Felton to Pearlington

49ers vs. Saints showdown today!--Update

2012-01-14T10:56:00.000-08:00

Are you going to be watching the game?? Need some company? I'm moving the TV to the room with more seating, come on over and join me! :)

Whew! That was a game! Would have cheered on either team in the next step but secretly excited about the 49ers moving ahead. Or maybe not so secretly now.

Blog silence break...for football

2012-01-09T06:05:00.000-08:00

This has nothing to do with rebuilding Pearlington and everything to do with friendship and a little competition in the sports world.

I got an email from Ben Saturday just saying "Playoffs--Lions at the Saints 8pm EST".

Yesterday I sent a reply email that said: "Perfectly happy to cheer on the Saints last night. However as a born and raised 49er fan, my allegiance lies with them next Saturday."

Ben's reply: "Girl, put on your gloves."

The New Orleans Saints play the San Francisco 49ers this coming Saturday at 4:30pm EST. A Facebook, email, texting match will be held as well between Mississippi and California. Fun will be had by all.

The end?

2011-09-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

It has been 6 years since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. It's been 5 1/2 years since a team of 21 people headed to Pearlington from California and found themselves in the midst of chaos, struggle, heartache, despair and the tiniest, smallest amount of hope...and strangely joy.

It seems amazing that so many years have passed. For many of us it seems like just yesterday. About this time of the year for the last 6 years, I've been in the beginning process of planning a trip to Pearlington. This year is different. The work, though not done, has stopped. The money has dried up. The attention of the country and the world has moved on to other places. While I would love to be planning a trip, to be reunited with my friends in Pearlington that does not seem to be happening. This seems like the end. There is the fact that I'm no longer employed at the church but that won't stop me from jumping at the opportunity to take a group of people back Pearlington if God makes it happen. Not being in Pearlington around Christmas and New Year's will definitely be different! It's in God's hands.

For now, this blog will remain up, though maybe not active, just to remind us of where we have been, what God has done and to keep the little town of Pearlington in our hearts and minds.

Irony of color

2011-02-15T21:01:00.000-08:00

On trip #8 our crew was charged with painting Captain John's house. There are pictures here along with some back story of the colors. I remember opening up the paint can and all of us going...ummmmmmm. The statement we all made was "It's going to dry darker." That's the thing you say when the color in the can is not quite what you expected and you aren't sure you are going to like it, right? Yeah. Autumn Surprise was the color. It was bad. Really bad on the outside of that house. Like really, really orange and bright and wow. It did not blend in with the bayou at.all.

Ben didn't think so either and we changed colors. Autumn Surprise became the base coat, Twilight Jungle became the top coat and all was right with the world.

This week, I'm in a hotel near Disneyland. Our rooms are nicely decorated, with beautiful windows that overlook...well a parking lot but the backside of California Adventure's, which is fun. I was laying in bed, exhausted after our first day when I looked at the wall behind me and saw...(wait for it) AUTUMN SURPRISE!!! No kidding. I can't quite get a great picture of it but I tried. It looks better on the wall than it did on the house, but still...AUTUMN SURPRISE!! What are the chances? :)

PayPal

2011-01-31T17:34:00.000-08:00

Hey there friends! We had a great day, yesterday, sharing memories of Pearlington with the Church Family at FPC. It was so good to hear the experiences of other people. Hopefully I will get them to report HERE soon!

We have decided to take down the PayPal button. Our mission to Pearlington has been completed at this time. If God decides we are to go back, the PayPal button will show back up.

Thanks for your support, encouragement and help through the years. We have been blessed!

Sammy's Thoughts

2011-01-03T12:22:00.000-08:00

Every time I have visited Pearlington, I feel like someone who has just been pushed into the ocean. You know what is there, and what it will feel like, but the experience is always different.

I did what I thought I was going to do, and I accomplished all I could have accomplished, and everything in my heart told me that this chapter in my life was over but fulfilled. God was and is so good to me. and there is not one aspect of money raising or working or team meetings that would have been done without Him and all his amazing grace. But I cannot say that the tears I shed on the last day there were the last ones I will every cry for Pearlington. Although I have not been on every trip, I have been enough to know that what I have done there will stay with me for the rest of my life. This nowhere town has changed my path in this mess we call life for the better.

It's pretty amazing to think that after all the death and destruction and disaster this storm has brought, it has also brought hope and love and friendship that no one ever thought possible. God is so good, and I thank him every day for this great opportunity to laugh, love and live.

Watch out...she knows how to use that caulking gun!

Pictures

2010-12-29T15:19:00.001-08:00

Pictures as promised...

Unloading sheet rock (Jonathan and Sammy)

Preparing the walls for sheetrock (Lynn, Gail and mystery person in picture)

DJ working in the attic at the Yellow House. There will eventually be two bedrooms up there.

Before

And after...(Mr. Ben, Debbie and Doug in photo)

Mary waiting for sheet rock to arrive

How many people does it take to level posts...a lot! (Steven, Sammy, Brittany, Jonathan and Bordie--Captain John's son)

Ellen and Captain John...buddies

Looking down a ramp...what a beautiful sight!

A beautiful archway...though Debbie looks a little concerned!

Tearing down a trailer (Jeff and Gail)

And lest you think that all we did was work...

Bill trailer surfing

Steven striking a pose

The group at Peck's Seafood...best Po-boy's in town!

A little lunchtime Christmas Caroling (Brittany and Gail)

The December 2010 Mississippi Team

Home

2010-12-26T17:09:00.000-08:00

We are home safe and sound. I (Brittany) would have posted earlier but the Internet is out at my house. Sigh.

The flights home couldn't have been easier. We arrived home just a few minutes later than expected but that didn't matter at all. Our wonderful airport shuttle was there (thanks Meggie and Kerri!) and we all were home for Christmas Day with our families.

More pictures and reflections will be up in the coming weeks. Please keep checking back here! And Thank You for the support, the prayers and encouragement.

Bittersweet

2010-12-23T18:41:00.000-08:00

Our jobs were done to the best of our ability this week.

Team Sheet Rock finished two rooms at the Yellow House. DJ was even able to get some lights on for the crew to get the last two pieces up. Standing outside, it was neat to see the lights on in the parlor and people moving around. Bill finished the archway and got Ben's seal of approval. Mary and Doug won the race and got their last piece in place before Bill and Debbie. Ellen learned the art of sanding down mud. Jeff worked with Debbie to get the most difficult piece of sheet rock hung in the whole parlor. They measured multiple times...and cut a couple of times before getting it right. Jeff also suffered his second injury of the trip...the first was a scrape when he was on Team Destructo, this one involved a popping sound from his finger. He can bend it and move it though! Gail peeled paint a lot from doorways and windowsills, helped hang sheet rock and was her usual helpful self.

Team Ramp cemented in the last post, set in the last plank and got 1/3 of the handrails set in place. The siding improvements were made and the house looks fantastic. Steven dug a lot of post holes, willingly, and helped Mr. Ben and Brittany get the last four posts set for the sloping part of the ramp. Jonathan and Sammy were a great team on the siding and got the last pieces set, caulked and painted. It was nice to leave knowing that the ramp was functional and that rain wouldn't be able to get into the seams in the siding. Captain John was very happy with the job and was fixin' to take a walk on his new walkway.

Leaving is bittersweet. There is work to do but no money to do the work, which is so frustrating. We keep thinking about the day when we will come to Pearlington, not to work, but to celebrate the work that has been done...though Steven imagined us in a year or two driving through Pearlington, seeing a house that needed fixing and our crew stopping, knocking on the door and asking if we could help. It's indicative of this team of people...we have all taken the time to stop and help others. Not because we've got great skills (some of us), but because we have great love and have been loved greatly by God.

There will be more reflections to come in the next few weeks, more pictures to be posted. The simplest way to say things is that we have been a blessing and have been blessed. Thank you for your love and support.

The lights are on at this house!

What a beautiful archway...and no, Bill did not fall...neither did Mary

"Must.finish.sheet rock. must.finish.sheet rock."

Captain John's house...and finished walkway

Steven and Ben conferring on the best way to get the job done.

Get that board straight!

A little fun in the middle of the day

One more day

2010-12-22T17:57:00.000-08:00

This was the sunset tonight. A beautiful end to the day.

Team Ramp can see the end of their job. Literally. There are three posts to set, four planks to be put down and hand rails to attach. Hip-hip-hooray! Jonathan and Sammy put a make-shift scaffold together to get to the side of the house that couldn't be reached by regular scaffold. We all agree that just adding a couple of boards to the front of the house makes it look polished and finished...and it's not even decorative!

Team Sheet Rock got an influx of people (Team Destructo) and started rockin' the walls of the parlor. The Pretty House is starting to look like a real house. Bill got half of the archway done in one room and got the nod of approval from Mr. Ben. That's big! Sheet rock is a frustrating job but they are conquering it!

Tonight we are a little subdued, recognizing that tomorrow is our last day...our last day of work, our last day in Pearlington, our last full day in Mississippi, our last day with Ben, our last day with DJ. We have jobs to finish before that happens though and we will press on!

We haven't been taking many pictures but here is a glimpse of our day.

Makeshift scaffolding Captain John's...do you see the cross?

Steven bolting the last of the runners for the ramp.

Doug and Mary cutting sheet rock...look at those purdy walls!

A happy Ellen at the Yellow House

Jeff looks a little guilty or very surprised!

Where did God show up today?

2010-12-21T17:58:00.000-08:00

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Team Destructo conquered the trailer today! YAY! It's down to just the frame, which Ben will be hauling away hopefully by the end of the week.

There were actually 8 bolts that held the frame together. Lynn, Gail, Ellen, Jeff and DJ were done a little after lunch with their job. DJ and Jeff found the sewage line on the trailer...not on purpose! According to Jeff's story, "sewage started spilling and we ran away". Reminds us of little schoolboys getting into trouble. :) The team is glad to see the job done. One visual reminder of the storm has been taken away from Pearlington. Again, we Californian's don't want to be anywhere near Pearlington when the burn pile is lit.

Team Ramp took a morning break from ramp work to fix a problem at Captain Johns house. The siding on the front of the house has come loose and is buckling at the joints. Sammy and Jonathan climbed the scaffolding to put 1x4 boards over the top of the joints and caulk around the edges to keep the rain out. The job is halfway through and looks like a cross on the side of the house. Joel, Captain John's son, said he might have to get some Christmas lights and light up the cross.

Team Sheet Rock rocked! The front parlor is halfway done and they started on the hallway while the contemplate how to get the archway done. Mary, Doug and Bill worked diligently, meticulously and well as a team.

Debbie continued to work in the closet and is close to being done. Her goal is to get the closet mudded (is that a word?) and taped before she leaves.

This team is determined to get as much done as possible with care and love.

Brittany returned to her leader roots and spent much of the day driving back and forth to Lowe's...which wasn't that hard because there's a part of her that is really a truck girl and driving the 2011 Ford Expedition with a sunroof and satellite radio is close enough to a truck for her! This is a picture of her working today...

Every night, we gather together to talk about the day's highs and lows. Last night Debbie asked us to look for God in our day's work today. Here are some ways that we experienced God and God's provisions:

Jeff has connected with DJ, the electrician from Virginia.. DJ is partially blind but yet continues to astound Jeff with the things that DJ can do without full sight. Jeff and DJ have been great partners on the work site. To Jeff the fact that DJ is here at the same time we are is a divine appointment.

Brittany saw God in the kindness of strangers in the Lowe's parking lot as she and Ellen struggled to get boards tied down on their vehicle.

Steven, who spent the day at home sick (prayers please!), took a walk this afternoon to get some air and had a chance to get close up to an egret.

Mary experienced that need, that all of us have experienced, to get in and get working and do as much as she can before she leaves.

For Debbie the laughter that was shared at lunch today, as Mr. Ben and the team talked about trips past, was a reminder of the joy that the work brings.

Jonathan experienced the willingness of others to get things that are needed to get the jobs done.

Jeff, Debbie and Steven were up in the middle of the night to watch the lunar eclipse. It was perfect evening with clear skies. When we woke up this morning the clouds had rolled in and covered the sky.

For all of the team, we are reminded again and again of God's providence and faithfulness.

