Pastor Ed Sheehan accompanied the mission trip and reported back his impressions.
I thought that I would forward my impressions of the trip each night (I hope) Please use them in whatever way you see fit. We traveled for 22 hours on the bus, leaving the synod office at 2:00 pm amidst cheers and prayers of Godspeed from families and friends. It was a long time to be on the bus - small talk with new faces, new revelations from old friends, laughter and Steeler hype, cookies and candy passed around.
Then the darkness came, and gradually a fitful sleep. Waking at 6:30 am Monday at a "Welcome to Mississippi" rest stop.Breakfast at Cracker Barrel - we "grits" fans are in our glory! Back on the bus for the final leg. Fifty miles from Gulfport, and we began to see trees blown over. Five miles to Gulfport, and we saw the first of many "blue roofs," roofs covered temporarily with blue tarp. Then into Gulfport. On the outskirts, the majority of the stores and businesses on this commercialized highway are up and running.
Then we drive to the Gulf. The last 1,000 yards - devastation.
We turn left to drive the 15 miles or so to Ocean Springs - the Gulf on our right, the remains of the town to the left. Three, four, five blocks back - piles of lumber on foundations, bare slabs where houses used to be, oak trees papered with debris, half-standing houses with spray-paint signs, "Do Not Tear Down," an apartment building with only the commercial washer and dryer left on bare concrete. Two "downtown" churches, right on the Gulf, big, proud stone structures, with every window and door blown out, pews, carpeting, altar, furniture, office equipment - all gone. You can look right through the front door and out the back windows where the altar used to be. Offices and casinos damaged beyond repair - mile after mile of a storm's fury.
Then we arrived at Christus Victor Lutheran Church, right about noon. Lunch was served - hot and hearty. Unloading the bus, organizing the tools and supplies sent down earlier, handloading the food and donated goods onto pallets to be put into storage.
Showers and supper - homemade bread and lasagna and apple pie still warm from the oven.
A chance to rest and call home. Then devotions and orientation. The orientation is inspiring and heartbreaking. Bob and Amy, lead coordinators at the church, share of themselves, and the community's struggles and triumphs. The numbers are staggering - 25% of the houses in Ocean Spring are gone, some 80,000 houses on the Mississippi Gulf destroyed. Flooding beyond anything like that of Hurricane Camille in 1969, the worst hurricane here till now. Families that have lost everything, because their insurance won't cover flood damage. No home, no job, no clothes or belongings, and sometimes, no hope.
And yet, hope does come through the community of faith. A trailer from a church at a distance arrives the day after Katrina at Christus Victor - "we thought you could use this stuff," and the church members put up three folding tables, one for food, one for water, one for miscellaneous items, and passes them out to the community. Like the miracle of the loaves and fishes, those three tables become five million dollars of supplies distributed through Christus Victor Church in the last five months. One thousand homes are cleaned out by volunteers working out of the church. Thousands of meals are served to residents and volunteers alike. Hope comes.
We leave orietation, and we are moved.
Wayne, our "first week" coordinator, talks to our group of 45 about assignments for the next day - cooking, roofing, distribution center, hanging drywall, yard work. Pr. Paul Poerske [spelling?] has devotions, and we go to bed, piled in on our cots, side by side in the social hall, with a new sense of resolve, wondering what our first day of work will bring.
Pastor Ed Sheehan
I will tell you up front - it's 9:45 pm here, lights out is soon, and I am tired. So this won't be a literary masterpiece. But I do hope to give you a flavor of the day.
Morning came early here - cold breakfast starting at 6:00 am, hot breakfast at 7:00 am. The nine people from our group of 45 have been up since 5:00 am, getting the meal ready for us and the other volunteers here.
We volunteers really are from all over. Morning devotions leave us inspired as we prepare to go out on our first work day. I am on the roofing crew, with nine guys - three from Hebron Lutheran,Leechburg, three from First Lutheran,Leechburg, and three from Trinity Lutheran, Butler. John Smail is our boss. It takes us a while to get going, because we have learned at the morning orientation that Christus Victor is shifting from primarily clean out work to rebuilding. This poses a new set of challenges - the owner has to have the supplies there, do we need permits, how much are we allowed to do, scheduling times when the owner is there.
Finally, at 10:00 am, we get our van loaded and head out. We pull up to a house where the brickwork is being replaced. On the inside, there are bare studs - nothing more. We are there for a minor roof repair. While we work, Ernest, the owner, greets us and talks. Once we finished, he tells his story. I will relay it in some detail, but you should know that on Tuesday night, when all the work groups reported on their experiences, they were all similar, and they were all moving.
