2008 Living Hope CRC
Huricane Katrina Missions Trip

Some of our projects

2008-05-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

Kees, Sid & Carl added a small overhang to the roof of the St. Ann Church concession and removed and replaced the outside serving shelf.

Pete, Johan, Arlen & Carl with Laurence, a homeowner we did some finishing work for.

Ken and Ryan on the scaffolding John and Carl were to scared to work on...

Here's John showing his pride at completing an engineering project...well let's just say it...ditch digging.

We're Back

2008-05-03T18:40:00.001-07:00

Sixteen of our team of nineteen are currently driving north on the I-5 just south of Bellingham, having landed in Seattle safely at about 1:30 pm. Most everyone is tired and glad to be returning home in spite of the great time we had and the knowledge that we have made a difference.

We would all like to thank those of you who supported us with words of encouragement and prayer. We highly recommend serving in this way and feel blessed for having done so ourselves.

New Orleans / Headin' Home

2008-05-03T05:22:00.001-07:00

Friday afternoon we arrived in New Orleans which is only an hours drive from where we were staying. We saw many houses that had been boarded up for over two and a half years as a result of the flooding. We walked along famous Bourbon Street and parts of the French Quarter. we were fortunate that John and Evelyn had spent a few days in New Orleans before reporting for work in Mississippi. They were remarably familiar with the main areas to see and easily led our convoy in and out of the city. We had supper at the Hard Rock Cafe then returned to base. Iverna made us a delicious peach cobbler which served as a late dessert.

After a very busy and rewardÍng week we are heading home. After a short sleep (11:30 pm - 3:30 am) we got our stuff packed and headed for the Gulfport-Biloxi Airport. John helped 16 of us get to the airport with all our luggage. He and Evelyn will be leaving on a later flight while Sid will return home with his motorhome.

The Captain just now assured us that we will be taking off shortly so I will end this posting here. (Carl)

Thoughts from Adam

2008-05-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it's 11:16pm, Friday night. We are done. From a leadership standpoint, this trip has been a complete success. You might ask, how might you define success with this? It's easy. We got a chance to see God's hand in this area, working steadily through this organization, as well as others.

First off, I want to mention how glad I am that we came here to Mississippi, rather than New Orleans. I know that both areas were hit hard, but it seems like this area is still so far off from normality, this was confirmed in out touring around New Orleans this afternoon and evening.

When we first arrived here, we had no idea about what kind of work we would be doing, or how it would all work out, I envisioned myself framing up walls, putting up trusses - all the things I used to do in my old job. As it turns out, I was quite wrong. There is a man here, Skip, you have probably read about him already. I had the privilege of spending a large portion of my time with him finding work, and then more work for the crew. This man coordinates the work that needs to be done in this whole area. He receives work requests from St. Ann's and goes through them deciding who gets work done, he then goes and visits each job and verifies the work. He goes to about 5-6 jobs per day. This man has given up the last 1.5 years of his life to serving the people of his own community. He told me that a friend of his, Laurence, had his house started at the same time (last October). As you have read, Skip still has not yet moved in, nor does he think he will move in until late summer, or early fall. Laurence however moved in two months ago. Skip is giving all his time a resources to help his friends in need.

Skip is an inspiration to us all.

I want to also take this time to reflect on this team. I am so very grateful to everyone who has made the commitment to being here, it has truly been amazing working this these fine men and women. This team has completed roughly 9-10 tasks that were given, and not just to satisfactory standards - but to the highest they could provide. Skip and others have been so very impressed with this team with their determination, quality, punctuality, and love of service.

We talked the other night about that this trip was not actually stepping out of our comfort zones, that we took our Christian bubble down with us. A couple members of the team spoke up and said that stepping out of our comfort zone will be doing the same things we are doing in our own back yards.

Think about that for a minute.

We work and live in this backyard... why should we volunteer our time, talents, and treasure? because the Lord has commanded us to serve Himself through serving others.

Jesus says, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'" (Matthew 25:35).

I have seen the people on this team grow in their relationships - with God, with their families, with each other, with myself, and with complete strangers. This experience has been just so very rewarding for myself, to watch this stuff happen, to watch the smiles and the bright-eyes (or not so bright-eyes in the morning ...), makes me feel so proud of this team.

I am going to miss our talks, our studies, and our walks.

I will especially miss not driving around with Skip.

Thanks team for giving me what you gave.

I must apologize if this seems a tad random, I have a tendency to ramble. But you must understand, it is now 11:47pm, and our alarms are set for 3:30am.

My brain is a little frazzled.