The team asks for special prayer tonight for Lynn. She is returning home tomorrow, a couple of days early. She will be dealing with some family issues and needs God's strength and wisdom as some hard decisions are made in the days ahead. Thanks, as always, for praying.

Halfway through

2010-12-20T20:19:00.001-08:00

It's 10:20pm our time. Tomorrow is Waffle House Day and wake-up is 6:15am. This blogger is really, really tired, so this blog will be picture-less. I apologize.

What shall we tell you about today? Shall we talk about the 60 sheets of sheet rock that had to be unloaded from the trailer into the Yellow House? Shall we discuss the mountain of metal that was put onto said trailer after the sheet rock was removed? Shall we discuss the boards that would not be level on the ramp? Shall we talk about the close encounter with the local police? Oh let's talk about it all!

Team Sheet Rock spent much of the morning finishing up what they had started the day before. Working in close spaces, pulling out errant nails and screws, getting the walls ready for the sheet rock that arrived just as we were all finishing lunch. 12 foot sheets of sheet rock. That stuff is heavy! But this team worked like a well-oiled machine and got all 60 sheets into the house in under an hour. Doug, Mary, Bill and Debbie wasted no time in getting the sheet rock onto the walls. Mary, again, impressed the bunch with her power tool prowess.

Team Destructo found out that 5th wheel trailers are held together with four bolts, millions of screws and staples, buckets of glue and weird brackety things. They also found out that the things that you would think would come off easiest, were the hardest to get off. Items were sorted into "burn pile" and "scrap metal" and put in stacks. We won't talk about what went into the burn pile, by California standards we would all be put in jail. Gail, Lynn, Ellen, Jeff and DJ have made quick work of the trailer destruction. We may have to find new jobs for them tomorrow.

Team Ramp had a bit of challenging day. It started off well, took a little turn but ended on a semi-high note. Boards were set in place, boards were not level. Boards were taken off, much pondering ensued and boards were reset. We hope that the fix works and that when the planks go on, everything works out. The good news is that the last four of the posts that needed to be set before the ramp makes a turn for the road were set in place today! Yee-haw! Tomorrow Team Ramp will take a bit of a break and focus on fixing some siding issues on the house. Brittany, Jonathan, Sammy and Steven do make a good team.

Tonight as we were gathering for our team meeting, we read a chapter from "The Greatest Story Never Told", it's kind of a retelling of the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus, through the eyes and imagination of the author. As we read tonight, we were reminded that God specifically selected Mary and Joseph to be the parents of Jesus. God called them to play a crucial part in the history of God's people. As we finish out our time in Pearlington this week, we are reminded through that story that God has called each one of us to this place, at this time for a specific purpose. We are playing a part in history and it's an honor to follow where God leads.
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Oh yeah, that other story. Well, you see, it goes like this. Tonight we needed to make a run to our favorite place to loathe but only place to buy groceries, Wal Mart. On the way as Brittany was driving going the speed limit, these blue lights started flashing behind her. Being the good person that Brittany is, she pulled over. Then she realized that the blue lights were behind the car behind her car. Still, not knowing if she was the one in trouble or the car behind her, she put the car in park and waited...because that incident a couple of years ago with the police officers in Mississippi is still very fresh in her brain. Soon the police officer came up and said "You aren't involved in this incident." Praise Jesus! Off to that store we went. That would be the 2nd police incident in Mississippi, driving a big white vehicle. There's a theme going here that we don't want repeated!

Timber!!!!

2010-12-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

Today was a productive day. Team Sheet Rock was busy at the Yellow House finishing up a couple of storage areas so that they could be sheet rocked and putting sheet rock onto the ceiling. Doug officially hates sheet rocking the closet. Mary had a chance to use every power tool in the house and did so with style. She also crawled into a very small space to work...sorry for the fuzzy picture.
The front room ceiling is done and the walls will be "rocked" tomorrow. Bill has been completely enjoying NOT doing electrical work this trip.

Team Ramp worked on putting in the final posts so that the ramp at Captain John's house can be finished by the end of the week. Battling weeds, the mud and avoiding dog "gifts" was challenging; as was working faster than the concrete would set up in mud. Time was taken to appreciate the wildlife. A frog was rescued, mice were scattered from their nest (which had to be moved), cardinals flew by and a hawk came to oversee the work that was being done.

Team Ramp also enjoyed the company of Mr. Ben and Bordie, Captain John's son.

Team Destructo worked to tear down the trailer that Captain John and his son's lived in while waiting for their home to be built. It's not often that we get to destroy things these days but this team tore into their work with gusto. We even have video of the official collapse. This trailer has served it's purpose in many ways but with the mold growing and the floor failing apart, it was better to destroy it than try and rebuild it. Jeff, who rarely gets angry, was particularly angry at the door of the trailer...more specifically the screen door of the trailer. It was Jeff's nemesis and the last thing to collapse on that part of the trailer.

Captain John watched all the activity from his porch, in between throwing out shells for the dogs to retrieve (no sticks in the swamp!) and checking the score of the Saints game...they lost.

DJ, the electrician from Virginia who is working on the Yellow House was happy to join the Destructo Crew. Between getting out of the attic, the sunshine and a little demo work, DJ's smile was big at the end of the day.

If no other pictures get uploaded tonight it's because blogger isn't wanting to upload them. :( And this blogger needs her beauty rest! Another fun filled day of work is ahead!

The day that was

2010-12-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

The whole team is here! Sammy's flight finally arrived at 1:40am and the airport shuttle was waiting for her (aka Brittany and Jonathan in the Expedition). It was certainly a nice thing to have everyone together!

We met Ben at the Yellow House at 8am on the dot. Of course we were scolded for not working yesterday but Ben can't stay upset with us for long. DJ, an electrician from Virginia, has been working hard to get the Yellow House ready for us. He's been in Pearlington since October and will be here through Christmas...much to the dissatisfaction of his family. That's a testament to the power of Pearlington.

The whole team spent the day at the Yellow House, preparing the walls for sheet rock. Okay, well, actually, Brittany and Sammy made a very much needed run to the coffee shop...when part of your team is running on three hours sleep, a Starbucks run is EXTREMELY necessary.

But we digress. At the Yellow house floors were swept and swept and swept again. Baseboard was pulled off the walls in four rooms. Boards were replaced. The old TV antenna was taken down and put on the scrap metal pile. Multiple trips were taken out to the burn pile (which may be lit before we leave). Scaffolding was put up in the parlor and living room so we could get to the top of the 11 foot ceilings to remove the old drywall and remaining nails and screws. Many spent much of the day scraping paint from window and door trim so that the sheet rock will lay flush against the edges. Douglas folded himself into a small space to fix some of the walls (and Ben had a good laugh at Doug's expense). Sammy, Jonathan, Steven and Mary spent the afternoon atop the scaffolding cutting out old dry wall and laughing.

Laughter is a common theme on these trips. There is a lot of teasing, a lot of jokes and a lot of fun being had. It's a good thing.

Tomorrow we will be split into three different groups. One group will remain at the Yellow House and start putting sheet rock on the ceiling. The other two will be heading to Captain John's house for two purposes. One group will be finishing the ramp that our previous team started in March. The other group will be demolishing the trailer that Captain John and his sons lived in while waiting for their home to be built. There is an eager group of people ready to do some demolition of that trailer!

Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. This blogger is tired and ready for bed! Thanks for the prayers! Keep 'em comin'!

Today and tomorrow

2010-12-17T20:39:00.000-08:00

Today's day of preparation went too quickly. Well, okay, we didn't actually get moving until after 11am, so maybe we just lazed the day away.

Coffee was enjoyed at the Mockingbird Cafe. Christmas present were bought at a local antique shop...where Brittany discovered that a lot of "antiques" were made in China. She bought the ones made by God and the local artisans. Toes were dipped by one brave soul into the Gulf of Mexico. A trip was made to Wal Mart to stock up on food supplies for the week. Bill and Lynn arrived safely, if a bit later than planned, from California and our first night reading of "A Christmas Story You've Never Heard" was enjoyed.

One would think the day was ending there. But no! Sammy has yet to arrive. Her flight was delayed as well. Brittany and Jonathan will be making a midnight run to the airport to bring Sammy safely to our warm and cozy home-away-from-home for a few hours rest before...we head to work!

Mr. Ben is expecting the team at 8am sharp. If we are late, there will be no end to the teasing. I'm preparing for some teasing.

Our trips to Wal Mart were eventful. The group that went for breakfast supplies were greeted at the door by Madeline who knew right away that the group was together (matching sweatshirts anyone?), were volunteers (again, sweatshirts?) and were from California (see previous parenthesis). She hugged each one of them and praised them for the work they were doing. Then there was the cashier who can't understand why people can't build their own homes, without expecting people to come from all over the country to help them. Two different people, two different reactions.

The afternoon trip, Brittany was in the laundry detergent aisle when she looked up to see Miss Shirley. The team that came to Pearlington in March of 2008 built a ramp for Miss Shirley. She and Gail spent an afternoon in the kitchen making pralines...the best pralines we ever had. Brittany talked with her a little while, received a fantastic hug and exchanged phone numbers with Miss Shirley. She has promised to make us more pralines before we leave. Yum!

Photo's and updates tomorrow...we hope! :)

P.S. We are praying for people back home as the rain comes down-down-down!!

Yes, we are a little loopy this morning

2010-12-17T08:45:00.001-08:00

We are slowly getting up this morning. It was nice to get a full nights sleep and be a little refreshed, if still a little sleepy from not enough sleep Wednesday night.

The cooks, Jeff and Gail, are trying to make a list of our meals for the next week. There are yummy things on that list. Spaghetti, Pot Roast, Shrimp Scampi and Jambalabah...ummm, what? Oh Jambalaya. Yep, we're a little loopy this morning.

The laughter is flowing freely...the trip is off to a good start.

Group 1 has arrived

2010-12-16T19:56:00.000-08:00

The day started really, really early but with a sense of joy and adventure at what was ahead of us. All 9 of us on this leg of the journey arrived at the airport within minutes of each other...thanks to our fabulous airport "shuttle" drivers. :) We had to wait until the ticket counters opened, wait in the security line (but all of us avoided those new body scanners) and arrived at the gate where we boarded plane number one with ease. Leaving the airport really early in the morning also meant less people on the plane. Yay!

Our flight into Denver was quick and uneventful. There was no snow in the sky or on the ground. We had just enough time to deplane, find the next gate, some of us got refreshments and we were boarding for plane number two. Easy. We arrived in NOLA early, our luggage was all there, the rental car shuttle bus whisked us to the rental car agency where we were met, at the bus, by an agent. We had our cars (two upgraded vehicles thanks to the awesome rental agent) and were in the French Quarter within an hour of getting our luggage. Wow.

Beignets, Cafe Au Lait, a little shopping, dinner out and we were on the road to the rental homes. Where we are now settled in, ready to sleep and prepare for the week ahead.

Tomorrow Group 2 and 3 arrive. Please pray for their safety as they travel. Group 1 will spend the day getting things ready for the week and doing a little sight-seeing...and napping. :) Saturday morning we report to Mr. Ben at 8am. Our journey has begun!

A new exclamation point!

2010-12-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

No sooner had I posted about needing 86 more dollars to meet our goal than I was told that someone had put a check in the offering plate on Sunday for $100! AWESOME!!!

We can now officially buy building materials. Yay!

Less than 24 hours till Part 1 of the team leaves for Mississippi. Last minute details are coming together and the packing frenzy will ensue soon!

Less than 48 hours...

2010-12-14T11:23:00.001-08:00

9 of the team members are less than 48 hours away from getting on the plane for Mississippi. Yippee!!!! But here's even bigger news...

We are $86.30 away from hitting the $10,000 mark in our fundraising...in fact, I'm so confident that we can bring in that $86.30 that I'm changing the thermometer to reflect our new goal of $10,000...which means we can spend money on building materials!

Help us out! Donate through PayPal today!

5 Days, 16 hours

2010-12-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

That's what the countdown clock tells us is left before we head off to Mississippi.

The latest news is that there are 3 projects we will be working on. One is definitely putting in sheet rock at the Yellow House but the other two I'm not certain about.

Our fundraising has been going well but we aren't afraid to take more donations! We know that things happen and we will be running to the hardware store for supplies throughout the week. Having extra funds to pay for those little things (like nails!) is always helpful.