Ernest is a welding supervisor, his wife is a nurse, and they have two school age children, a boy and a girl. Just before the Katrina struck, his wife was called to the hospital, where she worked nonstop for five days. Ernest took the two children 100 miles north, to be with family. They weren't able to get back to their hometown for several days, and could only see the wife/mother a few minutes at a time until she was done at the hospital. The children have been with family up north for three months now, while Ernest and his wife try to rebuild.
They live in a plan of some 60 relatively new houses, about five hundred yards from the gulf. Every house had major damage. Those closest to the gulf are nothing but concrete slabs. Ernest told us that his neighbor rode out the storm. When the neighbor saw the wall of water coming inland, he escaped to the attic of their one-story ranch house (all were similar construction) Moments after he got in the attic, the water engulfed his entire first floor in a matter of 30 seconds, and came up to the ceiling - where he had escaped. After a few hours, the water went out, but his house was full of water, which again caused more damage as it pushed its way out of the house.
This happened to every house in the plan. There is debris everywhere. Most everyone is living in trailers, usually provided by FEMA. They are not big, about 24 feet long. It's all they have.
When we finished the roof repair, Ernest thanked us, and told us that though he was grateful for the roof repair, he was even more thankful that we were there. "You begin to wonder if anyone cares about us in Mississippi," he said. "Thanks for coming down." We talk to each other about our faith in Jesus.
Later we walked down to the gulf and met an older fellow. He told us his story, and remarked, "I'm the retired volunteer fire company chief, and I look after folks. You know who were the first people down here? First it was a church group from Michigan, then some Lutherans from Pennsylvania. It wasn't until a week later that FEMA and the National Guard showed up. I just want to thank you for coming to help us, you and all the church groups."
When you hear that, you just don't know what to say.
Later that afternoon, the roofing crew took on a total roof replacement that will take us the whole week. More in upcoming emails.
After dinner and devotions, our group of 45 shared with one another what we had encountered that day. This is a sampling.
Yard crew One worked on two houses, clearing out debris, tree limbs, furniture, etc. The first lady was so thankful. After five months, she could walk out her front door. They also helped Mrs. Clark, a retired school secretary. When she evacuated, she wasn't able to get back to her home for one and a half weeks. And all that time, she had no way to communicate with her children, who had stayed down here.
Yard crew Two helped one couple - he is 92, she is 88. Their FEMA trailer sits on the slab where there house used to be. They were so grateful for the help.
The painting crew went to the home of a retired military couple. They had to bust out (literally) their ceiling in order to escape. The water came up to theri chins while they were up there.
One guy from the group is doing HVAC work. Several are working in the medical clinic. They described it as just like MASH. There is a large tent, with four tables inside. The floor is sheets of plywood. The patients see one of the doctors/nurse practicioners on the beds - no curtains to provide privacy. There is no running water - they use hand purifiers to clean up after each patient.
In the kitchen, our crew of nine prepares meals for the volunteers and people from the community. One woman came for the first time today. She said that she hadn't heard of Christus Victor Lutheran Church until today, when someone told her about it. "I didn't know about this place - I've been living on the street."
The most moving story for me comes from the drywall crew. They've been working on the home of a family with two young children, both toddlers. While hanging the drywall, they hear their story. When Katrina came, they grabbed the two children and went up into the attic. They were eight feet up, and the water came up seven feet. As they huddled in the attic for hours waiting for the waters to recede, they spot a bannana floating by in the dirty water. The mother grabbed it, peeled it, broke it in two, and gave each of their children half the bannana, because that was all the food they had.
Thanks for your support - please pray for us, but especially for the people living here who are caught up in this disaster. We tell everyone that we are here on behalf of all the Lutherans in Southwestern PA, and that we keep them in our prayers. That is a committment our synod must make - we must - we cannot forget these sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ, and the good folks at Christus Victor Church who make so much good possible.
Now we turn our hearts and spirits and bodies (tired) to the Lord, and trust that he will provide us with a good nights sleep. Let the holy ones have charge over us, and the many folks down here.
Pastor Ed Sheehan
It's been another good day in Ocean Springs, MS, at Christus Victor Lutheran Church. Having gone through the first work day, the coordinators and work teams had a much better idea of what needed to be done. So we all got off sooner this morning.
