Last Day
'Allo, 'allo; it's G. Today was our last full day in Gautier; we're leaving after lunch tomorrow. Today was quite cold by local standards (the temperature was in the low 40s this morning, but in the 60s by noon), but a lovely sunny day to work outside. We repaired a fence for a family in the church today. The fence was the only major damage this family sustained, so they put off fixing it and spent the weeks immediately after Katrina helping other people with repairs, but the mother lost her job not long before Christmas. So we spent most of the day digging post holes, replacing boards and mixing cement. The family provided lunch for us, and the 15 year old son of the homeowner helped us all afternoon. He's a very outgoing kid and as we worked, he told us about the past hurricane season, about his experiences going to people's homes after the storm to help clean up, and about the culture of southern Mississippi. We had a great time hanging out with him. His mom volunteered to cook a traditional southern meal of red beans and rice with sausage for dinner--not just for us, but for all the volunteers staying at the church tonight (about 20 people).
Robin (back row, left), her son Billy (back row center), and her daughter Amy (2nd from left front row), and her friend Robin (back row on the right), cooked us an amazing meal on Friday.
Our original plan for this trip was to buy groceries, cook for ourselves in the church kitchen each evening and pack lunches to take with us every day. When we arrived, we discovered the church freezers full of casseroles, whole turkeys and even bratwurst that people have donated for the teams of volunteers, so we haven't done much cooking (though we did grill the brats last night for everyone).
On Thursday morning, we packed lunches to take with us. Those bag lunches have gone with us to our work sites for three days now and haven't been eaten because the people we have been helping have fed us. We have been overwhelmed by the hospitality of the people here and amazed at the sense of family that exists among teams of volunteers, church members, long-term volunteers like Ray and Jane and church staff like Susan and George (site coordinators). I think this is a picture of how the kingdom of God is supposed to work.
Last night, I had a chance to meet Susan's sister Mary, whose house was "slabbed" by Katrina. In Mississippi, no one has basements; houses are built on concrete slabs. We drove through the neighborhood where Mary and her husband's house used to be on Thursday. If a house was slabbed, it means that the slab is the only thing the hurricane left. The people who were slabbed consider themselves more fortunate than those who had several feet of water in their homes. Repair is not an option; they start over from scratch. They are not faced with the task of sorting through their belongings to try to decide what is slavagable; there is nothing left to sort through.
Rebuilding will take years. We're going home tomorrow, but if we come back in six months, there will still be plenty of work for us to do. -Gabrielle
.........
Brian here,
I intended to post something yesterday, but the server went down again last night. Can't really complain, it's just nice that the church has made their wireless available for us to connect to. A few things that Gabrielle didn't mention; we had lunch at "Chloe's cafe" on Thurs. Max sent us down there to find someone named "Sunny". Apparently after the hurricane hit, she went all out to help the people that were falling through the cracks. From the personal stories I've heard while down here, there are lots of cracks, and they are wide. But I digress a bit. I'd been told that it was an unusual place, and that turned out to be true. It took a bit of driving to find, and it turned out to be a little cafe attached to a sort of run-down looking gas station. We walked into the cafe, and found three dining tables, a counter, and several tables loaded down with food and supplies; free for people down on their luck. We never did get to meet Sunny, the waitress said that she's not around much anymore, she's busy organizing a trip to New Orleans to feed 300 workers daily over there. We did however, get some of the *biggest* hamburgers we'd seen in a long time. The old saying: "don't judge a book by its cover" definitely applies to food in this instance.
Something else that touched me was the visit that Gabrielle and I made back to the manager of the UPS store in Pascagoula. I won't go into all the details, but we had been getting on each other's nerves a bit, and Lindsay picked up on it immediately, and before we could say much more than 'hi', she had us sitting down and talking about how we were doing. Once again, I was reminded of the concept in the missional church that the process of mission is a two way street; that we are ministered to, even as we came to hear more of her story and experience. It turns out that she has an amazing story of faith that she shared with us, and a great deal of compassion for whoever walked through her store. As we were talking, customers kept coming in, and I watched how she ministered to each person that walked through the doors. Before we left, we explained our plan with the Lowe's cards (I forgot if I said anything about this earlier -- if not I'll explain it in a future post), and gave her 5 of the gift cards we had bought, with instructions for her to give them to people in need that she encountered. She insisted on getting our address and names in case people wanted to write thank-you notes. We maintainted that wasn't the point, but we hope to stay in touch with her in some way once we get back to FdL.