One church member asked about leaving Christmas gifts for the homeowners. We talked about Captain John and how we had left him a ham the last time we were in Pearlington. She thought that was a great idea and is donating towards a ham as a Christmas gift.

What we really need is to be covered in prayer. From the early morning drive to the airport, to the flights, to the drive into Mississippi and back and forth to Pearlington, to the work we do, to the conversations we have with homeowners, to the conversations we have with each other, to the return flights and all the things that happen in-between, we need prayer.

The names of our team members are listed to the right (one is on there twice cuz they have an alias). Take a moment, read one of those names and pray for that person. Ask God to meet them on the trip, to guide their actions, to guard their hearts, to speak through them, to give them the rest they need, to give them joy in the work, you can come up with more but that's just a start.

AND PLEASE, don't be afraid to leave comments on this blog! The encouragement we receive from those comments keeps us going through the tough moments of the week. We read through them every night at our team meeting and look forward to the connection to home while going where God has called us to go!

An exclamation point!

2010-12-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

WE HAVE AN EXCLAMATION POINT!!!! Our goal of $9000 has been achieved! NOW let's go for $10,000! :) We're just a little under halfway there with $9484 having come in. We can do it! Anything over and above will help us buy building supplies and anything above that will go towards helping get a lift for Captain John.

Just so you know, here's how the team stands:

6 people have been completely sponsored
2 people are within $75 of their goal
4 have over $100 or more to come in

10 days until we leave!

I want an exclamation point!

2010-12-02T19:53:00.000-08:00

I realized awhile back that I type, a lot, in exclamation points. They end most of my sentences...usually. Tonight, as I was updating our Fundraising Thermometer, I accidentally reversed the two numbers. Instead of our goal being $9000, I put in $8384, so that when I typed the $9000 in the donated to date total, the thermometer got really full and got an exclamation point beside the number like this $8384! And yes, it was in green.

While $8384 is impressive, it's not our goal. We still have time to make that exclamation point happen! Help the team today, please!

Thank you to all who have donated so far...come back the week of December 16th-24th. You'll see pictures, read funny stories and see just what your donations are going towards! Plus, you can leave notes of encouragement and love to us...which makes the whole week that much more fun. =)

16 Days and counting

2010-11-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

I love the countdown clock, though part of me panics when I see it as well. 16 days til we leave for Pearlington! Yikes!

There is still much to be done! While the fundraising thermometer says we are less than $900 from our goal, there's another count going on...the one that says much of our team still needs to raise half of their support. It's do-able in 16 days! Sponsor someone today. Every $10 helps!

Work project news...

2010-11-15T17:31:00.001-08:00

Got an email today from Ben. The Yellow house, aka the "purdy" house, aka Pretty house has 3 rooms ready for us to rock...Sheetrock that is. Yay! Three years after first stepping foot into that house and mucking and gutting, it will feel good to be putting walls back up!

Thank you!!!!

2010-11-06T23:08:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Elisabeth Carlisle, Sherry Austin, Sharon Allen, the band and Toby-the sound guy for a wonderful Concert tonight! Thanks to all the concert-goers as well for showing up, for supporting the team and for being a huge encouragement to us all!

Sometimes it's easier to put our fundraising into perspective by getting familiar with the numbers of what some things cost. So here's a little breakdown on what we anticipate our costs being for the trip.

Airfare is by far the most expensive part of the trip at around $3800.
Car Rentals come in 2nd at about $1500.
Housing is the 3rd most expensive part at $1225 total for the two homes will be staying in.
Gas and Food and a couple other "essentials" round out the rest...but it's hard to estimate just how much that might cost. We asked each team member to raise $750 this time around.

I say all this is because tonight at the concert we raised enough money to cover almost all of the housing costs...$1095! YIPPEE!!! Only $130 to go! Or to put it another way, we could lower the cost that each team member needs to raise by $91.25. Awesome! :)

The chorus of one of the last songs tonight, had me crying (so did the second song of the evening but those lyrics I can't find yet). The lyrics spoke to my heart...especially the second two lines...it's how I feel about Pearlington:

If I needed you would you come to me tonight?
Would you come for me to ease my pain?
If you needed me I would come to you
I would swim the seas for to ease your pain.
~Townes Van Zandt If I Needed You

Fundraiser and fundraising

2010-11-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday Night is the big benefit concert Featuring Sherry Austin and Sharon Allen and highlighting our own Elisabeth Carlisle. Scroll down past a couple of posts and you'll get all the information. We're excited to see what God does! A $10 tax-deductible donation is all we ask...and since we'll be flying the friendly skies to get to Mississippi, we may just give you a bag of peanuts...or pretzels. :)

As we anticipate our fundraiser I'm excited to report that 25% of our team is fully funded! Yay team! Yay sponsors! We are COMPLETELY reliant on the kindness of family, friends and sometimes strangers to get us to Pearlington each time. So thank you! 75% more to go!

I'm adding a countdown to Pearlington clock to the blog...just to make things a little bit more fun. ;)

See y'all Saturday!

Our first reservation!

2010-10-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

It's official! We've had our first 3 tickets reserved for the Sherry Austin/Sharon Allen Mississippi Benefit Concert. S.G. from Santa Cruz...Thanks!

Don't forget, November 6th 7pm@ Felton Presbyterian Church. Doors open at 6:15pm.

$10 tax-deductible donation.

Refreshments will be available for a small charge...all non-alcoholic but not all non-caloric. :)

New Feature

2010-10-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to see which states donations come in from. Being that our team is from California, it makes sense that we would get a lot of donations from California, but also seeing as how we have a famous one on our team (Ralphie) sometimes the donations come from across the country.

The map is on the right side of the page, just below the Fundraising Thermometer.
Just something to make raising money a little more fun!

Announcing....

2010-10-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

A Pearlington Benefit Concert
Featuring:

Sherry Austin and Sharon Allen

and Elisabeth Carlisle

Saturday, November 6th
7pm @ Felton Presbyterian Church
6090 Highway 9, Felton
Doors open at 6:15pm

All ages are welcome!

A $10 tax-deductible donation can be made at the door.

All proceeds will go towards the December Mississippi Trip.

Bring a few extra dollars...Coffee, tea, water, sodas and yummy baked goodies will be available as well!

(Pictures borrowed from artists websites)

Tickets bought!

2010-09-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

So we've got 10 people committed to going to Pearlington in December. There are two people that are still considering going. They better get on it! ;)

We've had two PayPal donations from KPIG listeners. Thanks! Ralphie is on his way to raising his funds!

I was doing the math the other day and over the 9 trips we've taken from April 2006 to April 2010, we've raised $102,000. That's pretty impressive! It makes a mere $8250 seem like a drop in the bucket. Let's get the fundraising going!

Speaking of fundraisers, if you are in the mood to do a little Flea Market shopping, stop by the church on Saturday. We'll be hosting a Flea Market from 8am-3pm. Proceeds will benefit the Mississippi and Brazil Mission Teams. It's so nice to work together!

And coming soon we hope to announce a fun fundraiser in the beginning of November. Keep watching this space for more information!

It's the little things...

2010-09-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

that make me happy! Like airfare for $294 round trip! I LOVE SOUTHWEST AIRLINES! Two free checked bags makes me even happier!

Ellen, Jeff and I are going for sure!

And we're off!!!

2010-09-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

The first donation has arrived! Thanks to Hour, a KPIG listener, for supporting Ralph Anybody. Our fundraising has officially begun!

Guess I had better get the Fundraiser Thermometer up!

And it begins...

2010-09-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

We have begun the planning process for trip #10 to Pearlington. We'll be going December 16-24. Things are coming together, piece by piece but the big piece remains...will the jobs be ready when we get there?

Time to pray!

EDITED TO ADD:
Blessing #1 just occured. The homeowner of the rental houses that we stay in, just knocked off about $250 from our rent for the week. Can't recommend vrbo.com enough to people! Thanks Chuck!

Meeting reminder

2010-09-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder, we will be having an "Exploring the Future in Pearlington" meeting on Sunday at 5pm in the Fireside room. More will be posted here, after the meeting, for those who are interested but can't attend.

5 years

2010-08-29T19:13:00.001-07:00

(This post cross posted on my personal blog)

It's hard to believe that 5 years have gone by since Hurricane Katrina demolished the Gulf Coast. I've been watching all the news stories, reading a lot of articles and reminiscing over the last 5 years. The focus has largely been on New Orleans, but here or there I've seen little things on the towns all along the Gulf Coast that are still struggling to recover as well. Of course, my thoughts have been on Pearlington...rightly so!

Tom D. and Ms. Denise were featured on CNN briefly, talking a little about the recovery efforts. I'm linking the video, so you can see. They are in the first minute of the 3 minute story.

As Tom and Soledad O'brien were walking in front of the Community Center (the red building) I got a little reminiscent of the first time we saw Pearlington. That lot was filled with blue plastic buildings and was the site of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Camp. Right next door was the parking lot for the Post Office...that wasn't there anymore. Members of our team painted Ms. Denise's house, helped install doors and things inside as well. Her husband, Ricky, is the one who worked with one of our crews out at Captain John's house, digging holes for the pilings and beginning the building process. I've driven past Ms. Denise's house way too many times to count seeing as she lives next door to Ben! Watching that short minute of video, it was like heading home again.

I can honestly say, that when God planted the seed of helping with Hurricane Katrina Recovery, I never, EVER thought that we would be going more than once, let alone 9 times with a potential 10th trip on the horizon. Nor would I have imagined meeting people who became friends within moments of meeting. Hurricane Katrina left a lot of damage in her wake, but she also compelled, at least this soul, to do something worthwhile and important. To tell a better story with her life. I'm proud of the story that God is telling through the team at FPC.

Tonight, as I went to write this blog, there was a comment on my personal blog. It was from Chelsea, the young woman I had the honor of meeting in DC at the Jefferson Awards who lived in Pearlington when the storm hit. Her parents are starting to rebuild. Her school wants to do a service day. They need our help. The story is not done...5 years later.

Pearlington on CNN!

2010-08-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

Just got the following from Tom D. Read on to find out more!

Last week I toured Pearlington with Solodad O'Brien from CNN. The story looks at Pearlington five years later. It will be aired tomorrow nite (8/26) on Anderson Cooper 360 around 8pm Mountain Time. Thought you'd want to know. Not sure how much made the cutting room floor but it should be interesting. By the way we are still in Pearlington and while we aren't doing a whole lot we are helping out where we can as crews and money permits. Also our Rotary donated medical trailer is equipped and ready, should we have another storm, thanks to Carbondale, Stennis and Rotary International.

I've been working closely with our friend Paula Buhr from Houston. Between the two of us should we need to activate the trailer it will be staffed by volunteer emergency medical personnel.

We finished our last house in April.Capt. John's place. Thanks to the Greenwald foundation who funded nearly all of the construction we were able to help this elderly fellow.

People still contact us for help and we've had two volunteer groups in town since early spring. There is still some work to do as we've had to go back in and help some people with camp coastal houses that fell short of completion or were in need of repair due to low standards of construction.

We are hopeful that we do not have another hurricane now or in the future but I think we all know better. The up side is that Pearlington is better prepared to withstand another storm and the community remains strong.

Thanks to you all, this was truly an amazing team effort!!!

Tom D.

Mountains to Mississippi

Questionable Future

2010-08-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

There are some things that I've trying really hard to not face. The future of the Mississippi trips is one of them. A few weeks ago my brother and sister-in-law started talking about Christmas and the thought ran through my head, "Well, I'll probably be in Mississippi." And then I caught myself. I might not.

I've started the conversation with Ben about another trip. There are a couple of small jobs, but nothing to take a big group to do. In fact, a group 8 would probably be searching for things to do halfway through.

What does this mean? It means that it's time to pray for a couple of things. #1 is discernment and wisdom. #2 is for the electrician that's supposed to be wiring Tom's house to get in there soon and get it going. If that work gets done, then sheet rock can be put up and we've been guaranteed that job.

So start praying folks!

85 days and 184 million galloons

2010-07-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

The cap is on, the wait begins. Praying that the gush of oil indeed has stopped as the clean-up continues.

