Painting & Pulling Nails.
15 years ago
Sunday, September 21, 2008
We did it!!!!
We're back and we did what we went to do! What an awesome experience we had!
On Monday we all spent the day at Camp Gulfside, Waveland, MS cleaning up the mess made by Hurricane Gustav. This day in camp gave us the time to get to know the Site Administrators, Jennie and Stan Lowry and long-term volunteer Scott Wilkinson. These are three loving, caring and totally dedicated Christians doing the work of Christ by serving the people of this area in moving on after Katrina.
On Tuesday five of us were left at our base camp (Camp Gulfside) to finish cleaning up the mess left by Gustav and everyone else was sent out on jobs to homes in the area. Teams were sent out to hang kitchen cabinets in a new home that is finally nearing completion, to work on a home needing a number of projects completed including fixing skylight damage and also to a home that needed floor tile laid in the kitchen and bathroom. More importantly, the teams made contact with home owners who just needed to know that someone cared and would help them.
Wednesday and Thursday went pretty much the same as far as the work was concerned. A team of six women became known as the Sixsy Chicks and were quite proficient as a painting team. A home that is nearing completion needed all the trim painted and it is now done. That same team spent the next day priming the kitchen walls in the home that just got new floors. Our floor tile crew worked diligently to finish the job in our short time in Mississippi. Another team laid laminated flooring in a home. A team worked on some plumbing problems. One of our teams was able to fix an electrical problem that had already been looked at by three or four teams before we came and had left them stumped. All in all, I believe we worked on five or six different homes.
One of the most important lessons we learned in all of this was that it wasn't the time we spent doing physical labor that really mattered, although we did work hard for very long hours, it was the time we spent building relationships with the families. These people have endured much in the past three years. The families begin to lose hope after waiting so long to get a finished home. It was heartbreaking at times to hear their stories. But as much as we needed to know and understand the devastation, they also needed to tell their stories and let go of some of the pain they have endured both physically and emotionally. They needed people who would not judge them but would listen and empathize. Every homeowner we met truly appreciated anything you did for them.
Let me share with you one of the stories. One of our home owners told us that because the destruction of their home came from a tornado that had spawned off of Hurricane Katrina and not from the "tidal surge", they were not eligible for any state or federal assistance. As a side note, there were 44 tornados from Katrina. 18 in Georgia, 11 in Mississippi, 5 in Virginia, 5 in Pennsylvania, 4 in Alabama and 1 in Florida. Therefore, they received only $2000 from the Red Cross and used that and the money from their homeowners insurance to rebuild. The problem was that due to new regulations on construction, the codes had changed and things had to be "hurricane resistant". There is no such thing as a hurricane proof home. Codes have been changed to make them more resistant such as strapping the home to the footer and strapping the roof to the home, etc. Building materials and contractor wages have risen substantially. Our home owner did as much of the work by himself as he could but had to hire contractors for some of the specialized work and the work that needs to be certified by a licensed contractor. The money ran out. The last option is to apply through groups such as UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). It is a long drawn out process of paperwork and grant requests often taking months to complete. Keep in mind that these homeowners must verify they own the land with copies of deeds and or titles and a lot of the documents are lost and must be proven through the county records. There are a limited number of families that these organizations can fund so there is also a priority list of who gets funded first. Funding goes first to the elderly, physically disabled and single parents with young children. All others get moved to the bottom of the list if someone in one of those categories applies before they are selected. Our home owner finally made it to the list and so appreciates the help he and his wife are getting. He is no longer able to do the work himself. Even though he has made the list and funds are being set aside for their home, all work depends on volunteers taking time off from their jobs and using that time to travel and work in the area. This was the family where the new kitchen cabinets were being installed as well as some new doors and the investigation into the electrical problem. They are getting close to completion and are delighted with the new home. It is an answered prayer for them. They have worked very hard for three years for this. My prayer is that they will share Thanksgiving with their family in a finished home as they have hoped for.
