Category: Pictures

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Day 4 – Mandarin Church

Yes, we do work. We also take a ton of pics. But you might see as the days progress, there’s more work and less pictures.

Recap of the day

Started out the day with a special inspiring speech from our site manager, Brad. He’s a gifted, charismatic leader, and we pray for him every day. With as much talent and potential, we hope he’s able to use it wisely and can hear the voice of God speak to him.

Here’s a video of his Martin Luther King impression, but more importantly, is the content of how we start our days…

We continued working on the one house, continuing the roof and doing some interior work, but we also continued to divide our forces, working on another house’s subfloor preparation, as well as some significant framing of a third house with Spikes

Jonathan, one of the main videographers, was rolling around on the subfloor (ground) to do some work today, his shirt got quite a bit dirty..

The framing continued now that the subfloor had been built on Spike’s house (next door). A few of the exterior walls were raised.

We ended the day with an off-site dinner just for our team. It was a nice time to get away for a bit just as a team, and the steaks and seafood at Taranto’s was superb. We had planned to pay for it out of our own pockets, but when the bill came, Tommy surprised by treating us to dinner.

End of Day

We ended the day with a devotional teaching back at Camp Victor, with a brief teaching by Keith. His words inspired us to keep the focus on God doing work through us. Not just amazing things that happened to us during this trip, not just how we were able to work well under sometime challenging situations, but how to give credit, honor and glory to God for making all these things possible. It’s simple, but it’s good to be reminded of such things, whether at home or on the road.

Kaji (Brent), treated our team, Lifesong and all the other guests at Camp Victor, to ice cream drumsticks. Partially at the urging of two friends back at church, Kaji wanted another way to bless those we share quarters with, and specifically, team member Roy N. Last year, at this time, we had gotten him ice cream treats in lieu of a birthday cake that we were trying to hunt down. This was just a way to remind “Uncle” Roy that he’s special to us, regardless if it falls on his birthdya or not. It’s kind of Brent to share his generosity and our celebration with all the other guests as well.

Mandarin Church – Not sure if we told you, but last year, and this one as well, we have volunteered at the same time at the same place as this church. That’s not even mentioning the irony that they are called “Mandarin” and we are mostly Asian… 🙂 It’s rather providential that both our churches, without planning have bumped into each other to serve the same cause. Twice in a row.

We have no idea if our paths will pass again, but we have enjoyed sharing meals with them as we shared living quarters and faith with them. They joined us for devotionals and worship. It really was a nice experience for us.

Tonight, during our devotional time, a member of MUMC sat in with us, specifically waiting patiently to tell us the following:

Because they leave early tomorrow morning, they wanted to make sure to tell us that even though we may not cross paths again in this life, they all have really enjoyed the camaraderie we share…with them

When he started about the “camaraderie,” I thought it would be the camaraderie of our team. But this was even more true and humbling. It is true, we did share much with these almost-strangers, almost-friends. We have met with a similar objective, with a similar motivation. We both wanted to help rebuild the homes of people we will never see, all because we wanted to serve our God and those He loves.

That’s it, plain and simple. And that brought a group of men from California, and a group of kind Floridians from the church that sounds Asian, together. We thank them and God for letting us have this time. Perhaps there will be a time in heaven when we will recount how good it was to meet each other the first time, while serving in Mississippi.

Enjoy the slideshow

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Day 3

Sigh, how many times have these posts started out with “It’s very late?”

It is late.. Lights out ended half an hour ago. The permutations of this trip are so great. As the days have rolled on, we continue to ask ourselves “why are we here?”

Not because we don’t understand that we’re here to Serve God. Not that we don’t understand that we’re here to build homes… but we constantly are evaluating how we get to interact with those around us.

Tonight, we had the opportunity to break bread with those we’ve co-labored with. What started out in year 1 as a simple outing for BBQ, has turned into a nice tradition to dine with those we work with.

It was nice to get to know them at a more familiar level, but also to hear about their personal lives and keep them in our prayers. They’re doing a difficult work with the rebuilding effort, and we want to be part of their support.

We’ll have more photos of them and more from today…. Hopefully we’ll be able to make captions soon to make sense of them. Thanks for your patience..