DC and Oil

2010-07-06T11:09:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to go to Washington DC, as many of you know, to participate in the National Jefferson Awards. It was an interesting experience, awesome to share about our work in Pearlington and remind people of the continued need in the area. It was fascinating to hear what people are doing and I noticed a common theme of fundraising and hands on work. I'm still thinking about a lot of what went on but wanted to share just one little glimpse...I posted previously on my personal blog, but thought I would repost it here!

All the honorees had to give a one-minute speech. We were separated into two different groups to save on time. There were student in action groups, workplace volunteers and then the media nominated people it would have taken hours if they hadn't separated us! Anyway, after the speeches I went out to the lobby to get a question answered when this young lady came up to me. She immediately said "I wanted to Thank You for what you've done in Pearlington. I grew up there." It floored me. Turns out she and her family evacuated when Hurricane Katrina hit and relocated to Memphis where she is now in High School. It was a stunning moment and I believe the reason I was there. Her parents are planning on returning to Pearlington after she graduates and rebuilding. How cool would it be to help them rebuild??!! (For those familiar with Pearlington, their lot is on Hancock Ave., across from the Post Office.) Being back home, my focus has been on the oil that continues to pour into the Gulf. This article is just a reminder that the spread of the oil is far reaching and will have long lasting consequences for a region that has already suffered tremendously in the last few years. I'm becoming more and more aware of how much I use oil and how I can possibly cut that usage down!

Oil Day 63

2010-06-21T06:09:00.001-07:00

The other day I was in Annapolis, MD having lunch. It was a beautiful day and I was enjoying steamed shrimp, crab balls and fried oysters. As I was peeling my shrimp, the topic of discussion went up around the table about the work it takes to peel and clean shrimp. Of course the conversation turned to the fabulous Shrimp Scampi dinner we had in Mississippi at Christmas and all the work that it took to get those shrimp cleaned. It hit me that we probably won't be having fresh caught shrimp from the Gulf again this year.

I found this article on the web by the NY Times. There's a play button on the left hand corner of the page. You can watch the shifting oil spill and the ever expanding fishing ban. It's sad. Really, really sad.

I've had a chance to get reacquainted with the Metro in DC and have to say, if something like that was available in CA, I would take it a lot. We need a massive overhaul to our transportation system and to really rethink what we use oil for!

Some Oil numbers

2010-06-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

6/5/2010--Huffington Post Federal authorities say 792 dead birds, sea turtles, dolphins and other wildlife have been collected from the Gulf of Mexico and its coastline.

6/7/2010--U.S. Fish and Game Report

Birds Collected Alive--413
Birds Collected Dead--594
Birds Released--39

Sea Turtles Collected Alive--50
Sea Turtles Collected Dead--250
Sea Turtles Released--3

Mammals (including Dolphins) Collected Alive--2
Mammals (including Dolphins) Collected Dead--33 (2 with Visible Oil)
Mammals (including Dolphins) Released--0

Photo from Huffington Post there are more pictures...look for yourself.

June 1st

2010-06-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects this Hurricane season to be "active to extremely active", with 14-23 named storms, 8-14 Hurricanes of which they anticipate 3-7 will be major Hurricanes.

Between the BP disaster and Hurricane season, I'll be holding my breath until November 30th. Praying for the Gulf Coast!

BP Oil Leak and Pearlington

2010-05-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

Email that arrived in my inbox today:

Just an update to all of our Pearlington fans. As of today there is no oil in the Pearlington area or along the Mississippi shores or wetlands. Hancock Co. and several of our affiliate non-profits have begun developing a volunteer plan and collecting names of groups and individuals who may want to volunteer to come down and help with the clean up should the spill reach MS shores. If anyone is interested in responding (should the need arise) let me know. A command post has been set up at the boat launch on Hwy 90 and the Pearl River. the Corp, Coast Guard and National Guard are monitoring the river and mouth to the Gulf at this time.

Best to all,

Tom Dalessandri M2M (Mountains to Mississippi)

Dancing anyone?

2010-05-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

What happens on the jobsite doesn't always STAY on the jobsite! :)

Found on my phone

2010-04-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

Couple of picks from the last trip that were on my phone that I forgot to share!Sammy in one of the holes dug for the posts.

Debbie enjoying her beignet on Good Friday. (She gave up sweets for lent)

Reflecting

2010-04-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

I had lunch with a friend today who asked about Mississippi. Actually her first statement was "I keep expecting you to tell me you're moving to Mississippi." Me too.

Anyway, my friend asked about the trip and my thoughts on being home. Our conversation got me thinking. Unlike the last few trips where I've gone into them saying out loud "this might be our last time in Mississippi" only to come home and start planning the next trip, this one really did feel like it might be our last time in Mississippi...at least in the way we've been going to Mississippi. Yes, there is still work to be done, but it's slowing down. The need is slowing down and the teams coming in to help are slowing down.

While in Mississippi we heard about a program being started in Hancock County, where the County and FEMA will buy out property owners, tear down any existing structures on the property and then let the land return to it's natural state, never to be sold or built on again. My first take was to be a little outraged, admittedly at first that they seem to have lost hope in the County's ability to recover but then, upon reflection, that it took so long for the local and federal governments to start this program. It makes sense but also is frustrating. We also heard that there are still homeowners waiting on settlement checks from their insurance company...WHAT??? It's been 4 1/2 years...what is the problem??!!

Driving around it was apparent to me that there are many who have just left. They aren't returning. The houses sit empty, mildewing. And those who might want to return don't have the income, the means to make that happen...and that's where our desires to help and the reality of the situation meet up.

The days of taking a group of 20 to Pearlington seem to be done. The days of a group of well-meaning but not completely able people heading to work may be done. There are more physically challenging jobs ahead, there are fewer jobs for those who are limited in knowledge of how to do certain things and especially few jobs for those with limitations on what they can do. It's hard to admit all of that but it's necessary. The day is coming when we will say "we used to take a group to Pearlington..."

We will always have memories of doing something GREAT with God's leading...

Back home...

2010-04-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

We made it back home safe and sound. There are more stories and pictures and hopefully a video or two to come but today, I'm taking the day off! There are books to read, movies to watch and naps to take after a good weeks work.

Happy Easter!

Done

2010-04-01T19:48:00.002-07:00

Team Sawzall and Broken Drill Bit/Plant the Posts were determined to do the most work possible before the day was done. And we did...BDB/PTP ran out of materials and Sawzall finished all the work inside before the furniture arrived at Captain John's. It was a good day!

Sammy and Brittany made a great team and rocked out on placing the decking for the ramp. Jonathan tried to help for awhile but got kicked out of girl-land. Joe is a master at the chop saw...even had enough time to make some bookmarks for us all. Jonathan helped here, helped there, helped everywhere. Michelle started out on a roll but quickly got overwhelmed by the no-see-ums (whoever came up with that name was SO out of touch with these little biting bugs), took some anti-histamine and wound up sleeping most of the day. It was a bummer but totally understandable!Debbie, Kanda and Harold finished installing the closet shelving, put a shelf in the utility room, got the hot water heater, washer and dryer all in place, installed towel racks and other necessities in the bathrooms, installed a storm door on the back door and prepped the floors before the arrival of the furniture. The truck rolled in around 3:30 or 4 and the attention quickly turned to helping the furniture movers bring in all the furniture, setting it up and getting things ready for Captain John and Joel so that they can sleep in their homes for the first time tonight.Joe worked really hard to get thing set up so that Captain John could enjoy his TV.
Amongst all that there was a trip to Lowes and Starbuck$ (hallelujah!). Oh and a stop for a team picture.
It was SO good to see Captain John sitting on his couch in his house but there was a sense of frustration as well. Though we put great effort into it, the ramp isn't complete. There isn't another team coming in after us that will finish it either. And while that isn't completely our fault, it is hard to leave the job unfinished. So while the joy of seeing Captain John in his house was FANTASTIC, the sense of needing to do more is palpable. And we know that the ramp, while helpful once the waters start to rise, isn't the ultimate fix that needs to happen at this house...Captain John ultimately needs a lift so that he can easily leave his house...which costs money.

There are many things we are contemplating as we head home.

Half a day's work, half a day's play

2010-03-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

Team Sawzall and Team Broken Drill Bits/Plant the Posts all headed out to Captain John's today for a fabulous half day of work. On the list of things to do was plant two posts, secure boards to the side of the poles that will eventually hold the planks for the ramps, put dirt back into the post holes, drill holes and lag in bolts to the posts and put in closet shelves. It was a productive morning with all of that being done. Word on the street is that the furniture for Captain John's will arrive Thursday between 12noon and 3pm. Yippee!!!

We broke for lunch about noon and headed over to Ben's house for a Crawfish Boil. 44lbs of Crawfish to be exact. And Cajun deer sausage and Italian deer sausage and potatoes and corn and celery and onions and garlic and fruit salad and deviled eggs and sweet tea and...oh goodness. There was a ton of food for the crowd that gathered. It was a great afternoon, the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze keeping the bugs away and good food for all. I think we all needed the afternoon off. I know we all enjoyed a new Southern experience! Unfortunately Harold wasn't feeling so well and missed the whole afternoon to go back and sleep...hopefully he will be up to one more day of work tomorrow!

Time for bed! We've got one last day ahead of us and it's a biggie! Nighty-night!

Good news!!!

2010-03-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

Today was Waffle House day. We headed out for a special "treat" this morning...which made Team Plant the Posts late to work. That didn't stop us from working hard though! Ben and Tom arrived and we were well into our work. Ben noticed on the way down Captain John's driveway that there were some stickers on the permit sign at the front of the driveway. He hiked back out to check it out and then yelled back to Captain John "Order your furniture!". These green stickers mean that the house has passed inspection! It was a goose bump kind of moment. There is only one issue with the heating and air conditioning unit that needs to be figured out, but that doesn't need to be fixed before he can move in. Hopefully the furniture comes before we leave so we can help with that process.

The good news continued as Team Plant the Posts got on a roll. We placed 7 posts in 4 hours! Yes! We have the outline of the ramp and will hopefully be placing planks on it tomorrow. Hallelujah! Ben can't seem to stay away and has to get his hands in the work as well. Don't tell him, but we like having him around too.
Team Sawzall finished up their work at Ms. Donna's today. They arrived to a beautiful note of Thanks from Ms. Donna and were able to say their goodbyes before leaving the site. The siding has been replaced, the vents fixed and both sides of the house that needed to be painted are done. It's looking good over at Ms. Donna's house!Team Sawzall will join up with Team Plant the Posts tomorrow and will be installing shelving at Captain John's house. It will only be a half days work though, cuz Ben and Tom have requested our presence at a Crawfish boil at Ben's house. It promises to be a fun afternoon!

Please pray for the team in the next couple of days, that we can be efficient with our time, accomplish more than we anticipate and that we will be the light that God desires us to be to those we work for and with. We're tired after the week and the excitement of last night. Here are the promised pictures from last nights celebration. Harold created the "award" himself...not sure it's gonna make it home on the plane with the doorknob, screws, latch and all the various items on it. Might have to leave it for someone else to be "awarded" with! The tiara and the scepter are a nice touch, no? They even light up!

Monday's excitement

2010-03-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

Oh, what a day. We have worked hard, laughed a lot, been frustrated, had new adventures and shared in the ups and downs of the day.

Team Sawzall has done a great job at putting up new siding, painting, taking down the scaffolding, putting back up in a new place and then starting on the 2nd side. Harold cut three times for the one cut he needed for every piece on an octagon shaped vent but it's beautiful in the end! One more day at Ms. Donna's and they believe they will be ready for a new adventure! The diligence of this band of workers is spectacular...so glad they came with us to bless Ms. Donna!

Team Broken Drill Bits gained a new name...Team Plant the Post. It's a frustrating job but we work for a very kind boss who dealt with the slowness of it all. The stink coming up from the swamp hole wasn't lovely but once the pole was set and cemented in, the stink went away. The wind whipping through the swamp didn't help...in fact it was strong enough to shift the posts off level but we powered through. I will admit that I let frustration take over my body at one point...a level almost bit the dust. But determination won out! There are plenty more posts to plant tomorrow.

Tonight the house had a mini-celebration. It's awkward to write about it but tonight was the Reception and Award Ceremony for the Jefferson Award that I was honored with for the Central Coast back home. I had a few friends represent me and they called and sent texts all night with the fun that was happening back home. The house here created an award of their own...pictures will have to wait until tomorrow...and had a celebration.