Friday was a very special day for our team serving with the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church Disaster Response Team. After working Friday morning to finish up some work at several of the homes, we were invited to attend not one but two new home dedications. Although we were not part of the teams that worked on these two homes, we represented the many teams of volunteers who had given time to make the homes a reality. What an emotional time! The joy of home ownership on the faces was inspirational. Just knowing that we were part of making that joy a possibility for the families that we worked for was truly an awesome high for us. Their time is coming too. Each family was given a new Bible for their home and a quilt that had been stitched by a group of ladies from a church that had sent a team down previously. There were tears of joy flowing that day and hugs all around.
I tried to think of any downsides to doing this type of mission work but I'm hard put to come up with any. Yes, the work was physical and many of us didn't come with the skills need to do these jobs, even so, we were able to complete the tasks set before us. As my pastor tells us every Sunday in his benediction: "You go no where this week by accident." God is always ahead of you preparing the way. He put the people and the skills needed in this group of 20 people to get the work done that needed to be done. Although we didn't get together and discuss who would take what, everything we needed was there. Someone had packed it.
I guess our only complaint for our time there would have to be the bugs. The dipterans (plecia nearcitica), called "lovebugs" by the natives of this area were in season. Funnily enough, they aren't bugs but flies. They are sometimes called honeymoon fly, telephonebug, kissybug or doubleheadedbug. Little black flies that swarm turning everything black. I've never in my life seen so many bugs at one time. I was grateful that these bugs don't bite but they are annoying. Best thing about these little flies though is that they are in the larvee stage most of the year and the swarms only come out twice a year (in the spring and again in the fall for short periods). Hopefully our next trip will not be during lovebug season. I personally was happy to be able to take a shower here at home without them. I can't say that I miss them. I will however miss the fun the 20 of us had, the laughter, the teasing, and the FOOD we shared. We sure ate great meals. Thanks go out to the cooks and especially Ed for the Seafood Gumbo. Many of us had catfish and gumbo for the first time while in Mississippi.
And THANK YOU Todd and Servants.org for organizing this trip.
On Monday we all spent the day at Camp Gulfside, Waveland, MS cleaning up the mess made by Hurricane Gustav. This day in camp gave us the time to get to know the Site Administrators, Jennie and Stan Lowry and long-term volunteer Scott Wilkinson. These are three loving, caring and totally dedicated Christians doing the work of Christ by serving the people of this area in moving on after Katrina.
On Tuesday five of us were left at our base camp (Camp Gulfside) to finish cleaning up the mess left by Gustav and everyone else was sent out on jobs to homes in the area. Teams were sent out to hang kitchen cabinets in a new home that is finally nearing completion, to work on a home needing a number of projects completed including fixing skylight damage and also to a home that needed floor tile laid in the kitchen and bathroom. More importantly, the teams made contact with home owners who just needed to know that someone cared and would help them.
Wednesday and Thursday went pretty much the same as far as the work was concerned. A team of six women became known as the Sixsy Chicks and were quite proficient as a painting team. A home that is nearing completion needed all the trim painted and it is now done. That same team spent the next day priming the kitchen walls in the home that just got new floors. Our floor tile crew worked diligently to finish the job in our short time in Mississippi. Another team laid laminated flooring in a home. A team worked on some plumbing problems. One of our teams was able to fix an electrical problem that had already been looked at by three or four teams before we came and had left them stumped. All in all, I believe we worked on five or six different homes.
One of the most important lessons we learned in all of this was that it wasn't the time we spent doing physical labor that really mattered, although we did work hard for very long hours, it was the time we spent building relationships with the families. These people have endured much in the past three years. The families begin to lose hope after waiting so long to get a finished home. It was heartbreaking at times to hear their stories. But as much as we needed to know and understand the devastation, they also needed to tell their stories and let go of some of the pain they have endured both physically and emotionally. They needed people who would not judge them but would listen and empathize. Every homeowner we met truly appreciated anything you did for them.
