The important thing is that we were called to go.

Sandi Yingling – founder of Southern Comfort Mission and Ministry Team – gave this talk at an orientation for one mission trip to the Gulf Coast.  It's a bit lengthy but worth the time it takes to read it.  You can hear the passion in her words for this kind of mission work.

I'm going to give you a little background on Hurricane Katrina.

On August 29^th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the United States.  Despite the news reports, New Orleans was not the only place impacted by Katrina.  Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas all sustained damage from the hurricane.  In fact, the affected area is the size of Great Britain.

1300 people died from Hurricane Katrina and 600 are missing.  93 of the deceased are still unidentified.

I had been watching the news about Katrina when I saw the flooding in New Orleans. I just couldn't watch any more.  I asked at a church meeting if anyone wanted to go with me to Mississippi and 3 women responded.  On October 31^st I left with those three women and another from New York City. We called ourselves Presbyterian Southern Comfort because it was the only name I could think of.  Apparently God liked the name because he gave it to many different groups.  In Syracuse there is an Operation Southern Comfort that takes high school kids to New Orleans.  And I've heard of at least two other groups called that.   It really doesn't matter what we call ourselves.  The important thing is that we were called to go.

We spent 8 days in D'Iberville, Mississippi living in summer tents on a baseball field.  We ate dinner at a Red Cross feeding station across town. We made breakfast and sandwiches for lunch at a concession stand that was overrun by roaches.  We showered at a gym in the next town. Survivors of the storm stopped by every day and asked if they too could live in one of the tents because that was so much better than what they had.

Between 50 to 60% of D'Iberville, Mississippi had been destroyed. The remaining buildings were mostly covered in blue tarps.  There were no street lights, traffic lights, or stop signs. There was rubble everywhere.   Homes were demolished first by the hurricane, then by the four tornadoes that were spun off and then the storm surge that was between 20 and 40 feet deep, depending on where you were standing.  When the storm surge arrived it came in quickly.  It lasted for 6-7 hours and then retreated taking with it anything in its way.  What remained was coated with slimy, contaminated muck.  The school was demolished along with the public buildings, the banks, the jail, the library, and the gas stations.

PDA is Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.  In D'Iberville PDA set up a tent village that could accommodate 100 volunteers.  They provided the sleeping tents, meeting tents, tables, chairs, tools, gloves, masks, cots, blankets, port-a-potties, bio-hazard suits and a site manager. It was the first volunteer tent village on American soil.  They didn't know how to do one so they asked for help from the Norwegian Government who sent experts to tell them how to set up and manage a tent village.  Before the year was out, 5 more tent villages were either planned or established.  Some were on public ground, some were on church grounds.  They all were run by volunteers for volunteers.

Since then the camps have evolved into fairly comfortable camps.  Sometimes it is too cold in the tents and the heaters don't work.  Sometimes a camp is evacuated because of a threatened storm.  But largely they are safe and meet minimal needs.  Showers are available as well as a washer and dryer and there's a mess tent with real food albeit not fancy food.  Trust me, there will be no shrimp or Veal Parmesan at the camps.

The rules have been the same from the beginning.  Help is given to those who ask.  There is no distinction made for the religion, if any, of the requester.  We will work on only one house per family.  If they owned multiple houses, they'll only receive help for one.  We do as much as we can do within our limitations.  If a bricklayer is needed, then a house may wait until a bricklayer volunteers.  Likewise for electricians, plumbers, roofers, and carpenters.

All the monies used for the houses and the camps have come through the Presbyterian Church or volunteers.  You will pay a nominal amount at the camp for food.  The tents, supplies, tools, electricity, and everything else has been donated. 

At first the camps were used just by Presbyterians.  Then they were opened to mixed groups.  Now they are open to a variety of groups.  They have had Jewish groups, college groups like Syracuse University who took 50 kids down on break, and folks from foreign countries like Mexico, Malaysia and Denmark.

There was no Presbyterian Church in D'Iberville. There were no surviving churches in D'Iberville.  PDA was the only organized volunteer group in town.  There were and still are other groups in other towns... Catholic Relief, Islamic Relief, Jewish Relief, Lutherans, Mennonites, Methodists, Baptists, Church World Service, Hand and Feet Ministries...and more.  It seems that each group took a different town so there was more coverage.

