We’re assuming that the 2nd Week men’s team are prepping at the airport soon, and the plan is for them to greet the CoEd when they arrive in a couple hours.
The 2-Week men’s team pretty much have the whole church/center to ourselves, and since we’ve been eating so much fried food, we resigned ourselves to eating a salad for tonight 🙂
Steve O just walked in from his evening run. If he hadn’t returned by 830p local time, we were supposed to send out bloodhounds.
I have noticed this year that spending this much time with the various team members has had an impact on me. I am starting to pick up behaviors and characteristics from the other people as we rub off on each other. This is the way God meant it to be. Here is how they have each given me something to imitate.
Roy – quiet plodding along with humility and not for show. Kelly – polite and always thinking of serving others Esther – joyful and “thumbs up” GaryH – wanting to learn and experience new things Peter – being bold in engaging people Carl – willingness to do whatever is needed Bu – never complaining even though he wants to Bart – searching the Scriptures for the truth Chris – admonishing others very gently Steve – never questioning God’s ability Lorin – appreciating even the smallest things Tommy – speaking positively about other people Mo – thinking before jumping in and doing Kyle – having a passion for people and wanting Christ to impact their lives
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. 3 John 1:11
We just sent the CoEd team off, on their way back to LAX. They got off safely after a morning visiting Mosaic. It was a great church, and Dustin, the pastor, preached a good message from Colossians about being focused on God first, then marriage, then children and then work next. Sounds familiar….
The church meets in a roller skating rink, and is used almost all week long. Afterwards, had good time hanging with Brad and Paul at a local seafood restaurant. Once again, food was good, but sharing faith and life with them was better.
As we sent off the CoEd team, they knew they had done a good thing, with a week’s worth of hard work behind them, and shared memories among them. We pray they have a safe and meaningful trip home. Just as Kyle had spoken a few nights ago, the mission began before they ever left L.A., and will hopefully not end.
It’s odd to think that even as they fly, our church is just ending service back home, and the next Men’s team will be flying out a few hours after the CoEd team lands. And we’ll receive them in less than 24 hours.
As we post pictures of Gary’s “One Drop,” we can’t but help to think of our support groups. Time after time, we meet individuals that come out here on their own, or often church groups that come out here as part of a service mission. Either way, it’s rare that we find folks that have the same level of support that we do from home. It’s not bragging about how wonderful our supporters are, it’s just being humbly appreciative of those that send us and partner with us.
We do believe the ease of our experiences and the extra-opportunities we have to bless and be blessed by others are largely because of the prayer support we receive from home. Every person out here has a group of several people to pray for them, for their safe travels, for their family and jobs they are separated from, and their spiritual health. But most of all, we feel this covering allows us to have faith beyond our own. We are able to see spiritual opportunities beyond our own eyes, and to act with confidence beyond our own strength. It’s great when people are praying to God on your behalf. It’s a great way to not have to do this mission on your own. And for that we thank you.
And we thank you for the practical things too. Notes of encouragement, comments on the blog, little snacks that we open as the trip goes along, and yes, a little bottle in Gary M’s care package that makes sharing quarters with other men a little more manageable…..
Saturday was our last day on the site. Also our last day working as a combined team.
Bittersweet, but quite rewarding.
Steve, Mo, Tommy and Chris went to another site for half the day and worked on baseboards . Chris was excited because it was something he could use back at home. They met Dave, a supply sargeant in the Navy, who volunteers with Habitat on the weekend. Eventually, he might be stationed in San Diego, so who knows, we might see him back at home.
Dave joined us for lunch, which we bought from Bozo’s and took back to the site. We had lunch all together, including Brittney. Brittney was doing her first day of volunteer hours and had never worked with tools before. Although she expressed a bit of apprehension at first, within a couple of hours, she was confident and capable. She’s raising a beautiful 1 year old daughter, who we met later in the day, and we enjoyed her company.
After finishing our work, we got to pray for the homes and area. Some of us wrote on the studs with verses or words of encouragement. It’s very moving having worked on a home, and then being able to pray for the future owners. They really are beautiful homes, and we hope the families that move in will have a good life with them.
During this trip, one of our members wanted to share their feelings, but has chosen to do so anonymously.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” I John 4:7
This mission trip has been such a blessing in seeing the love of Jesus Christ lived out through our team members. There have been many “God moments” on this trip where God was doing great things through our team members that we all marveled at and praised God for. It is so encouraging to see so many team members being intentional in stepping out of their comfort zone to meet and bless others.
