Katrina '09

The time has come to say goodbye… for now. Eric will wrap it up for the team. We also have a slide show below… Enjoy!

It’s been 2 weeks now since our endeavor in Biloxi, Mississippi, and I have prolonged this blog because I didn’t feel like this should end yet. But I was getting little nudges to write this so we could wrap it up (Kari ). It’s been fun reflecting on the times we shared…

• Waffle House
• Camp – the bugs in the girls’ trailer, the dead frog – may he rest in peace, Jed, words and prayers shared
• Sicily’s
• Barb’s house (Killer the Dog)
• Papa John’s (not the pizza place, Lori )
• New Orleans – Gator and Café Dumonde
• Victory Temple – Bishop, dancing in the aisles, Miracle Do Happen, Holy Spirit, and God’s Love
• Mechelle’s first visit to the beach (sand storm )
• Devotions on the beach
• Road Trip

It’s been amazing to watch how God can bring 10 strangers together and create such tight bonds in a short time and to see those relationships continue to grow after we’ve returned.

God can and will use all types of methods to get us were He wants us, and that was very evident on this trip. Sure, the projects were great and we helped others, but the projects were God’s way of getting us in a position so He could work on us. He will show us things we have never seen when we can get to the point that we can walk in blind faith, put our agendas aside, and allow God to lead us. First Corinthians 2:9 (TNIV) - However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived— these things God has prepared for those who love him.” I am always in awe of God’s grace, mercy, and love for us and I praise Him for that.

I got to watch as this group went through highs and lows together throughout the week, and to see the love and encouragement being shared was amazing. Humbled, discouraged, thankful, encouraged, loved, free, funny, safe are just some of the words that I can use to describe that week. I believe God showed this group how we should live our lives everyday sharing His love with those around us. Our lives are not about us, or about what we can do. It’s about our relationship with God, the creator of the universe. As bad as we want to duplicate the experience we had that week, we know that God created that for us. Each trip and serving opportunity will look different to each of us. He has created all of us for a specific purpose, and what a shame it would be not to have that relationship with Him so you can find out what that is. I encourage all of you reading this to draw closer God by praying and staying in His word.

I want to thank my partners in crime – Angie, Angie, Lori, Mallory, Mechelle, Nancy, Kari, Ben, and Tom – for getting outside their comfort zone and allowing God to stretch and use them the way that He did. I also want to thank Pam Price and Scott Nieveen for all the behind-the-scenes work. I also want to thank my wife Tammy, my daughter Brooke, and my son Brayden for the love and prayers while we were down there and every day. I love you guys!!!!

God Bless,
Eric

P.S. If you are interested in learning more about what is going on with Victory Temple or New Hope Disaster Relief, or you are interested in going on a missions trip to the Biloxi area, please email me.

Back row: Eric, Ben, Tom
Middle row: Nancy, Angie K., Mechelle, Angie S. Mallory
Front row: Kari, Lori 

From Disaster News Network, about the pastor at Victory Temple (the church we worked with in Mississippi). This gives us a glimpse into some of what they’ve gone through over the past few years. The pictures are ours…

Katrina survivor going on faith

Stuffing as much as she could into one car, the Rev. Maddy Harper drove with her family away from her home in Gulfport shortly before Hurricane Katrina struck.

BY SHARON DUNTEN | GULFPORT, Mississippi | January 29, 2007

“My biggest fear was how we were going to make it, especially with the children.” 
—Rev. Maddy Harper

Stuffing as much as she could into one car, the Rev. Maddy Harper drove with her family away from her home in Gulfport shortly before Hurricane Katrina struck.

She never expected to see her home again. Her church – Victory Temple Worship Center – was devastated as well.

Her faith has kept her going, Harper said – that and the volunteers who came to help.

In December 2006, Hurricane Katrina volunteers from The Journey, a new church supported by Southport United Methodist Church based in Indianapolis, Ind., loaded into a mini-bus for the 14-hour trip to the Gulf Coast.

The volunteers stepped into the Harpers’ life on 32nd Street to take down the rotted walls of their home and give hope to a family uprooted for 16 months after America’s worst natural disaster.