You know those Church World Service school kits we all put together? School kits…a canvas bag with paper, pen, and a few other things. On the first trip I handed those kits out in the pouring rain. Two women held a poncho over my head and the inventory and we passed out school kits to children and the survivors. The school had been demolished.  Homes were gone. People didn't even have a pencil and paper. How do you plan for your recovery if you don't even have a piece of paper?  So we handled out school kits to adults and children.

Some people handed out food. There wasn't any food to give away on some days.  Some businesses had shipped pallets of food to the survivors.  But it was a hodge-podge and sometimes the food was already beyond the expiration date.  But car loads of people drove from all over the county to bring food and blankets and baby food and bottled water and toilet paper and everything else.   Yes …we know the Red Cross said not to do it.  Thank God no one listened. I was standing there telling a family of 6 that I only had one can of soup to give them when a car drove up filled with canned goods and can openers.

We all did "spiritual accompaniment" which means that we listened to a lot of stories and gave a lot of hugs.  You also will do that.  People need to tell their stories so they can move on.

On that first trip we also did mucking out…which meant throwing away everything a person owns and stripping the house down to the concrete floor and the studs.  Then the house can be sprayed with bleach to kill the mold.  After several applications of bleach, the rebuilding can begin.

After the first trip there was another one.  That time we went to Gautier, Mississippi.  Again, the work was mostly mucking out with some people installing wallboard and mudding seams.

There have been several trips since then.  We've worked in various places on the Gulf and in New Orleans.  We've installed doors, floors, and baseboards. Many of the participants have been hooked so they go on repeat trips.  Many people in this room have been their 2, 3, or more times. 

My minister uses a benediction that says…may God take your lips and speak through them.  May God take your hands and work through them.  May God take your hearts and set it afire.  You are God's hands and feet and lips.  It is an awesome responsibility and privilege. Those of you who have been there have already been set afire. Those of you who are going for the first time will be overwhelmed…both with the needs of the people and the love you will experience. 

Mississippi had $125 billion in damages.  There were 65,000 homes that had major damage.  After the storm, some people slept in tool sheds.  Others slept in their moldy houses. The government brought in FEMA trailers.  These were not new FEMA trailers.  Many had been recycled from Florida where they had been used for the prior major disaster.  Some were leaking and some were just inappropriate.  I saw them bring a one-bedroom FEMA trailer for an elderly woman and her 45-year old mentally retarded son.  She said she'd sleep on the couch…she was just so happy to have a place to live. 17,000 Mississippians still remain in FEMA trailers. Many people are now showing the affects of living in FEMA trailers as the high levels of formaldehyde has been discovered in them.

4,500 Katrina cottages have been delivered in Mississippi.  They are mobile homes designed to withstand winds up to 150 mph. But they will not withstand a flood.

That leaves 43,500 families in Mississippi that have found another way to survive. Most have not moved into new apartments.  The new ones are running at $1,000 a month for a one bedroom apt. Many of the Mississippians were on the lowest end of the economic scale being unemployed, underemployed or on social security. Some are living in those moldy houses. 

Let me tell you about just one person who survived that storm.

Miss Lilly is a lady in her mid 80's.  She was asleep on her bed when the storm surge arrived.  She didn't think it would come into her house…she is quite a ways from the water.  She owned an old black dog.  It was fat, lame, and covered with tumors.  Her dog kept nudging her…pushing her toward the center of the bed.  When she realized the bed was floating she helped her dog get on the bed and they floated up to the ceiling.  She floated there for 6 to 7 hours.  

The following day her nephew came and rescued her with a boat…not a car, but a boat.

Miss Lilly now lives in that house with her older sister who has heart problems.  The volunteers had stripped everything from two rooms.  It was down to the concrete floor.  They had one hot plate, 2 beds, and her sister's oxygen canister in the bedroom.  In the larger room they had a refrigerator, stove, washer and dryer.  The rest of the house was uninhabitable.

Miss Lilly said she was never afraid.  God told her she'd be okay.  Her sister said the same thing.  Although they miss all their belongings, Miss Lilly said she is most grateful for all her new friends.

Let's talk about New Orleans. New Orleans was impacted most by the flooding that occurred when the levees broke.  But they also experienced damage from the hurricane itself…devastating winds, rain damage, lost roofs.  We worked on a house in the Lower 9^th Ward. The family across the street lived in a FEMA trailer at night and in their house during the day.  The house looked ok from outside.  Inside, they didn't have a floor.