I was part of the roofing team again. Today there were six of us, going to continue work on Essie's house, which is in Moss Point, some 18 miles east of the church. Yesterday we had taken off the old shingles on one side of the roof, and put down tar paper.
After running around to pick up supplies, we work hard today to shingle the first side of the roof. Five of us are on the roof - John, Dave, Bob, "Big," and myself, while Johnnie is the ground man. Then we take off the old shingles on the other side. It is getting really dark as we roll out the last of the tar paper on side two. We need to get it on because it may rain tonight or tomorrow. Essie can't believe we have one side of the roofing job done already. I get my share of grief as the pastor, and the crew comes up with the title for my next sermon, "A View from the Top."
Two stories from the sharing time in the evening. The HVAC/plumbing crew is working on one house. The family there has been living in one of the 24 foot FEMA trailers you see everywhere, and are trying to fix up one room of their house, with a little bit of everything in it (kitchen, bath, living area, bedroom) so that they can move out of the trailer. They just want to be in their home.
Second, one of the yard crews cleans out a family's yard, piling the debris at the curb out front, where it is scooped up by a monster garbage truck from the city. The family is so excited to have a yard! They still have a blue tarp roof, and their drywall has not been put up yet. yet they are so grateful for the cleanup, they tell the team leader that we can borrow their pickup truck if it is needed to help another family get their property cleaned up. What is remarkable is that the pickup truck is their only transportation - their two cars were flooded and sit, waiting to be towed away.
As I reread my email from last night, I realized I could be giving the wrong impression. Though there is much destruction, it's not quite the same as New Orleans, where whole communities were wiped out. As we travel on the main highway that goes past the church (rt. 90, I think), there are stores, strip malls, doctor offices, a shopping mall, Lowe's, restaurants, etc. The vast majority of these are open at this point. In fact, other than some signs blown down, and some stores still closed for repairs, you might not realize what happened here five months ago. It's when you go into the residential areas between the gulf and rt. 90 that you see so much damage.
However, in our brief drive through Gulfport and Biloxi, it seemed that there was more damage to the business district in those communities. Life is beginning to become more normal, in the sense that the schools are open, as well as stores and businesses. But for the people who have had major damage to their homes (and that is in the thousands along the Mississippi Gulf coast), they are just beginning to see some positive signs. But it will take years to rebuild them all. In the meantime, they live in their trailers, or with friends, or haven't even come back yet. Obviously, I am just a beginner at disasters, but so much work remains to be done.
That's it for tonight. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, and also the victims of the hurricane down here. Now to sleep - these bones are tired. We entrust ourselves to God, who has sent us down here, and on whose behalf we work.
Pastor Ed
It's been another rewarding day here at Christus Victor Lutheran Church in Ocean Springs, MS. Today I took a break from roofing and put on my clergy shirt to help at the Lutheran/Episcopalian Disaster Response Free Medical Clinic. It is located right next to the community hospital, and offers free primary medical care for those who have no health insurance. It is staffed by volunteer doctors and nurses. This week it is Dr. Jane and Nurse Lisa, both from Colorado. I arrive at the clinic, get a two minute orientation, and begin to work as basically the receptionist. As clients come in, I have them sign up, give them the proper paperwork to fill out, look up their medical records if they have been here before, and spend time just talking to them.
Among the 28 patients we see today, there are about seven children (two have full-blown influenza, the doctor tells me later). Another is a little girl, Jacqueline, who has a bad fever. The time goes fast, we eat on the run, and there's always a few people in line to be seen.
One special story among the many. A woman came in with her teen-aged son, for him to be seen, and to refill perscriptions for herself and her husband. (The clinic uses donated medicines, with the doctor doubling as the pharmacist). After seeing the doctor, she thanks me and asks me where I am from - I obviously don't sound like I'm from Mississippi! I reply that Pittsburgh is my home. "Pittsburgh. Really!" she replies. Then she tells me her story.
After her family (husband/wife/three kids) had lost everything in Katrina, they literally had nothing left, only a few clothes. So they went to a distribution center down here some days later, in search of clothing. When they arrived, there was a room full of suitcases - labeled "boy, age 16" or "girl, age 12" or "man, size small." So they picked up five suitcases with the right sizes. Each suitcase was filled with new clothes, all the same size for that person. The kid's cases even had a little toy or game. They were so grateful to have clothes to wear. Her son said, "We have to thank whoever sent this." But all the tags said was, "From a church group in Pittsburgh."