Let me share with you one of the stories. One of our home owners told us that because the destruction of their home came from a tornado that had spawned off of Hurricane Katrina and not from the "tidal surge", they were not eligible for any state or federal assistance. As a side note, there were 44 tornados from Katrina. 18 in Georgia, 11 in Mississippi, 5 in Virginia, 5 in Pennsylvania, 4 in Alabama and 1 in Florida. Therefore, they received only $2000 from the Red Cross and used that and the money from their homeowners insurance to rebuild. The problem was that due to new regulations on construction, the codes had changed and things had to be "hurricane resistant". There is no such thing as a hurricane proof home. Codes have been changed to make them more resistant such as strapping the home to the footer and strapping the roof to the home, etc. Building materials and contractor wages have risen substantially. Our home owner did as much of the work by himself as he could but had to hire contractors for some of the specialized work and the work that needs to be certified by a licensed contractor. The money ran out. The last option is to apply through groups such as UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). It is a long drawn out process of paperwork and grant requests often taking months to complete. Keep in mind that these homeowners must verify they own the land with copies of deeds and or titles and a lot of the documents are lost and must be proven through the county records. There are a limited number of families that these organizations can fund so there is also a priority list of who gets funded first. Funding goes first to the elderly, physically disabled and single parents with young children. All others get moved to the bottom of the list if someone in one of those categories applies before they are selected. Our home owner finally made it to the list and so appreciates the help he and his wife are getting. He is no longer able to do the work himself. Even though he has made the list and funds are being set aside for their home, all work depends on volunteers taking time off from their jobs and using that time to travel and work in the area. This was the family where the new kitchen cabinets were being installed as well as some new doors and the investigation into the electrical problem. They are getting close to completion and are delighted with the new home. It is an answered prayer for them. They have worked very hard for three years for this. My prayer is that they will share Thanksgiving with their family in a finished home as they have hoped for.
Friday was a very special day for our team serving with the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church Disaster Response Team. After working Friday morning to finish up some work at several of the homes, we were invited to attend not one but two new home dedications. Although we were not part of the teams that worked on these two homes, we represented the many teams of volunteers who had given time to make the homes a reality. What an emotional time! The joy of home ownership on the faces was inspirational. Just knowing that we were part of making that joy a possibility for the families that we worked for was truly an awesome high for us. Their time is coming too. Each family was given a new Bible for their home and a quilt that had been stitched by a group of ladies from a church that had sent a team down previously. There were tears of joy flowing that day and hugs all around.
I tried to think of any downsides to doing this type of mission work but I'm hard put to come up with any. Yes, the work was physical and many of us didn't come with the skills need to do these jobs, even so, we were able to complete the tasks set before us. As my pastor tells us every Sunday in his benediction: "You go no where this week by accident." God is always ahead of you preparing the way. He put the people and the skills needed in this group of 20 people to get the work done that needed to be done. Although we didn't get together and discuss who would take what, everything we needed was there. Someone had packed it.
I guess our only complaint for our time there would have to be the bugs. The dipterans (plecia nearcitica), called "lovebugs" by the natives of this area were in season. Funnily enough, they aren't bugs but flies. They are sometimes called honeymoon fly, telephonebug, kissybug or doubleheadedbug. Little black flies that swarm turning everything black. I've never in my life seen so many bugs at one time. I was grateful that these bugs don't bite but they are annoying. Best thing about these little flies though is that they are in the larvee stage most of the year and the swarms only come out twice a year (in the spring and again in the fall for short periods). Hopefully our next trip will not be during lovebug season. I personally was happy to be able to take a shower here at home without them. I can't say that I miss them. I will however miss the fun the 20 of us had, the laughter, the teasing, and the FOOD we shared. We sure ate great meals. Thanks go out to the cooks and especially Ed for the Seafood Gumbo. Many of us had catfish and gumbo for the first time while in Mississippi.
And THANK YOU Todd and Servants.org for organizing this trip.
Friday, September 19, 2008
We are experiencing Technical difficulties.
Hi everyone! I know you are all anxious to see and hear how the team is doing in Mississippi. Unfortunately with the recent hurricanes that have gone through the area Internet(DSL) service is intermittent at best and usually completely unavailable to the team. We will update the blog as soon as the team comes home.
I have spoken to the team and they are having a really great experience! Working hard but having a great mission trip!
Shalom,
Trent Davis
I have spoken to the team and they are having a really great experience! Working hard but having a great mission trip!