Thanks to all of you who have been keeping us in your prayers - we felt them.
Thanks to Carl for keeping this blog.
Thanks to all of you for reading and responding to this blog, your encouragements we greatly appreciated.
Thanks to the congregation of Living Hope for supporting PHC with a great offering.
Thanks to the congregation of Living Hope for supporting our team.

The list could go on. But I'll stop.

"boss man" Adam.

(ps. that's what Janet called me.)

Our work is done

2008-05-02T13:08:00.001-07:00

We hit it hard on the last day trying to get as much accomplished at Skip's place as we could.

Ian, Ethan, Arlen, Ken and Ryan got another good workout today by spreading another two truckloads of soil.

The rest of the group was kept busy cutting, nailing and filling holes in baseboard and door trim. The interior doors were installed and the handles were put on the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Some shelving was installed in storage room and garbage was hauled away.

The group worked at a fever pitch with fourteen people in the house until someone finally called time. We packed up and headed back to Project Hope and Compassion (PHC). Skip's place is coming along nicely. Hopefully he will be able to get more help so that he can finish off and move into his new home soon. The team made a huge dent in this project during the course of the past week.

After some eats and quick showers we hit the road and headed towards New Orleans for a little site seeing. In fact, as I write these words we are heading west on Interstate # 10 in our little convoy.

It has been an amazing week of hard work where we accomplished a lot in spite of unfamiliar surroundings, strange beds, late nights and early mornings. The group really came together early on in this trip and developed a sense of family, which is in fact what we are: the family of God. It was very rewarding to have the opportunity to help people and share the love of God.

More than a couple of the team members have mentioned how rewarding they found there experience to be. Some have even indicated a desire to do something like this again.

Today's blog entry would not be complete without commenting on our hosts. Many thanks to Father Peter Mockler and the rest of the St. Ann Catholic Church and to Karen Parker the PCH coordinator. The facility was amazing and we received everything we needed. Karen's outgoing personality and genuine concern for our needs made her a terrific host.

Two other key people that made our stay so enjoyable were Iverna and Mark Mercer who have been volunteering at PCH. Iverna has been doing a masterful job meeting our gastronomic needs. In spite of the hard work none of has wasted away because the food was so delicious. Mark was the volunteer handyman, fixing what needed to be fixed, and was very helpful in getting us the tools we needed.

Both Mark and Iverna were very friendly and were great to talk to. Thanks Iverna and Mark for using your talents to support us and our mutual efforts to help those in need. Safe travels as you head home this weekend as well.

We're in New Orleans now touring the 9th Ward, so I'm going to end this post or I won't see anything. (Carl) more to follow...

Fried Catfish and Alligator Tail

2008-05-01T19:14:00.001-07:00

Most of our projects are winding down and some of us were assigned small tasks. Some were easier than others as you will soon hear.

Pete, Ed and Johan spent a day rewiring an old house. They removed the old wiring and replaced it with modern wire. Their task was complicated by having to work in the attic a large part of the time. You can imagine how hot it got in an attic under the Mississippi sun.

John spent a day and a half constructing (read digging) a culvert and grate in a municipal ditch. It was definately not the 8th Wonder of the World. John was heard to remark: "Never in the annals of human endeavour has so much energy been spent accomplishing so little".

Skip's residence was a beehive of activity as team members pushed hard to complete their work there. Kelly installed cabinets in the kitchen, bathroom and ensuite. Janet cleaned the tile of grout while Evelyn was busy doing some touch up painting and applying a wallpaper border. Jessica and Chantelle assisted Henry in the installation of Skip's laminate floor. Adam installed some trim and helped others where needed so he got his hands dirty today.

Sid, Kees and Carl stuck close to home and did a little construction for Project Hope and Compassion (PHC). A much needed overhang was built, placed and shingled over the concession stand. The concession is used every May during the Annual Lizana Catfish Festival which is a major fundraiser for PHC. In addition to building the overhang we painted it and the area around it. A true test of our workmanship occurred when someone had to get on the newly constructed roof in order to paint some trim. Carl offered to get on the new overhang but it was decided, for some reason, that Kees should go instead. I suspect it had to do more with Kees' painting skills rather than our 100 lb weight difference.

Ian, Ethan, Arlen, Ken and Ryan spread four truckloads of dirt by hand in an amazing feat of endurance on a landscaping project. In spite of their abuse of the equipment they were given (they broke a rake, a shovel, a wheelbarrow and a Bobcat) they manage to complete the task. They were also present during a "last nail" celebration the CRWRC hosts during the completion of a project.