The Holy Spirit is doing a great work through the men and women of this trip. In addition to being outstanding servants on the job site they have been sharing personal testimonies with people, ministering to people, encouraging Habitat supervisors, building relationships with other volunteer co-laborers, and being great servants on the job site.
The first day we arrived we visited the houses the teams from last year’s trip worked on. One of the houses the teams worked on was bought just four months ago and the home owner came out to meet us. The men were able to share how much it meant to them to meet the owner of the home they had worked on and had actually prayed for the previous year. The team was able to pray and bless the man and his family.
At a later time the team had stopped by a Gulfport pier and met a woman fishing with her son who had lost her house in Katrina and shared how hard it was. She shared how the church had built a house for her and had been radically changed by the love from the body of Christ. Her heart is for Christians to live seriously for Christ and help people in need. One of our team members asked if they could pray for her and she was moved to tears from the prayer and shared how she had never been blessed like that. There have been a number of other encouraging things God has been doing on the trip. We give God all the glory for everything.
On Friday the Coed team had finished cleaning and preparing eight mobile homes that would be driven up to give relief to the tornado disaster area. After finishing the team was able to prayer walk each of the mobile homes. They prayed for God’s blessings on the families who had lost everything and would occupy the mobile homes. They prayed they would find comfort from trusting God.
Thank you for your prayers and support. God bless you!
Today was the second day that the teams were split over two separate sites.
The CoEd team went to work on the trailers, the 2-Week Men’s team returned to the Pascagoula site to work with Brad.
As mentioned before, it was nice to be able to help in the recovery from the tornadoes as the FEMA/MEMA trailers will be moved up north, such as Smithville. We were told that although utility companies were in that area to reconnect homes to power, there were many homes no longer there to reconnect. Sad.
Bu’s Sacrifice
On the way to last night’s dinner at The Shed, Tommy’s car picked up Brad and Chris M (whom we affectionately call “Chris Girl” to distinguish her from the male Chris on our team), rode with Kelly’s car. Chris and Lorin really hit it off, and became even better friends.
When we arrived back home that evening, Bu asked if he could switch teams the next day (today), so that Chris and Lorin could spend the day together. It was touching. Bu’s a good guy, but his unseen sacrificial act was humbling. So today, Bu and Lorin traded teams, so that Lorin could hang out with her new bud Chris. Bu made his offer without much fanfare, and it wasn’t for acknowledgement from anyone, the least of which, Chris. In fact, I hesitate even to mention it here publicly.
Tonight, when we prayed for Chris, as it was our last evening with her, I felt that Bu’s unseen sacrifice for Chris was analogous to Christ’s sacrifice for us. Sometimes, unseen, unnoticed, but yet it is still there for us. But this type of sacrifice has not been unusual for the team members, as I see them intentionally trying to bless others, including their team members. And it’s nice to know that they’re just not on “good behavior.”
The Work
The CoEd team worked with Mark, a fast-talking, personable good ol’ boy that works for Habitat. they spent the day cleaning and painting trailers. Apparently part of his humor includes a stuffed mouse on a fishing line. There came a moment when Mark (and I suspect Steve O) tried to scare her with the scrambling mouse. As it “ran” across the room, Esther firmly turned around and said “I’m not scared.”
The 2-Week team worked on the siding again with the folks from St. James/Thrivent, finishing the side and rear of the house. During lunch, half our team joined St. James near the beach for lunch, when a very fast moving, rainy and noisy thunderstorm struck the area. It threatened the work schedule, but an hour later, it was back to normal.
See the video of Chris (C, “Chris Boy”) and Lorin during the storm below…
Meeting time.
At the end of the day, we gathered as a group and were able to reflect on our motivation and our attitude while serving. Kyle’s devotional reminded us that if we are not serving using Christ’s sacrificial love towards those we meet, and those with whom we serve. Chris M joined us for our worship, teaching and prayer time, we were able to bless and pray for her as a group, and then she joined Esther and Lorin in small group.
An annual tradition, we took the team and some of our new friends to The Shed, a local BBQ place.
We weren’t aware that a live rock band would be performing in the patio area where we usually sit.
