First Christian Church

Mission Trip to Gulfport Mississippi - 2007

Click on the days below to take you directly to each day's update.

Sunday, August 5th, 2007

Monday, August 6th, 2007

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007

Thursday, August 9th, 2007

Friday, August 10th, 2007 (Final Day)

Saturday, August 4th, 2007:

It's day one of our journey and we are now at our first destination, Central Christian Church in Columbus, Georgia.  We could not have asked for a better day of traveling.

Thanks to the foresight of packing the vans and trailer last night, we did a few last minute loadings, were led in a devotion by Gary, and were off!  Although many of us were a bit anxious about leaving our families and homes behind, the time has passed by quickly (amazing since we were on the road twelve and a half hours).

When we arrived we were greeted by Rev. Dr. Tom Stephenson and associate pastor, Barbara Sims King .   This is a beautiful facility and we are on the lower level that houses the Sunday School rooms and fellowship hall.  We had a wonderful time of devotion and fellowship led by Gary.  We have had showers and are now settling in for the evening. 

As Paul wrote, "I pray that our Lord, Jesus Christ, will be kind to you and bless your life."  Philippians 4:23

First Christian Church Mission Team

Sunday, August 5th, 2007:

Day two has gone as well, if not better than day one of our journey.  As I type this we are finally in Gulfport, Mississippi.  You can only imagine our excitement.  We have planned this mission trip for months and now we are finally here.

Our day began - well - basically early.  As you can see from the first picture, that is me, Beth, still trying to sleep with everyone else around me getting ready.  The sleeping bag is over my head because the lights are on.  We had to be out of the rooms by 9:00.  We were all up and packed by 7:30!  This crowd gets up and moving!

Our Georgia host church was so good to us.  They gave us a wonderful breakfast.  Afterwards we took pictures around their facilities.  We joined their Sunday school class and worship service.   To our amazement, when everyone introduced themselves, a woman told us that she and her husband had been married in our church years ago.  Their names are Bob and Carolyn Bennett.  Can you believe this next part?  They are related to Byron and Jeanette Ervin.  (Someone please contact them and ask them to look at the webpage because we have included a picture of the couple just for Byron and Jeanette).  Someone else made the connection that a former minister of ours, E.B. Quick also served at their church.  However, our greatest connection was our love for Jesus Christ.  His spirit was evident and their devotion and love to God is evident in the way they treated us.  It was almost sad we weren't staying with them but we left following the worship service.

We left Georgia at 11:30 and soon crossed the Alabama state line.  Oddly enough, it then became about 11:00 due to the time change.  Our stomachs had not yet adjusted to the time change so we stopped at Pizza Hut.  The rest of the afternoon was spent riding, and riding, and riding.  When we crossed the Mississippi state line, in our van, we were actually singing along with a Gaither song which was a medley of hymns.  Some of the songs were "Amazing Grace" and "Because He Lives."  Looking back on this now, it seems very appropriate.  When we stopped for gas we ran into a Methodist Church from get this - Durham, North Carolina. 

We FINALLY arrived at our present sight, First Christian Church, Gulfport, which serves as the Disciples Mission Station.  We met the coordinator, Larry, as soon as we drove on the property.  He is a former construction worker from Indianapolis who is a retired contractor and has taken on the job of leading volunteers who arrive in Gulfport from Disciples of Christ churches from all over the country.  He lives in a little trailer in the parking lot.  Our first order of business was to go to the bathroom.  There was one for men and one for women so that took about thirty minutes.  We next took a tour of the church and unloaded the luggage, pillows, suitcases, mattresses, food, etc.  It was immediately apparent the difference between our two host church facilities.  This church is just two blocks from the ocean.  During Katrina a big Baptist Church was directly in front of this one and it is totally gone.  This Christian church is still standing, but withstood a great deal of damage.  There was four feet of water in the bottom floor, doors were knocked out, and there was six inches of water in the sanctuary.  To our amazement, the stain-glassed windows were unharmed and so was a large oak tree that stood between the Baptist and Christian churches. 

After sweeping and mopping the floors we headed out to supper with Larry.  While we were here we again ran into the Durham Methodist Church group that will be working a few miles away from us.  We then returned  for our orientation.  We learned about this Mission Station and the jobs we will be doing tomorrow.  We have all gotten our assignments and will be heading out to our work sites at 7:45.  Breakfast is at 6:30 followed by a devotion and then we load up in the vans. 

Peace and love to you all!  We sincerely wish you could all be here with us but we thank you so much for making it possible for helping us get here.

Click here for pictures from Sunday, August 5th!

Monday, August 6th, 2007:

It is day three of the mission trip and we finally began the real work.  After all of the planning, fundraising, packing, and riding, we had the opportunity to “get dirty for Jesus!”  To sum up the day it was HOT, DIRTY, SHOCKING, yet IT WAS THE MOST AWESOME DAY EVER!!!! 

Now I know most of you from church have been sitting by your computer to learn who did which job.  Well here it is . . . what you have been waiting for. 

