Hurricane
Katrina Relief
10/15/05
Don, Brad,
Kim, Hanna, Gloria, Paulo, Jamie, Matt, Fred, Heidi, Liz, Suzi & Jim – Our
team yet to be defined. It is exciting
getting to know everyone. It’s scary not
knowing what we’ll find
At the
church we wait for the vans to arrive, unpacking cars as they pull up. We will have 2 15 passenger vans. We are all here now, milling about, waiting
for the vans and getting to know one another.
We were supposed to have close to 20 people in our group, however, the
devil has been at work and we are down to 13 total. 12 of us are in the vans (5 in one and 7 in
the other), Jim is going to be staying for all 7 weeks, so he is driving down
and pulling a camper. I am in awe of God
at this moment. We are melding well,
even though none of us knew each other before the trip. Our van contains Brad, Paulo, Matt, Liz and
me. We are having a good time getting to
know each other. Paulo is quite the
comedian, we are all cracking up. He is
the co-pilot while Brad drives; manning the CD player. “Here, listen, this is good song.” I don’t think we have heard an entire CD yet.
=) We change up drivers after lunch for
the remainder of the trip to
10/16/05
We meet at
7am at Cracker Barrel for breakfast before we hit the road again for the last
leg to
We stop in
10/17/05 -
Our first job…
We went to
help clean out the house of an elderly women.
She wasn’t there, but her daughter, Karen, was there. Karen is in her early 50’s, I think. She is a very nice lady. When we pull up she is very happy to see us and
shows us what they are hoping to have done while we are there. “Oh,” she says, “I forgot to put on the work
order that I needed help to get the pool out of the back yard.” (It was laying in a heap) She seemed concerned that we would tell her
no, sorry, it’s not on the list, you’re on your own. Instead we say no problem what else do you
need; what else can we help you with. I
cannot believe the hard work we are doing.
I have an office job; I am so out of shape! Yet, I am wide awake, and
nothing is aching. God is good! I am so excited about how I feel God moving
in this place. On the way back to the
church we head down to the beach. I
cannot fully explain or describe what I feel as I look at the destruction. There once was a road that went from Kiln, MS
to Pass Christian, MS (a peninsula across the bay). Now all that remains are the pillars that
once supported the road. The area once
held multi-million dollar homes, art galleries, and restaurants; now there is
nothing but rubble. It looks like it was
once a beautiful place to live. Now,
however, all I can see are the smashed dishes and clothes that lay in the
dirt. Now it is personal for me, now I
understand the human connection. God,
keep me in that place of understanding.
10/18/05-Second
work site
We are
assigned a “mud out” of a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home about a mile from the
Gulf. Calvin, Jo, Anna and James are the
family we are helping today. Or should I
say the family that will be such a blessing to us! Their home was flooded almost to the ceiling.
This means that all of the flooring, drywall and insulation will need to be
removed along with everything that was in the home. Jo (the mom) has not been able to even enter
the house yet (Katrina hit on 8/29/05).
We don’t know if it’s the emotional aspect of it or the debris that
holds her back. Anna (the 16 year old
daughter) has been helping her dad try to clear out the house. Calvin (the dad) has asthma and it is just
too much for him to do the work. Calvin
and Anna have cleared out the garage and the living room, but it was just too
much for the two of them alone. So here
we are to help! Anna has been able to
get into her room and she has been getting items out. I asked her how she was handling all of this
and I get the standard teen-ager answer “I’m over it.” Is she really, though? When we asked her how old she was she said
she felt like she was 40, which I am sure is not an exaggeration. I remember being her age; how important all
of my “stuff” was. I cannot really
comprehend how she must be feeling. How
hard is it to see everything (that has been your life) just gone? Her posters (some still on the wall), a box
with notes from friends, stuffed animals from her childhood, make up that she
uses to be an adult; again it brings me to tears. Lord, be with Anna, she has a heart for You
and yet is still a hurting child. I am
so amazed by Your grace, even in this place of destruction. As the day goes on Anna puts on a mask and is
in the muck with us, pulling her life out of her room and sorting through her
treasures to see what she might be able to save.
As I talk
with Jo later in the day I hear some scratching and barking coming from the
FEMA trailer that is parked in the front yard.
