Saturday February 27, 2010

Well here we are again. Back at Camp Hope in Vancleave Mississippi to do some relief work for those devastated by Hurricane Karina. This team will be the fifth team CUMC has sent since the storm hit back in 2005. We assembled at 7 AM at the church to begin the eleven-hour trip down. Everything went well traveling; we departed at 7:20 AM and arrived at 6:15 (central time). Eleven hours and forty minutes in a vehicle is not my idea of a fun way to spend a Saturday, but it got us here to do God’s work this week so all is good. We stopped for a break at 9:30 AM, and then on the southwest side of Atlanta for lunch. With one more stop outside of Mobile for gas and then on to Vancleave Mississippi. All arrived safe and we are grateful for that. This place brings back fond memories of previous trips, and the team is full of veterans from previous mission trips. We have some new members this time; it is neat that our team fills this camp with the goodwill of our congregation. The people of Mississippi will know Central United Methodist Church cares and is prepared to act on our calling to be in service for our Lord. Our church has kept our commitment we made 5 years ago to help these families rebuild their lives after this devastating storm. I am proud to be part of this group of people doing the work our God expects us to do to live our faith and show the love God has for all his people in the process. Every year it is a challenge to make this trip, with all the demands we have to live out our daily lives it is just so easy to say, “I just can’t do it”. Each time we come here for this work, it is always stressful to prepare and get everything done to get here. It is always worth every effort and I am glad that I have come. This will be another amazing week of fellowship and service that will build our faith, as the world every day tries to take it from us. We made our traditional trip to the Shed for a great meal of BBQ, it wasn’t as busy as years past so we did not have to wait too long this time. We got back at camp by 8:30 PM for some fellowship in the common room. Some folks are working on a jigsaw puzzle, some playing cards, some watching the college basketball game on TV and me writing my journal for the congregation. Can’t imagine being anywhere else in the world right now. Thank you Lord for these great disciples of yours who believe in you enough to step up and be counted as your followers prepared to sacrifice in your name to be in service. We all have lives we left behind to do this work; It is you Lord who put it in our hearts to see the need for this work and the commitment to come here. And of course this mission would not be possible without the support and love of our great congregation. Thank you Lord for each and every one who has contributed in their own way to make the Lord real for those who we will help this week.

Lord please guide us this week to be a witness for your love and compassion to bring some souls to your kingdom with our presence here. Protect all of us here on this team and give us the grace to know how to represent your will when we do your work. I do not know what you will teach us this time, but open our hearts to receive it. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of this mission, thank you Lord for this group of volunteers inspired by your teachings to make a difference in a world that needs you more than ever. Amen.

Sunday February 28, 2010

First night in Camp Hope. Got up around 7 AM some slept in since it will be our only chance this week. The team went out for breakfast and a trip along the coast to see the progress of the recovery effort. Charlie, Sibyl, and Paul took a drive to New Orleans. I stayed behind so I could get a run in, this week will be very taxing and I will not be able to get one in since we get up at 6 AM each morning, and it will be dark when we finish dinner in the evening. The weather was nice and it is really flat here in Mississippi so I ran 8 miles and it was wonderful. Terry, Don, Mike, and Jerry, came back to camp for a while so I went with them to Appleby’s for dinner. Everyone went to church service at ST Paul’s UMC and saw Rev Cumbest who preached the service. He was the pastor for the camp we stayed at in 2007 and 2008. We had an orientation meeting at 7 PM and then got the team leaders together after to assign all the volunteers to the projects we will work on this week. We have 5 job sites to work on. One project on particular will be a blessing for the family. They build their dream house in 2004, Katrina took the roof off, they rebuilt, then they had a fire, they rebuilt, then found out the drywall used to rebuild was contaminated from China, now we rebuild them again. Another house we will install flooring, and still another we will finish the sheetrock and paint. We found out that a local corporation made an anonymous donation of  $100k so the relief work has been extended another year until 2012, praise the Lord. To date over 168,000 volunteer hours have been logged by UM volunteers to the tune of over $100 million savings in labor. The state of NC has logged over 35,000 hours and next to Pennsylvania is the largest producer of volunteers out of the 38 states who have sent teams. The hope that has been spread throughout this region can never be measured, our Lord only knows the souls who have been brought to him as a result of this work and that is worth way more than $100 million in volunteer labor can ever be. It is wonderful to see this region coming back to life, compared to the devastation we saw when first cam here 5 years ago. The influence the Lord has had here is not lost on the people of Mississippi; we are blessed to be part of God’s will in the world. Tomorrow we start again to make a difference in this community. I know all the volunteers take great comfort in the fact that we have joined with others from around the world to work for God and make the world a better place. This is what God asks of us as followers of his son Jesus who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us, his life so we could be saved from our sins. It is almost 10 PM central so time to get some sleep, 6 AM comes early.
Lord bless this mission, give us the grace to always witness in a way that brings glory to HIM with everything we do. Let us all be safe and accomplish as much as possible this week. Always mindful that it is the great congregation of CUMC that is home praying and supporting this mission, without whom we could not be here as God’s hands this week. These missions always renew my faith that we can make a difference in world that sometimes seems so lost. Lord let this be a week that builds everyone associated with this work so that we can all know we are doers of God’s will. Amen.

