2008 Hurricane Katrina Relief Trip

July 6
At 9:00 PM on July 6, the Biloxi trip started with the whole group and their families gathered in the new sanctuary in front of the altar in prayer. The excitement of being in the new church filled our hearts and carried us out of Virginia on our way to Mississippi.

Although we arrived to the minute MapQuest told us we would, 16 hours and 20 minutes later, it was not boring. The entire trip was marked by severe thunderstorms, rain, lightning with visibility to a couple feet at times because of fog. We were rained on in all five states we traversed.

Camp Biloxi greeted us with open arms, a warm gulf breeze, and a hot dinner in the mess hall. Needless to say we were all asleep before lights out.

God's blessings to all of you,
Paul Anderson.

July 7
Our first work day at camp Biloxi began at 6 am. Getting up was pretty hard, but it was refreshing waking up to a hot breakfast. After we ate breakfast, we packed our lunch, picked up our job assignment, gathered our tools and headed off to our work site. After we got there we unloaded the tools from the van and gathered around our construction supervisor to listen to what needed to be done. We soon found out that we were going to help an elderly lady, Beverly, and her son get back into their homes. Their homes were almost finished and just needed some minor touch-ups. Our job included yard work and major scraping and painting.

We began or task by dividing up into two teams – the yard team and the painting team. The yard workers mowed the lawn, weeded, trimmed bushes and cleaned debris – filling over three truckloads with weeds and branches. The painting team scraped Beverly's son's house making sure that the previous paint wouldn't affect our new paint job. Then we proceeded by beginning to paint exterior of the house – a job that we will finish tomorrow.

During one of our breaks, Beverly, her daughter and her son came to join us for a bit. Beverly was around 80 years old and had been through not one, but two hurricanes. When hurricane Katrina hit, Beverly, her daughter, her son, and two of her nieces watched houses be washed down their street along with boats, television sets, and other personal belongings. As their windows blew out they prayed that something or someone would stop the wind from washing their home away as well. Their prayers were heard and answered because soon enough the water began to recede before it could flood the second floor of their home. A few hours later they went outside and were completely shocked with what they saw. Beverly's son, Mike's house was actually saved by a single oak tree. Their neighbor's house missed theirs by only a small margin hitting their large oak tree instead. In the beat up house there were also survivors that Mike rescued. In fact, by the time that the storm was over and done with, Mike had rescued 12 people by pulling them into his home, preventing them from drowning. By the end of the day there was destruction and debris all around, but a statue of the Virgin Mary rested on their lawn. No one knew where she came from, but to them she was a glimmer of hope and to this day sits on their front porch.

Christina Hancox

July 8:

Today God led us (Amy and Lauren) over to the other side of the tracks with Camp Biloxi Chaplain Ralph in his yellow ambulance. The homeless live there in tents and shacks – unfortunately or fortunate for them, they weren't home – out gaining wages with a temp day job. We continued to drive around the community when we came upon what was once a brightly colored pink house overlooking a beautiful view of the gulf. Now only a fraction is still standing. We decided to stop to take a picture. That's when Amy noted that there was a man on the porch. Chaplain Ralph disagreed and said no that it was a statue. It turned out to be Navy Chief Eric Hansen, an 80 year old very small and thin gentleman. He sat in a tattered old rocker on what once was a front porch. His story, like others is a very sad one. However, he did not begin with the Hurricane Katrina. He began with the love of his life . his wife who passed away years ago of breast cancer and never told him until it was too late. We heard the guilt in his voice as he spoke of having to leave her to travel seaward in the merchant marine or navy for many years. His love for her in his eyes showed brightly even shedding a tear. (What love for us our Lord must have.) Today this once forgotten little man has hope that someone will come and check on him. Thank you Chaplain Ralph – what good work you continue to do. We can only imagine how Jesus felt as he met these forgotten souls where they needed it most

We returned to our car and drove off to our next encounter, noting as we drove away that Chief Hansen returned to his tattered rocker pulling out the lunch Amy gave him and sipping on the bottled water we offered and permanently leaving a haunting impression of overwhelming sadness in our hearts and minds.

We were glad to see the shrimping industry in full swing. We met Wade, a fisherman. He had very wise words stating "the storm was good for us. Things are things and it broke my heart to see people lose things but we all pulled together and helped each other. It's great to see people all over come. People are really good when it comes down to it."

We also met a kindly gentleman named Kit Kat today. He invited all the camp volunteers to a cookout at his place on Friday.