And then the text message came..."You won! You are going to DC!" What???!!! I sent a text back..."don't joke with me about this". The response was a phone number...it's true. I was chosen to go to Washington DC this summer for the National Jefferson Award Ceremony. Oh.my.goodness!!!!!!! What an honor! It's capped by the fact that the reason that I'm even being honored with this award is because of the work that we do here in Mississippi and here we are, on trip number 9. Words fail.

Thanks for your prayers! Time to go to bed. We have a Waffle House adventure in the morning!

The day's go by...

2010-03-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

Team Sawzall (Kanda, Harold and Debbie) headed up to Ms. Donna's house today for another round of scaffolding and siding. They went up three levels on the scaffolding and kept finding more and more rotted siding. Ain't that always the way it goes? The sun was favorable, though, which was a good and bad thing. No rain, good, sunburns, bad. They also took an antenna down from the roof, fixed an electrical pole, primed the siding and enjoyed their lunch out on the porch swinging on the porch swing. All in all a productive day...with lots of laughter, I'm sure knowing this team!

Team Broken Drill Bits (Sammy, Jonathan, Joe, Michelle and Brittany) finished up the kick boards on the stairs and got started on the ramp at Captain John's. We are hoping that the inspectors that come through after all the work that went into the kick boards! Mr. Ben kept working on the railing and had a little help from Michelle. It's always nerve wracking to work when Ben is standing over your shoulder watching! We dug, sunk and leveled four posts and poured in the cement as well. There are many more posts to go! There were a lot of visitors at Captain John's today. His daughter and grand kids came by to say hi along with many friends. Amongst the work and the visitors, Sammy learned how to square dance. I have video...just haven't transferred it yet.

Tom D. from Mountains to Mississippi arrived today. It was good to see him after two years. His first question to me was "Are you ready to go to Haiti?". Their group has sent doctors to Haiti in the last few months and Tom is contemplating sending work crews. I'm not promising anything.

As usual, there are things that we are enjoying and things that we are struggling with. The tools are there, most of the time, but it's slow going at times. This trip we seem to be doing more people therapy as well. We know that God is working and are constantly praying that we are doing and saying the things that God asks us to do and say.

Work begins

2010-03-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

We split into two groups today. The fantastically talented team of Debbie, Michelle, Harold and Kanda headed up to Miss Donna's house for some scaffolding and siding fun. The siding is cumbersome and easily broken, which presented a bit of a challenge. The work was slow going for awhile as they waited for the right tools (sound familiar anyone?) but they quickly improvised. A hacksaw was taken apart and used as a saw, giving them the feeling of prisoners trying to escape...said by the crew with the former Jail Sheriff on it.

The equally fantastic and talented team of Jonathan, Joe, Sammy and Brittany went to Captain John's house. Kick boards were kicked out, cut down and began to be replaced so that the tread would be 10 inches wide. What a good thing that would be. Sammy rocked on the screw gun, Joe rocked on the chop saw, Jonathan rocked at measuring boards and Brittany rocked at doing whatever else needed to be done...which usually meant talking with Ben D. (Tom's son) and Mr. Ben. Mr. Ben worked on the railing and hopefully, once these two things are done the house will pass final inspection which means Captain John can move in!!!!

Sammy charmed the local kids at the Community Center today. Captain John's crew headed over to the playground at lunch we were soon surrounded by kids. Sammy was kept busy on the swings pushing kids, watching them play and helping them on and off the swings. It was a pretty sweet moment in the day.

We've had our first round of injuries on and off the work site. Harold can't stop fixing things. He was trying to put a latch plate on a bedroom door at the rental house, was using a knife instead of a screwdriver, pushed a little too hard and the knife folded back on him, slicing his finger. There was lots o' blood, some of which made it's way onto the toilet paper roll. Gross!!!! We've declared that roll Harold's alone.

Joe smashed his thumb with a hammer...that's when he decided to begin using the chop saw. He kept his fingers and thumbs out of the way for that one. It was good.

We're tired, there are lots of bugs but working is good. Time to head to bed! Look for pictures to come tomorrow night!

Trip #9 has begun!

2010-03-26T15:31:00.001-07:00

We are in Mississippi! Our flight out yesterday was delayed a little but seeing as how we were on the same plane all the way through, it wasn't a big deal. We arrived in NOLA at 1:15am, went straight to the rental car counter, got our 2 suv's (I told the team as we approached the rental car I'm driving "Ben's gonna approve of these!) and were on the road by about 2am. At the house about 3:15 and in bed by 4am...that's 2am CA time. Long day but everyone was in good spirits.

We had already planned on taking the day slowly. We went to Cracker Barrel (my favorite) for breakfast and then placed the call to Ben saying it we were heading his way. We met up at Captain John's house to get an idea about what the week will entail. Sure enough, things changed before our time was up. The original plan was that we would build a ramp out to the fence line of the property, by the road, so that when the water rises (as it does in the swamp) he can get out to his truck. We are also to install shelves in the closets. And then things changed.

The inspector had been out to Captain John's for a final inspection. There was a note on the door that said "need to fix the handrails on stairs and the treads need to be 10 inches". Great. So now we are dealing with the handrails and redoing the stairs before getting to the ramp. But there is much to be joyful about! Captain John is out of the hospital! He talked with us quite a while. AND the electrical work is done, there's a box outside, lights are on, a stove and fridge are in place and he's thisclose to moving in. Hallelujah!

Tomorrow we will start on the work at Captain John and will also send a crew out to Miss Donna's house to get moving on the siding there. There's work ahead and we are ready!

And, Ben, by the way, took one look at our Ford and GMC Suv's and said "you finally brought real vehicles." I knew he would approve. :)

24 hours

2010-03-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

In 24 hours these 8 people will be heading to the airport for another week of work in Mississippi.

Jonathan

Debbie

Sammy

Brittany

Kanda

Michelle

Harold

Joe

Jonathan pointed out a little while ago that when we are done with this trip we will have spent 2 months plus working in Pearlington helping them recover from Hurricane Katrina. It's an honor to serve, to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those who need hope, love and a way to find joy again. Please pray for the team as we travel and as we serve. We will blog as often as possible, so please check back and leave notes of encouragement and love. We appreciate hearing from "home", it helps us get through hard days and reminds us that people are praying.

Prayer for a friend

2010-03-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

I got an email today saying that our friend, Captain John, is in the hospital with double pneumonia. Please pray for his healing. He is out of ICU but not out of the woods completely. We are hoping to work on his house this next week and would really love to see him IN his house...which would help with some of the health issues as well, I'm sure.

Captain John is a special guy...looks a little like Santa Claus, dontcha think? :)

10 days

2010-03-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

In 10 days a team will leave for Mississippi. I've heard from Ben and there is plenty o' work to do. The thing that we are running up against is a lack of funds to buy supplies. We'll take it one day, one job at a time and figure it out!

In the next 10 days we would appreciate your prayers as we prepare mentally and physically for the upcoming trip. Those going on this journey are Debbie, Jonathan, Michelle, Joe, Sammy, Kanda, Harold and Brittany. We are excited, eager and looking forward our time in Pearlington. Thanks for praying for our journey!

A calling

2010-02-25T21:35:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago group of youth pastors gathered together and headed to Haiti. I don't know any of the youth pastors personally, I've been in the same room with some of them at Youth Workers Conventions, but I know a few of them through their blogs. As I read through their blog entries and prayed for their journey, I was reminded of my own experience in Mississippi that first trip.

I remember arriving at the New Orleans airport and the overwhelming feeling of emptiness that washed over me there. It was so still. I remember driving into Pearlington the first time and wondering what I was getting my group into. There were no streetlights, no signs of life anywhere. That first day it was all a little surreal, we went to church and were greeted with hugs and appreciation that overwhelmed us. As the week progressed we kept hearing more stories, seeing more devastation and when the week was done our hearts were broken. There was no questioning if we were going back, the question was when.

Reading about the experiences of these youth pastors, as well as Trinity's experience in Haiti, I've been reminded that God calls us to the places that God wants us to go. For me, the place isn't Haiti (right now) but Mississippi, for some it may be both, for others it's somewhere completely different. Helping people recover their devastated lives isn't a competition, it's an act of mercy, grace and compassion. Bringing a moment of hope into someones heart is what is important.

My experience leads me to believe that God calls us to the place where we are going to be the most affected and effective. It doesn't matter where that is, close to home or far away, the important thing is that we listen to what God wants from us and that we follow God wherever God is leading.

Oh when the Saints, go marching in...

2010-02-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

The parade for the the Saints will be held tomorrow in NOLA but today at the airport as the players flew home after winning the Super Bowl, there were crowds ready to greet them with open arms and lots of screams of joy. Quarterback Drew Brees said in a press conference "Four years ago whoever thought this would be happening? It's incredible." And he is right.

The email Debbie and I got from Ben in Mississippi was full of rejoicing as well (I quote "WHO DAT, WHO DAT, WHO DAT, SAY DEY GON'A BEAT DEM SAINTS!!!!!!"). After four long years of heartache and struggle, the Gulf Coast is rejoicing over something good.

Announcement

2010-02-03T22:40:00.000-08:00

This Spring the Young Adult group and a few "chaperones" will be heading to Mississippi. The group is set to leave on March 25th and return April 2nd. Unfortunately not all the young adults college breaks line up, the decision was made based on the availability of the most people.

At this point Mississippi 9 team members are Debbie Bates, Jonathan Bates, Michelle Burt, Sammy Keener, Brittany Overbeck, Joe Shreve, Harold Whaley and Kanda Whaley. There are a few other young adults still trying to figure out if they can go or not.

As with all the trips, we are trusting that God will direct us and lead us where God wants us to go. We appreciate your support, encouragement and prayers! PayPal is still working, if you feel God leading you to support the team financially please do so. There will only be one fundraiser for this trip, a Golf Tournament in April, other than that each person will be responsible for coming up with the money to go. Again, trusting in God!

Mississippi, here we come!

Haiti Relief

2010-01-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

There is a group from Mountains to Mississippi (the organization we work with in Pearlington) that is co-ordinating efforts to help with the relief in Haiti. The following is a message I received from one of the coordinators. If you are willing to help them, please go to this website: avmfaspen.org and click on the give a gift now button. Make sure to specify for Mountains to Mississippi--Haiti Relief.

Hello to All,

First, thank you all for sending your hearts, love and help to Mississippi when we were so desperately in need of support mentally, physically and financially. In case some of you do not know, Tom Dalesandri (Mountains to Miss. ) from the Carbondale Firefighters have stayed in touch with Pearlington and now the Stennis Rotarians will turn over a new Mobile Medical Clinic (MMC) January 22, 2010 for hurricane disaster response and community health clinics. Tom and I feel that P'Town is still in recovery mode and we are willing with our group of Katrina doctors (that most of you met) are willing to respond, if the community needs it.

However, the disaster in Haiti is so horrific; we have asked if we could take the MMC to Haiti or at least go in response to the medical need. At this time, we are pulling together a response team and ask you to call out to your community for help again mentally, physically, and financially.

Mountains to Mississippi is the 501C3 that the money will go to and Tom is organizing the work teams. I am helping coordinate the medical teams. We will need doctors, nurses, EMT's, meds, and money initially for our first team. After we go and assess, we will return and update all.

Dr. Bill Gossman is heading there tomorrow. He will assess and keep us posted. Please keep him in your prayers. There are thousands of lives lost and they need medical help desperately! There will lots of amputations because of lack of medical care and loss of blood.

Paula Buhr, RN

A letter

2010-01-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

This is not the letter from Ms. Donna I've talked about in previous posts. This one just came this weekend. This is why we keep going back to Mississippi:

To my Wonderful Friends in California,

It is people like you that are willing to give to us who continue to struggle post-Katrina. People like you are few. It seems that Mississippi continues to be smothered out by the New Orleans shadow. I do know God will continue to work for us through you all and others like you.

I do know that God sent you all to me. I think Him for that everyday. The gift of hope, love and encouragement that you all gave me is priceless. Thank you!

One day, when God decides, my house will be restored. For now I take one day at a time.