Day 3 Monday March 1, 2010

Today we got out to our homes to work. Each homeowner has their own unique story. To hear them tell their stories helps us realize how truly blessed we all are, and how called we are to help our fellow human beings. The things they have endured as a result of the storm itself and the aftermath reveal how resilient the human spirit really is. To watch your home being destroyed before your eyes and there is nothing you can do to stop it would be absolutely heart wrenching. Each person who experienced this devastating hurricane has an individual story and all deserve any help we can give. They are so appreciative to tell their story and need to tell it to someone and know there are those who care about what they have gone through. Being here to work is almost as important as being here to listen and show compassion to these people who have survived the biggest natural disaster in US history. It is really hard to comprehend what they went through, and even though we have heard these stories before they are just as compelling each time we get to hear them. It is in part why we come back again and again, because we know how much they really need to know that they are not alone and that someone cares enough to come and help them rebuild. God is teaching us how powerful it is to give, and the blessings we receive as a result. These are lessons learned that can not be known without the opportunity to truly put another’s needs ahead of your own.

As I sit here in the common room writing this journal I look around and see these wonderful people who for a week put aside all their own problems and needs to come across country and help people they have never seen before. To know that there are also people at home who support this work with prayer and funds makes me realize that we all can make a difference in this world. Every effort we make counts and increases God’s kingdom. We don’t always know how what we do will affect others. One thing I do know is that this group of people is a force in the world for good, and our congregation is living the Word of God with this mission and all the ministries that is Central. I am more proud of the this church organization than ever.

Tonight at dinner we shared our different projects and a little about each homeowner. It was wonderful to hear all the good work being completed by God’s followers. We have our chores in the camp, tonight we had kitchen duty, some cleaned the dinning room some set up the lunch making I the common room. Mark and Terry went to Lowes to get some supplies for the teams tomorrow. Long days! Everyone completes the tasks without complaining. If the world could pull together like this team, what world it could be. Just as God has taught us it could be. We as a congregation will do our part.

It rained pretty hard today. Hopefully it will be nice like Sunday afternoon.

Lord give us the patience to listen, the strength to work hard for these needy families, the wisdom to know the right things to do and say, and the grace to witness for you. These families do understand what we are doing here, giving of ourselves in service of others. Lord let them remember us when they tell others how we came and helped inspired by God to do this work. They know it is church groups like ours that have lifted this whole region. Lord, when all others have left and are on to the next thing, we are here, we have not forgotten them, just as God has not forgotten them. Amen.