Today (Saturday) we drove around a bit after we finished the fence and had showers (thank you again, Kentucky team!!). Susan wanted us to see the homes that were destroyed along the bayou's. It was her home neighborhood. Although some of the street signs are gone, we did find where she wanted us to see; entire neighborhoods of gutted homes. I don't even know how to respond right now. Without the human stories behind it, it almost seems like destruction without context; and yet the beautiful setting sun beyond these wrecked homes made for an odd contrast. We took many pictures; not out of any sense of "tourism" but because the sight was so compelling.
It's hard to believe our week is pretty much over. I'm ready to come home, but hoping we can return here. If we were going to stay another week, I think our whole team could do it without blinking much of an eye. That said, we miss our families and friends in FdL (yes, even our little feathered guy), and look forward to seeing y'all on Monday night (or whenever we meet).
One last note (since I might not get the chance to post tomorrow -- we're basically going to get onto the road after the worship service and lunch), thanks to everyone who prayed for us during this time (please don't stop yet), and especially to those who took time to post an encouraging comment. We trust and hope that God did indeed use us to bless others. We sure feel blessed. Jody; sorry I couldn't help you with tonight's service; we've got lots to say about hope, at least stories to share, but it'll have to wait for another time. I'm sure it went just fine.
Take care and g'night all,
-Brian
Our last day of work was today. I really can't believe that it's over. Through this past week, we've seen and done a lot. Showers were installed during the week, and let me tell you, it was one of the best things to happen for us and the other teams. I was rather excited to get a hot shower at our home away from home. We have all been working with sporadic chances for showering. Before this trip, I would look forward to playing the next XBox game. It's amazing the shift in perspective we've had. The key is to bring that home with us.
If you took a moment to listen, people had stories to tell. Our small stories will end up being a bigger part of someone else's, as theirs have indelibly left their marks upon ours. We have to go back to our loved ones, and I understand that I won't get to see most of these people ever again. As a good friend of mine has said, "Christians don't say goodbye, but rather see you later, because it will eventually come true no matter what."
This trip has been a real blessing to all of us on the team. I feel that a part of me has permanently changed. Partly through the things that we saw and did, but also partly through the people that we met. I have to say that the most influential person to me was Ray. By the world's standards, he's no Donald Trump, but by God's standards, he's much higher, in my estimation. He would talk about all the people that were needy, get choked up, and kick his boots. I will really miss him. I know I'll get choked up saying farewell to him. Ray...see you around. It's been a privilege to hear your story.
-- Tony
Robin (back row, left), her son Billy (back row center), and her daughter Amy (2nd from left front row), and her friend Robin (back row on the right), cooked us an amazing meal on Friday.
Our original plan for this trip was to buy groceries, cook for ourselves in the church kitchen each evening and pack lunches to take with us every day. When we arrived, we discovered the church freezers full of casseroles, whole turkeys and even bratwurst that people have donated for the teams of volunteers, so we haven't done much cooking (though we did grill the brats last night for everyone).
On Thursday morning, we packed lunches to take with us. Those bag lunches have gone with us to our work sites for three days now and haven't been eaten because the people we have been helping have fed us. We have been overwhelmed by the hospitality of the people here and amazed at the sense of family that exists among teams of volunteers, church members, long-term volunteers like Ray and Jane and church staff like Susan and George (site coordinators). I think this is a picture of how the kingdom of God is supposed to work.
Last night, I had a chance to meet Susan's sister Mary, whose house was "slabbed" by Katrina. In Mississippi, no one has basements; houses are built on concrete slabs. We drove through the neighborhood where Mary and her husband's house used to be on Thursday. If a house was slabbed, it means that the slab is the only thing the hurricane left. The people who were slabbed consider themselves more fortunate than those who had several feet of water in their homes. Repair is not an option; they start over from scratch. They are not faced with the task of sorting through their belongings to try to decide what is slavagable; there is nothing left to sort through.
Rebuilding will take years. We're going home tomorrow, but if we come back in six months, there will still be plenty of work for us to do. -Gabrielle
.........
