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.
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.
posted by Michael Ray at 12:15 AM
1 Comments:
Michael, it sure seems like this is how a trip directed by God goes -- you go to serve, and you wind up feeling more served than those you served. Keep at your work, brother. jim
Post a Comment
<< Home