Pretty much everyone was tuckered out by the time they got back to PHC. Much needed showers did a lot to rejuvinate everyone for supper which turned out to be a real treat and the highlight of the day.

As we are in the deep south it would have been a shame if we did not partake in some of the cultural delicacies that come out of this region. Other than the ice cream bar we had for dessert our entire meal was deep fried in the southern tradition. The highlights included deep-fried catfish and deep-fried alligator tail. Also eaten were deep-fried onion rings, deep-fried hush puppies, deep-fried corn balls, deep-fried okra and deep-fried french fries. Does anyone sense a theme here?

Some of the people we have worked for during our time here joined us at the meal which was enjoyed by everyone including those who don't normally eat fish.

Tomorrow will be a day for tieing up loose ends in the morning and a group "road trip" to New Orleans, which is an hour away, in the afternoon.

Y'all can e-mail us at team@lhcrcmissions.com

Until tomorrow....

Some photos

2008-05-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

I've finally been able to gain access to the internet. All of the previous postings were made using my Blackberry to e-mail the posts to the blog. As a result I have now added photographs to some of the previous articles and will hopefully continue to do so.

The photographs on this page will give you a sense of the devastation that occurred down here.

Another day in the Mississippi Sun

2008-04-30T15:48:00.001-07:00

The Team had another productive day here in Mississippi. Before I report on our daily activities and accomplishments I would like to identify an oversight in yesterdays posting. In identifying all the work crews I failed to mention Adam who was not attached to a crew. Adam has been doing an awesome job coordinating our activities, moving people and materials around, and working with Skip in developing new work for our crews to do. We want to maximize our impact here so Adam's organizational abilities have been very fruitful. We have had very little in the way of downtime. Thanks Adam!

Today Pete, Johan, Arlen and I did some work for Laurence, a 62 year old single man with health problems who is building a new home to replace the one he lost. We trimmed a couple of door and installed baseboards In the main living area.

Ian, Ed and Ethan spent another day at Mikes house and, in spite of some inconsistent and runny concrete were able to finish a driveway. They will move onto another project tomorrow. In spite of a lack of tools and unfamiliarity with the concrete supplier and their product the guys did an excellent job. Ethan apparently found and took pictures of a Gecko today, something not found in BC.

Kelly, Henry, Janet, John and Evelyn continued the work at Skip's house. The tile in three areas have been grouted and the floor was prepared for the installation of laminate tomorrow.

Sid, Kees, Ken, Ryan, Jessica and Chantelle painted a first coat on a ground level bungalow for homeowner Jim. Jim, who was expecting us to provide professional painters, will have someone spray on the second coat.

While everyone has been very busy working at their assigned tasks there have been opportunities to engage the various homeowner in conversation. Discussions include our reasons for being here, and sometimes faith.

Sitting here at Skip's house discussing plans for tomorrow we are appreciating his waterfront view of The Bay of St. Louis.

To those of you who took the time to e-mail us- Thank You! We truly appreciate your prayers and words of encouragement. As always, you can e-mail the team who are read your messages each evening after devotions. Our e-mail address is team@lhcrcmissions.com

A hot day in Mississippi

2008-04-29T17:08:00.001-07:00

Today we finished painting a house for Glenn, a local resident who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina. Over the past few days John and Carl, and at various times Ken, Ryan, Arlen and Ethan painted the entire exterior of the home. The aforementioned young men, being agile and nimble were very well suited to climbing and working on he scaffolding of the house. Ken and Ryan were especially daring as they painted the highest point of the house from the scaffold about 28 feet from the ground. The homeowner was impressed by their efforts as were John and I.

Kees and Sid helped another local resident install windows and fascia board. He had been waiting for help since October.

Pete, Johan, Jessica and Chantelle finished their project for a Janey, a local widow whose garage is being converted to a living unit for her. The exterior was refurbished and painted and some minor framing was done inside.

Kelly, Henry, Janet and Evelyn were still busy at Skip's house laying tile, doing some interior trim and some drywall mudding for a change that was made to a closet door.

Ian and Ed, our concrete experts, poured a slab under a house with the assistance of homeowner Mike and others of our crew when the concrete was delivered. Ian and Ed then spent the rest of the day finishing the slab.

The weather here is beautiful at the moment with temperatures reaching 86 degrees today. We were thankful for the breeze that was present most of the day.

We're back at Project Hope and Compassion, our base here, and are just about to get supper which smells great. I don't know what we are having but suppers so far have been terrific and I'm sure this one will be no different.

