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From Katrina 2009 Team

Keith was one of our four (Chris, Craig, Keith and Tommy) co-leaders on the team. He worked with Chris on the team that saw the most dramatic work, from cinderblocks to four raised walls.

We cheered them on as they saw the fruits of their hard labor. Keith also was one of the cornerstone teachers for our devotionals.

My final thoughts from the “Go with the Mo” group

This week was a real testament to God’s provision and power. To be able to take a group of 21 individual men and transform them into a loving and caring support team was an incredible sight to see. The construction aspect of this trip seems insignificant in contrast to the building up of the relationships that occurred and the example of Christ’s love that was displayed. Even though we sweated through the heat and humidity, pounded a gazillion nails, and finally came to that point of utter exhaustion, I would sign up for this mission trip again in a heartbeat!

This “band of brothers” accomplished a great deal in only one week. We made a lasting impression (a good one!) on our supervisor Brad and his two assistants, Curt and Vic, as well as two others that worked together with us (Al and Dick from Rochester, NY). Seeds of faith were planted and in the end, we DID make a difference for the Kingdom of God.

When I first signed up for this I didn’t really see how signing up to build houses could be considered a missions trip (it should have been considered a service), but after seeing what happened, this truly was a missions trip with “building homes” as inroad of introducing the gospel to those we came in contact with. And it wasn’t really difficult. All we had to do was to live out our lives as Christians and the individual lights of our group came together to become one big unavoidable light for all to see.

Truly a wonderful mission’s trip that I will never forget. All glory goes to God and much thanks for the support and prayers of those behind us, we couldn’t have done it without you!

From Katrina 2009 Team

On this second trip, Art once again worked hard on the roof (and this roof was steeper), but also pulled double duty by shooting most of the pictures you see in our photo gallery.

His real character showed throughout the week, with his honest, humble sharing in the devotional times, and taking the time to talk and care for the people he would meet

This being my second trip to Katrina, I knew what the job entailed in terms of working on the job site. I wasn’t looking forward to the hard work and aching muscles afterwards, but knew in my mind that a deserving family would be living in the house I helped build. On occasion we would work alongside family members putting in their hours towards home ownership. Not much socializing went on because we were focused on building a house.

During dinner one night we heard that a Habitat family would be joining us one evening during the week. Habitat staff tries to invite future homeowners to join volunteers for dinner. It’s one thing to see family members on the job site and quite a different thing seeing them in a social setting. That put a face to a house, maybe not the house I was building but a Habitat house somewhere in the Mississippi area. This was my divine appointment with this family…my epiphany. It made all the sweating in the hot sun, body aches, and seemingly endless trips to Walmart (our second home) worth coming out here. We even got an impromptu serenade by one of the daughters who even sang happy birthday to Uncle Roy! Before leaving and after our birthday ice cream, we circled the family and prayed over them. It was an emotional God moment after a long day.

From Katrina 2009 Team

Steve, Steve, Steve…
Steve was one of the four men that has worked on the Katrina Missions for all three of our trips. His energetic and enthusiastic work ethic, combined with a sarcastic wit and a caring heart when he wonders if his words went too far, make him an integral part of our team. If you’re ever wondering who writes the funnier and sometimes oddly worded captions for the photos, it’s probably this guy.

No matter what the situation on these trips, he’s always kept on target with our goals, helping people, leaning on God for assistance and serving people with God’s help and led by His spirit.

KATRINA SHORT TERM MISSIONS OVERVIEW

Even though we are one team of 21 guys, we were split into two main groups, Keith/Chris’s Team and Craig/Tommy’s Team. And within these teams, depending upon the task, we were divided again and then reconstituted when the job was complete and re-divided and reformed for the next. It made for a quite diverse and ever changing organism.

Keith/Chris’s Team started with just a raised cinder block foundation on an otherwise empty lot. We laid a wood sill all the way around the perimeter to hold the floor joists. After the joists were nailed down, most of us were tasked with installing a plywood sub-floor, a strong but heavy material referred to as OSB (oriented strand board). On top of that, another group measured, cut, and nailed 2 by 4 or 2 by 6 wood studs that provided the framing for all the exterior and interior walls. And another group of guys laboriously sheathed the outside walls with more OSB.

