Thank the Lord, it is His love that arranges our tomorrows and whatever they bring.: Mississippi Mission Trip "February 24th

"Partnering With Presbyterians In Gulfport, Mississippi"

In August 2005 Hurricane Katrina proved that human wisdom cannot be compared to the power of God in nature. Waves reaching nearly 30 feet pounded the shores of Louisiana and Mississippi, followed by extreme winds and rain lasting for 14 hours. When they announced to our church that Word and Deed was planning on sending a work team down to Mississippi, my Mom thought it would be a great experience... (and a nice mini-vacation :) Word and Deed came into contact with First Presbyterian Church (PCA), a mostly elderly congregation in Gulfport, Mississippi, and their new pastor, Rev. Guy Richard. The church building was severely damaged by Katrina and needed extensive rebuilding. The homes of 35 church families were also damaged; 23 families lost everything. In order to accommodate mission teams who come to help, Pastor Richard set up a "base camp" on church-owned land some ten miles away. This is where we came in... A Word and Deed mission team composed of 12 people from the St. Thomas, Ontario, Free Reformed Church and five from the Wyoming, Ontario, United Reformed Church set out on a week of eye-opening experiences, hard work and fellowship working to rebuild homes that were damaged by the storm. Our group tore off old shingles or at least what was left on the roof tops of the houses and laid down new shingles. I got to tear down moldy walls, paint, cook in the kitchen at camp, pull up wet, saugy, moldy hard wood flooring and help with shingling. I also had the chance to talk to some of the home owners and listen to their stories of survival. And then there was camp!! Sam and Bonnie Campbell from Delaware, USA were our camp cooks for the week whom we made great friends with. We met other teams from all over the US; Kevin and his crew from North Carolina, Charlie and Elizabeth from Pennsylvania, Canarican (Jason), his dad, Ed and their crew from Boston and Delaware. This trip also gave me the chance to get to know the other people from our area a bit better. I think we really formed close relationships with everyone and I am humbled and blessed to have been a part of that!! Here are some pictures of our journey to the Gulf Coast...

This is a picture of the First Presbyterian Church that was almost completely taken out by a 32 ft. wave.

This is the church sign of the First Baptist Church... or read as... "Fist Bist Hurch"

This is a picture taken in what is supposed to look like a residential area... but clearly you cannot see any houses...

Here is a swimming pool full of garbage and unsanitary water... I guess there won't be any swimming in this pool :/

Here is a bunch of us being very patriotic to our country... (from left to right) Me, Aaron VanMaanen, Ben VMS, Mike VanMaanen, Jon Dietrich, Cynthia James and Sarahlynn James!! Behind us is an army tent, that was where we ate all of our meals...