“I think someone wants to come outside,” I say to Jo. Then out comes Monte’. She is a 14 year old terrier and, as Jo puts
it, a survivor. I ask Jo why she says
that and the story unfolds. Monte and
her partner were left in the garage with food and water when the family had to
evacuate. The family thought it would
just be high winds and rains and that they would be back to the house in the
morning. Jo is almost in tears as she
says’ “We just didn’t know.” If they had
known they would have found a way to take them too. Four days later the family was allowed to
return to their home. There they found
Monte, hiding and scared. The other dog
(and James’ bird) had died in the flooding.
God, how do you deal with that?
Or should I say how do I deal with that?
Thank you, Jesus, for saving Monte.
I am so glad I am able to meet her.
As the day goes on we break for lunch and Monte is feeing left out
(barking for attention). Not a problem,
it’s just what I need, actually. I head
over to where she is, sitting to share my chips with her. She has no interest in the chips, she just
wants the attention. She rolls over on
her back for a belly rub. God, thank
you, I needed that as much as she did! I
weep with Monte. For her lost companion,
for my feelings of pain. How hard it
must have been for them to come home and find only one beloved pet.
We continue
ripping out the rooms. Drywall,
insulation, Purgo flooring, the cabinets from the kitchen, the tub and shower
from the bathrooms; it is slow work, but you really don’t notice the time
passing or the sweat pouring down your face.
God is good in His mercy to us.
Not only does he allow me to come here to serve and to be blessed, He
let’s my body be stronger than it truly is.
Again, Jesus, I thank You for all You are giving me this week. Please let me be a blessing to someone else
today. Let me be Your hands and feet,
Lord. Use me in any way You wish!
10/19/05
We head
back to Jo and Calvin’s; we are almost done.
At least that seemed the case when we left yesterday. This day, however, we are tired and moving a
little slower; both mentally and physically.
The cleaning, moving, and throwing away, still continues; just at a
little slower pace. As the day picks up
we get a second wind and work seems lighter.
We don’t finish all that we hope to today; we’ll come back tomorrow and
work for about an hour to finish up.
This day has been so hard on all of us.
Jamie worked with Anna today; building a relationship as they peal away
the debris in her room. Anna is an
artist; she writes and plays music. A
lot of this work has been ruined and you can see the pain on Anna’s face.
However, when I get a chance at the end of the day to talk with her she lights
up and tells me that she was able to save more items than she thought she would
be able to save. This is where joy is
found amidst the devastation; the smile of a young lady who realizes that more
of her childhood is able to be captured and preserved. Thank You, Lord, for allowing me this
time! My heart is so full. We took a little time this morning to go down
to the beach and look around, maybe that was part of what set the mood for our
day. We were told that the main road
that runs parallel with the water once had multi-million dollar homes on the
other side of it. It’s hard to imagine
it and I say imagine because there is nothing there now. Rubble and debris sits in piles all around
the area, but not homes. Some still have
cement foundations, others don’t even have that. Some homeowners have been back; you know this
by the
10/20/05
third work site
Heidi, our
youngest team member, is such a blessing!
Her enthusiasm is a riot! She
wants to get as dirty as possible before we have to leave here. I decided to change out with her and let her
go with Brad’s team to the next “mud out”.
“Mud Out” means that there was so much water that went into the house it
left mud when it receded. It can be an
inch of mud or it can be 4 feet of mud.
So far we have not seen that much mud, but the houses have been smelly
and dirty. My team today is Don, Matt, Liz
and me. Don has now started calling Liz
and I “Sissy” or “The Sissies”. As I
think about our team, I don’t think there is one person on it that I don’t
like. As the week has gone on I have
begun to love each one of them. It is
amazing to see how they are growing; especially when you feel growth in
yourself! God, in His wisdom, placed us
together for this time.
10/21/05-Our
last day
We are
tired and sore and our fuses are getting short.
Don, Matt, Liz and I start our day by cleaning the church. Not too bad-I get the showers. =( the showers are housed in a semi
trailer. Six individual stalls, which
you enter from outside (they really are pretty cool). It takes awhile but we do a through job (it
is pleasing to serve those who are serving others)! Next we head to the house that Brad’s team is
trying to finish up, to help. We help to
get it done and head out to make a few more stops. Don and Liz want to stop and see Bill and
Sandy, the first homeowners they worked with that week. They make sure there is nothing else they
need and we say good-bye. I had a great
day today! Thank you, lord for this
week! My heart is so full right now! As I sit her on the patio of the church, in
the warm