Month: May 2008

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The Girls From Findlay

One of the benefits of working with this larger crew has been meeting new friends.

One group has been Lisa, Pam, Gail and Alicia. These four girls are officers and members of their local HfH chapter at The University of Findlay.

School just let out this week. Gail graduated on Saturday, by Sunday evening they began a fourteen hour drive to Biloxi, just to volunteer together. No church sent them, no Missions Support Groups.. just to serve.

All four of them have been so encouraging and inspiring to us all. Craig mentioned that at their age, his biggest concern was probably about his car. But to see these girls so outward-focused was quite humbling.

Tommy and Peter were able to work with Gail and Alicia

Pam worked with Will, Kevin and Steve C.

Lisa worked with Craig, Chris and others on the team.

To these young ladies, actions speak louder than words. Their thoughtfulness and unselfish attitudes have touched us all and their friendship has been one of many blessings and inspirations that we have encountered on our trip so far.

As thirsty guys, we had to go buy Gatorade for ourselves, and we offered some to all the other volunteers. The girls returned the next day from Wal-Mart with some Gatorade to replace the ones they had drank, this coming from students who paid their own way to come down here… Their selflessness extends from beyond their involvement with HfH to us.

Tonight, we were treated by them to ice cream they had bought specifically to share with us. We made it a point to return from our dinner to join them, but were treated to more…. The common room walls of Yankie Stadium, have turned into a virtual walk of remembrance for various volunteer groups. The Girls from Findlay made their own mark, with their names and a drawing, but also drew one for us, using the Evergreen logo, copied from the business card we gave them.

Not only was it a nice way for us to sign the walls ourselves, but more importantly, another witness of their generosity.

Thanks Gail, Lisa, Alicia and Pam, you guys have been really too kind.

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Day 3 – Framing Frenzy Part III

Okay, so now we know why it’s called Framing Frenzy.

The JRCWP that will be happening here next week will have one of their main media centers at the beachfront location we’ve been working at.

Part of the set up will include showing how Project Home Delivery (or house-in-a-box as we call it) works.. So they’ll be taking the lumber that we’ve cut into section and assembling them together into framing sections for future homes.

So with all of our efforts, we’re helping affect about 50 or so homes.

It’s been sunny, hot and today, pretty windy. The work is hard, the blisters have grown, but the work and people are well worth it.

We begin each day with a devotional, and this morning Craig reminded us to speak in more encouraging terms, to bless those around us with wholesome thoughts and words. We’re called to be a blessing to others, whether on this trip or at home, let it be true here. We prayed for some of the new friends we’ve made.

We started the day with the entire work crew talking about why we’re here. We were the largest group, Tommy explained that we had come last year and wanted to return, we told them that we wanted to bless people in a practical way, and Vic, one of the leaders correctly guessed if this was a mission trip.

The other team members were students, friends, a couple that wanted to take a vacation that made a difference, one woman who herself was living in a trailer, drove up last week and asked if she could volunteer. She’s apparently in the process of applying for HfH, but in the meantime, just wanted to work on the projects.

We made a big push to finish up the homes that we were assigned and made incredible progress, especially with the help of each others. As the teams finished up some of their jobs, we interacted a bit more.

We’ve met a lot of good people, and it’s an honor to serve alongside them.

Here’s the day’s pics.. stories to follow..

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Day 2 – Return to the ’07 House

After dinner at The Shed, we returned to the house that the ’07 team had worked on.

We prayed for the future homeowners and the neighborhood.

We also prayed for Dennis, and hoped he could return to serve with us on a future team.

In the meantime, his hammer, DC Hammer, represented him.

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Day 2 – The Shed

Tonight’s dinner was a feast of ribs, chicken, pulled pork, sausage and everything else barbeque’d at a local hangout called the Shed. The food was delicious…if you don’t believe us, just ask Chris!

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Day 2 – Notes from Kevin



This year, our volunteer effort is different. While we’re not working on just one house as a whole team, we’re affecting and contributing to about 60 homes as we prepare materials for them. In that process, we’ve been able to work with volunteers from all over the country, from different walks in life.

Kevin shares his experiences.

During our first few days here in Biloxi, I have had the privilege of meeting many interesting people. From college students to retirees, these people all have one thing in common…a heart for service. It is a real blessing to see people from all walks of life and from all over the country working together to help those in need. I have always considered myself to be a person with a servant’s heart but after meeting these people I am beginning to find out what it really means to be unselfish and to put other people’s needs first.

I have to admit that the work is a lot more demanding than what I had originally expected which is evidenced by the fact that I am sore in places that I never even knew existed. However, knowing that my efforts (no matter how small) are an integral part of HFHGC’s grand plan of continuing to create housing opportunities for families here in the Gulf Coast is very rewarding and will hopefully help me to continue to grow in my desire to become a true servant.

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Day 1 – Framing Frenzy

What a day it has been.

First day actually working. It was clear to us that most of our work will be in preparation for the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work project (JRCWP) , which this year is being held in Biloxi. We’re preparing cut sections and framing for the crews to come out and assemble next week.

It’s exciting and the HfH staff is a bit proud, excited and a tad anxious. But we’re proud to be part of an effort to get a large number of people in their homes next week.

Many will be new builds that are assembled in the week, and also some local refurbs.

The nice part is that we returned to the Biloxi lighthouse, a site that we first visited when we arrived in town. This is where we saw the HfH staff prepping for us yesterday. Today we were the labor.

This section by the Lighthouse will be the main media center for the JRCWP next week, so all the better.

We split our team into five crews. Peter and Tommy; Craig, Paul and Steve O; Kevin, Steve C and Will; and Mo and Chris worked on their own.

This was different from last year as we weren’t all working on one house, which has its advantages and disadvantages, but it was great to be working with other volunteers and hearing their stories.

In particular, Chris was moved by working with one Habitat Client, a person putting in “Sweat Equity” time in order to receive their home.

Well, it was a long hot day, and.. here are the pictures..

And yes, Chris and Steve O wrote a lot of the captions, so enjoy.. their sense.. of humor 🙂

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Note From Kevin



A note from Kevin K.

After a two and a half hour delay in Houston (due to the weather) and with only about three hours of sleep we finally made it to Biloxi, Mississippi. Upon arrival, the “veterans” of our group (Tommy, Steve O., Peter and Mo) took us “newbies” on a “tour” of the immediate area. As we were driving, we were able to see first hand the level of devasation this area experienced as evidenced by the fact that there are still many homes and buildings that have yet to be rebuilt. During this time, we also experienced the love of God as we drove by a worksite that was manned by Habitat for Humanity volunteers who were diligently constructing frames that will eventually be used in the construction of new homes.

Seeing these volunteers gave me a renewed sense of energy after a long day of traveling and I am once again ready to tackle whatever God has in store for me during my weeklong stay!