Benny Clark and “Aunt Ru Ru” (Brenda Huffman’s aunt) cooked breakfast and supper for us.  All of us agree that we would rather work than try to cook for twenty-two people.  They are the ones doing the WORK! 

Mark Lunceford led his team of Cindy Lunceford, Dennis and Brian Jones, Sue Miller, and Shirley Woodard to a site in Biloxi, Mississippi.  Their job was to mud, sand, and paint sheetrock.  Apparently this job covered them in white dust.  This was not a huge problem because as the director of this mission station advised us, they had to be “flexible.”  Since there was no restroom on the site, they had to get in the van and make a “restroom run.”  Cindy insisted everyone wash up before entering the van but Sue, remembering we had to be flexible said, “Don’t worry, it’s a rental!”  Cindy continued to ask Shirley if she wanted to at least wash her face before they left for the gas station.  Shirley, being flexible, persistently said, “No, I am okay.”  When Shirley arrived in the restroom and looked into the mirror she exclaimed, “OH MY GOODNESS!”  What Cindy knew that Shirley didn’t know was that her entire face was covered in white dust.  It even scared Shirley when she saw herself in the mirror!  On a more serious note, this family prior to Hurricane Katrina, was building a house which was destroyed.  The husband was trying to rebuild it himself but he now has been diagnosed with needing a new kidney and a new pancreas.  He is on dialysis.  He is the father of four and is twenty-nine years old.  At the same time his mother-in-law is waiting to have heart surgery.    

Brenda Huffman, her sister Linda Walker from Pensacola, Florida, and Peggy and Doodle Jarman went to a site where they painted.  It was here that Peggy painted not only the walls, but also Brenda’s leg.  During our debriefing session Peggy said, “It’s pitiful people have to live that way for two years.  It shouldn’t be this way in the United States.”  

Bob Woodard, Cathy Cabrera, Pat Morton, and Jacky Edens went to put in a new doorframe.  (This took Bob most of the day the women said but Bob said there were MANY problems with the door.)  The women took it upon themselves to clean the concrete floors.  After Bob finished the door, he began some electrical work and the women expressed interest in also learning this new skill.  During our debriefing when asked how she felt about the day Pat responded, “I was just shocked all day long.”  Well Pat was serious but it was humorous since she had just told us Bob had her working with live wires.  The good news is that Bob is the only one who got a little shocked and he is fine. 

The last group was Gary Edens, Horace Mazingo, Tony and Angela Bostic, Ken and Beth Brown, and Krista Cabrera.  The awesome part about this team is that the oldest crew member, Mr. Horace, is going to turn eighty-seven in October and Krista is fourteen years old.  This crew’s job was to hang sheetrock.  If there is anyone at church or anyone reading this page right now who doubts they could come and serve, these two have dispelled that excuse.  In our debriefing tonight Krista said, “I was really nervous about coming on this trip.  I thought I would be building houses from the ground up.”  She initially was disappointed to be on a crew with four men because she felt her “power tool” time would be nonexistent.  To her delight, the entire crew handed her over blades, saws, power drills, the works.  As a member of her crew, I can honestly say she is a huge blessing and a HUGE asset to our team.  While this crew had an amazing day, they also had the house with the worst conditions.  I could try and put it into words, but there are none.  I could sit here and write for hours and you can see all of the pictures, but you can’t imagine what this family lives in day in and day out – for two years!  On the outside it really looks fine but one step into the house and it is total despair.  The couple lives in two small bedrooms which really look no better than the rest of the house where we were working.  They share a bathroom with the people who come into their home to work.  We get to leave at the end of the week but it is unimaginable that they will stay here when we return to our homes next week. 

 There are so many stories we could share with you and we look forward to telling you each detail when we return home.  It is getting late, backs are sore, feet are tired, and the hallway in almost quiet now.  It is time for bed but I will close with some quotes that were shared at tonight’s debriefing session.

 “We can’t see the people they [victims of Hurricane Katrina and those we are helping] lost and the things they lost. . . There’s a lot you don’t see that has damaged people.”

                                 -Benny Clark

 “We don’t ever have a clue how bad off these people are.”

                                   -Bob Woodard

 “These people [the ones at Bob’s site] have been through hell and back yet they still took in a homeless man. . . They share the little nothing they have.”

                                   -Cathy Cabrera

 “This was their dream home and I wonder if it really is anymore.  I thought that as I watched him [the 29 year old] go to dialysis.” 

                                    -Sue Miller

 “The next time we have a hurricane and I am without power for a week, I have a few limbs in my yard, and I feel hot and dirty, I won’t complain.”

                                      -Beth Brown

 “We should have been here before now.”

                                       -Ken Brown

 “Everything is an absolute blessing to me . . . I came down here two weeks after the hurricane hit – by myself . . . it was horrible . . . and it smelled bad.  I learned TV. does not have odor and I left here and I kicked myself all the way home because I couldn’t fix it. . . I had not done enough and it was everywhere.  And I prayed God would help me do more. . . That’s why today is so important to me that by the end of the week I will feel like I have done enough.”