I have many things to be thankful for--two fantastic children, Nicolas and Ashley, my son-in-law, Brent, a beautiful one year old granddaughter, Avery, another grandchild due in June, both parents--82 and 78 years old, four sibling, nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews and good friends. Most of all, I thank God for giving us His son so that we may have eternal life.

In closing I want to say I have heard many empty promises since Hurricane Katrina. You all have given me action behind your words. When my new found friends left, they assured me that I would not be forgotten. Thank you for everything. My love and prayers are with each of you.

Love,
Donna J.

Haiti

2010-01-14T13:03:00.000-08:00

The images I've seen from Haiti remind me of what we saw, on a much smaller scale, that first trip to Mississippi. Tom, from Mountains to Mississippi, sent out an email yesterday saying that he is investigating the possibility of sending a team to Haiti to help with the recovery efforts. If more information comes from him, I will pass it along.

In the meantime here are a couple of links to places that are helping with the relief efforts. Please consider sending donations to these agencies.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

Compassion International

World Vision

The wash

2010-01-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

There's an old saying that everything will come out in "the wash". So here's our wash for this last Mississippi trip. The numbers are almost final, so I feel very confident in saying WAY TO GO TEAM!!!!

We brought in a total of $18,648. If the receipts stay the way they are now we've spent $17,377. Do you see the difference? That's about $1200 that we brought in that we didn't spend...which means we can send it on to our friends in Pearlington who need the help. Woo-hoo!

I completely forgot, in the insanity that was the last day in Mississippi...our New Orleans day...to buy Ralphie/Jeffy his prize beignets for getting the most PayPal Donations. He came out ahead with 19 donations through PayPal, though Ellen got 6 and Debbie got a last minute two to add up to a whopping 4 online donations. Thanks to all who played!

And, I did a little math and figured out that about 130 households/people sponsored our team of 19 people. Thank you so much! We couldn't have made the trip without you.

The next post will be pictures from Ms. Donna's house, along with the letters she left for the team. Be prepared to get a little teary.

Captain John & Joel's House in Pictures

2010-01-09T19:33:00.000-08:00

Ellen with Captain John

Joel sharing his Christmas present with Emily and Steven

Long delay

2010-01-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

So sorry for the long delay between blogs. If you haven't heard...we're home! If you are in the general area of Felton at 9am or 11:15am on Sunday morning, then drop by Felton Presbyterian Church and hear about the trip in person! Pictures and stories will be prevalent in the worship service.

Keep watching this space as well. Some of the team members will be sharing their thoughts in the next few weeks. There is still a lot to mull over.

In other news, our fundraising has gone well, though we are still about $1000 behind our goal, our expenses were not as much as we had anticipated, which is fantastic. An announcement about that should be forthcoming within the week.

Thanks, again, for your support, encouragement, love and prayers. God is good.

Happy New Year!!!!!

2009-12-31T15:44:00.000-08:00

There is always some question, on these trips, as to whether or not we will have enough work to do. Really it's not a question of if there is work, it's whether the work is ready for us or not. That has not been the case this trip.

Sunday afternoon, after worshipping together at our rental homes and lunch out (Popeye's Chicken...Jolynn was happy), we headed out to "the country" and Ms. Donna's house. There was a communication breakdown, so Ms. Donna thought that we weren't coming. But her neighbors were quick to alert her to the 3 black cars heading toward her house. There is much to do at Ms. Donna's and the crew got right to work. 16 people working on her home could have been really overwhelming but Ms. Donna took it in stride. Pete's team has been working out there ever since. They have been treated to dinner two nights, have nicknames for members of their team (Primer Babes, Frou-Frou Coffee Queen, etc.) and have marked off many of the items on Ms. Donna's list...though the list keeps getting longer. The amount of things in this house is amazing. Almost every room is filled to the brim with boxes and stuff. The kitchen had stuff all over the counters, the range, in the sink, everywhere. The Momma's decided that this was a room to tackle and between them all working on it a little over a day and a half her kitchen is clean. Reports came back that on Tuesday the team walked in to the smell of food that had been cooked and not a dish in the sink or on the counter...but a sweet note. It will be posted after we get home. There is so much happening, not just on the house but in Ms. Donna's soul, too much to share now, but suffice it to say, God is at work in big ways.

Momma Gail, Amber and Ellen have been repairing mistakes from previous volunteers at Ms. Pauline's house. They've been stuck in a closet the last few days repairing dry wall from when the closet shelves fell off the wall...bad installation. Ellen has been using her gift of listening in a big way this trip, and has had some poignant conversations with people at Ms. Pauline's house. There are some gifts that we are given that have little to do with repairing buildings and everything to do with rebuilding hope and joy in the soul's of the people we meet. Our team is lucky to have Ellen with us.

A mix of new crew and old crew have been hanging out at Captain John's house continuing to paint. The good news is that the scaffolding has moved! 3 sides of the house are done, paint has been purchased to put on the porch ceiling and things are moving along. We got rained Wednesday, which led us to the Yellow House now called the "Purdy House" (that's Pretty in southern). Pulling up baseboards, replacing a window pane and paint scraping were the jobs for the day. Captain John and Joel, his son, are constantly checking on our work, which is fun. Joel brought out his new pellet gun on Monday, to the delight of Sammy, Jonathan, Steven and Emily. They took turns shooting at targets out in the bayou. Tuesday Joel brought out the 22 gauge shotgun...that was a hit as well. Joel has also "gifted" us with some fireworks. We'll be heading down to the beach tonight to shoot them off...over water...away from the rental houses.

It's hard to believe that there are only one day left. Personally, after almost two weeks here, it still doesn't seem long enough. We do what we can do, and we do what we do with joy, with laughter and with the knowledge that God has lead us to this place, for this time, for a specific and good reason. We are blessed by the work that we are able to do and by the people we meet along the way.

Thanks for the words of encouragement and the prayers. This has been an amazing time. There are many, many stories to tell, so watch this space in the next few weeks for more stories...and pictures! Under a time crunch tonight, sorry!

Happy New Year!

Tile's and Ms. Donna

2009-12-26T09:26:00.001-08:00

So, I've mentioned a little about the peel 'n' stick tiles over at Mr. Pat's but thought y'all don't quite have the picture of what that's all about.

In December of 2007 we trucked in and laid the sub-flooring in the house. Another group came in and laid down peel 'n' stick tile right over the top of the sub-floor. The tiles are cheap to produce, most likely, and when we put them in a house in June of 2007, we used gallons of mastic to adhere them to the floor. The group that laid the tiles at Mr. Pat's didn't use that. After a couple of years of the house settling, the cheaply made tiles started to peel up around the corners. Add to that a front door that didn't seal correctly, letting water in and a leaky roof and, well, the floor is a little bit of a mess. Insert our group.

Lynn, Jeff and Regina were the troopers over there this week who ripped into that floor. Some tiles came up easily but most needed a little shoulder, arm and sometimes whole body strength to be coaxed off the floor. Once the tiles are up, the stick part of the tile is still on the floor. So if you walk around on it for very long, your shoes start to stick. Nasty stuff it is. And frustrating.

We've been on the receiving end of cleaning up after volunteers before, repairing things that other's had done incorrectly. Our motto is do things so that other's don't have to clean-up our messes. And it works most of the time. But this took things to a whole new level. This wasn't cleaning up after volunteers, this was ripping out what other volunteers had done because the materials were bad. Frustrating and yet, the end result will be a better floor and a better house.

Tomorrow, we will be heading up to Ms. Donna's house. Ms. Donna and her husband lived in Pearlington before Katrina, next door to the Post Office. Katrina destroyed their home and they moved up into the country, to Ms. Donna's father-in-laws house. That house was damaged by the tornado's and winds that came along with the hurricane. Ms. Donna has a generous soul and has her house is filled, FILLED, with boxes and things from friends and families. About 18 months after the hurricane Ms. Donna's husband passed away. Ms. Donna hired a local carpenter who came with great recommendations and who wound up taking money from her, doing really bad work and skipping town, leaving Ms. Donna with a house with lots of problems and company's going after her to pay bills. Every story solidifies why we are here...to bring hope and healing to people that Hurricane Katrina has brought to their knees.

Today, we are waiting for group number two to arrive and prepping the rental houses. A day of rest before gearing up for the rest of the trip. God is good, all the time.

Positive comments and words of encouragement are greatly appreciated!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful day it has turned out to be. After a day and a half of rain, the sun has returned, the bayou's are receding and we got to walk on the beach. Yea! Christmas Eve, Jeff cooked shrimp. Jolynn and I spent time peeling and de-viening before cooking. Thanks to Aunt C. for those lessons!The Walton clan headed home on Christmas Eve, leaving Jeff, Jolynn, Regina and I to continue to scrape the floors at Mr. Pat's house. We finished the living room and were headed down the hallway into the bathroom. It was fun to work and talk and laugh! Oh the laughter. Walking out of your shoes took on a whole new meaning as the souls of our boots stuck to the floor. We all decided no sticky mousetraps in our houses! Too cruel!

Wednesday afternoon, Ellen spent some time chatting with Captain John. It was really special to hear them talking and laughing, sharing about life, and what-not. At one point I heard Ellen say "Well, they say that Jesus probably built the yokes for oxen." It was a sweet moment of the day.

We've got a new house to go to once the 2nd half of the group comes in. It's up in the "country" as Ben said. Probably about 20 minutes away from our rental homes. The house sustained wind and tornado damage from Hurricane Katrina, not to mention some shady dealings with a hired carpenter. It's frustrating to hear the stories of people hiring on help and getting swindled out of money and getting shoddy work. We'll be traveling up to Ms. Donna's house on Sunday afternoon to meet her and get a better idea of the jobs we'll do.

The work will continue at Captain John's. I'm happy to report that the front half of the house is completely painted, the scaffolding was put up on the right side of the house on Tuesday night, which was fortunate seeing as the bayou started rising early Wednesday morning. Jolynn and Doug persevered and have the right side primed and half of it's painted Twilight Jungle, with a layer of Autumn Surprise underneath. The left side of the house is completely primed. It's coming along

We had hoped to get back to Ms. Ana's house this trip. Lynn went over to talk with her and Ms. Ana decided to just keep her house as is, seeing as she has out of town guests through the holidays. We'll miss being there but word on the street is there is plenty to do!

Santa stopped by our house last night. It was nice to sleep in, enjoy bacon, eggs and cinnamon rolls and take our time together. We are blessed to be celebrating the birth of Jesus together. Thanks for your support!

Finally, Live from Mississippi!

2009-12-23T14:57:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all! I'm sitting outside the Mockingbird Cafe in Bay St. Louis borrowing their internet connection. Jeffy got a latte and is sitting in the car while I quickly upload a pre-written blog. It's pouring cats and dogs out of the sky. The rain started about 3pm...just in time for us to take a break! More will come over the next couple of days as we have some time to decompress over the Christmas break but for now, read on for some highlights from the last week.
was smooth and easy.

Flights were on-time and full! They were trying to bump people and offering a round-trip voucher to anyone willing to take a later flight into New Orleans…we refused. Arrived in NOLA early, all bags arrived and the rental car experience. It felt like a dream! Even have satellite radio in my van/SUV kind of thing. Loving it!

Work is plentiful. We have spent the last few days at two homes we’ve worked in before. In December of 2007 we worked at Mr. Pat’s house putting the subfloor in. Another group came in and put in peel ‘n’ stick tiles and some kitchen cabinets, some bathroom fixtures and worked stopped. It’s been sitting for the last couple of years with no money to finish. Mr. Pat’s niece, Tina, is moving into the house with him, so she’s investing in the house. Turns out, that peel ‘n’ stick tile, 2 years later, is peeling up. Lynn, Jeffy and Regina have spent the week over there peeling up the tile bit by bit.

There have been some creative ways of getting tiles off the floor. Putty knives, heat lamps, skateboards, hammers, lots of elbow grease...what's that? Yep, I said skateboards. Jeffy asked for something to scoot along the floor on with padding. Doug found the skateboard, we found a pillow and the result you can see below!

Lynn and Regina are coveting the skateboard. Ellen spent some time over there helping with the floor and her comment was that was the loudest she’s ever heard Regina…hammering up peel ‘n’ stick tiles. Laminate floors and ceramic tiles will go in as soon as the tile’s are up…that’s a job for next week!