Shalom,
Trent Davis
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Well, we made it. God is sooo good! We had a few God moments and like always God paved the way. When we left Carlisle we were aware that if Camp Gulfside didn't get power back we might be turned to Iowa the next morning. All along the way, God showed us that Camp Gulfside at Waveland MS was where we needed to be. The signs were all there from the giant white crosses along the road to signs on the back of trucks and even a white car with red letters painted on it that said "Jesus is coming soon!". We passed three convoys of Asphlundt trucks (tree experts) that we were sure were heading down here too. The weather was perfect, gorgeous blue skies with billowy white cotton candy clouds. Most of us had anticipated rainy weather to drive through but we only had about 5 minutes of big drops and the sun never left us.
Getting gas along the way could have become a problem. When Ike hit gas prices jumped and people panicked causing stations to run out of gas. We had no problems. One station that had a limit on how much you could buy allowed us to fill all our vehicles when they learned where we were going and why.
We spent our first night at Red Bank United Methodist Church in Chattanooga TN. When one on the congregations members was asked for advice on a good place to buy breakfast in the morning before early service he invited all 20 of us to his home. We all want to go back to Zack and Mandy's next year. These are two of the most loving and giving people you will ever meet.
We reached Gulfside on Sunday evening in good time, about an hour earlier than we planned thanks to Kimberly (a GPS unit). But, because the camp had been evacuated and empty for some time, we spent the evening cleaning up mold and bleaching everything before we could settle in.
Our first day was spent unpacking all our supplies and scrubbing down beds, walls, ceilings and floors. Camp Gulfside is now in great shape for other teams scheduled to come.
Our second work day is nearly over and the work crews are just getting back with stories to tell. We'll keep you posted when we can. Internet access is intermittant.
Love to all back home for the Waveland Mission Team.
Getting gas along the way could have become a problem. When Ike hit gas prices jumped and people panicked causing stations to run out of gas. We had no problems. One station that had a limit on how much you could buy allowed us to fill all our vehicles when they learned where we were going and why.
We spent our first night at Red Bank United Methodist Church in Chattanooga TN. When one on the congregations members was asked for advice on a good place to buy breakfast in the morning before early service he invited all 20 of us to his home. We all want to go back to Zack and Mandy's next year. These are two of the most loving and giving people you will ever meet.
We reached Gulfside on Sunday evening in good time, about an hour earlier than we planned thanks to Kimberly (a GPS unit). But, because the camp had been evacuated and empty for some time, we spent the evening cleaning up mold and bleaching everything before we could settle in.
Our first day was spent unpacking all our supplies and scrubbing down beds, walls, ceilings and floors. Camp Gulfside is now in great shape for other teams scheduled to come.
Our second work day is nearly over and the work crews are just getting back with stories to tell. We'll keep you posted when we can. Internet access is intermittant.
Love to all back home for the Waveland Mission Team.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Heading into the unknown!
The team of twenty met at Carlisle Grace UMC at 6:00am to head down to Mississippi. Last we spoke to the camp volunteers in Miss. they informed us that do to Ike, they had no power and the entrance to the camp had been washed away by the storm surge.
The team headed out anyway, praying that God would take care of them and turn any stumbling blocks into stepping stones!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Wonderin' Off to Waveland!
It has been an exciting and anxious couple weeks in the Gulf Coast region but at last we can say that we are heading to Waveland Mississippi to help with the Hurricane Katrina recovery. First came Gustav and then Ike. Both storms had the potential to ruin our plans but God had a bigger plan! Saturday, September 13th 19 vulonteers from Grace UMC Carlisle and Allison UMC in Carlisle will join Todd Jackson form Servants on a trip to serve the people of Waveland Mississippi.
The hosts are excited to have us come as the recent storms have wiped out the last month of volunteers. It is hard to imagine but there are still 6 more years of recovery work needed to bring the people of Waveland Mississippi back from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The team will be warmly welcomed and we know that God has paved their way to do His will.
Pray with us for the safety of the team their ability to serve as the hands and feet of Christ in Waveland!
Trent Davis
Executive Director
Servants, Inc.
The hosts are excited to have us come as the recent storms have wiped out the last month of volunteers. It is hard to imagine but there are still 6 more years of recovery work needed to bring the people of Waveland Mississippi back from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The team will be warmly welcomed and we know that God has paved their way to do His will.
Pray with us for the safety of the team their ability to serve as the hands and feet of Christ in Waveland!
Trent Davis
Executive Director
Servants, Inc.
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