                                           -Gary Edens

Click here for pictures from Monday, August 6th!

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007:

Day four began the same time as it did yesterday – EARLY!!  Yesterday there were so many questions that we wrestled with in our minds.  “What will I see when I get there?”  “Will I be able to take it?”  “What will I do since I don’t know how to do any rebuilding?”  But last night we had the answers to all of those questions.  We had survived one day.  We now had only one question.  “Tomorrow, how in the world do we do what we did today now that our backs and arms and legs feel the way they do?”  Thank goodness our crew chief, Jesus Christ, was once a carpenter because by the time our feet hit the floor He was encouraging us to get going and put in a good day’s work for Him.  Amazingly, we worked even harder today than yesterday.  So, for those of you waiting by your computer for the next segment of the mission team’s adventures, here we go.  Tonight, each team has given you their version of their day. 

Mark’s Team (Mark and Cindy Lunceford, Dennis and Brian Jones, Sue Miller, and Shirley Woodard) 

Today on Mark’s team, Shirley Woodard completed touch-up painting on the 15 foot master bedroom tray ceiling!  She did an awesome job straddling on two twelve foot ladders!  Dennis, Brian, Sue, and Cindy scraped floors. Wow what an exciting job!  (Ha!)  We used a 25 pound “chest press bar” for the stubborn spots that were by the thousands and everywhere!  HOURS LATER we were allowed to go to our restroom facilities five miles down the road.  After a refreshing lunch under a shade tree, Sue, Cindy, and Brian switched to prime painting our project room.  This required a walk board between two 10 foot ladders so they could reach the ceiling. Sue has been a trooper considering she doesn’t even like a step ladder.  (As a matter of fact, we had to fill out a list of all the things we could and could not do.  Sue made a special point to write down and tell us she does not do ladders.  For anyone thinking about coming next year and for those of you who came this year, don’t even bother to fill out that list.  Just give your name, address, number, and insurance.  NO ONE has read that list to see what we are qualified to do and not do.  They just say “go” or “do this” and PRAISE God, we somehow do.)  Mark spent the morning finishing our sheetrock project room. Walk board painting will continue tomorrow after the last sanding of that room. Meanwhile, Shirley tried the floor scraping work detail with Dennis and Mark.  Sue says there has to be a better tool for this job.  Cindy has determined there must be some kind of riding sander to accomplish this job in a much timelier manner.  We have all decided we do not like floor jobs!  (According to Mark, if Cindy had her lawnmower here she would have dropped the deck all the way down and mowed the stubborn spots!  He is NOT kidding.  Cindy thinks there must be a better way to do this job.) 

Jacky and Brenda’s Team (Jacky Edens and Brenda Huffman)

 Jacky and Brenda laid floor tile today!  Brenda started as a novice in tile work and is now a pro under Jacky’s tutelage!  Watch out Timmy because Brenda wants to tackle the bathrooms at home!  Brenda’s next purchase is a wet saw!  At lunch time, the lady that lives in the house came in to see what Jacky and Brenda were doing.  She was totally surprised and excited about the tile as it was totally unexpected.

*Editor’s note:  Yesterday Brenda was SO disappointed she didn’t get to work hard (in her opinion).  She didn’t seem too disappointed today so she must have sweated and gotten dirty enough to be happy.  Boy does that girl love to work!

 Bob’s Team (Bob Woodard, Peggy and Elwood Jarman, Pat Morton, and Cathy Cabrera)

Bob, Pat, Peggy and Elwood began the day by walking to the waterfront and nearby pier while Cathy dropped off supplies to the various sites!  The wrath of hurricane Katrina surrounds us and the walk was like walking through a cemetery of stripped foundations and lost dreams.  Bob’s team was assigned to go to Biloxi to perform some minor electrical repairs to the fellowship hall of a local church and install a sink and seven doors in a home. Pat, Peggy, and Elwood began installing doors at the home and it wasn’t long before they all came to realize just how much they appreciated professional handymen/contractors. Bob and Cathy went to the church to do the electrical work….in the attic and it was hotter then Hades! After meeting Preacher Alvin, it wasn’t long before we realized that our first purpose was simply to open our ears and hearts and listen to Preacher Alvin speak about the events of hurricane Katrina and the community’s continued suffering in the recovery process. The people are amazing, yet they are barely holding on by a string. Our presence does much more than provide the labor to get things done; our presence breathes hope in their lives if only for a moment, hour, or day! We have all grown so much and have come to realize all the “simple little blessings” that slip through our hands everyday. Bob and Cathy rejoined the “door hanging” team. Together we hung four doors and then called it quits for the day. Bob’s team was the last to return to home base. It was soothing to arrive home to the “supper smells” and be greeted by Benny and Aunt Ru Ru.   

