Category: 2007 Mens Team

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Day Zero Pictures are up!

Actually, we’re still on site, wrapping up, but wanted to post this thank you before we wrap up for the day.

So we’ll take you back.. three days..

We wanted to thank all our families and friends, both who could come out to the airport to see us off, or to wish us well in our meetings before we left.

Each team member has an Missionary Support Group to give us support and help us feel connected to our church and family during the prep for the trip.

At the airport, some of them were able to come out and pray for us before we left. Because of the time and distance, we know it was hard and told many to stay at home. We appreciate all.

Some pictures from the sendoff

We flew out of Ontario, CA at 11:15pm, went through Atlanta (where we saw the sun rise) and arrived in Gulfport in time for breakfast.

We tried to sleep in the plane, but got most of our sleep during our two hour layover in ATL.

Pictures from the airport

While on the flight to Gulfport, I (Peter), had the most interesting conversation with a resident of Biloxi. Heard a rather interesting and exciting and heartbreaking story about his experience of Katrina. I hope to have time later to share it with you later. Really put some perspective on the extent of the damage, both in property and how it shattered lives, and how his family has kept it together.

When we arrived into Gulfport, we had breakfast at Waffle House, made a run to Walmart to get our supplies and sleeping bags, and saw some of the cities (Gulfport and Biloxi), both damaged and recovering.

Checking out the local area

We arrived at Yankie Stadium, home of the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity’s effort in the local area.

It was different than I personally expected, but incredibly well furnished with showers and bathrooms. We’re in a room with about 10-12 bunk beds, sharing with some other volunteers.

Orientation happened that evening and we met the other teams. Supposedly there are just under 100 volunteers working this week. Some for the week, and some young adults working for several months.

Pictures of our arrival to the stadium/orientation

What’s interesting is that on the side of the bleachers/stadium is the high water mark for Katrina’s flooding. Art and I looked around and realized that all around us, this whole place was under 5-6′ of water. The only thing that would have been visible, if it wasn’t floating away, would have been the bleachers.

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Storm Watch… Wait.. Tornado Watch


Woke up this morning to pray.

Saw flashes, but they weren’t coming from inside. A storm is coming our way.. and actually is right on top of us.

Yes, that’s us, Biloxi, at the front end of that little dark part of the storm system.

We’re not sure yet if we’ll be going out to work on the site today, but we’re willing and able. If not, the Habitat folks have things to keep us busy.

In the meantime, we can still continue to pray for the region. Just a few days of this Mississippi weather has brought us intense heat, beautiful cool weather and now a Tornado watch in a nearby county. As beautiful as the weather has been, when I hear the thunder and see the lightning, I wonder what it was like 18 months ago when Katrina hit.

We’re building the homes with some new building standards and features specifically for hurricanes. Additional straps and concrete footings were required after Katrina. In building the houses, it’s easy to see how roofs could separate and houses could be lifted up completely off their foundations and found miles away.

And some of the neighborhoods we’ve traveled through represent some economically challenged areas. Hard to rebuild when you don’t have much to begin with.

So if you’re praying for us and our safety, please join us in praying for the residents that don’t have as much shelter as we do, that are living under the many roofs we’ve passed by that are covered by blue tarps because that’s all the roofing they can currently afford.

The rain is pelting our roof and coming down hard right … about… now..

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Construction Day 3

Fearing rain, we prepared for the worst, but we were happy to experience some cloud cover vs. the previous day’s heat.

We got to meet Diane, Bracky’s wife, who also introduced us to the Palm Nailer. A tool we wish we found on day 1. It’s the best thing in the world.. air powered hammering. Any of the guys that got to use didn’t want to go back to the elbow grease hammers.

Today was high-wire work for many, especially Gary and Mo. Working on the trusses, they lived high above our work. It’s amazing how much work is involved in setting up the framing for the roof paneling that we hope to install tomorrow.

New tool added today:

Chop Saw. That gave us straight cuts, and yes, Steve was eager to cut up any pieces of 2×4 that were requested. Still no major injuries to report.

The beginning of the day was squaring up the house. A string is placed around the outer walls, and we push/pull and secure the wall at various points to make sure the walls are lined up with the string.