There are many people ready to say that you are working on the wrong house in the wrong neighborhood or for the wrong family. I've read reports that say don't work on that house.  Come to my neighborhood where the real victims are.  The truth is that there are more victims than volunteers.

St. Augustine said that you cannot do good for all.  So you should do good for those who by accidents of time, place, or circumstance, are brought into closer connection with you.

In New Orleans there are currently 80,000 vacant dwellings.  The homeless population has doubled.  It is unknown what has happened to the remainder.  Many have moved out of state to wherever they evacuated.

I have some statistics from last March.

·        300,000 homes were destroyed
·        Rents have double and even tripled.
·        70,000 families in New Orleans are living in FEMA trailers and the trailers have only 240 square feet.
·        25% of the displaced people have disabilities. Only 1% of the FEMA trailers are accessible.
·        3/4 of the public housing is being demolished and will not be replaced.
·        Children are on waiting lists to get into schools.
·        ¾ of the physicians are gone.
·        Only 17% of the pre-Katrina buses are in operation.
·        Only 30% of the day care centers have reopened.
·        44 million cubic yards of debris have been created.  That's enough to line up dump trucks end-to-end across the US 4 times.
·        The new land fills are in residential areas.

In summary, the federal agencies are not rebuilding Mississippi.  The faith based organizations are.  That's you. You are the hope of the Gulf. 

 

 

Glorious Weather for Day One

Choose your Car!

Blew into New Orleans this afternoon and haven't slowed down yet! 

The sign at the Alamo Car Rental said, "Choose your Car!" so Jean and Colleen decided on the red convertible.  Rick wanted the Dodge Challenger, but we ended up with a couple of vans.

Charlie unloads the car top carrier full of sleeping gear

We had a bit of a delay leaving the Syracuse airport due to a computer sensor but we arrived in Cincinnati in time for our flight to New Orleans.  We arrived at the Olive Tree Village east of New Orleans about 5:30 and were met by the folks who had driven down.  Their only glitch was running out of gas - conveniently right by a gas station - but unfortunately for the Good Samaritan who stopped to help push the car, it was on a hill so he really got a work out.  We unloaded the car top carrier and stowed our sleeping gear in time for dinner at the Village - burgers and hot dogs cooked on the grill. 

Following the meal, the Village Managers gave a brief orientation and we learned our work assignments and chores for the week.  We're getting ready to head for bed, knowing that breakfast comes early tomorrow.  We expect to have an orientation to Project Homecoming about the work done to help families rebuild their lives and their homes from Hurricane Katrina.

Out of Chaos, Hope

We gathered last weekend for an orientation with the group heading to New Orleans March 20 - 26, 2011.  There will be 10 of us flying south, and 5 driving.  Those driving will carry sleeping gear - right now it's piled in our front living room like a sleeping bag display at a sporting goods store.  There are family connections - two father-daughter pairs, a couple sisters in law, and a pair of sisters.  Some friendships have been cemented by working side by side on past trips. We range in age from 17 to 65.  Our hometowns are scattered around central New York.  All are united by a calling from God to go to the Gulf Coast and serve God's people.

During introductions, we reflected on Presbyterian Disaster Assistance's slogan, Out of Chaos, Hope.  The group, some newbies and some repeaters, shared thoughts on times in their lives when it was chaotic, and when they found hope.  Topics shared ranged from home remodeling projects completed, to job loss, and to serious legal issues, now resolved, for a family member. We all try to imagine the sense of chaos in the lives of those we'll help - being uprooted from home for more than 5 years since Hurricane Katrina. We wonder how we can come alongside and be of service, aware that rebuilding the house may not be as important as helping the people rebuild their lives. 

"Can you imagine me in a hurricane?" I've asked my husband.  Smiling, we agree it would not be pleasant - I  like planning and order as evidenced by my "What to Pack and How to Pack it" demonstration for the team.  All I need to add is clean underwear and my devotional book and my luggage is ready - neatly rolled into Ziplock bags.  Our trips to the Gulf Coast have made me a little more flexible, but not yet ready for my own  hurricane, I don't think!