Gary’s Team (Gary Edens, Tony and Angela Bostic, Ken and Beth Brown, Krista Cabrera, and Horace Mazingo)  

Today the “Lucky Seven,” as Mr. Horace calls us, were blessed to go back to our site from yesterday.  We so desperately want to keep working and helping this family that everyday we ask Gary, “Can we please come back here tomorrow?”  He assures us we can work here all week and that there will still be plenty to do.  That is the truth!  There is so much to be done.  Like all of the other teams we have just grown so attached to our project.  It has only been two days but it feels as if our hearts have been here forever.   

While at this home, Tony and Mr. Horace completed the sheetrock job in the hallway and did half of the utility room.  (They are quite a pair.  For those of you who know them, you can’t even picture them together but they work so well as a team.  Little Mr. Horace just tells Tony what to do like he doesn’t even notice Tony is at least four of him!)   Ken and Gary installed installation and began to sheetrock the laundry room which is relatively large. They were extremely HOT back there. Beth, Krista, and Angela were given the task of completing the sheetrock job in the kitchen/living room area – ALL ALONE!  You have no idea how proud we were when the guys just let us “rock” all alone.  Today for the ladies it was tedious work and very slow.  Putting up the trim of the sheetrock took forever!  At lunch, we realized we had already gone through most of our water.  Gary was sweating so much Ken said we could just ring out his headband and collect all of the water he sweated out.  At this suggestion, Angela and I (Beth) quickly volunteered to locate a grocery store.  That went pretty well until we tried to get back.  We became so caught up in looking at all of the debris that is still here TWO YEARS LATER that we didn’t exactly pay attention.  We then rode around for – oh, at least forty minutes trying to find our site.  Let’s just say it is not easy to find where you are going when you don’t know where you are going.  We didn’t know the address but we thought it was on 20^th Street.  I told Angela to stop and ask someone how to get back.  Her response was “How do we ask how to get back when we don’t know where back is?”  I refused to call Ken and tell him we were lost until she pulled over and told me to call.  When I did call the first thing I said was, “Please don’t kill me!”  He thought we had wrecked the van so he wasn’t too upset!  When we returned Krista and Gary were mudding the sheetrock and Tony and Mr. Horace had joined in with Ken.  Angela and I continued our morning work.  The progress we have made because of the type of work we are going is SO EXCITING!    

When we all returned home, our cook crew, Benny Clark and Aunt RuRu had prepared us a wonderful meal of pork chops, rice, potatoes, string beans, corn, and rolls.  Afterwards we had our debriefing session.  I will end tonight’s update with some of the highlights of this session. 

While at their site, Doodle heard two gunshots and at the same time, Peggy saw two girls running away.  Living in Rock Creek where shootings are pretty nonexistent, Peggy ran out to see what the two girls were doing.  Doodle yelled out to Peggy, “You’d better come back in here you crazy thing before you get shot!”

 Krista was mudding all of the screws and cracks like Gary had asked her to.  She thought it would be funny to “mud” the back of Beth’s pants.  Gary walked by later and asked Beth what was on her pants.  Gary wanted to know why she did that.  Angela said, “You told her to fill in all of the cracks!”  When this story was told at our session Ken added to the story when he told the director of the mission, “Yes Larry and we now need more mudding for tomorrow because it was about used up!” 

“My favorite part of the day was break time.” 

                                    Brian Jones

“Sheetrock dust and hair gel really helps give your hair a lot of volume.”

Cindy Lunceford (after her shower and drying her hair)

 “The best part of the day was when the homeowner came out . . . and she stuck her head in there and the expression on her face was priceless.”

                                    -Brenda Huffman

 “It’s just neat to do this.  It’s neat to see people work.  It’s neat to hear the stories.  This is the most awesome thing for a pastor.”

                                    -Gary Edens

 “The most exciting part of our day was when we went to the restroom I thought we were going to have to come back to the church.  Sue couldn’t get her pants back up because she was so wet with sweat.”

                                  -Shirley Woodard

 Our Mission director Larry came to Gary’s site yesterday and Beth was very excited to show him what she had done.  It took her telling him three times to come look and when he did see the work he said, “Yep” and turned around and walked away.  Beth was not happy with that response and ribbed him mercilessly at last night’s session.  So today during work, Beth and Angela composed a poem for Larry that they presented him tonight.  The poem is called “Ode to Larry” and it a rewrite of the nursery rhyme, “Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?” 

Ode to Larry

Larry, Larry, quite contrary,
 how do your workers work?

With no high praise,

and no high raise,

But still, your workers, work!

It’s time to close and go to bed.  Keep praying and we’ll keep working.  We love and miss you all and wish you could be here with us!

Click here for pictures from Tuesday, August 7th!

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007:

As you all probably know by now, the day began EARLY!!  For breakfast Benny and Aunt RuRu served pancakes and sausage.  It seemed everyone was moving just a little bit slower than yesterday but the really good news is we were all still moving!  Oddly enough there seemed to be fewer hours between bedtime and rise and shine time.  Although we gained an hour when we crossed over into the central time zone, it seems that while we sleep we lose HOURS!  The odd thing is that every night we seem to lose more and more even though we go to bed earlier and earlier.  It surely can’t be us . . . can it?   