Day 4 Tuesday March 2, 2010

A typical day in camp. 6 AM wake up call. Breakfast at 7 AM. Clark Fowler gave a great devotion about give up your worries to the Lord. He also sang “My Tribute” and it was wonderful.  Morning chores in the camp, I swept the main hallway, some had kitchen duty, some cleaned the bathrooms and dorm rooms. Our team headed back to the Rhodes house. We will be installing some flooring, plumbing repairs, sanding and sheetrock mudding. Cold and damp day in Mississippi Mark Franza’s team was installing some siding so they were chilly. Ben’s team was completing a deck on a new construction project. Mike Moss’s team was finishing up some prep and painting on his house. We got a lot done so we had to split the teams into smaller teams and picked one more house that needs flooring and sanding and painting so tomorrow Wes, Jerry, and Harry will head over to the new house to installing some wood flooring, Mike’s team will also go there to do the painting. We had a great day with the family at the Rhodes house, as I am sure the other teams did. Getting to know these families has been one of the great experiences of these missions. It is the reason we come, for the families, knowing that if we had the misfortune of something like Katrina that God would send teams to help us. God is so good, everything that is good comes from God. The work being done here in Mississippi renews my faith by knowing that despite all the things we see on TV, that there are so many disciples of Jesus Christ quietly doing the work that will strengthen God’s kingdom. These committed followers will never make the evening news but we are here. If the news were to write stories about the ministry going on here the world would be a different place. But alas that will not happen, we don’t need it to happen God knows the work that is getting completed here and that’s all that matters. His influence on so many souls related to this work is hard to measure but it is an amazing thing to see.
The case worker for the camp came to talk to us after dinner tonight. We are so lifted up by all the families that have been helped by this ministry. Believe me they know where this help comes from, GOD. They may not go to church or even fully know the Lord, but for sure know that when every other aid organization has left them, God continues to send his workers.
Tomorrow is Gina Rhodes’ birthday so we went to Lowes to purchased a new bathroom vanity with sink and new faucet. She will be so surprised when we show up tomorrow. It was on sale, always good stewards, thanks CUMC for the gift cards.
Cards games have been regular activity each night, we got some serious players. I was told Dave Bell finally won a hand after 17 years! Our team is on our second 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. The joking and laughter have been present each evening. It has been so much fun to sit here and write each evening and listen to camaraderie. God is bonding this team closer each time we come here. I feel close to this team and the church family back home supporting us. I know I could count on any of these great people to help should I ever need them. God has a way of bringing out the best in people.  
Thank you Lord for once again revealing how powerful your love for your children is. When in company of a team of committed followers of Jesus Christ it is a sense that anything is possible and that there is hope that this world could be made right. Bringing hope to families who thought they were lost, so they can know you Lord, is something that lifts my heart each time I get to see it happen.  Tomorrow I get to deliver the devotion. Amen.

Day 5 Wednesday March 3, 2010

Today marks the halfway mark of our mission trip. Wake up 6:30 AM, breakfast at 7 AM. Breakfast is the best meal in camp, eggs, bacon, biscuits, pancakes, you name it. Today Gary from Texas cooked breakfast burritos. Mark Franza gave the blessing of the meal this morning. It always amazes me how this little church has cooked breakfast and dinner for volunteers for over four years now. They have opened their church to the many teams that have come to serve. The way this church has rallied and served the Lord in this mission reveals how a strong sense of purpose can bring a church family closer together, much like this mission and the mission CUMC completed to Serria Leone. Mission work I think is vital to the health of any church family. I am grateful to be part of CUMC and it’s rich history of mission work and ministry. It is really amazing what a difference our little church makes for God’s kingdom.

Today I was fortunate to be able to deliver the devotion. John 13:35 “By this all men shall know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.”
This is the verse I used to give my devotion. It pretty much sums up for me what this mission trip means to me. Watch what a man does, and by that you will know his character. The character of this team is displayed in the work they do here, and the support of our church at home for this work. Nothing else needs to be said. Thank you Lord for the opportunity to serve you. Great leaders inspire others to action; God is the greatest leader who inspires followers around the world to action.

After breakfast we completed our camp chores, we had kitchen clean up. We got all our supplies and readied to got to our worksites. Each morning we gather in a circle and pray together before we head out. Mike Moss led us in prayer today. We split the teams because we are ahead of schedule on several sites. So we now have 6 different homes we are working on. We had a good day today at our site, we finished sanding the ceiling in the kitchen of the Rhodes home, installed a vanity and sink in the bathroom, painted with primer the kitchen ceiling, repaired a vinyl floor in the upstairs bathroom, pulled up the vinyl floor in the kitchen and cleaned up to ready for a new floor tomorrow. The sun came out today and it was warmer so we had a nice lunch with our homeowner Allen. What an amazing fellow, Katrina tore the roof off his home he built himself. Out of work because he got hurt working as a logger shortly after the storm. He has tried to rebuild and has done a great job doing as much as he can himself. It is hard for him to accept help, as he is a very proud man. Today we got to talk with him and help him understand that sometimes we all need a little help. He certainly deserves it. He is a man of integrity; simple country man who believes your word is everything. He is a leader in his small community, he does not have much but still he gives to those even less fortunate around him. Allen is a man you just want to do everything you can to help him. We met his father today, and their whole family is just so appreciative for the help we are able to give him. God teaches us to be humble and to be so grateful for all our blessings he has given us, and to share ourselves and resources to those in need.

Dinner was spaghetti and a wonderful salad cooked up again by the great teams from Vancleave UMC. Betty Bell gave the blessing for the meal. After dinner we all shared what we were able to complete at our sites and a little about the families we are working for. Chris and Enid from England who are in camp gave a devotion about the mission work they are involved with in the country of Jordan with the children with disabilities at a school there. Very compelling, God is at work everywhere, and has disciples working for him across the world. As I am sitting in the common room writing, a group is working on the puzzle, some playing cards, some playing scrabble, and some watching Duke play Maryland in basketball.

