrow I'll get our old laptop setup and there's a planning meeting I may attend in the afternoon. The focus of this meeting apparently changed during a meeting held today so I'm not sure if I can attend it or not. I'll find out more tomorrow. It's good to be back here because I know I can help the relief efforts much more than helping with boat salvage.

I didn't have much to say for today and the poor connection just ate my post so I have even less to say this second time around. I'll just say I'm looking forward to my last day working my "job" and getting back to Trinity UMC where I belong. My wonderful wife shipped off the laptop this afternoon so it should be there when I arrive tomorrow night so I can set it up for the teams to use.

We worshipped at Trinity again and then our team split in half with one group serving lunch to the congregation and then canvassing some neighborhoods for those in need of assistance while the rest of us went to Main St UMC in Bay Saint Louis to help setup a lunch for the community and then take food to Clermont Harbor UMC and serve them. The UMM group from First UMC in Columbus, MS, who have cooked several large meals at Trinity, drove 5 hours down to cook at Bay Saint Louis this time. These men can cook a mean meal! They had a flat on the way down so they were a bit late but we got the food to the people nonetheless. They served over 400 meals at Main St UMC and we fed about 25 people in Clermont Harbor. We had just erected the tent the day before so they could hold their first service since Katrina.

That tent and a few smaller ones people were staying in were the only thing left of this little town. It was a square mile of total devastation. I did see some herons and blue crabs in a nearby marshy pond while I was walking around the area. We saw a few people picking through the rubble for their belongings; such an exasperating search but they did mange to find several momentos. As I drove Beach Blvd a mile or two east to Waveland, I was surprised by it's condition. Compared to the same road in Gulfport (US 90 at that point), this portion was in good condition; I don't think I would use whoever built the Gulfport section again. I finally got to see the town many claim was the hardest hit and where some of the supplies from our first trip made it. It was similar to Clermont Harbor only a little bigger. Very little within a mile of the coast survived. Apparently someone had donated a bunch of quonset hut tents so several organizations had a place to set up shop. The picture shows where city hall had been and someone had found and erected the sign the city put up to thank those who helped after it was wiped out by Camille. City hall was now in a tent next door.

My sunset picture for the day comes from Waveland. I found the flag you see in the background (below and left of the sun) in the rubble of that building and fastened Old Glory to a railing.

I took Beach Blvd back west and ended up near a marina I had visited several weeks ago. What was cool was the hundreds of dragonflys darting around hunting for dinner I presume. I then came over to Slidell to meet up with my "boss" finally, just in time to go out to dinner for sushi. Since I've left Trinity for now, I'm having my wonderful wife overnight the old laptop down here to donate to them for team email and printing needs. I really feel like I belong there so I'm going to work on getting out of this job I stumbled into so I can spend all my time helping the volunteer work teams.

Today I got some much needed sleep though here I am not starting to write this until after midnight. Sigh. Ryan and I woke up about 6:30 to say goodbye to those that were leaving and then we went back to bed until 10:30. We and 2 guys from Mt. Bethel out of Marietta, Ga, worked on finishing the Moore's house and got everything done but the door since we had no way to return it for a correct one. Mrs. Moore fed us some Krispey Kreme's and slushies. They are such a great couple with a great outlook. At one point while I was talking to her, I noticed a lot of movement and their yard was just filled with dragonflies flying around. There must have been 30 of them. Wow! I wanted to take a picture but I doubt they would show up very well.

Once we got back, I got an early shower and replaced the wheels on the large wheelbarrows with hard ones so we didn't have to deal with flats on those at least. I think we've had 5 flats since I got here. Maybe I'm bad luck? :) The new team had arrived but they were out seeing some of the coast to get an idea of what happened. Then it was dinner and team meeting, where Roy shared his mission story with the new team. It was just as good the second time.

I started creating some business cards for the canvassing teams to leave at unoccupied homes when they go looking after church tomorrow for homeowners to help. I will be heading to church at Bay Saint Louis I think and then serving food at the tent church in Clermont Harbor.

I've spent the last hour plus talking with Tony Proctor, the local UMCOR rep, and comparing pictures. It's good to see at least some UMCOR people doing something now rather than waiting months. He made me a badge so I'm now a Mississippi team UMCOR member. Unfortunately, I'll be leaving tomorrow for Slidell to hook up with my "boss" who is back salvaging boats. I'll stay there 2 days and then come back to Trinity Wed for a planning meeting. I'm going to encourage my boss to find local help. Surely there's someone qualified that no longer has a job. Anyway, I really need to fold my clothes and get to bed.