The volunteers were sobered by the reality of what they saw but they saw hope for the future as well. “It has depressed me that this is still going on, but there is a lot of hope it will be rebuilt,” said Libby Byrum, a junior at Indianapolis-based Butler University on her second trip to the Gulf Coast.

The Harpers’ journey to rebuild their lives had a slow start. Two and half months after the storm, Harper and her family were still living in tents near their home. The Harpers received a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailer on the home site on Nov. 8, 2005.

Harper said FEMA officials expressed concern about her small children living in tents and expedited the paperwork to receive a trailer.

“My biggest fear was how we were going to make it, especially with the children,” said Harper.

The next blow faced by the Harpers was fraudulent activity in her checking account. Harper said that after receiving some immediate aid after the storm from the government, she tried to write a check but non-sufficient funds were tagged on her account. Puzzled, she investigated with the bank and found another person had accessed her account and was withdrawing funds. The perpetrator was found but disappeared soon after with thousands of dollars still unreturned to Harper. Her means to rebuild had been diminished.

By the end of the week, The Journey volunteers had gutted Harper’s home, and were able to start replacing the drywall.

Many volunteers visiting the Harper home expressed disappointment in leaving the home unfinished, and they agreed their trip changed their life perspective.

Nick Buck, a senior at Indiana University, said “being in the moment” as well as connecting with the Harper children “had defining effects on me.” Byrum and Buck led Harper’s daughter, Nena – her eyes closed – into her newly repaired bedroom. Her response was, simply, “Wow!”

Buck said he remembered in the Bible when Jesus cherished time with children and the sacrament of a moment with them.

Her home is on its way to repair, and Harper’s church reopened in September 2006 with 17 members and one Sunday service.

Harper’s last hurdle for her home is at the end of February: the deadline for the use of her FEMA trailer is Feb. 28. According to FEMA, a homeowner may use the trailer while actively working on a permanent housing plan. If the trailer is needed beyond 18 months, FEMA will charge the fair market rent for the one- bedroom unit. Many Gulfport homes are processed for a month-by-month extension. The extension dates are clearly marked by black Sharpie pens on the FEMA trailers.

“Not everyone is as fortunate as we have been,” said Harper. “There are still so many impoverished.”

According to FEMA, 102,000 families are displaced in trailers throughout Mississippi and Louisiana with an additional 33,000 living in apartments still paid for by FEMA.

Hey! Just wanted to let you know that we’re sorting through the 1000+ pictures we have from the trip and are creating a slide show. This will be up within the next week.

Until then, a huge THANKS to Scott Nieveen and Pam Price for everything they did to help us get ready for the trip. Both played a vital role, and we can’t thank them enough. If you’re interested in going on a missions trip, they are great people to talk with. You can see a list of upcoming WCC trips HERE. Of course, there are several other local organizations that offer trips, as well. Go wherever He is calling you to go!

We also want to thank all of our friends and family who supported us throughout the trip. Your prayers and notes of encouragement while we were gone meant so much to us! Please don’t stop… The transition back to Warsaw has been rough for many of us, and we covet your prayers.

Again, we’ll have a few more things posted next week, so check back then.

“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
(1 John 3:17-18)

Nancy

As I sit here, I have a million things rolling through my head. Most of you who know me, know I’m not much of a talker. I can come up with some quick sarcastic remark or a one-liner at the drop of a hat, but words are definitely not my forte’, so I sit here and struggle with the words necessary to convey all the emotions that are rolling through me.

I know God is at work in my heart and as I sit here and type this, the song “God of this City” is playing in the background and the words are weighing on me…. “Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done.” What an appropriate verse after our experiences last week. There is so much more to be done and we have only begun to scratch the surface.

I have had so many people ask me about my trip and the only thing that I can think to say to them is AMAZING! Amazing resilient, gracious, and humble people, amazing friendships made, amazing worship, amazing miracles shown, and God’s amazing work done through 10 people willing to give up one week of their lives to hopefully impact the world for God’s glory.

My hope and prayer is that many of you will feel the Holy Spirit tugging at your heartstrings to also “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all Creation” (Mark 16:15)…not to literally preach (which could really be stepping out of the boat) but to spread the news by your actions and a mission trip is definitely an easy way to do that. I encourage you all…..GO!!