Miss Ruby's/Mississippi

May, 2006
Miss Ruby was the next homeowner we worked for. She was home while we worked on the first day and glad to see us but somewhat reserved. Her roof had four layers that had to be removed! We learned a lesson fromthe day before and spread a huge tarp on the ground to push all of our debris into although we almost always filled it too full and could barely drag it to the curb.

We invited Miss Martha to dinner with us and she accepted. It was taco salad night and it was good. We ate the delicious Taco Mountains and made conversation with Miss Ruby. She works at the shipyard in the Maintenance Dept....lucky to be in that department, she said, since many others have been laid off.

We made small talk. I asked her where she worshipped and she opened up. I think her reservations toward us came from maybe thinking that we would be condescending toward her, maybe even toward all those down there. You know, "Oh, how we came to help you poor needy people. Oh, aren't we wonderful." But when we got to talking about our churches, about our worship, suddenly we weren't black or white, we weren't rich or poor, we weren't Northern or Southern...we were just God's children. Christians one and all... just doing what we are called to do.

Miss Martha's/Mississippi

May, 2006
"Helping one family at a time" that's what they are trying to do in the face of the daunting need left by the hurricanes last fall. I've been thinking about the people waiting for new roofs and interior repairs; people who have been on a list for months and months patiently living in homes wearing weathered blue tarp scarves, or among the bits and pieces of remodeling being done or nesting in their FEMA trailers.

We first met Miss Martha. (She really wasn't a "miss" but we soon learned that everyone down South is "Miss" or "Mr", even with first names.) She was thrilled and surprised, having been bumped up the list due to the discovery that the guy above her was actually a landlord wanting his rental property fixed for free. We started at her house while she was still at work. (She works for a doctor) We were novices at roofing with a little experience among us but we kicked right in. The first part of the job took no brains or skill...just a lot of tedious, back-bending effort. We tore off her old roof.

It was apparent immediately that the building codes were crazy-off from what we are used to here in Missouri. We were told later that some of the houses were built before there really were many codes. Anyway, her roof was made of 1/4" plywood on 24" centers and old. It was wavy as could be between the rafters and so weak that we didn't dare want anyone heavy up on the roof. They might drop right through to her kitchen! Johh insisted on going up but was pretty careful to keep his feet on the rafter boards. The rest of us walked at will but every now and then you'd hear a "WHooooaa..." as someone stepped into a soft spot and dipped precariously low.

There was one place that a tree had gone through and we replaced it with 2 sheets of solid plywood. The whole roof really needed it but we were there to get things fixed a.s.a.p and we had to remember that they don't have the snow on their roofs that makes it neccessary for ours to be so sturdy.

We had arrived in Gautier late in the morning so started on Miss Marthas's roof right after lunch. We worked long and hard with the tedious job of tearing off her old roof and pulling out all of the old nails. At the end of the day we were very hot and very tired. It had been in the upper 80°s on that roof and we had really felt it. My back was aching from all the bending and effort with the nails/shovel. Everyone had worked well together and worked hard!

Day 2~ We started earlier so we could bet a jump before the heat. Miss Martha was leaving for work and was so glad to meet us. She was oh so grateful. She wanted to know each of our names. She left a note inside stating her gratitude. (she left her house open for us to use the bathroom) I left her a note telling her we were just trying to do what God expects us to do; welcomed the opportunity to help out. The next day Miss Martha called the church to thank them for sending her angels.

We finished her house and cleaned up as best we could. I am afraid her lawn mower will find a few of the nails that we surely missed picking up.

Gautier, Mississippi

May, 2006 ~ Gautier, Mississippi

It is still an incredible mess with so much need even 9 months after the hurricane. The debris right on the coasts is still horrific. Further inland you can't see as much because the damage is to the interiors of the homes.

The greatest need is roofs. The inside work can't get going much 'til the leaky, damged roofs are replaced. There are blue-tarped roofs sprinkled everywhere. The hurricane season begins tomorrow and the people there are very nervous. They haven't even recovered from last season!