As needs change in the New Orleans area, PDA's intensive involvment with the recovery is winding down.  Project Homecoming, a ministry of the Presbytery of South Louisiana, will operate the Olive Tree volunteer village where we will stay.  A former church and preschool complex, it's a far cry from the pup tents pitched on a baseball field that housed the first Southern Comfort team in the fall of 2005, or the corrugated plastic huts and dining tents that were the feature of the trips through 2009.  It will be our home base for a week later this month - our place of refuge as we help bring hope out of chaos for sisters and brothers in New Orleans.

God Doesn't Call the Equipped - He Equips Those Who are Called

Sleeping in the men’s dormitory room at the Olive Tree Volunteer Village, I was awake in the wee hours of the morning. I was trying to drift off to sleep again as I attempted to disregard the rumble of some snoring going on. I had the words and melodies of Fernando Ortega’s song reflecting the imagery of Psalm 63 going through my mind:

The Shadow Of Your Wings

Oh God, you are my God,
Earnestly I seek you.
My soul thirsts for you,
And my flesh yearns for you;
In a dry an weary land,
Where there is no water.

I remember you at night,
In the watches of the night;
In the shadow of your wings,
I sing because you help me.
My soul clings to you,
And your hand upholds me.
You alone, You alone.
You alone.

As my memories of previous mission trips intermingled with my experiences of this week’s mission trip, I remembered the vast devastation we experienced on my first trip to the post-Katrina Gulf Coast region in February 2006. Team members were in a state of shock and awe and the immense scope and severity of the damage all around us. We saw the horrible aftermath that the waters of the hurricane storm surge left behind. The entire contents of people homes were reduced to a messy, moldy, muddy ruin; families’ lives were in turmoil. A dry and waterless land it wasn’t, but the people and the communities they lived in were weary from living in emergency shelters, FEMA trailers or other less- than-ideal conditions.

This week, at the home my crew is working, we were originally scheduled to install sheet rock on the bare, wooden studded walls (the “dry boned” skeletal structure of the house). Due to a backlog at the city of New Orleans’ housing inspection office, our house’s inspection hadn’t been done so we couldn’t proceed with that. The situation as described by Dan March, our construction manager, was that the city’s Inspection Office hadn’t renewed their software license to do their paperwork. So instead, we did exterior painting, installed some new exterior doors, and laid floor tiles in the bathrooms and kitchen areas.

God’s presence has been powerfully present in the work and ministry of the Southern Comfort team members and with both the long and short term Presbyterian Disaster Assistance staff members we’ve worked side-by-side with: God’s love is being poured out upon the peoples of the Gulf Coast. The people we have served have spoken of how God is sustaining them through these difficult times.

Through the Presbytery of Southern Louisiana’s Project Homecoming(PH) public relations and marketing officer who spoke to us one morning before heading out to work, we learned that PH is fully funded to continue it’s operations of case management and construction management through 2011. Fundraising and awareness projects are underway to continue telling the story. One of the ideas promoted was conducting a mardi gras party at our local churches toward that helping them meet their fundraising goal for 2012 and beyond. Learn more a Project Homecoming at http://pslrecovery.org/

We’ve been hearing stories from the Project Homecoming workers about many of the homeowners they’re working with who had previously paid contractors for work repairs to be done, only to be ripped-off with work never done, never completed, or with shoddy materials and/or workmanship that needed to be redone. What a setback for these people and what a blessing that Project Homecoming is able to assist them!

Members of this trip’s Southern Comfort Team are already formulating ideas about the next trip and thinking about who else they might encourage to bring along. How about you? Is God speaking to you, and encouraging you to be a missionary?

When God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, Moses asked:

“"Who am I, that I should go ?” "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue. "

“The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. "

When I have an opportunity to speak with someone about going on a mission trip, sometimes that individual expresses some hesitation and uncertainty about their individual set of skills. I try to assure them, that if God is seeking, calling and encouraging them to serve others, God has a plan for that individual; God has a specific task in mind for him or her. I ensure them that “God doesn’t just call the equipped, but that He will equip those who are called.”

Paul Dungey, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Auburn, NY

A Labor of Love

March 17th St. Patrick’s Day in New Orleans
We had green potatoes and cabbage for supper (vegetarian cabbage!?) in the kitchen. Some came with (and some got) green stuff to wear. Danny Boy was sung. Some are looking for a way to celebrate more fully this evening. That plus a hard day created lines at the showers. Women’s line 12 deep, Men’s line 3 deep. Four showers each. This camp has only 31 men and 55 women. Women care more? Men too busy? Coincidence?