We also learned today that using the Sawzall could allow us to cut nails when we would mess up our work. Don’t worry, we’re building this house with love and care and hopefully to withstand the terrors of a hurricane.

Almost every guy on the crew worked up on the trusses. Much appreciated, very exciting and hard work in the heat. Poor Gary for being the tallest guy had to take the highest point of the building at all times.

We hope that the slide shows give you some taste of the amount of work involved in building these homes. We appreciate our homes all the more.

Enjoy the slideshow!

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Ultimate Frisbee and Other Thoughts

Mathias’ Notes, our lone ambassador to Ultimate Frisbee last night

It seems Ultimate Frisbee playing got some attention in a few recent posts so I thought I’d pop in a tell the whole story. Every Tuesday night is Ultimate Frisbee night at camp. The Americore people who are here for more than one week at a time run the games. They’re pretty intimidating since some of them had uniforms and even made up a special chant. We played three games between Americorps teams before another team from the Salvation Army side of camp came to challenge us. We lost that game 5-3. I’m not sure how Dennis puts me on a Wheaties box since I managed to drop a scoring pass in the endzone.

Apparently Art and I look alike because Art says a lady came up to him this morning and said, “You play a mean game of Frisbee”. I’ll chalk it up to the stereotype that all Asians looking the same. I don’t think I look that much like Art.

A lesson learned from this episode: “don’t play Ultimate Frisbee the day before lifting trusses” My legs are really really sore tonight.

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Reward Dinner

Our reward dinner. Lookout 49 in the city of Gulfport, MS.

Our Construction manager “Bracky” and his wife Diane with their grandson Charlie/Charley joined us at a restaurant they liked.

Pictured are Corn Fritters that were crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside..

A good dinner for a hard day’s work.

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Day 3 Wednesday

As Rob flips open his phone, he says “Hey, I didn’t realize that your phone automatically changes the time to Biloxi time..”

We chuckle that he figures this out on Wednesday after we got here Sunday.

Also, something that I (Peter), didn’t realize/remember. No Tank Tops or sleeveless shirts are allowed on the work site. I had to run out to Wal-Mart and buy 3 extra T Shirts.

Rain rain go away…there’s a 60% chance of rain. Hopefully we don’t get all muddy.

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Two videos from Day 2

Art was told to shout “Noise!” so that people wouldn’t think it was a drive-by, he had his own shout.

Steve with yet another power tool

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Ramblings from the so-called “Team Leader”


Dennis has been doing a great job keeping the team organized, happy and on track. And yes, he requested the above title for this post 🙂

An incredibly amazing mission thus far! So much to share, so little time to do it. I have new found admiration and respect for every member of this team!

If I did half as much as Frank has been doing when I’m his age, I’d have a heart attack.

If I read blueprints/plans upside down in reverse like Mo, I would be an architect.

If I played ultimate frisbee like Mathias, I would be the next athlete on the Wheaties Box.

If I joked like Tommy, I could win Comic-of-the-Year award.

If I shot pool like Gary, I’d be hustling on weekends at the nearest Billiard Hall.

If I took orders like Art, I could be a waitress at Philipe’s.

If I used power tools like SteveO, they’d call me Tim the Tool Man Taylor.

If I ate like Robert, I’d crush the scale.

If I shopped like Peter, I wouldn’t be writing this, I’d still be in the store looking at shoes and tool belts.

My memorable moments so far:

  • Praise the Lord for providing nice meals! (I was really worried about a red beans and rice diet!)
  • A flying hammer that fortunately didn’t kill any one! (Ooops, it slipped!) Power tools in the hands of amateurs and no one’s gotten hurt! (Whew!)
  • Missing the first game of the Lakers/Suns playoff series because a couple of girls wanted to watch a chick-flick on the community TV. (They beat us to the sofa.)
  • Seeing one side of the house we are building fall over. (Another “Oooops”)
  • The look on the HFH foreman’s face as Tommy nailed down the tarp we bought to build a “shaded break room” at the work site. (He wasn’t so surprised that he didn’t take advantage of
    our shade!)
  • Tour of the “kitchen on wheels” where all of our meals are being prepared. (Perhaps the VBS budget could spring for one of these!)
  • I’d write more, but Game 2 of the Lakers/Suns Playoff series has begun and the men have claimed rights to the TV tonight!