We nearly finished the houses we were working on. Though most of the current team is leaving in the morning, Ryan and I will go back to finish the job tomorrow, ripping up subfloor in a couple rooms and hopefully fixing a door. The owners of that house had a great attitude and faith, and were a real joy to be around. It's great to see that kind of faith and most of the people we've helped have displayed similar ideals.

Some in our group began canvassing neighborhoods to find more people who needed help. We're beginning to run out of those who actually contacted the church asking for it. We made a grid of Gulfport so it is more organized for teams to handle going door to door. Also, all the relief teams here at the church got shirts from the Mississippi Conference Disaster Response Center so we can wear them to the jobsites as advertising for the hotline.

The tent for the Clermont Harbor church didn't arrive until late afternoon so we may also do that tomorrow after the new team arrives. Since we had an early dinner and meeting so people could pack and a couple had to leave tonight, I didn't take any pics today. Sorry.

Our team meeting and communion was a special time of sharing how God has worked in and through us. This team bonded and performed just as well as the last. It was also the most time 2 brothers spent together at one time in several decades so this week was even more special for them. We were presented gifts from the local coordinator for the hope we gave her family. The gifts were little starfish with 1 broken appendage as an analogy of how her family was broken but will grow back stronger than before. Many of us teared up at her presentation. They people here are just so amazing and grateful. I urge you to volunteer or send needed items; every little bit counts.

Well, I get to sleep in tomorrow. As poorly as I normally sleep here, I sure hope I sleep well. I'm quite tired and sore, but I'm having a blast helping serve.

Today was pretty simple for us. We started gutting a new house in a poorer neighborhood and continued working on the local coordinator's house. The house we started on was not in too bad of shape except for one room as far as mold was concerned.

It was likely the largest and nicest house in the neighborhood. We got almost everything done today with just 5 of us except for taking up the floors. We met the neighbor across the street who had weathered out the storm. He said when the water reached his knees, he rebuked the water in the name of Jesus. When it reached his waist,he rebuked the water in the name of Jesus again. We it reached his neck, he said, "Lawd, I ain't joking!" Then he saw a turtle on a log float by his window so he flipped his sofa over and floated on it for 5 hours before a neighbor came by in a boat.

The team is showing signs of wear pretty clearly now. This is very intense labor in intense conditions. Even though we take frequent breaks and keep hydrated, there is no escaping the strain of the work. We've been giving one another backrubs, and some are pretty punch-drunk now. I've been at it a few days longer than this current team so I can really feel it. Here is a picture of the current team, which will leave for the most part Saturday morning (I'm bottom right).


Despite the pain, our leader still expects us to meet our quota and can get pretty nasty with those who slack off.


She and an UMCOR rep did make it to the relief center in Waveland as well as many other places to work on trying to network and build a better system to help meet the needs of the locals in the future. Lack of communication is still a major issue over a month later both inside and among major organizations. We'll be helping erect a tent for a church in Clermont Harbor tomorrow and the next team coming in Saturday will be helping serve some meals at that church and then in Bay Saint Louis on Sunday.

Tonight the owners of the house we finished 2 days ago made dinner for everyone at the church. Some great homemade gumbo and bread pudding with rum sauce. :)

This was a good day for our team as we accomplished many good tasks. We started by working on the home of the woman who is coordinating all the teams coming into Trinity UMC. They were 2 blocks from the coast and the only reason her 100+ year old house still stands is likely because of some apartments between her and the beach. They had no insurance so we were focusing on saving as much of their possessions as possible. Our team was really looking forward to this and we got quite a bit done. Her husband had specifically mentioned a few things he wanted and when he was given his Boy Scout badges once we found them he got all choked up.