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Day 2

Once again, we’ll have more videos when we have more time to edit them, but we’ll give you what we’ve got for now 🙂

What are you thankful for today?

Peter – I am thankful not only for a hot shower, but also a place to come back to after work. After seeing the WLOX movie last night about Katrina, I am thankful for my life after seeing all the destruction and lives lost in the hurricane.

Jonathan – I am thankful that the weather is not hot, it was cooler and cloudy and made the work day bearable.

Bryan – I am thankful that Gary stepped in, saving my witness and made me gave in to Greg.

Tommy – I am thankful that God answered Lifesong’s prayer for cloud cover.

Craig W. – I was thankful for a good night’s sleep due to Keith’s earplugs.

Craig — I am thankful for the opportunity to pray for Calvin, a Habitat Staffer who visited the job site today.

Kelly – I am thankful that our Americorps worker Tommy took our advice and went to the doctor and so I was able to take some time to teach some of the new guys new skills like sawing and hammering.

Gary – I am thankful to be able to work with such dedicated and caring guys.

Jeff – I am thankful for being around a lot of faithful men.
Keith – I made it safely across the new Biloxi bridge.

Kaji – I am thankful for prayer and the power of Prayer. The Lifesong people have been praying for good weather and we have been blessed with wonderful weather.

Videos and Pics

Oh, and the Bu-Cam. The Bu-Cam is shared among several of the guys, but even the one Bu-Cam entry we have today takes 4 hours to upload (put onto youtube), so we may not get to them (all) when we’re in Biloxi.

Oh-Special Note of thanks to Gary, Jonathan for helping with the blog. Asking question of the day, and filming video and shooting pics (as well as some of the other guys). It’s been yet another way we’ve had a team effort.

Quickie update-one of the many ways we’re able to try and best represent you, our supporters, our church, and our God is to try to give the hope of God to some people.

Team leader Craig made an interesting connection with a Habitat staff member today.

After speaking to him for a few minutes, we found the staff member had actually started life in South Central L.A. After the violent death of a gang member friend, his mother sent him out of state, eventually finding himself in the Gulf Port area. After serving some time, he gave his life to God, and today is trying to have an impact on youth, especially those at risk.

Craig was able to pray for and encourage him today.

There are many stories, large and small. There are many reasons why we are here to serve. We’ll try and let you know of some of them as we can, but we look forward to sharing with you even more when we return.

Pics From Today

Some youtube for you…and some video from yesterday too.. 🙂

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Day 0 – Arrival

Goodbyes

Moments after we said our goodbyes in the LAX check-in area, with leader Craig K, giving many long goodbye hugs to wife Laura, the team moved through security.

It seems in years previous, we had more time (and more seating space) in the waiting area than this one. Perhaps economic demands have required more full flights.

Evergreen and Lifesong

Finally, the full Evergreen and Lifesong teams met face to face. It was at that point we realized about half of the combined teams had never been to Biloxi before. It was nice to see the new faces, and there was something special about having a bond through shared faith, and even a shared church lineage. Craig’s idea of self-introduction was to state your name, profession, number of years coming out to Biloxi and whether or not you snored. Guess where most attention was paid….

Lifesong’s team was an eclectic gathering in age, size, profession and life stage. On average, we were older and shorter (Jonathan’s presence can only offset us by so much….) Craig gave us a rundown of the schedule for the next day, our day of sign-in, orientation and a bit of rest. Minutes later, we were boarding for our first leg.

Houston to Biloxi

Upon arrival in Houston, Craig K gave us a brief devotional, encouraging us to stay focused on the task at hand, keeping our eye on ministry, both to the people we serve with and the homeowners we will most likely not meet. It was well needed, but a few of the guys heard him with much sleep in their eyes.

After a quick snack, we were on our final leg, in a much smaller plane. A lack of height could be seen as an asset for that flight. The ceiling was rather low.

We landed, had a prayer of thanksgiving for safe arrival, and got into our rented cars to visit the site we worked on last year. Where a year ago, we were building houses with only several completed homes, it was humbling to see a dozen standing in the same area. Fully equipped with cabinetry and appliances, which is usually the last step before occupancy. But the street was still being finished, and the driveways into the homes remained undone. We’re assuming that they’re waiting for the whole block to be finished before releasing them to the homeowners.