Met the family that will be in the house our team is working on. Ruby, Velma, James, and son. All very nice and very appreciative. Sad story of their loss. Son swam from the superdome to the house to check it out. He said the water was gross. They are living in a “poor” apartment now. Hopefully we can help them out. Puts faces and lives in mind as we work.

Got to use power tools today. Hardboard cutters, skill saw, saws-all, and drills. Finished the hardboard underlayment for the tile in the bathroom and did the kitchen. Then made a header for an existing door that did not have a support member over it. All this in preparation for the framing inspection due some time tomorrow. We are on the list for the electric inspection. After these it will be sheetrock city. Certainly change the way we walk through the house. Instead of passing through the studs we will have to go by doors. Others did all sorts of projects on the house. Our team has 12 (including two Americorps) that Dan (our construction assistant (a Young Adult Volunteer (a Presbyterian program akin to the Peace Corps (but much smaller at 67 world wide) ) keeps on task. The generator has four cords running from it (one goes to two chargers for the battery packs). Painting, cutting, pounding, drilling, sawing, made for difficult conversations and double checking of dimensions (“Was that seven sixteenths or eleven sixteenths?”).

This evening Gloria, another Young Adult Volunteer, came by to give us a presentation on the problem of disappearing wetlands in the Gulf. Fascinating. She did a good job. Another example of human impact (with unintended consequences) on our world. She says the wetland loss (the size of the state of Delaware) since the 1860’s accentuated the impact of the hurricane. Each mile of wetland reduces the storm surge by 1 foot. Hurricane winds going over the wetlands loss their punch. The losses are manmade from controlling the Mississippi (no bank erosion, docks and dams that hold sediment back) and levees to prevent flood waters (and their delivery of sediment) out to the delta. Canals and pipeline construction in the wetlands and salt water intrusion. If only we knew. What unintentional consequences am I causing? What will I do about it?

Peter Wright, Auburn, NY

Today felt like a more productive day for our work team on State Street Drive. We learned how to lay floor tile – a knee bruising endeavor that was very satisfying by the end of the day, following a steep learning curve. A couple people learned to cut tiles for the ends of each row – harder than it looks, said Mary! Ted and Bronwyn continued to install the remaining exterior siding – large sheets of a substance that gives the appearance of stucco – a hole needs to be drilled before each screw can be applied to hold it to the wall.

The temporary stairs to the second floor have been removed, but the new stairs haven’t been installed yet. This necessitates the use of an extension ladder propped against the balcony on the front of the house to gain access to the house’s only working toilet. This is a luxury for those of us who on previous trips have worked at homes without plumbing, and the resulting need to pile into a van for a trip to a nearby Lowe’s or McDonald’s or even the local fire station to use the bathroom. Simple things make a lot of difference.

It’s a blessing to be working to help bring our family home. Due to the husband’s illness, we have not met the family, but each task is a labor of love for them.

Kim Dungey, Auburn United Methodist Church

Saints All

March 16th, Second Day of doing God’s work here in New Orleans (home of the Saints ( more on this later). The weather is delightful. The people are congenial and friendly. They are all uniquely the same (this is a classic). People come here for different reasons and may leave with different outlooks. Some come with high expectations, some will leave with renewed faith.

• One is an expert carpenter upset (but patient as he fixes it) by workmanship that he finds on jobs.
• One is emotionally connected to New Orleans and despite not being a sports fan was wildly excited over the Saints victory over the Colts.
• One delights in serving others, another, needs to be served.

• One runs a multimillion dollar business yet accepts directions from a college freshman.
• One paints all day with a tendinitis in the elbow.
• One organizes and buys tools in anticipation of the need.
• One is going to be a city planner and wonders where the plan is here in New Orleans.
• One found a four leaf clover on the grounds in preparation for St. Patrick’s Day (she is ¾ Irish).
• One has narcolepsy (a sleep disorder) and lives through it to serve.
• One lost her keys and sent the whole camp searching only to find them on the nail by her bunk.

• One is a Catholic who doesn’t think women should be pastors (she is also brave because she told me this after I told her about my pastor wife).
• One wants to work harder.
• One is really sore.
• One knows that just being here sends the message to the community that we care.
• One is a professional Santa Claus.
• One laughs at all my jokes.
• One has been here seven times before and came this time in a wheel chair (she does much needed clerical work).
• One speaks honestly during devotions.