Today has been another great day in service to God. Lord thank you for another safe day for the teams. Thank you for a chance to see that all your children are a gift. Thank you for teaching us that even though we live in different parts of the country and world that we are all really very much alike. We have the same needs, and desires to care for our families, and the will to help those in our communities we live in. We have the same personal challenges to overcome. We are all really much more alike than we are different. Thank you God for all the blessings you have given us and the desire to share our good fortune with others who need our help. Each time I come here Lord I am renewed by the realization that your love is the thing that binds us all. That your leadership and teachings give us hope that the world can be a better place, but it will take your disciples to be your hands to make your presence real in the world to those who do not know you. Amen.

Day 6 Thursday March 4, 2010

Slow getting up this morning, lights on at 6:15 AM. Seemed like I just laid my head down. Breakfast was great as usual; ready for some workouts to drop the few pounds I have gained with all this good food. Our team had bathroom cleaning chores this morning. We got our tools and supplies together and on the road to our site by 8:30 AM. Marie from Vancleave UMC gave the devotion this morning. Wes, Harry, and Jerry went back to the Morrow house again today to put down some more wood flooring. This house has been a challenge as the floors are not in very good shape. Mike Moss and his painting team is also at this house and has been quite entertaining at dinner each night with his updates about the progress of this home. Those who know Mike can attest to his very funny way of taking a challenging situation and find the humor in it. Mark’s team has been making some progress helping the Farley family repair their home, they have to rip out all the sheetrock so Mark’s team is closing in their huge porch as living quarters while the extensive repairs are completed. What a wonderful family who has had a series of calamities happen to them. The hope that you can see and hear in them is a real blessing. God has inspired this trip and to see the real positive response is motivation to keep completing this work. We were able to complete the kitchen for our family today. What a great feeling to see the joy on their faces when they stood back and saw the completed work. All the friends of the Rhodes family kept coming by and thanking us for the work we have done. They were having friends over this evening for the first time in a long time and we were able to get it done for them. They are just so appreciative for the help we have been able to give them. We have learned so much from this family this week, even though they don’t have much they are still willing to help those in their community. The steady stream of friends and family who have come to visit them shows what a real blessing Allen is to those around him. We are so glad to be able to help. God has inspired this mission and has been made real in the world by this work. We finished early enough to go over to Mark’s site to help hang some sheetrock. We have to return to our site for some last details and then we will go back to the Farley’s home for our last day.

Back to camp for dinner at 5:30 PM. Bake potato bar and salad, some great desserts. I gave the blessing tonight. We shared what we were able to get done today. This is always a fun time of joking and sharing of the differences of this culture here in Mississippi. Sometimes we look at other communities and think we know what they are about, but until you sit down with them and listen to what they have endured and how they live their lives can you truly understand them. After dinner we had kitchen clean up while some of the new volunteers got to hear Dee And Jack’s amazing story of how they got to be the camp coordinators. They sold everything they had to do this work and have been doing it for 4 years now. Wow what a witness! We have made some amazing friends here in Mississippi, all created by God’s calling to serve. Without God none of this would have occurred. God is so great, and it just blows me away the Lord’s impact in the world.

In the common room this evening sharing and playing games. This is a great time of fellowship each day. A chance to get to know people whom I have known for years but now know even better because of this mission. God brings us closer together every time we take a chance and serve Him. I just cannot imagine what my life would be like without God’s hand in it. Each time I come here I find myself closer and closer to God and this amazing group of servants to the Lord. The congregation is home praying and supporting us, it is such a comfort to know our families are behind us in this work. I wish they could be here to see God’s work and the wonderful relationships that are created and built stronger. God has truly touched many souls this week, those giving and those receiving, and the world is a better place as a result. If the families we help can talk with their extended families and friends and tell them that these followers of Jesus have come and helped them without expecting anything in return, maybe they too can come to know that God loves them, and truly understand the power of God’s love, and the freedom that comes when you know that God is the creator and the source of strength and compassion in the world. That no calamity or challenge is too big for God, and that there is an army of disciples ready to help, and church communities that can build relationships that we can lean on in tough times. Praise God!

Lord you are so powerful; all your power comes from compassion and love. Thank you for our good health and resources and the inspiration to love our neighbors. It is in the giving to others that true freedom occurs. You lead us to understand that in giving ourselves away that we will have everything we want. You teach us that love and sharing is where the value in life lies. Things can be washed away, our homes can be destroyed, but you Lord will always be there to sustain us. Thank you for teaching us these lessons, if we could just stop our busy lives long enough to listen and truly learn that all power comes from giving instead of taking. If we spent as much energy in service as we spend trying to get things what a world this could be. Lord we need you to help us, as our humanity will lead us down the wrong path. Jesus gave himself so that we would have a chance to truly know you and what freedom we can find if we are servants for you. Amen.