Scrambling to find a more quiet place to eat and talk, we finally ended up in not-so-much-quieter patio, although it did afford us privacy.
Our Guests
Joining us where Chris M, a fellow volunteer from Chicago, Brad our site supervisor, and Paul, our supervisor from last year, now working outside of Habitat.
The meal was good as usual, but the fellowship was sweet. In Christian circles, you’ll often hear that phrase, “the fellowship was sweet,” but it really was. It was beyond exchanging laughs, stories, jokes and enjoying the company of good friends… We spoke about our lives, meaningful things, and how God has been present in our lives to bring us to this place in time. The mutual sharing was humbling and encouraging at the same time, all being (almost) shouted across a table of ribs and BBQ chicken.
This furthered our relationship with Brad and Paul as brothers, as family. Not only because we share similar values in trying to help rebuild Mississippi, or even attend churches with the same Bible, but because we share a sense of seeking God, meaning and peace in a life built on trusting a very faithful but often unseen God.
Chris joining our group was even better, as she had gone from being a nice volunteering woman who traveled down to Mississippi alone (flying to New Orleans and driving from there), to now a friend, and now someone we could pray with.
Our Purpose
Being here renews, restores and energizes our faith, while we try to do the same to the local community. But it’s not about us. We’re all trying to see what God is doing in the midst of the Mississippi Gulf Coast region, and then trying to see where we fit in. We’re grateful that there’s a place for us here.
Oh, and finally, there was a nice touching moment in the parking lot, where Bu had an opportunity to talk with one of our friends who is on the road to possibly proposing. His words were encouraging, honest and heartfelt, and then he prayed a blessing over our friend. It was humbling to hear his heart extend care and hope and responsibility to our friend, especially praying for a spiritual covering over him.
This trip is way beyond just hammering nails.
This is about growing our loving family. And loving them.
It was a great feeling today to see old friends.
No, not the heat or the humidity, but Brad and Denise, our two site supervisors.
We arrived at our site, which is located at 2202 Choctaw Ave, Pascagoula, MS 39567. If you look at google maps, you can see what the site once looked like… a lot.. not “a lot” as in plenty, but simply, a lot of land.
Okay, so much to say, so little brain power.
1) We’re happy to be back
2) Our newbies are excellent!
3) Brad and Denise are like coming home to family, we even spoke about our other family members (Spikes, Paul, et al) that weren’t present, to catch up, just as you would do at a reunion.
4) rumor on the street is that Brad might enter our video, “All Work, All Pray” in as a volunteer video in some competition…
5) here’s the rest…
(I type this, with Gary M by my side, editing video, while the rest of the gang has showered and gone off to have some frozen custard.. sniff.. Okay, truth be known, the guys are bringing us back some dessert.. 🙂 )
Hot
It’s hot. Not screaming hot like the first trip, but still, hot. But there are opportunities to work in the shade.
We’re working on two houses that stand on stilts. Hopefully you’ll be able to see from the pictures and videos.
Our Site Managers
Brad and Denise haven’t changed, except in the area of their hearts.
Just chatting with them, it seems that Brad’s growing in his faith, as is Denise, but also that God’s been good to them providing them jobs that they love to do, and a church that helps them grow. Denise’s transition from Americorp to Habitat staff has allowed her to put down some roots for a bit and get involved with the kids at her church (same church as Brad and Paul’s, which we’ll visit this Sunday). It’s really exciting to hear how their hearts are being humbly moved by the significance of their work.
Work
Work is moving along well. Not that it was planned this way, but many of the newbies ended up painting siding. It’s a hot job in the hot sun, but they did so with smiles and infectious laughter. Other work performed today was preparing for likely putting up the siding tomorrow, with our team being joined by 11 others that we haven’t met yet. But except for two additional volunteers, who brought the gift of cookies with them to the job site, we had the site to ourselves. It was a good first day, hard work, and the heat got to a few of us. We’re going to rest well tonight.
It was a lot of work on scaffolding, but unlike Mathias’ work last year, we didn’t have to construct the scaffolding, we were just able to benefit from a previous team’s work. With the scaffolding in place, we were able to get straight to work, and move freely. It’s very reassuring to know that you’re part of a bigger picture, with one team coming before you, you doing your part, whatever that may be, and then handing it off to the next team. That really helps us in our overall faith.