 After breakfast we had our devotion, loaded the vehicles, and we all headed in our different directions.  Speaking of directions, we will start tonight with Gary’s group’s report. 

Gary’s Group – “The Lucky Seven” (Ken and Beth Brown, Tony and Angela Bostic, Gary Edens, Horace Mazingo, and Krista Cabrera)   

Well we loaded the van and we headed down the road.  I (Beth) was sitting in the back of the van and shut my eyes . . . just for a few moments.  When I opened them we were going back in the same direction we were coming from.  It seems that Gary forgot something we needed so we went back to the church.  We got it and headed back to our site.  About several blocks away it seems that Gary forgot something we needed again so we headed back to the church.  We got it and headed back to our site.  We made it even fewer blocks this time and it seems that Gary forgot something AGAIN so we headed back to the church.  FINALLY we headed back to our site for the last time and arrived with all of the items we packed AND with all of the items Gary forgot that we went back to retrieve.  While we were here today Angela, Krista, and I worked on hanging sheet- rock on the windows!  UGH!  We also had to put some plastic piece on the back of the sheetrock for the windows and THEN nail up tin around that. We have always taken windows for granted.  However, after today, the three of us would really like for you all to look at a window tonight or tomorrow and thank God for it.  Trust us, it took a lot of work to get those to look like they do now.  As for our guys, they worked diligently out in the utility room.  It was very hot, tedious work.  You can’t imagine how frustrating it is to want so desperately to help someone and then you move at a snail’s pace.  They had to cut pieces of sheetrock that went around the slanting beams in the roof-line.  It was so hot back there that we took a fan to at least circulate some air.  They also moved along with hanging sheetrock on a large part of the walls in the utility room.

Now most of you are wondering what misadventures happened today with our crew because we really do have some.  Well we have become like a REAL construction crew and jumped in and started working so hard that we didn’t even run into a lot of mishaps at the site.  When you see the pictures it is possible they are us during a water or lunch break.  We didn’t even take time to take many pictures.  However, we do have three little stories that you all might enjoy.  One, Mr. Horace couldn’t find his phone last night so he thought he had left it at the site.  When we arrived this morning Gary called Mr. Horace’s cell phone to see if he could locate it.  None of us heard it.  Near the end of lunch, Gary’s phone rang.  He was going “This is Gary.  This is Gary.”  About that time Mr. Horace came around the corner talking on his phone to Gary who was on his phone.  Poor Gary was tired and hot and he had just gotten up to get his phone to talk to Mr. Horace who was in the same house.  The funny part was Mr. Horace had found the phone and saw the number where Gary called first thing this morning.  He didn’t know who it was so he dialed it back.  When we started laughing, Gary said he didn’t know who was calling (meaning until Mr. Horace came around the corner).  About that time Mr. Horace walked by, heard Gary say, “I didn’t know who it was” so Mr. Horace said, “Then why did you answer it then?”  The other five of us LAUGHED OUR HEADS ALMOST OFF!!!!  Two, in order to get a piece of sheetrock to the size it needs to be, it must be cut with a utility knife.  Then someone takes a knee on the backside of it and it breaks the other half almost off.  We must have been getting tired because Angela had measured the board, Krista had drawn off what we needed and I picked up the board and kept trying to break it and break it.  It would not break.  Angela finally said, “Beth, it hasn’t been cut yet!” 

Three, we three females needed a pair of scissors to cut the tin window pieces and the one Gary had didn’t work.  Can you believe he told us to go to Lowe’s to get one because we needed it to get the job done.  After yesterday’s trip of us being lost, Ken was seriously saying, “I know you aren’t going to let them go again after yesterday!”  Krista wanted to go with us so she was saying, “I know how to get there and back.”  I was yelling, “Angela, come on!  ROAD TRIP!!!!  Angela kept saying, “You’ve got to be kidding!”  Gary had the last word and said, “Go to Lowe’s.”  We ran out the door only to run into Larry who had a pair of what we needed.  Can you believe that?  NO ROAD TRIP!!!! 

Mark’s Group:

We started with Cindy on a five foot high ladder walk board painting the ceilings.  Brian, Dennis, Shirley and Sue continued sanding that wonderful sheetrock.  It was much easier today because WE put it there.  Mark left us in the garage, while he worked on the master bedroom.  He was the only willing soul to handle the chest press bar which he told Sue that it might have been easier if she had “man-handled” that bar.  Thank goodness that Brian jumped in and helped on the floor detail as the women rebelled.  No power tools! 

Before lunch break, we must make our daily trek to the gas station for bathroom facilities.  Sue ran out and intercepted a truck driver at our favorite truck stop to take a photo of our team sitting at our favorite tree.  She couldn’t understand why the team was hesitant and continued trying to flag her down.  After the picture was taken, Cindy asked Sue if she had read the huge slogan on the truck windshield.  It read, “I don’t give a *!@#.”

