A group of 17 from BCC will be leaving Saturday, July 12, 2008, to help build homes for those who lost theirs in Hurricane Katrina. Those going are Jon Hopp, Alex Hyrcza, Kassie Jones, Kent Jones, Jim & Brenda Montgomery, Ron, Karan, & Trent Moser, Andy & Nicholas Rice, Jami Roberts, Jason & Heather Shields, Trent Silvey, and Jerry & Laura Teegarden. The group will be staying in Slidell, Louisiana, at the Slidell Christian Church and will be working in Pearlington, Mississippi. We are going under the umbrella of International Disaster Emergency Services (IDES), a mission supported by independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ.
We will be putting up more information about what we are doing and also pictures during our time there. Be sure to check back each day for updates. Please keep us in your prayers.
day 1
We met at the church's building at 8:30 a.m., packed up, and left at about 9:40. After an inadvertent lap around town we headed toward Lexington. There we got on I-75 and traveled to London, Ky where we ate lunch. After two fuel stops and a restroom break we ate supper in Birmingham, AL at Golden Corral. There Alex and Jon had a contest to see who could hold a fist full of ice and salt. I think Alex won! We then headed to Tuscaloosa where we were stoppingfor the night. On the way we were entertained by the Backseat Boys as Karan dubbed Trent, Jon, & Trent. The day went smoothly and we know God was with us.
Day 2
We got up and had breakfast at the Hampton Inn where we were staying and then left at about 9:30 to go to Capstone Church in Tuscaloosa for worship. It was a very good service. they had five baptisms to start the service, a good song service accompanied by a full praise band, and a good message. The building had a coffee bar which several said they would like to see at our church. We'll see. We really liked the floor. After a noon meal at KFC or McDonald's we headed to Slidell. Just inside the Mississippi state line the church's van felt like it had run over something. I called Andy Rice to see what had happened and he wasn't sure but thought maybe the spare tire had a blow out. the van was still driving fine. WE pulled over into a rest area just a little ways up and discoverd the tread had separated from the right rear tire but was still inflated. WE were able to eventually get the spare tire on which probably was as old as the van (7 years). It was very low in air pressure. Thank the Lord, Kent Jones had brough an air compressor and we were able to air it up right at the rest stop. We praise the Lord for keeping us safe and for providing the rest area right where we needed it. Back on the road we got into a traffic jam which put us more behinhd schedule. After getting lost due to poor google map directions we finally made it to the Christian Church of Slidell at 6:30 p.m. WE had a meeting with the staff of IDES and then ate at Cracker Barrell. Finally, we got unpacked, gotgroceries and settled in. I am exhausted and going to bed. More tomorrow.
Day 3
We got up this morning and ate breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Brenda, Jim, & Alex prepared us sausage, gravy, and biscuits to fuel us up for the days activities. We then got our lunches together and head to the work sites in Pearlington. Most of our group worked at house number 24. Trent Moser, Jerry, and Heather cleaned up the site and burned what they could. They built a really big, hot, fire. Kent & Jason tiled the bathroom floors. Kent cut his wrist, we think on accident. He is okay. Andy & Jon spent the day hanging doors. Kassie filled in nail holes, Nicholas was the go-fer. Karan, Laura, and Jami painted and painted trim and doors. Jerry and Kent also put up moding. Meanwhile Trent Silvey & I mudded dry wall at house 26 and Alex put up soffetting at house 25. Jim & Brenda went grocery shopping for 23 people and cooked supper. We returned back at the church about 5;00, took showers, and ate supper. We had chicken, potatoes, green beans, salad, and for dessert we had brownies, ice cream, and hot fudge. Yum, Yum!!! After supper we had a team meeting, devotions, and watched a movie about people affected by the hurricane. We are now enjoying a little down time and getting ready for bed. It has been a good. We look forward to serving Jesus again tomorrow. We hope that because of our effort His Name will be praised!
Day 4
Not too much to report today. We did pretty much the same jobs. we did get quite a bit accomplished. We met the lady whose house may be dedicated on Friday if it gets inspected. WE hope we get to witness that. Tomorrow night we will get to meet the people of the church and some fo the people whose houses we are working on. We are looking forward to that. Check out our pictures. If you don't want to look at all of them from the beginning click where it says view all images and click where you want to start. Kep us your prayers as we continue to try to let the light and love of Jesus shine through.
Day 5
today we did much of the same type of work. Kent, Andy, Nicholas Jim, John, Jason, Karan, & Laura continued the work at house 24, Heather, Trent Moser, Jami, & Kassie spent the day painting the exterior of another house. Jerry & Alex worked on installing water lines and bathtubs in another house. Trent Silvey and I continued our dry wall work at house 26. We quit just a little bit early so we could be finished eating and cleaned up into time for the church's Wednesday evening service. The service was very nice. Jason, Jon, and Trent Moser helped the preacher, Todd Petty, and another young man in several songs followed by a sharing time of how God is working through this week. prayer time followed and then Todd spoke on 1 Corinthians 13 and love is not rude. This was follwed by a meet and greet time where we got to meet a Mennonite team from Pennsylvania, local church members, and some of the home owners. It was a wonderful time of fellowship. I got to talk to one of the Mennonite young men and got a better understanding of what being a Mennonite is. They were very nice, godly people. They traveled 21 hours straight, 14 people in a 15 passenger van. Going back they will have 15 in a 15 passenger van and will drive straight back as well. Please keep them in your prayers.
Day 6
Day started with a celebration as it was Alex's birthday. He was festooned with ballons and streamers, special birthday muffins with candles (6 - why I don't know), and a card that played the Indiana Jones theme song. We are almost done with several of our projects. The dry walling probably won't get finished. We left early so we could eat and clean up and then go on a swamp tour. It was really interesting. Jon and Alex both touched a live wild alligator (named Teddy) in the Pearl River. We saw several other alligators, birds, turtles and fauna. Following the tour we went back to get ready for the beach. oN the way to the beach we ran out of gas in the church van. We thought we had enough to get to the gas station but fell about a mile short. We thought wrong. After getting back on the road we finally got to Pass Christian where we stopped at the beach. The water was very warm and shallow. Also it had jellyfish which Heather, Andy, Nicholas, and Jason found out about. WE then went to Wally World to get meat tenderizer, vinegar, and benadryl. We eventually made it back home and everyone is doing fine. Alex, Brenda, & Jim had stayed behind to go to a local restaurant and brought us back samples of the food including crawfish and alligator sausage! Yum, Yum. All in all it was a good day with a many memory maker moments.