Devotionals
Steve O gave the devotional this morning, about prayerfully keeping our eyes open to see God moving in the lives of those we encounter, while still performing well on the job site.
Peter gave a devotional last night about how we might be blocked from seeing God’s movement among people because of various reasons (sin, distraction, pride, etc.). He confessed something that he once thought was a small sin, but realized how it was larger than he thought, and was affecting his preparation for the trip. Once he identified it as a problem, confessed it to God, and was able to see more clearly what God was doing in his life and those he might encounter during the Biloxi trip.
Some follow up news from yesterday
Sorry guys, was really busy and we were kinda tired, so we couldn’t post up too much yesterday.
The plane trip went well, Tommy did a devotional during our layover, and we landed without incident.
We landed and visited the area, in doing so, met a few people along the way, talking about where there lives were at..
Gary M was able to pray for a woman and her needs at the airport… Follow up to the follow up: Gary received an email from the woman he met, “L”. She’s doing well, and says she has felt our prayers so she thanks the team. She says she is interested in what we are doing here in Biloxi.
The facilities we are staying at, New Life Disaster Relief Center, are in the building of a local church. I mean, like the guys and girls are sleeping in converted rooms that are about 5′ outside of the sanctuary. It’s a little tight, but the atmosphere is really nice. And there’s no place like home at the end of a hard day.
We toured some of our previous build sites, and to be honest, our hearts sank a little when visiting one of our build sites, the homes are ready to be moved into, but they remain vacant, a few had real estate signs on them from local realtors. The Habitat staff explained that some of the houses in those neighborhoods were pending some further steps for partner families, but that indeed, some homes were available for purchase, and no buyers.
Many people don’t realize they qualify for Habitat homes
Others are unaware of the vacancies
and sometimes there can be a small and inaccurate preconception about Habitat homes.
Some people fear the homes are built not as well, but the truth is, they’re often built better than local homes because they are exceeding local codes or energy standards. We know that most of the homes we have worked in have fantastic energy savings for their future home owners.
Some people fear that there might be a stigma attached to the home. I think it’s in line with receiving charity… The truth is, no one can tell what is and isn’t a Habitat home, except that it might be one of the nicer ones on the block, in my humble opinion…..
with that in mind, please pray for Habitat as a whole. Things are okay down here, the affiliate is doing well and managing well, but it would be a shame, whether in Mississippi, or elsewhere, someone didn’t look into a Habitat home because of misconceptions and/or unnecessary fears…
Some videos:
—-
Okay, now a juicy bit for you troopers who took the time to read this whole post…
Brad (Site manager, Biloxi) and Amy (from the local affiliate back home) bumped into each other while serving in Nepal last year, and chatted it up because Brad recognized the San Gabriel Valley Habitat logo from the cap we gave him last year. The two became fast friends.
The two are top on our list of our favorite people, but I’ve made it clear, that it’s, selfishly, to our advantage having each of them stay put exactly where they are. 🙂 But I’m just sayin..
For our last (joint) meeting before we leave, we were instructed to “practice.”
This is from our first year, where after a few hours of hammering (which we normally weren’t used to), we noticed a little soreness in our arms. Also, we found that some people weren’t too used to hammering in a nail. Let’s not use someone’s house as our first guinea pig.
So Kelly got us some wood, we brought our various hammers, and started pounding some nails in to practice
The Stilettos were out for side-by-side comparisons, and the veteran team members, well, they stood on the wood and pointed. 🙂 Something tells me that Esther will be an interesting person to video….
%20no-repeat%20left%22%3E%3Ca%20href=%22https://picasaweb.google.com/sgvhabitat/Katrina20110514?feat=embedwebsite%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_KZ0MH7w-BeY/Tc8jMPVtLIE/AAAAAAAAO34/E6KCJgDAwYw/s160-c/Katrina20110514.jpg%22%20width=%22160%22%20height=%22160%22%20style=%22margin:1px%200%200%204px;%22%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/td%3E%3C/tr%3E%3Ctr%3E%3Ctd%20style=%22text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px%22%3E%3Ca%20href=%22https://picasaweb.google.com/sgvhabitat/Katrina20110514?feat=embedwebsite%22%20style=%22color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;%22%3EKatrina%202011%2005%2014%3C/a%3E%3C/td%3E%3C/tr%3E%3C/table%3E){kind=link}