Category: Katrina

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2012 Katrina Video

Here’s the video that Gary worked so hard on.

Thanks for all the photos submitted, especially from Gary and James…

Katrina 2012 Sent Strengthened Blessed from SGV Habitat on Vimeo.

Evergreen SGV Sent 17 missionaries to Mississippi to work with Habitat for Humanity Mississippi Gulf Coast. God Strengthened the team members to do the good works they were created to do. The team was Blessed as they served in all capacities and sought to be a blessing to others.
This video was created to capture the heart of this trip and was presented as part of the Final Presentation for this missions trip.
Thanks to photo and video contributors Peter, Tommy, James, Art, and Craig.

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A recent storm affects Pam’s prep

Pam!

Recently, California had a barrage of thunderstorms that shook houses and nerves. Pam reflects on Katrina and our lives…

It was a dark and stormy night…I just experienced a thunderstorm like none I’ve never experienced. It began at midnight and continued for two hours straight! It alternated between pounding rain, huge bursts of lightning, followed by incredible booms of thunder that rattled the house. It brought back memories of how scared I was during a storm at night when I was little…I would get up and walk to my parents’ bedroom and watch them sleep or sit in the hallway. During this thunderstorm, I kept wondering how my two nephews with whom I was sharing the room could sleep through it all. When was this thunderstorm going to end? I need to get some sleep since I was driving over 400 miles the next morning on my own. Then my thoughts turned to the folks who had experienced and lived through Hurricane Katrina. My thunderstorm paled in comparison. They had to endure a much more violent and intense storm that lasted about a week.

Aren’t our lives also filled with storms and hurricanes in one form or another? During those times, don’t you just want it to stop and get back to the calmness? But God didn’t come to eliminate those life storms or hurricanes. He came to fill them with his presence. God is in control. During life storms or hurricanes, we’re forced to search for and cling to God’s ever present hand. We don’t have to wonder where God is. “Lord, you are my strength, and my protection. You are a safe place for me to run in times of trouble.” Jeremiah 16:19. He’s also there building endurance in us. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us–they help us learn to endure. Endurance then develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.” Romans 5:3-5. We can be a storm or hurricane survivor if we keep our focus on God. He will supply us with everything we need to stand firm during our storm or hurricane.

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Lorin’s return in 2012!

Lorin will be returning to Mississippi on our Coed team after her debut last year. She was one of the hardest and most cheerful workers last year. She took the time to share some of her reasons for going again. 

In addition to what 1 Peter 4:7-10 says I really feel convicted to make good use of my time serving the Lord. Heb 10:25 reminds me that the time is short and I want to be reaching out to as many people as I can in order to share the gospel before the Lord’s return. There’s an urgency that I’ve been sensing. I see the many changes occurring in our daily lives, and not all for the good. We need to stand as salt and light and be good representatives for the Lord. To paraphrase Rm. 10:14-15: If we aren’t sharing the good news how will others hear? I want the Lord to use my feet to share the gospel while I can still move! I’m not getting getting any younger.

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Biloxi Katrina Footage

While working onsite, we met locals who talked about some video that was available on the internet.

Here’s one that shows the Beau Rivage, a casino about 1/3 of a mile from where we were working this year..

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Humbling Satellite View

Tommy found an article about where we’re most likely working.. It was interesting that they actually wrote about how this was an intentional Mission for them. It has helped address the spiritual aspect of this mission. I guess we’re not alone

I’m getting the impression Tommy spends quite a bit of time on the web. I hope that he’ll be okay in Mississippi without access to his computer, and assuming he’ll be wired in somehow.

If not, he’ll be accessing mine. Heck, I should have him do this blog 🙂

In the weeks building up to this trip, Tommy’s been on the web doing a lot of research on everything from the location to restaurants in the area.

Map
Hey Guys, I wanted to give you a map of where we’ll be and where we’ll be staying (I’ll give you maps of where we’re working when we get out there and see where we’re assigned.)

But in doing so, I pulled up Google Maps and got sad.

Zoom in/out and pan around the area. It’s really still devastated. Even from the satellite pictures, you can see that a lot of the area is still covered with soil and dotted with temporary housing. You can see the foundations for houses that aren’t there any more.

Honestly, this really puts in perspective that as much as we think we’re in control, we’re not always in control of our lives. This is a humbling hard lesson to learn. For all of us, especially the team.

Someone I know recently returned from the area and said it was difficult to see. It looked as if it had just happened. This isn’t a comment on the lack of work, this is an encouragement to us to try to help both spiritually and practically.

Thanks once again for supporting us on this project.