This evening we will find out what we will be doing tomorrow and will be deciding who goes to what jobs. I'm personally hoping my new task does not include a paint brush... :)

It is great to see how well the team has come together as we do God's work here. A real family atmosphere has set in.

More to follow tomorrow. Again thanks to those who have encouraged us via e-mail. We can be reached at team@lhcrcmissions.com

The work begins

2008-04-28T18:44:00.001-07:00

After getting up early and having breakfast we raided the tool bins here and set out for our work sites, four in all.

Everyone had a very busy day and accomplished lots. Some of the things we did included interior finishing, tile laying, exterior caulking and painting, cement laying preparation, scraping paint, and fixing damaged wood siding. We are blessed with a great variety of tradespeople with assortment of skills.

Sid arrived today in his motor home and will add his skills to the team tomorrow: no wait, Sid stepped up and was the chief dishwasher after supper, so he has already been put to work.

Tuesday we expect to finish some projects and move onto new ones after that. It's nice to be able to help some folks get that much closer to having their homes finished. All of the homeowner had lost almost everything. One fellow, who was just retired, lost everything and now has to get a job to pay for the rebuilding of his house.

The young people are out playing football, amazing us with their energy.

In a little while we will be gathering for some devotions before heading to bed for some well deserved rest. To those of you who have sent the team a message and words of encouragement- Thank You.

Again, for those of you reading the blog ans following our trip here, you can drop us a line at team@lhcrcmissions.com

Your messages will be read to the rest of the team at the end of the day when we gather for devotions. (Carl)

What we will be doing

2008-04-27T16:31:00.001-07:00

After a quick trip around the area to survey the damage it became clear just how much damage there is here especially in areas close to the water.

Many of the people here lost their homes and received only limited cooperation from their insurance companies because they were insured against wind but not water damage. The problem is that hurricanes can force huge amounts of water inland during the storm, in some cases 6-15 feet high.

Skip showed us three houses in varying stages of construction that were in need of work. In one case we will be assisting the owner with some finishing and tiling. Another house owner needs help with framing and pouring of a concrete pad which is Ian's specialty. The last project will assist a recent widow in the conversion of a garage to a living unit as her house, which was nearby, was totally destroyed in the hurricane.

Well, tomorrow we will finally be getting our hands dirty. Everyone is looking forward to helping people move closer to being able to occupy their homes. This evening we will discuss the work ahead and assign everyone to a crew. (Carl)

Sunday Morning

2008-04-27T08:16:00.001-07:00

After a reasonably restful night considering the adjustment to sleeping on air mattresses in the church hall we had a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs and hash browns. Thankfully Adam found a Baptist church down the road that has an eleven o'clock service.

Later today we meet "Skip" who's is a project coordinator here. Skip will be showing us what our projects for the week will be. I'll let you know what we will be doing once we find out.

Today it is cloudy and raining with very high humidity.

Later today we will be driving out closer to the coast to get a look at the damage that is, according to John and Evelyn, quite evident on the coast. The rest of us couldn't see much because it was dark when we arrived.

If you would like to contact the team with words of encouragement, etc. Just e-mail team@lhcrcmissions.com

More to follow later...

The Eagle has landed

2008-04-26T20:35:00.001-07:00

Our connecting flight with American Eagle Airlines was on a regional commuter jet. It was an uneventful trip.

John and Evelyn met us at the Gulfport-Biloxi Airport. We packed our substantial luggage - it's amazing what you need to pack especially if you need to bring your own mattress, sleeping bag and pillow. We are about to head off to St.Ann's Church where we will be staying.

P.S. Please ignore the privacy message that shows up at the bottom of these posts. My Blackberry puts them there (that's how I'm posting to he blog) and I haven't figured out how to shut it off. In any event, that's it for now. More tomorrow if we have service. If you want to drop the team a message of encouragement or greetings, just send an e-mail to team@lhcrcmissions.com

Carl

We're in the U.S.

2008-04-26T09:06:00.001-07:00

The most difficult part of the trip is over. Yes - Sixteen of us managed to cross the border: Probably the most nerve-racking part of our adventure. We were all processed and issued one week permission cards so that US authorities could confirm we eventually left the country. They started to fingerprint us but then realized that wasn't necessary. All in all though, given the events of recent years, the precautions are understandable.

We're now traveling through the picturesque Whatcom county back roads as Pete has assured us that we will bypass all of the construction on the I-5 near Bellingham.

Ian and I have been discussing the possibility of locating and partaking in a Mississippi catfish fry.

