Friday Final Posting

Okay, it's not Friday, it's Sunday, and we're all back home - safe, sound, worn out, and deeply gratifide - because Friday was a very good day at Camp Gulfside. All four teams rose early and left enthusiastically for one last day of work, then returned in the evening with stories of a life-changing experience.

Our last full day ended with a real Thanksgiving meal - we're talking turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, and more - and then we shared THE Thanksgiving meal - Holy Communion.

But between the two Thanksgivings, we all sat in one big circle and passed a hammer. When a person was holding the hammer, it was his or her turn to say what the Katrina Rebuild experience had meant for him/her. Most of the participants had never been on a mission trip before, and most of those expressed some trepidation in joining the team to begin with...and each of those persons said, in one way or another, "I am SO glad that I did this. I am SO glad that (insert a name here) said, 'you really should do this'."

The summary of all remarks was, in my words, that we all felt like this is what it really means to be the church, to put our faith to work, with no expectation for a return, and yet we all felt as though we received at least as much or more than we gave.

The picture at the top of this entry shows the sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico, taken as our team was leaving yesterday from the driveway of our camp in Waveland, Mississippi. I place it here because I trust that divine hope has dawned for the people who suffered the most from Katrina, and because the realization that we can be signs of that hope has dawned in our hearts and minds, as well.

The Thursday Slump

As I write this, 6:00 a.m. has just arrived in San Diego and our work teams have just arrived at their work sites. Four nights of sleeping six and eight to a room three days of working hard in Mississippi's Spring heat are showing their signs in sleepy eyes. Add to that a night on the town for rich seafood and traditional Cajun food (some folks went to New Orleans for the evening) and you're looking at forty tired United Methodists. Breakfast this morning was quiet and departure for the workday was sluggish.

If you've been on a similar mission trip, you recognize the rhythm of the week - there's almost always a Thursday Slump. Excitement and adrenaline from the adventure and discovery pull everyone through the first half of the week, but then the departure from all that's familiar - food, bed, family & friends, exercise, daily routines - catches up with the group and there is a slow day.

That's today. I'll tell you a story about last night.

Most of us went to a local restaurant called "Ricky's" and we all wore our official lime-green United Methodist Volunteer t-shirts. There were more than twenty-five of us who descended on this already crowded and popular seafood grill, and we got more than a taste of delicious seafood - we also received a generous helping of hospitality.

The main host and all the servers went out of their way to make us comfortable and to serve us quickly. The food is best described with just a few words lifted directly from the menu, words like "Fried Soft Shell Crab", "The CrawKitty" (that's fried catfish smothered with crawfish in a rich sauce), and my favorite, "The Seafood Barge".

Being good Methodists, we held hands around the large table and gave a prayer of thanks. Being typical Methodists, we did so quickly and quietly so as not to make a show of ourselves. Being in the deep South, we were noticed by a man who stopped at our table and said, "I know you're not Baptists - you're too quiet!"

Laughter, eating, and story-telling about the work we are doing followed for an hour.

When we all had our fill, we made a substantial contribution to the local economy and headed for the door, but on the way we were stopped by a woman who was all dressed up and looked as if she had just come from a Sunday morning worship service. She had seen our t-shirts and left her table to say, "I just want to thank ya'll for coming down here and for all you're doing to help us. We appreciate you so much and we hope you'll come agian." Then she returned to her table to finish her dinner. I think she was having "The CrawKitty".

Wednesday Update

This Wednesday morning brings rain. The color of the sky and the feel of the air are both soft here on Mississippi's Gulf Coast, like the accent and manner of the people, and the overnight rain has made the air cooler and softer still.

Our five teams gather after supper each evening for story-telling and worship and both nights - Monday and Tuesday - have brought their share of heart-breaking, heart-warming, mind-opening stories.

Picture all the hands from all over the country that have touched some part of one house that is being built here in Gulfport and hold that thought. I'll come back to it.