Brian here,
I intended to post something yesterday, but the server went down again last night. Can't really complain, it's just nice that the church has made their wireless available for us to connect to. A few things that Gabrielle didn't mention; we had lunch at "Chloe's cafe" on Thurs. Max sent us down there to find someone named "Sunny". Apparently after the hurricane hit, she went all out to help the people that were falling through the cracks. From the personal stories I've heard while down here, there are lots of cracks, and they are wide. But I digress a bit. I'd been told that it was an unusual place, and that turned out to be true. It took a bit of driving to find, and it turned out to be a little cafe attached to a sort of run-down looking gas station. We walked into the cafe, and found three dining tables, a counter, and several tables loaded down with food and supplies; free for people down on their luck. We never did get to meet Sunny, the waitress said that she's not around much anymore, she's busy organizing a trip to New Orleans to feed 300 workers daily over there. We did however, get some of the *biggest* hamburgers we'd seen in a long time. The old saying: "don't judge a book by its cover" definitely applies to food in this instance.
Something else that touched me was the visit that Gabrielle and I made back to the manager of the UPS store in Pascagoula. I won't go into all the details, but we had been getting on each other's nerves a bit, and Lindsay picked up on it immediately, and before we could say much more than 'hi', she had us sitting down and talking about how we were doing. Once again, I was reminded of the concept in the missional church that the process of mission is a two way street; that we are ministered to, even as we came to hear more of her story and experience. It turns out that she has an amazing story of faith that she shared with us, and a great deal of compassion for whoever walked through her store. As we were talking, customers kept coming in, and I watched how she ministered to each person that walked through the doors. Before we left, we explained our plan with the Lowe's cards (I forgot if I said anything about this earlier -- if not I'll explain it in a future post), and gave her 5 of the gift cards we had bought, with instructions for her to give them to people in need that she encountered. She insisted on getting our address and names in case people wanted to write thank-you notes. We maintainted that wasn't the point, but we hope to stay in touch with her in some way once we get back to FdL.
Today (Saturday) we drove around a bit after we finished the fence and had showers (thank you again, Kentucky team!!). Susan wanted us to see the homes that were destroyed along the bayou's. It was her home neighborhood. Although some of the street signs are gone, we did find where she wanted us to see; entire neighborhoods of gutted homes. I don't even know how to respond right now. Without the human stories behind it, it almost seems like destruction without context; and yet the beautiful setting sun beyond these wrecked homes made for an odd contrast. We took many pictures; not out of any sense of "tourism" but because the sight was so compelling.
It's hard to believe our week is pretty much over. I'm ready to come home, but hoping we can return here. If we were going to stay another week, I think our whole team could do it without blinking much of an eye. That said, we miss our families and friends in FdL (yes, even our little feathered guy), and look forward to seeing y'all on Monday night (or whenever we meet).
One last note (since I might not get the chance to post tomorrow -- we're basically going to get onto the road after the worship service and lunch), thanks to everyone who prayed for us during this time (please don't stop yet), and especially to those who took time to post an encouraging comment. We trust and hope that God did indeed use us to bless others. We sure feel blessed. Jody; sorry I couldn't help you with tonight's service; we've got lots to say about hope, at least stories to share, but it'll have to wait for another time. I'm sure it went just fine.
Take care and g'night all,
-Brian
Our last day of work was today. I really can't believe that it's over. Through this past week, we've seen and done a lot. Showers were installed during the week, and let me tell you, it was one of the best things to happen for us and the other teams. I was rather excited to get a hot shower at our home away from home. We have all been working with sporadic chances for showering. Before this trip, I would look forward to playing the next XBox game. It's amazing the shift in perspective we've had. The key is to bring that home with us.
If you took a moment to listen, people had stories to tell. Our small stories will end up being a bigger part of someone else's, as theirs have indelibly left their marks upon ours. We have to go back to our loved ones, and I understand that I won't get to see most of these people ever again. As a good friend of mine has said, "Christians don't say goodbye, but rather see you later, because it will eventually come true no matter what."
This trip has been a real blessing to all of us on the team. I feel that a part of me has permanently changed. Partly through the things that we saw and did, but also partly through the people that we met. I have to say that the most influential person to me was Ray. By the world's standards, he's no Donald Trump, but by God's standards, he's much higher, in my estimation. He would talk about all the people that were needy, get choked up, and kick his boots. I will really miss him. I know I'll get choked up saying farewell to him. Ray...see you around. It's been a privilege to hear your story.
-- Tony
posted by Brian at 7:30 PM
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