So she thanked me on behalf of the Pittsburgh churches for such thoughtfulness. And she told me that as soon as they get back on their feet, they are going out to buy five suitcases, pack them with clothes of different sizes, and be ready to send them out whenever they hear of a disaster someplace else. It is very humbling to hear of such gratitude from people who have lost so much.
Other stories from other crews. One Yard Crew with a chain saw went to the home of an older couple, whose yard was full of trees and debris. They had gotten an estimate of $4,000 to clean it up. The chain saw crew got to work, and got most of it cleared out. Result - one greatly thankful couple, who could now actually walk in their yard.
The HVAC crew continued to work as their job site, but had a casuality. They broke a leg on the sawhorse, and had to shoot it.
At the evening wrap up, two people in the kitchen crew, a guy and a girl, told on how they locked themselves in the freezer by accident. They weren't missed for a time, and she asked him to help "keep me warm." This got a good laugh from everyone else. (Note to Pastor Sandy - they were both clothed!) The stories we tell each night bring both tears and laughter.
One final experience. At the morning work assignments, all kinds of work crews were set up - roofing, yard work, distribution center, clinic, kitchen, etc. After all these were discussed, our coordinator, Wayne, said that Christus Victor church asked to have some drywall hung in their main hallway, now that they got insulation. This is the church that has housed 3,000 volunteers in the last five months, cleaned out 1,000 houses, fed tens of thousands of meals, and so on, and after all that, they say, "If you have a few extra people, could you help fix up the church." This is truly a giving community, beyond anything I have ever experienced.
It is time to relax before bedtime. Tomorrow I am back with "Rudi's Roofers," as we plan to finish Essie's house by Friday night. More about that project tomorrow. Till then, may God' blessings be with us all.
Pastor Ed
This is our final full day of work here in Ocean Springs, MS. I spent the day as part of the thirteen people who make up "Rudi's Roofers." As I mentioned in earlier emails, we began work on Essie's house Tuesday afternoon. The plan for today was to finish everything up.
I had heard from the work crew that yesterday, Thursday, while I was at the medical clinic, one of them was talking to Essie. She had a window that needed the glass replaced, and the guys offered to install it if she could get the glass. She replied that she only had $12 to last her to payday on Saturday. So the crew pitched in and got the glass, which was installed later that morning.
In the afternoon, in the middle of the heat, Essie came out with a cooler of Cokes for everyone. It turned out that she used her last $12 to buy sodas for all the workers, as her way of saying thanks.
On Friday, we got a good start at 8:00 am, finished up the back part of the house, stripped and reshingled the front porch, and reroofed her shed out back. While this was going on, the ground crew of six cleaned up our mess, as well as all the other debris in Essie's yard. They raked out the yard, installed a new door that they found on the shed (along with a ramp so Essie can wheel out her lawnmower), and spruced up the whole outside.
The two women on the ground crew then went with Essie to buy some flowers, which they planted. Our final project, (and perhaps the most important one) was to take care of the dog, Kayla. She is a big, black Lab, and was friendly to us all. But her doghouse in the back yard was just some old plywood. So we got black and yellow paint, put on a new shingle roof, and painted that doghouse Steeler black and gold. She even got her name painted on the front. I got a good picture of Kayla, Essie's son Bob, and the doghouse - I hope it comes out.
When finished around 4:00 pm, we asked Essie to come out. She was so grateful, she called it a true miracle. She told us that five other volunteer work teams had come out to look at her house, but never came back. After hugs, pictures, and goodbyes, we loaded up the trailer to take back our tools. Essie came out with a beautiful hat, to go out and celebrate with her lady friends. I heard her say, "I'm so happy I don't know what to do with myself."
In addition to helping Essie, our work team had a great time getting to know one another and just goofing around while we worked. Though our butts and knees were sore after being on the roof for four days, it was a great time. I haven't laughed so hard for a while. Just ask any of Rudi's Roofers about our blue bandanas.
On the way back to the church, we went ahead to the bridge over the bay to Biloxi, on route 90. It is a four lane highway. The bridge is closed, but we were able to drive right up to the beach beside it and walk on the roadbed. The causeway must be a mile in length, and the entire concrete bridge deck for hundreds of yards out was just pushed off the pilings, laying in the bay. Close to the edge, the deck pieces are just piled up like a child's building blocks. We just couldn't imagine the force necessary to move these huge chunks of concrete and steel.