During lunch break at the house we were surprised to see our family multiplying in numbers.  Dennis has talked to various family members to find out their circumstances and situations. Our family is multiplying. There were four children on Monday and now there are seven.  There were two dogs and then there were five dogs congregating at our lunch cuisine.

At the end of the day our beautiful white pristine garage had turned into a coffee late' colored room.  We know it is one of the best rooms in the house. 

Bob’s Team: 

Bob’s Team was trimmed down to three - Bob Woodard, Elwood Jarman, and Cathy Cabrera. We headed back to Biloxi to complete the doors and sink installation. It seems that Benny and Aunt Ru Ru’s constant prayers were working. The Team encountered numerous challenges yesterday as they took 2007 store bought/pre-hung doors and tried to adapt them to a home that was probably 100 years old. Today our hearts, hands, and abilities were touched and guided by the hands of God. We completed three doors and re-engineered the bathroom door after making a LOWES run. We didn’t even get lost along the way. Bob Villa of “This Old House” would have been proud. So if you think the Lord does not hear your prayers, then you’ve missed the boat! Prayer works!  

Bob and Elwood re-engineered the bathroom door which made John Anderson light up with joy. He was so pleased that he asked Bob if he could install a “hurricane door” out front. It took all three of us (and a second LOWES run) during the hottest part of the day to get the storm door installed….Both Elwood and Cathy were very blessed to have Bob on the team! It’s the simple things that mean a lot!  

Besides work, we also had the opportunity to learn a new “Bob-ism.” While installing the handle on the storm door, Bob announced that we would have to “waller it out”…..If you are trained in the art of “wallering” then this statement needs no further explanation. However, if you are like me and not “home grown” to Richlands, NC, then it means to make the holes larger.

 God Bless all of you for making the First Christian Church mission trip possible!

 Quotes

During our debriefing session tonight, Gary asked us, “Who have you seen Christ in today?”  Our quotes tonight come from this session.   

“I’ve seen Christ through a number of people like Bob and Elwood . . . when we left yesterday they were so disappointed with the door.  John [a 28 year old] is having this [work by the  team] for his mother and he lights up the place because we are working so hard getting this ready for his mother . . .  Bob and Elwood want to make this nice for them . . . when we went to his church [their team is also working at the church where John is an elder] and talked to the preacher . . . he sounded so tired . . . yet he wanted to have a place when they come back to come back to [meaning when the church members return home they will have a church to return to] he was so excited about the little things we have done for us . . . When we went to leave he wanted to pray with us . . . it was an awesome day to be a witness . . . there are no words . . .”

                                                                        -Cathy Cabrera  

“We couldn’t go out there and sweat like we did today without God being a part of it.”

                                                                        -Shirley Woodard

“Those three ladies{Sue, Shirley and Cindy} are the most intelligent crowd, they are always ahead…they are always two steps ahead.”

                                                                                   -Brian Jones 

“{Referring to Sue, Cindy and Shirley} nobody has complained…everybody has worked…if I was back in the business I would not hesitate to hire them…and the spirit is there.  Sue and Cindy have formed a bond…they are good friends and they will always be friends…it warms my soul.”

                                                                                    -Mark Lunceford 

“We’ve also seen Jesus at work not only in our small teams but in the big team {referring to the entire mission team}”

-   Shirley Woodard 

“What’s really great about this team {entire mission team} is that we seem to put everybody else first.”

                                                                                    -Jacky Edens 

“I thought I had been through a lot in 77 years but this has been the most fantastic experience.”

                                                                                    -Aunt Ru-Ru 

“The reason we are Christ-like and the reason we are doing the job right is because we want to do it for the people we are doing it for.” 

                                                                                    -Sue Miller 

“We are so blessed we can work for them {Deacon John and Preacher Alvin}.”

                                                                                    -Bob Woodard 

“Everyone looks out for everyone…it’s like a family…everyone does have a specific role to play.  Hanging around the crew {the lucky seven} these guys have looked over me like a father and the girls are like my mother.”

                                                                                    -Krista Cabrera 

“I saw Jesus in Larry today…he was so good and kind…I have seen Jesus in him the whole time…every time I watch and see him.”

                                                                                    - Pat Morton 

*Editor’s Note: Today Larry got pulled by the Police because he was going a little too fast.  His insurance was expired but he was only given a warning.  Thank goodness because the fine is usually $1000.00. 

“I have learned how the British measure things…if you measure something it could possibly be 5 ¾ AND TWO LITTLE LINES.”

                                                                                    -Brenda Huffman

“Bob talks about breaks and possibly imagines drinking an entire bottle of water but we only take one break- lunch.”

- Cathy Cabrera 

“Hump day never had any value until this week in Mississippi.”