The other members of our team went back to Beverly and her son's house and continued painting the outside of the house as well as going to Beverly's daughter's house to mow the grass, trim shrubbery, and perform other yard and house maintenance.

Lauren Germanario and Amy Hart

July 9:

Today began at 6 am again and another great breakfast. We packed the bus with our tools and supplies for the day and went off for another day of work at Beverly and Mike's houses were we went yesterday. We split into two groups: one for painting Mike's house and one for flooring and other interior work at Beverly's place. Both houses looked really nice when we finished working at the end of the day – we were even treated to Sonic Slushies at the end of the day!

After we worked on the houses, we stopped by "Chief" Hansen's house where Lauren and Amy visited yesterday. His house was completely destroyed during Hurricane Katrina and is still in very, very, very devastating condition. It was very heart-touching to hear his story. He is single, has no family, and lives by himself with three cats. He is a very thin man and relies on others to bring his food for him – otherwise he would have nothing to eat.

Brandon Paul and Will Germanario

July 10: Dear Friends in Christ,
The following prayer was written by Betty Jardine, Brandon Paul's Grandmother. Betty blessed us with this prayer before the wonderful dinner she, her daughter and others prepared for us this evening. We have filled in our activities from today's work within the prayer.

Our Heavenly Father,
We thank you for this evening, for the fellowship we are experiencing with this wonderful church group. We know all too well the sacrifices they are making to be here.

We were awakened during the night by a thunderstorm and a few of our clothes which were hanging outside were soaked by morning. Not a big problem though since we were certain the Biloxi sun would dry them by the time we needed them tonight. We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast, loaded up the coolers with ice, water, and juice, and were off to finish Miss Beverley's and her son Mike's house.

We pray Lord that it will not only be a rebuilding experience for those they come to help, but a building experience in all our lives, strengthening our Christian faith.

Arrived at our work site by 8:15 AM and unloaded the tools for the day's work of painting, scrubbing, sweeping, window washing, concrete masonry repairs, sawing, pounding, and moving all the furniture to prepare for floor repairs. Mike treated us to donuts this morning as well as pizza for lunch. By mid-afternoon we were ready to start the process of hauling a number of ladders, wheelbarrows, painting equipment, etc., back to Camp Biloxi – several of us did that while others stayed to complete the work and secure the job site.

As we offer thanks and gratitude and Your safe-keeping for those who come to Mississippi and other areas affected by Katrina, we also for ask for safe-keeping for our fire-fighters and other emergency medical technicians, in California fighting fires, for our brave soldiers and all in harms way defending and protecting us.

Each evening we get together and have a short devotion and conversation before going to bed. Last night, like most nights, one of us prayed for safety on our work site. During the discussion that followed, several of us noted how "lucky" we had been not to experience any major medical events. Jessica noted that the answer was simple since she knew that many people were praying for us not only here but especially back home. Thanks Jean for sending out the prayer to everyone each day, for Pastor's prayer for us last Sunday during the first services in the new church, for those daily prayers from members of the Personal Witnessing Bible Class who picked each of the 13 of us to pray for specifically, and of course from our family and friends.

And now we especially ask you Lord to bless these volunteers who have given part of their lives to come to Mississippi to help those still in desperate need of help. May they always receive a blessing when they think back on this experience and may they experience the gratitude again and again of those they served.

Before leaving the work site, we gathered along with our professional carpenter and job superintendent and the family members whose houses we worked on this week and offered individual prayers of support to them – they joined in and offered their thanks to us and their blessings of a safe day tomorrow wherever we were working on the last day of our time here and also for a safe trip home.

For it is in Your name and for Your glory that we offer our services.

Arriving back at the camp we were met with gifts of small wooden cross necklaces from Jan, one of the Camp staff, who had made these for each of us – we wore them with great pride – a gift we certainly had not expected. Brandon's family met us with open arms, several tables full of food, and the love of Jesus. We felt for a few short hours, that we were in fact back home. Their words of encouragement and genuine smiles and hugs – not to mention the huge baking dish of "Mississippi Mud Pie" &ndash were just what we needed after the fourth day of working in the Biloxi humidity. These kindnesses, hospitality, and service to us in Jesus name were truly highlights of the trip - a small glimpse of heaven perhaps. We have truly experienced the joy of serving our Risen Lord.

Amen

Tomorrow, we will spend the morning at a house just a few miles from Camp Biloxi performing window replacements, yard work and other general repairs. We will also stop by for a visit to the house and family who the OSWLC Relief Team assisted in 2006 on their first trip.

