Katrina Stories

Photo: An American flag stands where a home once stood in Waveland, Miss.

Over the last two days we've been meeting residents of Waveland, hanging dry wall, laying tile, cooking food, felling trees, cleaning out-houses, painting, spackling, and doing laundry. Why is it important? Why does it matter that someone's walls get spackled, or floors get tiled? Why? Because over one year ago, these people lost everything, and they wonder if someone cares. It's not about their living conditions - it's about the state of their hearts. Their hearts have felt abandoned and they are overwhelmed.

One of the residents we've been working with was on the cover of Time magazine because of a picture taken by a college student rescue worker - the photo was of this family in their SUV, surrounded by swirling water, the husband in the act of placing the children on top of the SUV in a last ditch effort to rescue their children - rescue workers just minutes away. Any longer and the entire family may have been lost in the waters. But praise God this family was rescued. However, the story doesn't stop there. The family consists of mom and dad and five children. Mom is raising her children in a home that has been gutted - no cupboards - little furniture - with barely the walls in her home, and she has a disease, lupus, that exhausts her. Yesterday she got on her knees and asked God to help her because she couldn't keep up with her household's needs. Within a few hours, Pastor Art (from Camp Katrina, aka Christian Life Center) knocked on her door, to follow-up on the repairs they were making on her home. She wept as she told him about her despair, and that he was an answer to her prayers. Within the afternoon, a team of two women (Melisa included) went to help this mother with her laundry, her dishes, and to clear her kitchen in order for tile to be laid. And her story is still going on as her home is worked on. She prayed and God answered immediately. She knows He answers prayer, and she knows others care.

Another resident has had a hard time accepting help. She had been self-sufficient before the storm and often served in her community - taking food to families - volunteering - and feels uncomfortable asking for help. But the $7000 the insurance company gave her to repair her completely ruined home wasn't even close to enough ($7000 because the roof sustained "wind" damage, yet the rest of the house is considered "flooded," therefore, ineligible for insurance). Now, 14 months after the storm, she's more than realized that she can't fix things on her own. She's been living in a tiny FEMA trailer. Yet she is hopeful - her house has now been dry walled, spackled, and primed by the work teams. She may be able to move in soon. But it's not about the home. It's about knowing that someone cares that she has been living in a barely habitable trailer for 14 months.

Today, when another work team was finishing up dry wall and electrical work, the home owner stopped by. She walked into the home and immediately burst into tears. Because the dry wall had been hung, she could imagine that she might be able to move back in sometime soon. Her husband had been working 2 jobs to help pay the mortgage on their ruined home, and buy supplies one week at a time to help put the home back together. She could now envision them moving back in one day. She has hope.

Because we are sleeping in an old car parts warehouse on rickety bunks, using out houses and thrown together showers, we may feel like we're not in America. Why shouldn't a building have indoor plumbing? Why shouldn't a sleeping quarters have heat? This is America after all! But hurricanes happen. Tragedies happen. And America can fail us. Or, rather, our American lifestyles can fail us. We think we want life to go back to normal, but that's not what we're really after. We want to know that God cares, and that our fellow man cares. We'll never actually go back to where we were before - and we wouldn't want to. When our lives have been touched by tragedy, we grow in ways we couldn't have grown without that tragedy. Because through them God has shown us He really does care about the little things like spackle and paint, He shows us He cares ... He shows us He cares through you and I.

We Made It

We all made it to Camp Katrina, aka The Christian Life Center of Waveland, Miss. Why are we here? Here are some paraphrases of the reasons we collectively are hear (there are currently about 24 volunteers from churchs in Ohio, New York and New Jersey).

• "To take the focus off my own needs, and redirect myself to other people's needs for at least one week"
• "Because it's awesome to watch God's timetable work"
• "Because I've been so blessed in my life, and I want to share that with others"
• "Because it's more about God working in our lives, then really what we have to offer to others. The work we do is tangible and relevant, but the work God does on us is even more important (first commandment - love God/ second commandment - love others)"

The above are just some of the reasons shared tonight. Since my internet time is very short and coming to a close, I'll leave the blog now, albeit rather unfinished. Hopefully I have enough time to upload some pictures as well.

Prayer request of the day:

That God's spirit will protect us from any of Satan's attempts to hinder what is happening here with us personally, and with the community of Waveland as a whole.

Camp Katrina Here We Come

2 1/2 more hours and couting before we get in our little (I mean that literally) vehicles and drive, drive, drive to Waveland, Mississippi. We'll stop tonight in Huntsville, Alabama, before driving another six hours to our destination.

Serving in this way is a privelege, I believe. Some of the best times of my life have been spent in trips like these - digging out homes flooded by the Mississippi River - a weekend spent in inner city Chicago - clean up weekend in Indianapolis. All of those events stand out as highlights of my life. So when someone says "that's a really nice thing to do" when they hear about the trip, I really think to myself "I feel so fortuntate to be able to leave my family for a week and be a part of this. It is a privelege." Because often God calls us to serve him in the mundane. When we are a part of something like a work or missions trip, we are able to feel that we are tangibly making a difference. It's harder to see if/when we are making a difference when we are entangled in the every day to-dos of life - working 8-5, cleaning, grocery shopping, yard work, taking care of kids, yadadada. Yet I believe our daily work is a very important part of what God calls us to do. Our daily work builds our character (Romans 5:3-5). Trips like this one encourage us, build us up, and recharge us away from the character building drill camp of daily life God's been taking us through for however long.

So please rejoice with us! We are leaving on an adventure today and we are so excited to do so. I'll try to update this blog everyday. Today it was just my thoughts since I'm sitting in my home alone as I write this. But ongoing, this blog will contain the thoughts of all the trip members.

Prayer request of the day:
Safe traveling

Psalm 4:8 I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.