                                                                                    - Tony Bostic 

Now tonight we have a special feature.  This section is called “The Shower.”  For this segment we will share with you “shower” stories.  That means exactly what you think it means.  We will tell you all about taking showers here in Mississippi.  First let me preface this segment with the fact that we know we are not in some Third World country.  We are in the U.S.A.  We have hot water and electricity and we know we aren’t in some hardship.  Still, there are a few things to say about our Mission Team’s showers. 

There are three showers – all of them connected right in a row.  Directly across from these three showers is a large bench.  Behind the door of each shower is a tiny dressing room area and a tiny shower.  Therefore, both genders can be in the shower room at the same time.  After we get back from work, the big deal is who can get back and take a shower first.  Rarely does anyone beat Krista because she can SPRINT!  The showers are on a first come, first serve system and the line forms quickly.  As a matter of fact, the system is to run down, sit in line on the bench (in order of arrival), and wait your turn.  Well some funny things have happened in the shower here.  Following are some of these “shower” stories. 

Everyday Gary is the last one to get to take a shower.  We never have supper until everyone is done.  Well Cindy is one of those who can about beat you down to get a shower first but tonight she was in line and let Gary go ahead of her.  He thought she was being so nice.  Cindy later told Gary she just wanted him to go first so we could eat sooner tonight. 

Bob came in tonight to take a shower.  Beth was in one and he continued to harass her with no mercy.  Beth kept threatening to step right out of the shower and beat him up.  Eventually Bob yelled, “Who’s in the second shower?”  Nobody answered.  No one was even in there.  To make it worse, Tony was sitting out there too and he said Beth was washing with a q-tip.  He didn’t know it was empty either.  Pat came in later and was sitting and sitting.  The shower was also free. 

Check back again tomorrow night because we are traveling to Louisiana after work to view the devastation there.  We will be posting pictures when we return if it is not too late. 

Peace and love to you all,

Your Mission Team

P.S.  Several of the groups did not give a report tonight.  They were so tired they went straight to bed.  Maybe we will have an update from them tomorrow.

Click here for pictures from Wednesday, August 8th!

Thursday, August 9th, 2007:

Click here for pictures from Thursday, August 9th!

Friday, August 10th, 2007:

After coming in way late last night, the morning of day seven was even EARLIER than the other six!  Actually, everyone was exhausted BUT at the same time, since it was our last day, we kicked ourselves into a higher gear than we even knew existed.  Our main goal was to work as long and hard as we could because this would be our last chance to help our families.  If you notice, we have shifted from referring to them as “sites” to referring to them as “families.” 

Benny and Aunt RuRu prepared our last breakfast of THIS mission trip.  (Notice we refer to it as THIS mission trip because we plan on taking MANY MORE MISSION TRIPS!  We also want more and more of you to come on our next trips with us.)  For breakfast they had cooked three meats – pork chops, bacon, and sausage.  I do not know if they believed we needed extra energy or if they cooked everything we had left over.  Either way, there was a lot of meat!   After our protein we had our morning devotion led by Bob and Shirley Woodard.  For those of you who don’t know them, they have participated in several disaster response trips through the Red Cross.  After the devotion, Shirley emphasized to us that this would be our most difficult day because we had to leave our families.  We headed out to our families, worked hard all day long, packed up the tools, came back and got in the shower line, and headed out to a cookout.  We were blessed enough to be invited to our fellow “Richlandian’s” (I made that word up) parent’s house.  Janice Capdepon’s parents, Fred and Barbara Borman rolled out the red carpet, the food, and the entertainment for us.  They only live seven miles from our home base church where we sleep, eat, and of course take showers.  When we arrived they had TONS of food!  It was AWESOME!  They had grilled hamburgers and hotdogs.  We could smell them as we exited the vans.  They had all the trimmings, two salads, desserts, and best of all, REAL sweet tea, just like the kind we drink at home.  After a fantastic meal we could choose from a variety of entertainment including swimming in the pool where some of our members (Sue, Ken, Mark, Krista, Jacky, Gary, Dennis, Larry, and Benny) and our host Fred became a bit vicious with the water guns.  Others such as Brenda, Beth, Mark, Gary, Pat, and Benny took turns shooting pool.  BUT BEST OF ALL THEY HAD CABLE AND SOFT SOFAS!!!!  Poor Fred and Barbara probably thought we were shy (HA! HA!) or not happy to be there because when we entered we sat down in front of the big screen TV. and no one said a word.  That cable was a sight for sore eyes.  It was on CNN and we learned about what was going on in the world.  Of course they kept reporting on the big monster truck that hit the bystanders over and over and over but we were so excited to see the cable T.V.  We really didn’t know we missed it until we saw it.  And talk about missing something!  Our “tushies” were happy to see the cushies!  Boy those sofas sure were soft.  After being hot and tired and full, it was becoming seriously dangerous that some of us might spend the night at their house.  Cindy wanted to take one of the Borman’s pieces of furniture and put it in the back of Cathy’s tailor and sleep in it on the way home.   