We just now popped onto the I-5 at Mount Vernon and are speeding towards SeaTac. More to follow...

April 13th Missions Trip Update

2008-04-13T14:04:00.001-07:00

Carl made a short presentation during the morning service updating everyone on the upcoming trip which is only two weeks away. After providing some background and an update on our plans, members of the Katrina Team were invited to the stage so that the congregation would know who to pray for. The team has a wonderful cross section of members which includes men, women, young people, married couples and one entire family.

Those of you who missed the presentation can catch it here. Following are links to the PowerPoint presentation and an MP3 audio file of Carl's presentation. Click to play, or Right click and select "Save Target As..." to download to your computer.

Powerpoint (8 MB) / MP3 audio (10 MB)

The members of the LHCRC Katrina Missions Team thanks you for your supports and asks that you pray for safe travel and workplace safety, that arrangements go as planned, strength, endurance and skill, and for opportunities to witness.

We're heading to Gulfport, Mississippi instead

2008-03-05T14:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we're not actually going to New Orleans. Instead, in consultation with CRWRC Disaster Response Services, we have been slated to go to Gulfport, Mississippi which is northeast of New Orleans but still on the gulf coast. Gulfport is the second largest city in Mississippi after the state capital Jackson. It is the larger (population wise) of two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi. As of the 2000 census, the city of Gulfport had a total population of 71,127. Gulfport is co-county seat with Biloxi of Harrison County, Mississippi. Gulfport is the east coast home to the US Navy Seabees, and also the birthplace of American football player Brett Favre.

On August 29, 2005, Gulfport was hit by the strong eastern side of Hurricane Katrina. Much of Gulfport was flooded or destroyed in one day by the strong hurricane-force winds which lasted over 16 hours and a storm surge exceeding 28 feet (9 m) in some sections.

Hurricane Katrina damaged over 40 Mississippi libraries, gutting the Gulfport Public Library, first floor, and breaking windows on the second floor, beyond repair, requiring a total rebuild.

Our first meeting

2008-03-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Adam, in his e-mailed newsletter of March 5th, advised that the first meeting of the Hurricane Katrina team will take place on Sunday, March 9th .

The meeting will he held right after the morning service, in order to not cause much inconvenience and will take place in the council room which is upstairs. The most important part about coming out to this meeting, is to express your INTENT, if you are truly on board, and if you have the finances to carry your own weight. If you are not able to attend, PLEASE inform Adam of your intent.

The dates have been booked

2008-01-27T12:10:00.000-08:00

Adam has been liasing with CRWRC Disaster Response Services and has confirmed dates for the missions trip. They are Saturday April 26 through Saturday May 3, 2008. There is still time for interested persons to sign up. Once Adam receives more information he will arrance a meeting for all those who have signed up.

Timing

2007-12-03T17:53:00.000-08:00

According to the informational handout and questionnaire handed out by Adam, it looks like the end of April or beginning of May for the trip. Later April or early May works better for me as I will have exams mid April...we'll see how it goes.

Group's getting larger

2007-11-19T22:01:00.000-08:00

Sounds like we have a total of eleven LHCRC members that are interested in helping out in New Orleans. One more to go for an even dozen which is apparently what we are shooting for. More details to follow hopefully. I'm psyched.

How far is New Orleans from Abbotsford?

2007-10-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Never having been to New Orleans I wondered how far it was. A visit to Google Maps answered my question ...

New Orleans: A Labor of Love

2007-10-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

I found this video created by "New Orleans: A Labor of Love" on YouTube. They're launching a public awareness campaign to get 5,000 people to volunteer to help rebuild in New Orleans in 2008. It seems there is lots of work yet to do, with many not having the resources to help themselves.

Going to New Orleans?

2007-10-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

Adam, our Youth Director here at Living Hope Christian Reformed Church, started it all off with today's bulletin entry:

CRWRC Disaster Response Services: I am looking to build a team of people to go down to the area that was devastated by the Hurricane Katrina, in August of 2005. Two years later the area still has not been half-rebuilt. In fact, some communities still look like the hurricane hit yesterday. There is still an incredible amount of work to do. I am thinking to go down there in April or May, before the next hurricane season comes. If you are a young adult, or older, if you have trades experience and a strong desire to serve Christ and others who have been devastated by Katrina, please come and talk to me. ~Adam

The thought of going on a missions trip has been pulling at me for some time and I feel that I'm (Carl) being led to do this. I hope there are enough others who feel the same calling for this opportunity to serve.

2008 Living Hope CRCHuricane Katrina Missions Trip