Last December and April our groups helped get Captain John's house started. This time around we're painting the exterior of the house.

It’s been an amusing process. Captain John was sent out to get the paint…but when he got the paint he forgot which color it was and thought the color on the end of the swatch looked familiar. After priming the house the paint can was opened…Autumn Surprise is the color name…we decided, after putting a coat on the house that Pumpkin Pie was more like it. Yikes. Ben came over and put a stop to the painting of the trim and soon Ms. Sue was over with more color swatches. Now that was a fun conversation. Ben and Captain John look at the color swatches and say “I like this darker one over the lighter one” while Ms. Sue is saying “Well, Twilight Jungle matches the mildew better.” I had to step down from the paint bucket I was using as a ladder before I fell off I was laughing so hard.

What wasn’t said, though, was that the WHOLE house color was changing. Autumn Surprise aka Pumpkin Pie aka Sweet Potato Pie was out and Twilight Jungle is in. One side of the house is painted, one side primed, one half of a side primed and has a base coat of Autumn Surprise waiting for the top coat of Twilight Jungle and the back of the house hasn’t been touched yet.

Douglas has faced his fear of heights and been climbing around the scaffolding. Jolynn has braved the 3^rd level of scaffolding to paint the peak of the house. Bill has helped to assemble and dismantle the scaffolding (assuring us that the water rising up in the swamp wasn’t his fault) and has been piecing together which wire goes to which switch or outlet in the house. Ellen has split her time between flooring at Mr. Pat’s and painting at Captain John’s with a little time out to throw wood over the railing.

I’ve been busy caulking all the cracks in the ceiling of the porch and priming the hard to reach places on the front of the house…oh and Douglas made me get over my fear of nail guns…don’t tell him, but I still don’t like ‘em.

More stories to come later! Keep praying!

On the road!

2009-12-17T22:27:00.000-08:00

Mississippi Team Part 1 leaves in the morning...7:50am to be exact! We've hit a little snag in the internet department, so I thought I would let y'all know before we leave...we're not sure when we will be able to update next. Neither of the places we are staying has internet connections but we will make sure updates come through at some point!

In the meantime please pray for safe flights, easy rental car experiences and for safety on the road and as we begin our jobs. We are so grateful for all our friends and family! Please, leave comments for us! It helps to be reminded of those supporting us!

Catch ya on the flip side!

The home stretch--updated

2009-12-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

8 of the 19 Team members leave on Friday for Mississippi. We are SO ready! There are little details that still need to be done, like making sure the walkie talkies have batteries so we can communicate from car to car, putting fresh band-aids and super glue in the first aid kits (yep, we've super-glued wounds shut before!), getting all the directions printed out and of course, that whole packing thing.

There is still some fundraising to be done as well. In the last week some stats have changed a little, so here's the rundown.

7 people have their trip completely paid for.
7 people are within $200 of goal.
3 others have between $201-400 to go.
2 team members need over $400.

In our PayPal Challenge Ralphie/Jeffy is still in the lead with 18 donations...Ellen is in 2nd with 5, Debbie hangs in with 2 and the Waltons are at 1. There's still time to enter the race!...which reminds me of a song from Sawyer Brown "The race is on and here comes pride in the backstretch, heartache coming to the inside..."...maybe not such a great song to be reminded of huh?

We will gladly receive donations anytime! If they get here before December 30th, it will be tax-deductible for 2009! Paypal or snail mail works, just look on the sidebar for more information.

2009-12-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

I spent a few hours at the beauty salon today. It felt good to just sit and relax for a while. As I was there (it was a longer appointment, sometimes a girl just needs a little help) I made a list of all that I would like to accomplish in the next week before heading to Mississippi. It's a long list. Some things are pretty important, other things aren't so much...I started to write down "wrap Christmas presents" and then realized I could just bring my presents to church on Sunday morning and have them wrapped for me! I almost did a happy dance right there in the beauty salon. YES! The team will be wrapping gifts on Sunday morning starting at 8:45am and ending whenever the last gift is wrapped. They will be there the following Sunday as well, December 20th. Donations gladly accepted.

My friend and hairstylist donated part of today's fee to my trip as well. One of the first things she asked was "what do you need". What I said? Prayer. Money is helpful, prayer is really the thing. I know she's good for that one! Prayer sponsors and financial sponsors are what make this trip run smoothly. God bless y'all!

Speaking of finances our thermometer keeps creeping up...here's the end of the week rundown:

7 people have their trip completely paid for.
5 people are within $200 of goal.
4 others have between $201-400 to go.
3 team members need over $400.

In our PayPal Challenge Ralphie/Jeffy is still in the lead with 16 donations...Ellen is in 2nd with 5, Debbie hangs in with 2 and the Waltons are at 1. There's still time to enter the race!

By the way, KPIG fans are awesome!!!!! We've had donations come in from Indiana, Connecticut, Virginia, Alabama, Oregon and all over CA from KPIG fans...so very cool. Thanks for supporting Ralphie and the team!

And just a reminder for our team, our final meeting and team commissioning is on Sunday. Commissioning is at 9am and 11:15am, team meeting at 10:30am (I'm pretty sure it will be in the fellowship hall...just an FYI). Hopefully your t-shirts will be here as well!

A few statistics

2009-12-07T11:43:00.001-08:00

The countdown is on! In 11 days Operation Christmas in Pearlington begins with the first wave of team members heading for Mississippi. 8 days after that the second wave of team members will join the fun. So exciting!

We still have a little ways to go where fundraising is concerned, though. The thermometer is heading up (it changed pictures, btw, because the other thermometer stopped working...geesh!) and we want it to explode! Here's how things break down:

For those going one week it's costs $900. For those going both weeks it's $1200.

6 people have their trip completely paid for.
4 people are within $200 of goal.
6 others have between $201-400 to go.
3 team members need over $400.

In our PayPal Challenge Ralphie/Jeffy is still in the lead with 15 donations...Ellen is in 2nd with 5, Debbie hangs in with 2 and the Waltons are at 1. There's still time to enter the race!

And our little house that has been collecting change has brought in about $100 for building supplies. That's pretty awesome!

If you are a friend of one of the team members, who hasn't yet donated, please consider doing so today. We appreciate all the prayers, financial support and encouragement from our friends and family as we serve as God is calling us to serve!

PayPal Challenge

2009-12-01T14:29:00.001-08:00

The competition is starting to heat up on the husband & wife front of Jeffy(aka Ralphie) and Ellen...

Jeffy(aka Ralphie) is still in the lead with 10 PayPal Donations...the KPIG listeners are certainly coming through for Ralphie!
Ellen is making a mad dash for 2nd with 4 PayPal Donations.
Debbie remains at 1 PayPal Donation.
Bill & The Waltons remain at 1 PayPal Donation as well...though if I count all the test donations Bill did they could be in 2nd place.

Meggie offered to make 11 donations and put me in the lead...but I figured since I'm the contest organizer I should be excluded from the challenge...but that doesn't mean you can't donate! :)

There's still time! Donations received by December 31st are tax-deductible for 2009!

Gift Wrapping and Challenge update

2009-11-28T14:14:00.000-08:00

Need your Christmas Gifts wrapped?? Live in the SLV area? We've got a group of people willing to wrap Christmas Gifts on Sunday mornings, beginning at 8:45am ending at 11:30am. Just come to Church, drop your gifts off in Taylor Hall with the group and they will be wrapped and waiting after church is over! We even supply the paper! :) Donations accepted.

Just a reminder, Amber, Regina, Jolynn, Sammy and Melanie...you signed up for this week!

And on our PayPal Challenge, here is the latest:
Jeffy/Ralphie--10 PayPal donations
Ellen--2 PayPal donations
Debbie--1 PayPal donation
Bill---1 PayPal donation

There's still time to donate! Just click on the link on the right!

Challenge update!

2009-11-23T11:20:00.000-08:00

Today in my email inbox were two more PayPal donations...both for (drumroll please)...Jeffy! Or Ralphie as some others may know him. One was from a KPIG listener in Jeffersonville, Indiana...that's a mighty far reaching station. :) Hello KPIG listeners and thanks for supporting our efforts in Pearlington!

Jeffy is still in the lead with the number of donations received by PayPal...the race continues!

Jeffy/Ralphie--6 PayPal donations
Debbie--1 PayPal donation
Bill---1 PayPal donation

UPDATE:
Just as soon as I hit publish post, Ralphie got another donation...that makes him way out in the lead with 7 PayPal donations! Woo-hoo!

Challenge!

2009-11-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

So far we have had 6 donations come through PayPal...it's great, it's easy and so I'm issuing a challenge! A prize will be awarded to the person who gets the most people to donation through PayPal.

As November 16th:

Jeffy has received 4 donations.
Debbie has received 1 donation.
The Waltons have received 1 donation...(Bill, I'm not counting your "tests").

The prize will be awarded in Mississippi, so you have until then!

And it gives me time to figure out what that prize will be!

What's your role?

2009-11-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

Over the last few years of leading the Mississippi trips, I've become increasingly aware of how a team interacts with each other. When you're spending 7 days together, you get to know some people well...especially if you are rooming with them! Toss in lack of sleep, hard work and lack of personal space at times and, well, things get interesting.

Yesterday, at our team meeting I posed a question to the group that was there. What role are you going to play on our trip? I had been reading from Romans 12:3-5 (NLT): "As God's messenger, I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others."

Ah, the truth of that text is astounding. We all have a role, a part to play, a special function and purpose, the question is, do we realize what role that is?

Here are some possibilities:

The Go-Getter: Someone who will try anything at any time and be the first in line.
The Sideliner: One who hangs back until everyone has a turn before they find their spot.
The Cheerleader or Encourager: pretty self-explanatory (though one is a little bit more enthusiastic than the other)
The Complainer: One who will find something wrong no matter what.
The Group Activist: the person interested in seeing the group achieve their best, usually seeks to include everyone.
The Disappearing Artist: Will start a project, then get distracted, start another project, let someone else take over and pretty soon wander away.
The Battering Ram: One who wants to the see the job done, who takes over jobs that others are doing...usually without knowing that they are taking over.
The Doers or Flex artists: They do what they are told to do and are flexible. Just tell 'em what you need, they will do it.
The Observer: Watches the group interact, listens to the discussions, has great words of wisdom but usually needs a little prompting to share that wisdom. Will jump in when they are comfortable, and jump out when they are not.
The Comedian: Will do whatever they can to help the team laugh...a lot.

There are more roles out there, but the point is this. In order to work as a team, it's important to realize that who we are, how we operate and the roles that we take on impacts the team. There is a balance that can be achieved when we realize who we are, what makes us tick and where we are naturally going to fall into a role...even a role that we don't like.

God's given us a purpose and a goal. God has also given us special roles within the team. As we prepare for Pearlington, I am praying that we, as a team, will take some time to examine who God has made us to be and how we will impact the team.

Lots to report

2009-11-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

There are lots of things to report so I'll just list them.

Our Jambalaya Dinner brought in $1077 after expenses. Thanks to all who participated, who cooked, served, set-up and cleaned up and ESPECIALLY to those who came out for some good food and good music. See the post below for some pictures of the night.
Part of our team last December spent the week at Captain John's property. The goal was to dig out and start putting in piers for the foundation of his house. We left in December with nothing really in the ground but holes dug. When we returned in April the house was framed and wrapped and ready for the interior to be worked on and work we did! Last week I received an email from Ben asking if we were ready to paint and do more interior work. This is the picture from last Tuesday.
This is a picture from yesterday. Hurricane Ida, though downgraded to a tropical storm, still brought water into Pearlington. Captain John's house will always receive water because it's right on the bayou, but this is a little more than usual. This picture is the front yard of the Yellow House. And this is one of the side streets. Not as high as it could have been and everyone is safe and sound.
For those going to Mississippi we have a team meeting on Sunday at 12:30pm. PLEASE be on time.

Fundraiser Report

2009-11-08T18:37:00.000-08:00

The Jambalaya Dinner was successful. I've heard great things about the food, entertainment and ambiance. Thanks to all the team members who came to help out. It was good to see you work as a team...hints of things to come!We brought in approximately $1000 (profit). A few generous people helped out with that (Thank you!). It will be divided up amongst the team members who worked and put on their "sponsor" reports for next week's meeting (Sunday @ 12:30pm).
Thanks to our talented musicians for sharing their gifts with us! So awesome!

