Saturday, June 26/Sunday, June 27
There are 15 of us ranging in age from 14 to 68 and we have to complete the long trip from Herndon, Virginia to Waveland/Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi in the next day and half. After a prayer for safe travel shared with many family members, 12 of us started our 17 hour trip (two are driving down later in the day and one is flying in to Gulfport, Mississippi). Saturday night we stayed in Trussville, Alabama and early Sunday we headed for the Gulf Coast. Arriving in Bay Saint Louis at 11:30, we joined in progress worship services at Valena C. Jones UMC. We frequently worship here and the teams find the worship style quite different from any they have previously experienced. We are always warmly welcomed here. The sermon title was roughly stated: "he would have, he could have, but he didn't". The speaker talked of many things, including how the folks on the Gulf Coast are dealing with and should be dealing with the oil spill that is on their doorstep. I think we all got a lot out of the message. It is clear there is a lot of emotion and concern about the oil spill crisis and how it is impacting people at the individual and business level. After the service and many thanks from the congregation, we moved on to Benignos for our first helping of Po-boy sandwiches and other authentic local food. The first (but not last) impact of the oil spill was felt there. No oysters. They stopped bringing in oysters about 10 days earlier and have no predicted return of the #2 favorite seafood for that area (shrimp are first).
After lunch we began our visits to families we have helped in the past and who are now living in the homes we helped build. Connie and Glenn Strong had called me well before the trip to find out when we were coming down and to invite us to visit. They were our first stop and the group met them, viewed their home and discussed the work we did to help build it. Steve Dripps and Chip Hulbert were leaders of the Student Ministry Team and a spring team that did the framing and other significant portions of the construction of this home. Connie and Glenn spoke warmly of Steve and Chip. It was a fun and emotional visit and I look forward to seeing them again when our next team visits in late November this year.
We next visited Thomas Mayne and Simon Arcineux. Thomas and Simon are old friends we met back in February 2006. They have stayed in touch and even visited Floris, attended services there and got the DC tour. They looked well and also spoke of Steve and the work he and others of us did to save Thomas' home and other work we did to help Simon and him.
Our last Sunday visit was with Betty Necaise. She was delighted to see us, since several of this team had helped rebuild her house. We did nearly all her flooring (vinyl and laminate), doors and door frames, etc. We also, as with the other families, formed a bond with her that will never be broken. She will always remember many of us and we will always remember her, long after this ministry has ended.
We then went to our home away from home north of Gulfport, Mississippi at Camp Love, next door to Nugent UMC. Of course I forgot the code to get in the building and we spent 15 minutes scrambling, before we were able to get in. Once there, we were amazed at the setup - it was far bigger and more capable (from a materials available point of view) than our prior, beloved home at Camp Gulfside.
With a few administrative and move-in tasks and the arrival of our other 3 team members, we now begin to get ready to meet our new families and help build homes for people who have suffered the loss of their homes for nearly 5 years.
Tim Wells