Video of our visit to the site from last year…

Lighthouse, Memorial and lunch

A stop by the Biloxi lighthouse and the Katrina Memorial under a mile away, we remembered how tall a wall of water passed where we stood. We drove past our temporary residence for the first two years, Yankie Stadium, to see that the Salvation Army had made good on their original plans (before Hurricane Katrina) to build a community center for the youth. They’re grading the land at this moment. It was a little bittersweet, as we’re happy for their commitment to invest in the community in a much needed way, but it was sad to see a place that we had called home for our first couple years, be gone.

Lunch at Cafe New Orleans was a treat. We were taken into a back room, apparently housing the local Rotary Club meeting. It felt like a mini banquet hall as we broke bread together for the first time. Names and stories were swapped, as well as pieces of fried catfish, shrimp and oysters.

Biloxi Lighthouse-feeding the birds

Walmart and supplies

The annual trip to Walmart confused some of the returning team. A remodel of Walmart has rearranged the store. Uncle Roy was quickly walking into the store, heading straight for the sleeping bags. Apparently he found last year, that the addage of “snoozing” and “losing” was in play, and wanted to get to the bags quickly. He arrived first, making sure he didn’t get a “Dora the Explorer” sleeping bag.


The concerns/reports of bed bugs at Camp Victor turned into purchases of mattress liners and much bug repellent. We will see who will have the last laugh, the men who scoffed at added protective measures, or the ones who chuckled at those unwilling to guard themselves. Time will tell.

Camp Victor

Arrival at Camp Victor reminded us how every year it’s a little different. This is the first time for anyone on this/these team(s) to be at Camp Victor. Unlike the Coed team, few (other) teams were staying at Camp Victor this week, so we got our pick of the bunks.

Bu (Brian), originally chose a bottom bunk, but when another volunteer arrived, he forfeited his choice of bunk and took one above a Lifesonger (Martin).

The ministry begins now. In various forms and sizes.

We appreciate the conscious choices we make as ambassadors of our church, our home, sometimes our ethnicities and ultimately our God. We hope that we’ll carry that forward no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the timezone.

Thank you once again, to all who have sacrificed their time to send us, or even to care enough to read this blog. We will try to serve in your place and serve in honor of our God.

Oh, and forgot to mention, if you want to see a really nice blog, but promise not to compare… 🙂 go check out Lifesong’s

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Men’s Team Departing From LAX

On the plane, about to leave LAX. We had a mini meeting with the Lifesong team.

13 men from Evergreen left LAX, joined by 8 from Lifesong.

The lifesong team includes 2 firefighters and 2 law enforcement professionals. We’re intimidated… well, at least I am :). Don’t worry Evergreen, we’ll try to represent you well…

Thank you so much to our supporters for joining us for prayer and a very encouraging send-off, including our recently returned coed team, as well as Chris C. Chris had the difficult but very understandable choice to stay at home to support his wife during the loss of her father. As much as we all wanted him to come, family does come before ministry. Our prayers are with his family. If you can continue to pray for our team as we venture forth in faith.

A total of 90 team members and supporters from both EvergreenSGV and Lifesong came out to LAX to send the combined Mens’ teams. With encouragements from Pastor Kyle, and team lead, Craig K, we tried to keep our focus on not just building houses with hammers and nails, but building bridges to people. We hope that the sacrifices that many have made to send us will be honored.

Pastor Kyle gathering the team for prayer





Leader Craig’s remarks







There are families, friends, and workplaces that were left behind to make this week happen. Vacations were given up to serve people we will never see. We do this not to be noble, but to serve, and let others know that there is a God who loves them, and chooses to work through His people. We will do our best to be His eyes, His hands, to serve them and give them hope. Hope eternal in a God that will never fail them.

With that in mind, we gladly received the prayers of those that are sending us. We serve with their prayers, well wishes and support.

Photos of the send off

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Men’s Team Commissioning…

With the recent return of the CoEd team, a week later, the second half, the Men’s team is commissioned.

After a brief introduction by Team Leader Craig K, Pastor Kyle prayed over the team.

We were told to line up alphabetically. We did. By last name. They introduced us by first name.

Measure twice, cut once…. 🙂