Notes from the team meeting in the evening. One of the Yard Crews worked on Esta's yard, which was full of fallen trees. They cut them up and hauled them to the curbside. Esta said, "I don't have to worry about those trees no more."
One of the ladies at the distribution center was talking to a client. After some small talk, this big man talked about his Katrina experience. He had stayed behind, to help his neighbor who had a prosthetic leg. When the storm surge struck, they found themselves clinging to the roof. While they were up there, the man reported, they saw a family of four drifting by holding onto a piece of wood, screaming for help. Right before their eyes, the family of four disappeared under the swirling waters. This big man, about 6'5", just couldn't help them. He can't get that image out of his mind.
The Cleanout Crew went on our one and only clean out. They busted out the drywall on the walls and ceiling, cleared out the bathroom, and removed old furniture. The owner was just so excited to get his house cleaned out.
One of the nurses at the clinic talked to a middle-aged woman who looked terrible. She recently found out she has cancer, and had to quit her job when she started radiation treatment. So she lost her medical insurance, and came to get some perscription medicines. Her two sisters, who normally would be there to help her, had been evacuated out of state, and were staying there. So she was pretty much on her own. Diane, the nurse, said, "Looks like you need a hug," to which the woman replied, "I do." Diane said how thankful the woman was to just be hugged.
The kitchen crew, which does so much work, got a standing ovation from all the other volunteers, especially when they performed their "breakfast cheer." Carl, who is a professional masseur, provided back and neck rubs to the volunteers after his time out on a crew during the day. He performed wonders.
And all of this would not have happened so well without the leadership of the coordinatorfor this week, Wayne. He ran around all week, just keeping on top of things - arranging jobs for the work crews, seeing that we had enough personnel for each job, serving as a liason between us and the full time staff at Christus Victor, bringing us together for the evening team meetings and devotions, running people around, and being positive with everyone. He did great work.
The best way to sum up this week was suggested at the Friday team meeting. It's a paraphrase of the MasterCard commercial.
Bus fare to the Gulf - $100.
Meals on the trip - $50
Cost of clothes so dirty you just throw them out - $25
Money pitched in to complete the job for a client - $30
Experience of helping people on the Gulf for God's sake - priceless
That wraps up tonight's email. I don't know if I will be able to send one out tomorrow, because we are under a time constraint to work half a day and finish everything and get out of here by 2:00 pm.
If I don't get a chance to write Saturday, I hope that you all have found these letters informative, and also moving. I know that anyone who went on this trip would be happy to talk to you in person about our experiences, including myself. We plan to get pictures developed and shared. Thanks again for your support, prayers, and interest. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends soon. Pastor Ed
It's 1:00 pm local time, and we are getting packed up to leave after worship in about two hours. The mood among our bus is one of physical tiredness, but excitement at what has been accomplished. We are all looking forward to getting together again with the other work crews at the dinner, which I believe is March 4th. It would be great not only to see one another, but also introduce spouses, etc., to the other members of the team about whom we will be talking about.
The work team that I have been with through the week was privileged to hang some drywall on the ceiling of the church's entrance hall. We were just glad to be able to do something for the good folks who are members of this church who have done and are doing so much for the community. We got a good bit done, and will leave the rest to the next drywall crew to come along.
At devotions this morning, we met another group of about twenty who came in from Ohio last night. They will be here for a week. And our Southwestern PA Lutheran Synod will be sending down another busload of volunteers this Sunday and the next, for a total of about 130 volunteers.
I am still too deep in the experience to be able to sum it up, or to give it a serious reflection. But it has been moving. We have seen the power of nature, we have heard stories of tragedy, we have seen the people of the Gulf beginning the long process of recovery, we have been part of thousands of volunteers who have given of their time and energy to help those in need in the name of Jesus Christ.
And in the process, we have made friendships that will stay with us in the years to come.
It can probably best be summed up with one of the many posters around the building here at Christus Victor Church. It reads,
"What Katrina did is an act of nature.
What we do here is an act of God."
So long for now. As crazy as it may seem, we are actually looking forward to a 24 hour bus trip overnight, because we will be getting back to families and friends. It is really your love that has sustained us this week. An experience like this makes you appreciate your loved ones in a special way.
May God bless the work of the crew coming down from PA this week and the next; may God grant us a safe trip home; may God keep watch over our families this last day of our absence; and may God bless and watch over the folks on the Gulf in Mississippi, and especially the work of the members of Christus Victor Lutheran Church.
Pastor Ed