If you get the opportunity to go South and help with this effort I encourage you to do so. You do not need any specific skills as they have folks there that can show you what to do and the people are so anxious to get back into their homes and out of the FEMA trailers that they prefer a quick job to a fine and lengthy one. There is, of course, a special need for electricians, and others with special skills but anyone can get a small amount of training and do the most-needed jobs such as tearing out sheet rock, hanginging doors, putting up sheet rock, roofing and painting. What is really needed is people with a willingness to work.

Our group was mix of 14 to 60 year old men and women with varying levels of skill and knowledge but all with a heart to serve. We were there 6 days and replaced roofs on two houses, painted the interiors of 2 others and set a toilet. Two of our helpers cooked for all the volunteers down there at the Gautier United Methodist Church that has been providing lodging for volunteers ever since Katrina hit. You do as much as you can and then another group follows and finishes whatever they can.... a long slow process... but it get's it done. They say "we are helping one family at a time" and that is what keeps them going and from being disheartened by the overwhelming need. We shared floor space and broke bread with people from Maine, Nebraska & Pennsylvania.

Marcia, who runs the Relief Effort at the church says there is enough work for the next five years if they continue to get the same amount of volunteer workers. Remember, just about all the work being done is by volunteers! You get paid in hugs and heartfelt thank yous. I feel incredibly grateful for all I have and for the opportunity to be God's hands. It was an uplifting, rewarding and humbling experience for me... I want to send others! I want to go back!

Hipolito's House/ Mississippi

May, 2006
Hipolito was living alone in the FEMA trailer parked next to his home. There was a wheel chair ramp going up to it for his wife but she had had to leave since she could not find the kind of care she needed there after Hurricane Katrina had drown their neighborhood. Hipolito was a sad, elderly man. They had left for higher ground but their home had been destroyed. His wife's doctor had stayed... and died. Hipolito told us that he had been a kind man.

He asked us what had happened to his hardwood oak floors that had been there. The oak had been pulled up and thrown out by a group before us. They'd been swollen and warped and ruined in the flood. You could literally see the ground beneath his home between the boards and in the empty nail holes. The group before us had put up insulation (there had never been any before), hung sheetrock and painted. A volunteer electrician was working on it. I think the group before that had given him a roof. It was finally falling into place for him.

The group before us did the sheetrock and it is the worst sheetrocking I've ever seen. The walls in the livingroom looked as if they had not even been sanded but they had already had a coat of paint so there was little we could do. We have had to change our thinking a bit in regard to remodeling. Having to cut corners because one doesn't have the money or the equipment and especially the time to do things "right". They want to be living in their homes. Hurricane season is upon them again and they want to start living normally in their own finished homes. We all did the best we could..

Hipolito had paid two different contractors ($1800 each) to do plumbing so he could get back into his home. Both had taken his money and run. It's hard to understand that someone would pay up front for a job to be done... especially twice. But he was desperate to get his home in order, to have a home, to get his wife back with him. Desparate people grasp at straws. Desparate people attract unscrupulous contractors and apparently they are plentiful around these parts.

We painted the trim in the livingroom and all of the dining room and set his kitchen cabinets and sanded some sheetrock and scraped up sheetrock mud off the livingroom floor and painted a bedroom floor... and they set his toilet and got it working!

We had worked on Hipolito's house all morning and then had to leave for home that afternoon. We left him, so grateful to have more of his home ready and yet,so sad at all that he had lost.

Ander's House/Mississippi

May, 2006 ~ Pascagoula, MS
It has been HOT here, up on the roofs and in the unairconditioned home where we painted. God did send some beautiful breezes when we thought we might not endure it any longer. The cans of water donated for Relief workers by Anheiser-Busch have been limitless and unbelievably appreciated. You know how they say to drink 8 glasses of water a day and no one can do it? HA! I think we must drink a 12 pack each every day! (and we hardly ever need to pee!)

