Our Day Off

We had a day off on Sunday... well, most of us opted for that. ;-) The wind almost continuously blows around here, and it definitely cooled us down when it was warm. However, when it is already cool, the wind chills us to the bone. That's what happened to us this morning: we ate cold cereal with chattering teeth. It helped us chew through that shredded wheat though!

We took some team pictures in the morning, and then had our devotion time. "The band" lead us in some songs, and Dina Louden lead us in devotion. It was just like going to church, except that I got a day off from being the PowerPoint clicker. There's nothing like spending time with your church family singing praises to God.

There were two groups heading to two destinations: one to Pensacola, FL and the other to New Orleans, LA. The majority of the team went to New Orleans in 3 vans. Before actually driving to New Orleans, Ron Delzer lead us through a scenic route where we saw some of the destruction caused by Katrina, as well as some places where people were rebuilding.

When we arrived at the French Quarter in New Orleans, we drove right in the middle of the French Quarter Festival. The crowds were larger than any of the other trips we have been here! It took us a while to find parking, but we eventually met up at the Gumbo Shop. Our group had a variety of food: poboy sandwiches, Cajun food, etc. It was nice to sit down and relax as a group for a nice dinner.

After dinner, we wandered around for a bit. Some went to the Cafe du Monde to taste their delicious beignets (a square piece of dough, fried and covered with powdered sugar). Others were scattered about doing their own thing. It was difficult to see sights with so many people around. When it was time to leave, everyone was accounted for except for Bob Strong. Some of us were a little worried, considering he didn't know where their van was parked, and his cell phone wasn't working at the time. After some time passed, we finally found him and were thankful. Even though some of us were worried, it didn't seem like Bob was worried at all!

Sunshine in Abundance...

Editor's note: been a little busy around here for the past two days, and so I wasn't able to finish yesterday's blog post...

Quick update from Thursday: for the camp devotions, it was our turn to lead the camp devotions last night. We sang some songs: Jeff Peabody lead the vocals, Isaac Peabody played the guitar, and Rick Watson played percussion / bucket. Afterwards, we had a guest speaker, a resident of D'Iberville: Deputy James Morgan and his wife Tara. His family and his wife's family have been in this area for 300 years. Before D'Iberville was a city, it was known as North Biloxi. What a funny man! (Funny haha.) Jerry Drossel described him by saying, "talk about a funny redneck guy!" While James was speaking, there were some funny jokes that had Jerry laughing his head off. James and Tara have been living in a trailer since Katrina, and can't wait until his home is finished. Volunteers have been working on it, but we're not done yet. Despite his frequent display of humor, he sincerely thanked all of us for giving our time "to help people we don't even know."

Now to Friday:

Sunshine. Bright to illuminate our work sites. Hot to turn our tans to burns. :-( It was a sunny day today. I was wearing safety glasses throughout the day, and when I saw myself in the mirror at night, I noticed tan lines from the glasses. Considering other teammates, I was pretty lucky.

Here's some more of what we did on Friday:

• Returned to Ronnie and Colleen's house. Finished installing exterior foam insulation and started with vinyl siding. I'm sure that they were touched once they saw a couple of pieces of vinyl on their house. We weren't as touched as they were when they graciously treated us to lunch again, but we were definitely happy! There was a homemade shrimp and spaghetti salad, barbecued pork chops, sweet tea, and fudge. Delicious!
• Installed more insulation at Harry's house. This day involved more of the custom cut sizes.
• Since we arrived, we have had a team laying brick at a house.
• Drivers were running errands for each of the teams, and they were busy all day.

At the camp devotions in the evening, a homeowner joined us and read us a heartfelt poem that she wrote shortly after Katrina. We were moved as she read us words about volunteers bringing hope back to the people of D'Iberville.

After camp devotions, our group went to Miss Ruby's house, one of our favorite homeowners that some of us got to know on previous trips. She might be turning 90 in November, but she is still as lively as ever. We all sat in amazement as she told us part of her life story. Later on, she served us some late night snacks and we had a small party. Oh, one more thing: on our behalf, Tommy Ann Delzer invited Miss Ruby back to Washington to join us for our D'Iberville debriefing church services in May. Miss Ruby sounded interested and said she would get back to us after checking her calendar. I sure hope she can make it!

Saturday: where did the sun go? Early in the morning, rain poured down on our tents so loud that it woke some of us up. What a flexible team though; we adjusted our work schedules such that we were out of the rain, and we were still quite productive!

A brief rundown:

• On the way to our job site, we packed an 8-passenger van with 10 people! Another aspect of "flexibility" from our team. ;-)
• Finished laying tiles at a house. Now that all the tiles are down, it will spend 24 hours drying and hopefully we'll finish up with the tile work before we leave here.
• Made great progress laying laminate flooring at the same house. Again, we might get the flooring done before leaving.
• The vinyl siding work continued at Ronnie and Colleen's house. The front of their house has an overhang that covered the team as they worked the front of the house. Later on the rain stopped, and it was ideal working weather for us.

