January 31, 2006
We are still here working away in Gautier, Mississippi. The need for volunteer help for Katrina Disaster Relief is great. The organization we are volunteering for is Nazarene Disaster Relief USA. People from across the US have been here in this short time we have been here. The church has a gymnasium that sometimes is wall to wall mattresses. This is where the groups who come here to work are sleeping. It is so awesome meeting and working with these Christians, all dedicated to serving God in this needy area. This week we have been part a big project rebuilding the inside of a Nazarene Church in Pascagoula. Most of the homes and buildings in this area had 4 to 5 feet of water in them. All sheetrock, flooring, furniture and appliances has to be removed and replaced plus most personal items. Gene has been putting up trim and I have been painting. We work each day until about 3:30. We then have a little time to rest before meeting at the church “café” for excellent meals and good fellowship. We have become good friends with 2 couples, one from Delaware and another from Indiana. Each were here for just one week and at different times. Both couples have been involved with other work projects. We hope to meet up with them in the future. We drove along the coastal highway for several miles on Sunday. As we travel west, the devastation is much worse. In the areas hit by the eye of the hurricane and next to the water there is nothing left of most homes and businesses but rubble. Back from the water’s edge several miles houses are litterally washed off their foundations. Cars look like they have rolled several times. In Biloxi the city requires all casinos to be off shore and so they are built on huge barges. Some of these barges are now sitting on dry land on the north side of the highway—just the barge, the casino is gone. In Waveland we saw a road that was buckled just as if it was an earthquake. Most of this damage is due not only to high wind but the impact of wind AND water. One of the workers rebuilding a casino told us the water was 35 feet high in the casino hotel. In the midst of all this destruction is a huge tent set up to feed the hungry, the workers or just anyone. It is called Katrina’s Kitchen. They serve meals all day every day. They have not charged anything but do ask for donations from those who can afford it. We are told the food there is good. It is run by a Christian Radio Station we think. Sometimes we wonder what good we are doing but as someone told us “you fill a bucket with one rock at a time”. That is the way we have to look at this awesome task of rebuilding. Help will be needed here for a long, long time. We are thankful for small part God has allowed us to have in rebuilding the Gulf Coast.