We have a pastor on the team, and she took over the visitation for Trinity's pastor for the day while several members of our group fed the city workers lunch at the church. Afterward, they and several others from the group loaded up many supplies from the church and delivered them to the Christian Life Church relief area we had seen the day before. They were ecstatic to get everything we brought. When one of our trucks went back for a second trip (35 min one way), they were recognized by someone who brought over the cook. He hugged them and said they wouldn't have to use some of their lunch supplies for breakfast tomorrow. They cried when they saw the 3 boxes of fresh fruit that was in that load; some people are getting sick because they are lacking certain foods or vitamins. This church's ministry is making 2000 servings for each meal and feed the rich and poor alike because they all have nothing now. The cars park all along US 90 and Route 603 to get a meal. The critical needs are bedding and fresh fruit but they will take anything. After Bruce and I dropped off our load,we drove to the coast and finally got to see the real devastation. This is the view down Hoffman Lane in Waveland just on the other side of the tracks.


I'm glad had gotten to see so much already because I probably would have broken down at what I saw. While everything is gone along the Gulfport/Biloxi coastline, it only extends inward for 1 or 2 blocks while it's well over 1000 feet at Waveland and Bay Saint Louis. It's incomprehensible. I found it odd that they don't have checkpoints you have to pass through over here like they do in Long Beach to Biloxi. Perhaps they figure there is nothing to loot here? There were several homeowners who were camped out on their slabs or land, which you don't see in Gulfport. It was clear a couple were guarding their property though there wasn't anything to guard.


Here is my (almost) sunset picture of the day. This is an Episcopal church in Bay Saint Louis.

We finished the house we had started yesterday. Like many people in general, the owners were very thankful - almost embarassingly so. Some have called us angels. It makes one feel rather humble because we're here to serve selflessly yet we likely are getting more out of serving than the residents we serve - similar to working a Walk to Emmaus as opposed being a pilgrim.

We did drive over to the Waveland / Bay Saint Louis area this afternoon. We didn't go into any of the really bad areas so it was the typical destruction you see here. We dropped off a few things at a relief area led by Christian Life Church from Gulf Shores, AL, at the intersection of US 90 and Route 603. We're going to try to take more things over in the next day or two since they were running low. Many churches have an abundance of items and some are starting to gear down their public operations. Here is the ruined US 90 bridge.


In addition to the normal mission trip stuff, the team I'm working with is working hard to come up with a system to handle longer-term logistics of the various stages that will happen here. Stuff like this has never been developed before or at least not on such a grand scale for the United Methodist Church. We've seen the failures of the various government and larger relief agencies to quickly meet the immediate needs of those who really need it. Trinity UMC fed the public at large for several weeks and then moved into the cleanup/gutting phase for most anyone who contacted the church. Now we're at the stage of deciding just how long this can go on because at some point a house will need to be demo'd after "cooking" for too long. We're thinking it will be another 1-4 weeks depending on how much water a house got and whether there has been any ventilation inside. At that point we'll transition to rebuilding, which opens up a whole can of worms. Building a stable network to further the cause for the long-term will take some time and lots of cooperation on all levels, but it critical for hellping those who really need it for years to come, not only on the Gulf Coast but also in future disasters.

At any rate, the teams from Virginia (largely from Wood Lake UMC near Richmond) have been some wonderful "guinea pigs" and are doing a great job. Most of the people on this team didn't really know each other before Friday, and you'd think we've been gutting homes for years. It's clearly a God thing on how quickly we've become a true TEAM. As the acronym says, Together Everyone Achieves More. We are the body of Christ and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Sunset at Bay Saint Louis.

Today we got some new assignments so the team went to 2 houses that weren't in too bad of shape because they had doors and windows open to at least get some ventilation. We did the "standard" routine on both of them and will finish them up tomorrow. I had my first positive Red Cross experience today; one of their trucks stopped by the house I was at so we got some drinks (not that we needed them). The owners at the house I was at worked along side of us all day and came to the church for lunch. The wife was a little emotional when we first arrived but she quickly regained herself. That is a very common response. Their house only had an inch of water during Camille, but got 67 inches from the bayou behind their home this time. Luckily for them, they did have flood insurance so they should make out pretty well. Her daughter's house didn't have that so they're concerned about them.

After we got back we tried to head to Waveland to scope things out but the traffic in Gulfport on the route we took was backed up so we turned around and went to the Gulfport coast. This team hadn't been to the coast here yet. Maybe we can hit Waveland tomorrow. I'd like to see where some of our supplies made it on my first trip down 9/3-4. I've seen the outskirts of Waveland but not the town itself (or where it once was). Tony Proctor, who's an UMCOR rep from the Starksville, MS, district, should be down again tomorrow and is trying to get the teams more involved in the community like working at distribution areas. I was also told today they may need help getting some churches networked so they can communicate needs more efficiently so maybe I can help with that. I'm not sure what will happen though since my "boss" should be back here any time now.