We invited Ronnie and Colleen to dinner with us afterwards. They joined us for a camp dinner and our camp orientation. Normally the orientation occurs when a team arrives at the camp. However, we arrived in the middle of the week, whereas most other cases people arrive on the weekends. So we've already had 5 days in the camp at this point. Irene McIntosh from the D'Iberville Volunteers Foundation described to us what happened before, during, and after Katrina, and she showed us pictures. It was a very moving talk, bringing us to tears.

We have a day off from work tomorrow... but that doesn't mean we won't be out and about. ;-)

Second Stages

Our second day of work. Most of us got more rest last night, likely due to some hard work. Based on the various tent reports... every tent is a snorer's tent. :-(

A lot of work was done today. Here are some highlights:

• Regarding yesterday's mucking team, we drove by the house today and saw a Condemned notice. We saw this coming, based on what we experienced yesterday. No more time spent here!
• Returned to Ronnie and Colleen's house. Began installing exterior insulation and plan on installing vinyl siding over it tomorrow. There was a real treat at lunchtime: Colleen went out while we were working. When it was time for lunch, they both came out with trays of food: crawfish, shrimp, crab, bread, homemade potatoe salad, and a homemade sauce! They brought out enough for everyone. Alec Kurtz attacked those crawfish fiercely and ate more than the rest of us combined.
• Installed interior insulation in a new construction. We made so much progress today that we completely surprised the homeowner!

Everyone is doing well. One awesome thing is that our teams are maintaining high spirits. Everyone is keeping a good sense of humor and cooperating to get work done. People are even cheerful when they wait in line for showers...

Pictures? Taken plenty. Hope (again) to have some up soon!

A note on safety: while stapling some insulation, Loran Inman accidentally "stapled" his finger. Right when he hit his finger, his stapler ran out of staples, so it didn't staple him! What an example of God keeping us safe!

Initial foray!

Rough night sleeping. I know one thing for certain: the drivers on Interstate 110 were not sleeping either!

Prior to shipping out, we gathered as a team for spiritual and mental preparation. Jim Kurtz and John Clum gave us assignments, and here's what we did:

• Mucked out a house such that it could be verified as able to be condemned. (Mucking is more or less demolition of a house. Project D!)
• Measured and verified a siding package for suitability of installation.
• Installed a microwave.
• Fixed 3 circuits in a house.
• Prepared material to finish a door opening for a handicapped resident: a Vietnam veteran.
• Surveyed a new house for flooring.
• Began insulating a house.
• Painted the exterior of a house.

Throughout the day we took various breaks and kept hydrated. The weather was mostly overcast with brief moments of sun and rain; definitely good weather for work.

No major injuries! Some suffered minor scrapes but everybody is fine. We're putting safety first. The mucking team is a good example. At first we had a 5-person group at the single story house. I was a part of that group, and we started taking down everything on the wall but the frame. From the wood we were removing, there were plenty of nails sticking out. Later, another team joined us. At the beginning of the work, we all started from the kitchen and room next door. It was crowded, as if there were too many cooks in the kitchen. Swinging hammers in close proximity with others can be dangerous, but we had good communication and made sure we didn't cross paths.

Another one of our teams met with Ronnie and Colleen Foster to help their house. They lost their roof in Hurricane Katrina, but they survived and are living with nearby relatives. As a matter of fact, the Fosters said they survived Hurricane Georges, Hurricane Camille, and Hurricane Katrina! It looks like God's plan for them included miraculous survival.

Today was pretty much a preparatory day. We spent some time planning and determining the scope of various projects. We hope to have some pictures soon... don't miss it!

We have arrived!

Last night, the team safely arrived in D'Iberville, MS. Our flight plans were split up such that we would all arrive in Houston, TX on the same flight, but we would then have 2 different flights to get to Mississippi. The camp was going to hold dinner for the earlier flight, and it was recommended that the later flight should dine out. Shortly after we arrived in Houston, the displays indicated that the earlier flight into Mississippi was late. It turns out that we would all arrive at D'Iberville at the same time. We went to the camp at the same time and dined as a unified family.

Afterwards we held camp devotions. We joined a team of 40 from Virginia Beach; their 5th trip. Here's some of what happened:

• They were discussing a donation of drywall for future use by the teams. The story began with a house that was destroyed by Hurrican Katrina. The house was in the process of being rebuilt, and they ordered large quantities of drywall. However, a subsequent inspection uncovered that the permit for the rebuilding was fraudulant, and that the rebuilt house was to be condemned. They couldn't return the drywall they ordered. They generously donated the rest of their unused drywall.
• One team is working putting up kitchen cabinets.
• Another team is installing insulation into a beautiful large house, and it seems that the "house keeps getting bigger" as the work progresses.
• A team is painting Miss Lois' house. She is an 80 year old woman who lost her husband post Katrina. She's very grateful for all the support she is receiving, both in her home and in her heart.

Blog kickoff!

The D'Iberville Mission #6 blog is active!