Day 7 Friday March 5, 2010

Our last day in camp started at 6:15 AM. Breakfast at 7 AM, I am going to miss these big breakfast meals. The other Marie gave the devotion this morning about how the Vancleave congregation created Camp Hope right after the storm and how it transformed their little church into a vibrant church community. A real lesson in how mission work can be an important part of keeping churches alive and vital to the work of God. Mark gave the blessing this morning; the prayers at the camp have been wonderful. We all get to realize how powerful prayer is in our daily lives keeping us connected to the Lord every day and how we all need more prayer to stay focused on our walk with the Lord. We had dorm cleaning chores today, sweeping and picking up in the hallways and in the bunkrooms. After we got all our tools and supplies for one more day here, my team went out to the Rhodes home to finish up some small items and say goodbye to our family. I took the relief team shirt we get each year to give to Allen Rhodes to make him an honorary member of our mission team. He was so pleased; he gave me an old camouflage shirt with the sleeves cut off and said I was a real Redneck now. I wore it all day in his honor. We finished about 10:30 AM and said our goodbyes before heading over to the Farley home to help Mark Franza’s team hang some sheetrock. This particular Rhodes family has really connected with us; they exchanged email addresses with us and promised to check in with us to let us know how they are doing. We have been very blessed this week to be able to help them, we put down flooring and repaired some plumbing, that have finally gotten their home back to the way it was before the storm. Learning about their experience during Katrina and the challenges after has helped understand what a traumatic event the storm truly was for this whole region. A storm of this size cannot be planned for; no government could deal with it. I don’t think most people truly understand the magnitude of this storm without coming here and seeing for themselves how the Gulf Coast is still being affected by it now 4.5 years later. These are proud people who are trying to recover on their own but the storm was just to big to handle on their own and they still do need our help. I think a lot of people think they should be over it by now, if they could on their own they would have. I am glad God put this work on our hearts because it has made a big difference and we have made lasting connections with these families in the name of God, and many families helped by the many volunteers know God is real in the world as a result. There are many worthwhile mission going on around the world, this work is just as needed as any other.

We finished hanging all the sheetrock we needed to today. Now the family can begin preparing their living quarters while the repair work to their home can begin. They will have to spend the next year dismantling their home to replace the contaminated Chinese sheetrock that was installed after the storm, and now they have to rebuild all over again. We finished at 5 PM and tried to hustle back to camp as we planned to meet one of the families for dinner. We went to Biloxi to a Chinese restaurant since it has a great buffet. It seemed like it took forever to get there since we were all very hungry from a hard day of work. It was very good and we got back to camp at 10 PM. We traveled down Route 90 on the way back to see how much has been rebuilt since we were here last year. It is wonderful to see that many businesses have returned to the waterfront, but still many home sites remain empty. I think it will take many years still for the Gulf Coast to get back to the way it was before Katrina. Many lives will recover but never be the same. There was one story of a little girl who still gets hysterical every time it gets stormy at all. I suspect many lives have been forever changed by this massive storm. The stories we hear show that the memories are still very vivid for many people here. We pray that God will give these people some comfort from the trauma they have endured. One way we can help is to continue to tell their story and come back to help as long as we can. It is late and all but myself and Terry are still in the common room. I am so tired but this journal needs to be completed so our church can know they have done a great thing here by supporting this mission. THANK YOU CUMC you are awesome!!!

Lord it has been another productive trip. The people here know it is you who has inspired this work, and respect your presence here. We are grateful for all the local volunteers who have given much of themselves to help themselves and the many volunteers who have come from all over the country to help and still they come like our team. The schedule is booked through February 2011! Praise the Lord. Those who have come have seen the ongoing need and have answered your call. Thank you Lord for these lessons you have put before us and changed us forever as a result. I have truly come to understood the power of mission work and will work even harder in the future to spread your word and teach others the faith building that occurs when we follow your call to mission for your kingdom. Please protect us as we journey back to our families who have been patient and supportive of this work. Thank you Lord for creating a congregation that understands how important this work remains and have worked hard to keep this mission alive for the families still in need here. Thank you Lord for keeping our team safe, as we have been your hands this week. I miss my girls as I know the other members of this wonderful team of disciples miss their families too. Until next year. Amen