Sunday night we divided ourselves into five teams: "Framers" (they frame houses); "Sparkies" (they're good at electrical work); "Mudders" (taping-n-mudding...that's drywall work); "Rockettes" (they "rock" at general construction work, mostly carpentry); and "Manna Makers" (you guessed it - the cooks). Each team is laughing and crying and working hard all day.

On Monday night, the "Framers" told the story of their home-owner, Deena, and her family. Her son suffered a severe stroke in the late 1990s and had mostly recovered when Katrina came and they lost everything, home and all. Their new home is nearly finished now, but Deena was recently diagnosed with bone cancer. Their total monthly family income is $1,400.

Deena's first great-grandson was born Sunday, our first day here. She greeted the "Framers" Monday morning with a welcome and a request for prayers because the newborn, Chase, was diagnosed with a heart defect and was transported to Tulane University Hospital for specialized care. As it turned out, the first work the "Framers" did was a work of prayer.

The "Mudders" told the story of two men from a family who decided not to evacuate as Katrina approached. The two men and their remotely located home withstood the initial landfall and winds and, thinking the worst was over, they opened the door to look out as the eye of the storm passed over. What they saw was that the worst was not over.

A wall of water more than thiry feet high was coming from the Gulf toward their house. They managed to climb to the highest point inside and held onto the rafters as the water reached and surrounded them for six hours. No help came. Family members in another location called and asked the police to rescue the two uncles. No help came. Four days passed, and no help came. Finally, family members used a chain saw to cut their way across more than four miles of debris to reach the two uncles, and now their home is also nearing completion.

So many hands.

The "Sparkies" enjoyed the reward of actually putting the finishing touches on a home yesterday so that it can be inspected and the family can move in. The father escorted the "Sparkies" to the laundry room of the house and showed them the unpainted walls that were covered instead with handprints. Oregon. Pennsylvania.

As team after team came week after week for month after month, work progressed on the home. Arizona. Virginia. The family insisted that every member from every team draw the outline of one of their hands on the wall and, inside the hands, write their names and where they're from. New York. Mississippi.

Some added words of hope, love, and prayers. Tennessee. Kansas. The "Spakies" said there must have been around 70 hand-prints on those walls. Ohio. Georgia. On Tuesday, the "Sparkies" added their hands and names, knowing theirs would be the last. Arkansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, Washington, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Wyoming and, finally, California.

We're here in Waveland, MS, and we're bad to the bone!

We picked that as the first line of this blog because that's where we had our first team meal - at "Bad to the Bone Barbeque" restaurant in Slidell, LA.

The San Diego District Katrina Rebuild Team - all 19 of us - met the Los Angeles District Katrina Rebuid Team - all 19 of them - at the New Orleans airport yesterday evening (Saturday, April 14) at about 6:00 p.m. and, after a day of travel, we were all ready for a good Southern meal. After a quick drive to Slidell, the good folks at "Bad to the Bone" treated us well, all the way to closing time, with ribs, brisket, chicken, shrimp, catfish, hush puppies, bread pudding, cornbread, and more and more...and iced tea, sweetened and unsweetened (Southerns will understand).

We ended the day with another after-dark drive to the camp here at Waveland, MS, where we settled in to our rooms and bunks, and slept.


















This morning we worshipped in nearby Bay St. Louis at the Main Street United Methodist Church, which is over 150 years old, and the big surprise is that the pastor, Rick Brooks, was a seminary classmate of mine at Emory University in the mid-80's.




He said, "This was a little paradise...until the storm hit." He paused a long time, scratching his bearded chin. "It's been a real struggle. And it's going to be a long haul."

We have formed five teams: one electrical working on two sites; two framing teams working at two separate sites; a roofing and window-installation team at a new build; and a cooking team! The cooking team went to work first at 6:00 a.m. this morning, and the other four teams start first thing tomorrow morning.

We'll keep you posted - take time to check out the pictures.