After a couple of hours at our host’s home, Gary made us leave.  We were eating cake and watching t.v. but he made us leave.  I personally was sad and wanted to stay because it was so comfortable there BUT he made us leave for ANOTHER devotion.  I personally wanted to go to sleep and so did many others BUT no, Gary was going to drag us into ONE MORE SESSION.  I truly felt like I had been to AA or to a psychiatrist after all of this sharing and felt totally depleted.  In the van (Gary was in the other one) I told everyone to keep their mouths closed and to not share because I wanted to go to bed.  We all agreed to be quiet.  (Don’t tell him.)  Anyway, when we got back he drug us into the sanctuary.  Our first question was “Did you turn the air on?  It is hot in there.”  Are you getting the picture SOME of us (my van at least) was not in the spirit.  Well he sure knocked our socks off.  When we get home we will tell you about our evening.  It was AWESOME and communion will never ever be the same for the twenty-two of us again. 

One thing we will tell you is that while the song “How Beautiful is the Body of Christ” played, we all put our hands together in unity over the communion elements.  We have an awesome picture that you can see at the end of this update – the ‘beautiful” hands that served the Lord this week.      

Bob, Cathy, Jacky, Brenda, Pat, Elwood, Peggy and Brian’s Team (A couple of different teams combined to make this team today) 

We wanted to do as much for Jeff and Pam as we could, so our team requested from the FCC mission team to purchase laminate flooring for their home.  The mission team was in total agreement.  We purchased the flooring today and Brian, Elwood and Peggy began the work.  They were able to finish half of one room.  Jacky put a coat of sealant on the tile floor in the bathroom.  Bob cut and put up the molding and he did some more electrical work.  Brenda and Pat caulked the bathroom and painted the trim work in the bathroom.  The FCC mission team decided to split any leftover food we had brought to eat among our two families that we were working for today.  When we told Jeff and Pam we had food for them their faces just lit up.  Later in the day Brenda had gone in the house to use the bathroom and she saw that Brittany had put away the food.  She overheard Brittany telling Jeff that some of the food that we had taken to them was exactly what they needed.  Doesn’t God work in wonderful ways?  Then we had the pleasure of telling them we were buying the laminate flooring for them and they were so moved they were in tears, as we were.  We have come to love this family and it was very difficult to leave them this afternoon.  We worked as hard as we could to help them to get back into their home, but there just wasn’t enough time.  I think I can speak for our whole team and say that this has been one awesome experience.  There is a song out on the Christian music charts that talks about using your hands and your feet to further the kingdom of God; I think we can all say we have used our hands and our feet for Christ this week.   

Love to all     

Gary’s Team and Mark’s Team Combined 

Today Mark’s Team combined with Gary’s team.  At first the women of our group wondered how in the world we would all fit into that one house.  We were even concerned those other three women (Shirley, Sue, and Cindy) would want to borrow our power tools.  (That really concerned me the most.)  We even got to our family later than any other day and I was sure that Mark’s team was already holding us back (especially since they are the group who SAID they worked all day yesterday but were all showered before we even returned).  I thought to myself, “Well at least they will work one day until 4:00.  But to my surprise, those five were TRULY AMAZING!   They knew their stuff.  They came in to our sheetrocked walls and made us look good.  They mudded and mudded and mudded.  At the beginning of the day I wondered what they could possibly do all day to keep themselves entertained.  I mean how long could it take to throw some stiff white stuff on the walls?  Well I found out it took all day.  They worked so hard.  It was the biggest blessing to have them there.  We had a chance to see how hard they must have worked all week because they did that job everyday.  It also gave them a chance to see what we did all week.  When Donna and her husband Morris came in they couldn’t believe how much work we had all done today.  It was a wonderful day but then it had to end.  

As I mentioned earlier, Shirley told us this would be our most difficult day.  I truly thought this seemed inaccurate since tomorrow I would be heading home but she said it would be hard to leave our families.  I thought it would be easy to leave because we would see our own families soon.  While Angela and I were on the back porch working alone, I even actually said to her that I seriously didn’t think I would cry.  However, when the time came to leave Donna behind, it truly was difficult.  We had said goodbye at least four times, hugged Donna multiple times and taken tons of pictures.  Krista, Angela, and I (Beth) were the first to get in the van.  We waited and waited for what seemed like an eternity for the guys to all get in the car.  We sat in silence and just watched Donna our in the yard saying goodbye to the guys.  I finally said, “I can’t take it anymore.  This is killing me dragging this goodbye out.”  Krista and Angela agreed it was torture.  When we left I think we left a little piece of our hearts there but we also left a WHOLE lot of the Holy Spirit there. 

This ends our day seven update.  Please pray for us as we return home.  We are leaving at 5:00 A.M.  (No doubt, EARLY!)  That means we will have to get up at 4:00.  I am telling you we get up earlier and earlier everyday.  Thanks to all of you – our families, church, and town – who made this possible.  You have helped change our lives forever.                 

Click here for a closing audio message from Dr. Gary Edens.

Click here for pictures from Friday, August 10th!

**This concludes our daily coverage of the mission trip.  Thank you for being a part of our trip.