This evening I was struck by the disparity I see in the community. While there are many who do have hope and plan to rebuild, there are obviously others that have not found any peace yet. I'm sure some of those that were on the margins before Katrina are in that category, but you even find it among the "rich" on Beach Blvd, which is US 90 along the beach.

And in typical Michael fashion, here's my sunset picture of the night.

I didn't take any pictures for the first time today. Most of the teams here worshiped with the congregation, including serving communion. We then made and served a very nice lunch for them. They had announced in church they were going to stop doing that but several church members apparently asked to keep it going for a while since it's one of the few nice things they get to do now so it will continue through October. By the time we got done cleaning up it was 1:30 and the work coordinator wasn't back so we decided to go back to the house we were at yesterday. We were able to get quite a bit done in the few hours we were there so it will help them tremendously. All their emergency supplies had been left on the kitchen counter for when they returned because the worst flooding previously (Camille '69) had not gotten to house level. They were shocked when they finally were able to get in and find they had 11 feet in the house. They lost some friends who had stayed behind on the coast.

After we returned, we went to Home Depot to get some stuff, but they closed at 6 so we went to Walmart instead. The lines at any major retailer are quite long because they are so short on employees and so many people need to replace so much. School is also starting again tomorrow. We were probably in the "express lane" 20 minutes. We had lunch leftovers for dinner and then did our team devotion. A great story of servitude was shared, but the storyteller was on the receiving end as he had a Peruvian woman wash his feet during a mission trip to Lima. Though he was there to build a daycare that she would be able to use for her infant if she ever found some work, her example showed how his service meant the world to her. That's what we're here to do - to serve the people and make a difference in their world. I thank God I've been able to do what I had originally planned upon before I stumbled upon a temp job here. My boss should be back in the next day or two, but I won't forget this and will make every effort to sneak in a half or full day as able the remaining 2 months I'm here.

Today was slower than normal since the team from Virginia that sort of adopted me when I showed up was leaving and a new one from there was arriving. We did end up going out to Pass Christian in the afternoon to work on the house of one of the member's in-laws. They were over a mile from the coast but right on a small bayou so the water reached to the second floor about 23 feet above what appeared to be the normal level. This house was far worse than the one the previous team had thought was the worst. The mold was very bad and it had thick, black bayou mud everywhere on the first floor. Even though they saved many things on the second floor, they would have been "luckier" if the house had been destroyed as far as rebuilding is concerned, but you can't tell them that.


You must admire the spirit of some of the people here who are determined to resume normal life. They have hope and it's encouraging to see signs like "We will rebuild" and American flags and to know that the Church is a very big part of that hope. Even churches totally destroyed are nurturing that hope. It's amazing to see the impact we have and it's just a drop in the Gulf so to speak for the needs are so immense and so far reaching.

Here is the house in Gulfport, MS, we were gutting this week, 4 weeks after hurricane Katrina. You can see the mold all over the drywall up to the water line at about 5 feet.



This was after we were done ripping out all the walls and flooring so it could dry out. There were many homes not being gutted that will only get worse as time goes on.















Sunset on the Gulfport coast.


A unique "sculpture" left by Katrina.



In our team meeting we discussed how we can easily tend to think how small the work we do is compared to the enormity of the situation – it’s just a speck in the universe of the Gulf Coast. However, we must remember all that matters is that we make an impact on one person’s life to make it worthwhile, and it’s very clear we’ve made a positive difference in many lives. Similar to the following story I was reminded of last night:
The story, told countless times with various changes of characters, is originally from the book "The Star Thrower" by Loren Eisley (1907-1977).

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, "What are you doing?" The youth replied, "Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die."
"Son," the man said, "don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!"
The boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, "It made a difference to that one."

The people here are starfish thrown up onto the beach by a terrible storm. We need to pick them up and throw them back into the water. We are making a difference, however small it may appear at the time. We also brought up how this event has brought out the best in the body of Christ. The Church is at work and shining as well as it ever has in recent times. It is telling to see more vehicles from church organizations than from relief agencies. The question will be how long can we keep it up? The starfish are innumerable and it will take a lot to throw them back in the water.