In other news, I was remiss in declaring Hurricane Season over, so that post is gone. It's not done til the end of the month, hence Hurricane Ida heading toward the Gulf Coast. Here's hoping that Hurricane Ida calms down and is downgraded before reaching the Gulf Coast.

Dinner will be served...

2009-11-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

At 6pm on Saturday. What, you say? What dinner? Well, the Jambalaya Dinner benefiting the Mississippi Team!

What is Jambalaya? A yummy rice dish with chicken, shrimp and sausage and some Cajun spice. Mmmm...(for those allergic to shellfish, we make different versions). It's fantastic!

Besides dinner, what can we look forward to? Glad you asked! You will hear music from The Presbytones, Jared Fujishin and Elisabeth Carlisle. Additionally, we will show pictures from past trips and a little about why we go to Pearlington.

What is the cost? Great question! We aren't going to charge you for dinner, but ask that you make a donation to the Mississippi Team. All donations are tax-deductible, so if you want a receipt we'll make sure that happens.

Childcare will be provided if needed...but we think they might enjoy the music too! See you Saturday!

Okay all you team members...

2009-10-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

Our team is now 19 people strong. 8 of us will be in Pearlington December 18-24th, (5 will stick around over Christmas) and 16 of us will be in Pearlington December 26-January 2. I'm excited. We've bought the tickets, checks have been written to pay for those tickets and now comes the real challenge...raising the money!

3 of our team members are doing just that...raising money (well, really 2 of them have been working hard at it, one is at college and who knows what he's been up to lately *ahem* Dougie.) IN a matter of a couple of weeks they have raised almost all their support. Yep, seriously. Their total goal was $2700 and they have less than $450 to go.

The rest of us team members have a long way to go! Start writing those letters, start hitting the pavement! We can do this! (Feeling very much like a cheerleader right now...so does not go along with my image.)

In other news, we have a house! Just working on the 2nd house! Woo-hoo!

Prayer Request of the moment

2009-10-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Airline tickets have been purchased for 17 people. Mini-vans have been reserved. Now it's housing...oh, the housing. We need housing for Mississippi. I've put requests out there and nothing has come back. Both of these houses would hold all 14 people for the 2nd week. I've heard nothing back. It would be awesome to not have to rent two houses for the 2nd week, but I will do it if need be!

The prayer request of the moment is for housing. For the right houses, for the right home owners, for the right places, and that it's all in God's timing, even if it isn't in mine. Thanks for praying with me!

BTW, I'm not asking for help in finding the houses, just asking for prayer.

It's all coming together!

2009-10-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

Our team has started the process of getting sponsors for the trip in December. It's exciting to see how God works all the details together, though a little stressful at times. Sunday I was positive that things were going to all come together well. I left our meeting feeling good. Monday, I was positive I had made the wrong decisions and wasn't listening to what God wanted at all. Yet, this morning, it seems the decisions were the right ones after all. This following God thing is never easy but the reward is great...seeing lives changed in Pearlington and hearts changed on our team.

So on we go. Airline tickets need to be purchased, houses need to be rented and we have a fundraiser dinner coming up that we need to start advertising! If you are in Felton on November 7th, stop by Felton Presbyterian Church at 6pm for some great southern food and music by some very talented folks in our church!

Meeting reminder

2009-10-14T12:53:00.003-07:00

Just a reminder that we have a Team Meeting on Sunday at 12:30pm in the Youth Room. Please be there and be on time!

paypal live

2009-10-12T14:24:00.001-07:00

The donation button to the right should be live. Please see the post below for updates on dates.

Dates & Costs

2009-10-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to attend the National Youth Workers Convention in LA a week and a half ago. It is one of the highlights of the year, for me, in that for 4 days there are people pouring into my life. The cost of leadership is high and it sometimes can seem that a leader will give and give and give, only to get nothing back from those they are giving to. At the NYWC, I have the opportunity to be refreshed and reminded by others and by God why I am in Youth Ministry to begin with...the youth.

God planted a seed in my mind about the youth that we are hoping to take on the Mississippi Trip this December. The original purpose of the trips was to take youth into an environment that was outside their comfort zone and serve others. Adults have always been an "add-on". That was lost somewhere along the way and we've been working hard to get that back. One of the ways God is directing us (the Youth Ministry Team) to get back to the youth element (yes, we have a lot of young adults going, but less and less high school youth) is give a little more help to the youth. So, we are dropping the price for this trip for High School youth only to $700.

As for the dates of the trip, I'm feeling God leading me to give you the option of December 18-24 or December 26-January 2. I'm 99% sure that these are the official dates. High School youth, your week will be December 26-January 2. The rest of you now have a choice to make. If you have already let me know what week works best for you, great. (Really, I don't need to hear from you again.) If you haven't then it's time to decide. No wishy-washy, it doesn't really matter stuff. Make a decision please and let me know! And yes, there is a two week option for a couple hundred more.

Date, Paypal and Fundraiser

2009-09-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

I had hoped to have a final decision on the date of the trip by tomorrow. It's not going to happen for a reason that I won't be sharing. God is definitely in the planning and there is one thing that the decision is hinging on, so please be patient.

There are a couple of factors in the Paypal thing that are delaying putting that button up. Kind of need approval from some people, so, again, be patient.

For those of you working at the fundraiser on Saturday, you will be standing all day, wear appropriate shoes. You will also be cooking food for 1000 people...wear appropriate clothes. My friend who has done this the past couple of years has said that it gets really messy. Find the BBQ area at Harvey West or look for the Dominican Picnic signs and you will find us. That's the best I can do for you...I honestly don't know much more!

FEMA Trailers

2009-09-24T17:12:00.000-07:00

Just read this article on MSN. I found the last line a little ironic "FEMA had purchased thousands of trailers from Gulf Stream since 1992 without receiving any formaldehyde complaints until 2006." Yep. Okay. Doesn't mean that their couldn't have been a problem this time in the rush to get the massive amounts of trailers requested built. I don't think this is the last of the lawsuits.

October 3rd Fundraiser

2009-09-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

There are still slots available for the October 3rd Fundraiser. We've had a time change, if that helps. It's now 9:30am-6pm. There are 4 people committed to all day and two that can come for half the day. We could use three more people all day or 6 people for half day. Contact Brittany if you can help!

Meeting reminder

2009-09-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

For those of you thinking about going to Pearlington with FPC in December, this is a reminder. We have a meeting this Sunday, September 20th at 12:30pm in the Youth Room. We've got some important things to talk about. Hope to see you there.

Moving mountains

2009-09-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

There are things that I love to do...one of those is plans things. I like to make things happen for people that will make them happy. I think that comes with being a people-pleaser at heart.

The hard part of planning though is attempting to make trips economical for everyone. I am constantly looking at airfare, car rental prices, housing prices, etc. for our trips to Mississippi. It's what I do. Today in my searches I've hit a low spot. Airfare is high. Really high. The places we've stayed in aren't available when we may be going, car rentals are always a nightmare. It's left me wondering, is this trip in December really supposed to happen?

Yesterday I was going through curriculum and ran across a lesson titled "Are Mountain Moving Prayers Possible?". One of the lines jumped out in particular. It said "We pray with wrong motives." We pray with wrong motives. I've been praying for the prices to drop, for the houses to suddenly be available, for the dates to work out the way I want them to...am I creating a mountain? I think it's time to start praying that God be the one in control, for the timing, the housing, the prices all to be in God's hands, for the funding to be in God's hands, for the future of our work in Pearlington to be led by God and God alone.

Today, I'm going to start praying a different prayer with different motives. I'm gonna ask God what God wants and then I'm going to listen. I believe that mountain moving prayers are possible. I know that God can move mountains when God is ready...and I really don't want the mountain to be me.

Time to start planning!

2009-08-31T11:59:00.000-07:00

The next Mississippi Trip will be in December...though the date has yet to be decided. There are a number of factors to consider, the biggest of which is when our skilled carpenters can join the group. There's a lot to discuss, so please put this date and time on your calendar.

Sunday, September 20th at 12:30pm. We'll be meeting in the youth room.

Golf Tournament

2009-08-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all the golfers for coming out and supporting the Mississippi Team. All total we raised $880! Every single bit helps those of us working hard to get to Mississippi, so thanks!

Next fundraiser for the team is October 3rd. :)

2009-08-18T15:49:00.000-07:00

When we were in Pearlington in December, I had the chance to meet a couple of bloggers who were part of the inspiration for my first blogging attempts. One of those ladies lives in the Gulf Coast. She recently reflected on Hurricane Camille's 40th Anniversary. If you have a chance, hit that link and read what she wrote. There's a link to the local papers website in there, but I narrowed it down a little and think y'all should read this article as well. The pictures of the memorial make me want to visit just to see it in person.

There are two lines that struck me from both the article and St. Casserole's blog.

First St. Casserole wrote this: "For thirty-five years, Camille was the worst storm for the Gulf Coast."

The second was this: “We can replace property,” he said. “We can’t replace life.”

The first, because someday that statement may be true about Hurricane Katrina.

The second, in light of the recent fire activity here and the people who have refused to follow mandatory evacuation orders. Sometimes we should err on the side of caution and realize that we can replace our property, but we only get one life.

And just for Sammy, while I was on the newspapers website I found this article, satisfying our curiosity about those haunting structures we see every time we head to Pearlington from NOLA.

A question

2009-08-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

There is a poll to the right that will close on August 30th. In planning for the next trip we want people's opinions to be heard. If you are wanting to join the team, please cast your vote for the time that you would prefer. It will all be taken into consideration. Thanks!

A little house

2009-08-11T18:14:00.001-07:00

This sweet little house was made by one of our past team members, Norm. I may have talked about it here before, but the point behind the house was to make it look like something we would see in Mississippi and to have it be a place that people could put change and donations into for the teams going in the future.

Today we tested it at Vacation Bible School. It works. The kids brought in $26.52. Awesome! That money is going to be converted into a gift card to one of the hardware stores in Mississippi so that we can buy supplies and things needed to rebuild the homes that we will be working on in December.

We got the green light today, so plans are full-steam ahead. The week is still to be determined but we're going! Look for a way to donate here on the blog and more information in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Announcing a Golf Tournament

2009-07-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

Our next fundraiser is a coming up soon...but it won't be a fundraiser if we don't get golfers and tee sponsors!

The Golf Tournament is Saturday, August 22nd at 2pm. A BBQ dinner will be held for the golfers afterwards at the church...families may join the BBQ for a small fee.

Cost for the tournament is $55. Sign-ups are happening now!

Additionally, we are looking for tee sponsors. We will place a sign at each tee saying who has sponsored that tee for $100. All donations are tax-deductible.

Questions should be funneled to Sandy or Brittany. And helpers will be needed that day for the BBQ!

Gearing up for December

2009-07-07T16:28:00.001-07:00

Our next trip to Pearlington will most likely be December 26-January 2. A common refrain has been the need for more fundraising activities, one I'm sure will be repeated over and over again this year. Our costs most likely will go up a little on this next trip, due to airfare, so here are some opportunities to get the fundraising going!

August 22nd we will host a Golf Tournament at Valley Gardens in SV. Cost is $55 per player and includes a BBQ afterwards. We need golfers and Tee sponsors so start recruiting people! Tee Sponsorship is $100 and each person or group will have a sign recognizing their contribution. We also will need help with the BBQ, so mark the date on your calendar.
October 3rd we have been given the opportunity to help with an event at Dominican Hospital. Details aren't fully complete but we will need 6-8 people (we can rotate through) from 10am-4pm to help with cooking, serving, and more. Put the date on your calendar now!
November 7th we're having a Jambalaya Fest at 6pm, complete with entertainment! More information will be coming in the next few months.
An ongoing fundraiser will be selling decorative tiles. Each tile will have a poem, scripture or song decoupaged on them. Sandy T. is heading this up and is looking for help with the assembly of the tiles.

Over the years the whole team has benefited from the various fundraisers, but sometimes it just doesn't seem fair for a small few to do the work and the larger group to benefit from the work of a few. So this year we're trying out a new thing. Work the fundraiser, a portion of the proceeds will go directly towards your balance for the trip.

Put these dates on your calendar and let me know if you have questions!