Even though we are mostly greenhorns with the roofing, Tom knew what to do and everyone quickly found a specialty. We were able to replace 2 roofs while we were there but there are still 300 people on just this church's waiting list alone! It seems overwhelming all that still needs to be done but they tell us to look at it as just helping one family at a time.

We have worked on 4 homes and were able to meet the homeowners of each and hear their stories. It is heart-breaking and uplifting as well. Can't tell you how many times tears have come to my eyes over the past week and also how many hugs and "thank you"s we have received. As Andy put it when we were reviewing Ander's response as we exited the bus to paint the interior of his home: "I gave him my hand and he just drew me in". A handshake was not good enough for him, it was great big bear hugs for each and every one of us.

Ander (real name was Andrew but he said his mama called him Ander and we should, too.) was a real chatty bear of a man. He had a deep accent that we had some trouble understanding but he was patient about it and repeated at will. He and his family had been at home when the hurricane hit. They had ridden out hurricanes before but Katrina's number popped higher as it hit the shores and it hit harder than predicted. His home flooded instantly with the wall of water. The local lagoon also flooded with it so that was in the water, too. He said he was not afraid for himself but for his wife and his grandson. The water came up to Ander's neck and he had to hold his Grandson above his head. They could not escape their house until the waters receded. They survived... but their house was in shambles.

The house was unairconditioned and so hot and stuffy! We were all soaked with sweat. Ander never lifted a hand to help but kept us entertained the whole while. His wife wanted us to paint her laundry room and her garage but we moved on to those in more need at that point. Ander climbed onto the bus to thank us one more time and made John write down each of our names so he could "put it in the newspaper".

When people see our bus they know why we are here. There are many churches and organizations down here sending out volunteers and yet the need is still massive nine months after Katrina. In many areas as we drive by you see brand new roofs next to blue-tarped roofs. The blue tarps are sprinkled everywhere we went....and the FEMA trailers in people's front yards.

There is so much to do and we worked 'til we were cranky and tired but there is still so much. The people here are so grateful. Many have denied by Insurers who claim that a hurricane is wind damage and not a flood ( or viceversa) and refuse to pay. Others have been ripped off by unscrupulous contractors who take advantage of the people willing to pay up front out of desperation to get higher on the waiting list. There are landlords that pretend to be homeowners in need and we ran into that too - twice! Anyway... sorry this has been so random but there has been so little down time and we are weary and full of all that we have experienced. Lots of good stories coming your way. It feels good being a tool of God! We got more than we gave. It will be good to be home though. Thanks for your prayers.

Cherokee Reservation, South Carolina

April 2006 ~
20 teens and 4 adults headed to the Cherokee National Forest in South Carolina to the Cherokee Reservation and the Methodist Church there. They repaired the home of one Cherokee family. They also made friends of them, worshiped together and learned a lot about compassion.








Proverbs 20:11 ~
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

Tahlequah, Oklahoma

March, 2004
Talequah, Oklahoma at the United Methodist Children's Home. The home provides care for boys, ages 6-12 and girls ages 6 to high school graduation who are experiencing problems which prevent them from living at home or in foster care, including physical or sexual abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, gang involvement, difficulties with the law, depression, and/or out-of-control behavior.

Our stayed in housing on the grounds. Youth did lots of clean up work on the grounds and also some work at the nearby Methodist Church Camp Egan. The kids at the Home hosted a meal for our workers and also a rousing evening of Dodge Ball. Some of those kids also worked along side of our Youth on the various projects.

Our youth were touched by the plight of the children at the Home and honored to help in this very worthy ministry. Some of our kids worked hard and some hardly worked.
Every evening ended with a worship service and several impromptu late night Praise gatherings at the Gazebo.

About this Blog

...hoping site will be a conglomeration of ideas, memories, photos and thoughts... maybe even some confessions by any who want to share. If you have participated in any of our mission opportunities and would like to contribute a post leave me a comment and we'll get you hooked up.

Everyone else...fell free to comment at will.