All of them saints of God, and I mean, God helping, to be one too.

Peter Wright, Auburn, NY

Hi all! This is Charlie writing from Olive Tree, New Orleans. What a week it has been so far. There are 87 volunteers here, and come from all over the globe. Groups represent San Rafael, CA, Kansas State University, University of Maryland, western PA, and upstate NY (us). Individuals can be found from Cameroon, China, Ukraine, and Russia. The age runs from older than me to freshman in college, in fact a lot of the people here are kids on spring break, and every one of them is fantastic.

A typical day for me is to get up at 5:30 and shower ( I am first up in our barracks). The showers are in a trailer equipped with showers for men on one end and the other end for women. The middle is a communal sink area for shaving and brushing teeth, etc. Then back to the barracks for getting completely ready and preparing for breakfast at 7. The breakfasts are good and a lot liked home. At 8AM we are on the road heading for our work assignments. Everybody is doing something different, but we have excellent construction assistants showing us what to do and instructing us on how to use the various tools.

Lunch was prepared at breakfast time, each person doing there own, and put in a cooler. Lunch takes about ½ hour and we have a chance to share thoughts and experiences. And then back to work until 4:30, and then our return to Olive Tree.
Dinner is at 6:30, and then devotions and free time. Lights out at 10PM. Does anybody snore? You betcha, but who cares. Sleep comes easy, at least for me. And I feel good.

Thought you might like to know that as I sit here typing there are five college kids playing bongos, guitars and singing. Other groups are talking, and other people sitting around reading. Kim, one of our leaders, is sitting across from me wondering if I will ever get finished. I am.

Have a good night and think of us.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Our first day of work out in the field and we were productive. The Olive Tree (Presbyterian Disaster Assistance) Volunteer Village is cooperating with the Southern Louisiana Presbytery (Project Homecoming) to accomplish great things. They have an Operations Director, Construction Managers, Construction Assistants, and AmeriCorps*NCCC. Volunteers. With this much organization they can get us going with tools and materials quickly.

Our Construction Assistant (one for each site), Dan (from Virginia), is an on-the-ball type. He had the site organized and us (6 adults from NY state and 4 Kansas State Students that are here on spring break (very inspiring) on task within minutes of arriving (by an alternate route since we missed two turns. (Can you say “recalculating”). We hung the front door, prepared the existing studs to receive sheetrock (tomorrows task), and painted the exterior (one half done (but this is a secondary task)).

The camp is vibrant with 87 people. The volunteer village managers, a married couple, are well organized (and also inspiring), volunteering 3 months to help us help others recover from Katrina. Chores are organized and meals are delicious. Sleep was a precious commodity last night. There are bunk beds and snoring in stereo that send the top bunker into turbulence when the lower bunker rolls over. The mattresses come from the Indiana prison system. They don’t call it hard time for nothing.

We ate breakfast, packed our lunch and headed into the city. Our house is double wide but long. Instead of referring to it as a “shotgun house” we call it a double barrel. An extended family will live in it. It is completely gutted, but coming back. It still is amazing that after this much time there is still so much to do. We keep hearing how much it means to the people here that they are still cared for by those of us from around the country. We have groups from Kansas State, University of Maryland, Pennsylvania, California, and Oklahoma to share the volunteer village with. Part of the return for this mission trip is hearing the stories of those others who come to help (also very inspiring). This is an inspiring trip for me. I trust it is for those we serve.

Peter Wright-Auburn, NY

Our crew is working on a home owned by Toni and Jack. Jack, ill with mesothelioma, is hospitalized now. Each person scattered to work on various tasks – redoing ancient plumbing so toilets can be installed, building stairs, cleaning caulk from the new shower, removing adhesive from floor tiles so grout can be added, and taking paint spatters from a laminate floor, followed by mopping (repeated efforts!) to clean the drywall dust. Kneepads were helpful for the tile and floor work – we expect to discover muscles we didn’t know we had when we return to that work today.

The weather was perfect – mid sixties and sunny. We enjoyed lunch sitting on the sidewalk, and some in our group met the neighbor, Henry, who told his hurricane and recovery stories as he moved some dirt to fill in a low spot along his sidewalk. He refused to shake hands as we introduced ourselves, saying he didn’t know what was in the dirt – we said we didn’t know what our hands had been in either. We expect to hear more from him as the week goes on.

Kim Dungey, Auburn United Methodist Church