Please continue us in your prayers – we leave at 5:00 AM Saturday and hope to be in Ashburn by 11:00 PM that evening.

God's many blessings to all of you,
The 2008 OSWLC Relief Team to Biloxi, Mississippi

July 11: As the crew began our fifth and final day of work in Biloxi, we were graced by a half an hour delayed breakfast that started at 6:30 instead of 7:00. The extra period of rest was greatly appreciated as a large portion of the group slept through breakfast anyway. Today the team was assigned to a new location about two blocks from the camp. We were now given the task of making the Dunbar's home one day closer to being completed. It was our job to replace to side windows, begin applying new side paneling to the home as well as some extensive yard work. While Phil, Will, and Brandon applied their demolition expertise to the old windows that needed to be removed the rest of the group attacked the overgrown yard. With lawn mowers, clippers and shears the team transformed the jungle back into a friendly yard. Using their tools of choice, hammers and crowbars, the demolition team promptly removed any evidence that windows had once existed in what was now rectangular holes in the wall. When the yard crew had finished their portion of the work they loaded back onto the bus and headed to the beach to attack the debris field left by fireworks from the Fourth of July. Tyler, Lauren, and the demolition team stayed behind to finish installing the new windows.

Today the group, along with the rest of Camp Biloxi was invited to a barbeque hosted by a local celebrity called Kitty Kat (Randolph Peyton). We were all treated to ribs, turkey, beans and melon as we enjoyed each other's company and listened to Kitty Kat's stories. (View short video) Following the barbeque the group headed back to camp; where the majority was dropped off and Philip, Bill, and Pastor Wiechmann took the bus to visit Stella's home, where last year's group had spent three days dry walling her house. Upon our arrival we were pleasantly surprised to find her house in excellent condition and Stella and her family happily living the house. It looked awesome! When we returned back to camp, it was once again time to go out, as were going to meet Mike and some of his family at a local community center where he was cooking us dinner. Getting even more spoiled we were treated to grilled chicken this time. We enjoyed each other's company for the last time. Because Mike's birthday was the next day and his mothers had been the week before, we brought two cakes for dessert and presented them with birthday cards, signed with our blessings.

It was time for us to go back to camp one last time, but our day was still far from over. This time we met with our contractor Paul and his son "Muscles" (Aaron). We gave them a card to thank them for all they had done for us. They stayed around for a while and shared entertaining stories about previous groups that they had worked with; particularly a rambunctious group from Boston. When Paul and "Popeye" (Aaron) left, we stayed in the mess tent to talk about our week's experiences. We talked about different aspects of the trip, as well as different viewpoints. One of the main points we discussed was the need not only for the physical rebuilding of Biloxi, but also the spiritual and mental rebuilding. Simple kindness and spreading the word of our Lord and Savior is just as important as any other work that we could do down there. By the time we finished it was getting close to midnight and the group all but excited for our 5 o'clock departure the next morning.

Though our week was over in Biloxi, Mississippi, we knew that our experiences and encounters will stay with us for many years to come. We grew as a group and individuals, making many friends and creating memories to last a life time. We also pray that the work at Camp Biloxi stays strong and for those who are still without a home, that they may be placed back into their homes as soon as possible. May all the glory go our incredible God. Thanks to you and to Him for letting us be His hands, feet, and mouths.

Phil Hawthorne

Post Script – July 14: In answer to our prayers, yours, and other's, we all made it home safely: Amy stayed to be with a friend for a few days getting in on Sunday, Paul (a pilot for United) caught a hop in the jump seat of an A310 Friday night so he could be home in time for an important meeting on Saturday, and Linda and Rachel endured flight delays as expected through Chicago on their way back to Arizona late Saturday night. The remaining nine of us were on the road by 5:00 am and pulled in right before midnight Saturday with Lauren at the helm – in time to get a few hours of sleep before attending church for the first time in our new Sanctuary.

Under any set of circumstances, an eighteen hour bus ride would not be thought as of something you would probably ask to do given another choice. I think we would all do it again just to be together and to talk about this most wonderful experience that God presented to us. We all agreed that we wanted to do more hands-on mission work where we could not only talk about God to others but where we could show his love through our actions. And, while we vowed to continue telling the story that Biloxi is a long way from being completed, we also brainstormed other ways right here in Northern Virginia for us (and others) to show that the people of Our Savior's Way are committed to helping those in need both near and far. Stay tuned.