Simultaneously an intrepid or idiotic gang of four, depending upon your perspective, crawled under the house across the street to staple on fiberglass insulation. For those that don’t know (like the guys above), crawl spaces are usually dark and muddy and installing insulation throws off tiny particles that are extremely irritating to the eyes and skin. I personally give kudos to these guys. Another bunch did touch up caulking and door and trim painting on this same house to make this home the nicest on the block.

Meanwhile, down the same street, Craig/Tommy’s Team raised heavy trusses on a third house to form the attic and support the roof. Then they nailed down OSB over the entire roof. This team definitely did more physical labor than the other, took more breaks, ate more food, even ordered a dozen Domino’s pizza to be delivered, and drank more Gatorade. After laying down tar paper, we shingled the entire roof. At the same time, other guys were busy nailing up a Styrofoam house wrap barrier, hanging a bunch of windows and doors, and helping build a back porch.

Literally, between our two teams, WE BUILT AN ENTIRE HOUSE.

It is amazing to me that as you construct a house you see all the myriad components and materials necessary to build it strong, durable and comfortable. All the parts are necessary and no one part is more important than the other. Christians in general are just like parts of a house. God’s house. And in particular, our Katrina team is the same way. We are all different, in sizes, in ages, in skill levels, in conditioning and in experience. But we are all part of one team under God.

We had regular daily devotions and at one of them Tommy shared that he went to Mississippi the first time to follow Dennis Cho. The second time he went to honor him, and this time, he went in memory of him. I pretty much did the same thing as Tommy and consider Dennis the cornerstone of our Katrina missions experience. Now the cornerstone is the first one set when you construct a foundation and is important because all the other stones are laid in relationship to this first stone. Plus the cornerstone determines the position of the entire building. In this same way, those that have followed Dennis on subsequent trips have seen him as the cornerstone and have referenced as their own, his leading and spirit and attitude and direction. Although Dennis is gone, his vision and legacy have grown even stronger. And that is the unique nature of a house built by God.

From Katrina 2009 Team

This is Mo’s 3rd of our (so far) three trips to Biloxi. This time, at SUMA, the temporary home for habitat volunteers, he had an interesting encounter.

At the construction site we were told that there was a possibility that a future Habitat for Humanity homeowner might be eating dinner with us. They told us to be a little considerate and not bombard them all at once. I hoped to be able to shower before dinner, but we got back after 5 and dinner was at 5:30 (others were already using the shower). So, I did the best that I could to wash my face and make myself presentable in the dirty clothes I was wearing. I figured there would be little chance that I would be able to sit with one of them anyway, but God had other plans.

When I got my meal, surprisingly there was a seat next to a little boy and a woman who apparently was his mother. So, thinking that God had plans for me to sit there I put my tray down. Eric, Chris and Gary were already at the table sitting opposite them. The woman was Alex and the little boy was PJ her 2 year old son (who will be turning three on May 19). Alex was very friendly and more than willing to answer questions of us curious Asians. She also brought her two older daughters ages 9 and 4 and her sister. They sat at separate tables so they could be accessible to more people who came to dinner.

Alex is working towards qualifying for a Habitat for Humanity home. She has to put in 250 hours in working on Habitat for Humanity homes in order to qualify. As a result of Hurricane Katrina, Alex lost her home, but her sister’s home was spared. Out of a desire to help Alex get into a home, her sister helps Alex put in the 250 hours of sweat equity. So far she is about half way to that goal. She is going to school to become a nurse and should be complete with her classes in July. She has even been able to have some of her classmates help her to put in the sweat equity.

Alex was just married two days before Katrina hit and her home was destroyed. She didn’t say what happened to her husband and none of us wanted to pry into that part of her life. It was clear that she was looking to start a new life and having a home of her own was part of that plan. For now she is living in a FEMA trailer and doing what she can to raise three young children while trying to make a better living for all of them. Because of where she wants to live, none of the homes we have directly taken a part in building will be what she is looking for, but it was quite a privilege to meet with her and her young son, and to get to know them.

During dinner her 4 year old daughter came to Alex and said she wanted ice cream. The kitchen staff and her Mom convinced her that there was no ice cream, but providentially, Brent Kajikawa walked in with ice cream to celebrate Roy’s birthday, so we all had fund eating ice cream and sharing it with Alex and her family.

Before we left the cafeteria, we were all able to surround them and pray for them. Meeting the Barnes family was a wonderful opportunity to put a human face to the ministry we came to Mississippi to do. God bless the wonderful time we had tonight.