"Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good; His Love endures forever."
Psalm 118: verse 1 and 29.
On my first day here we met Becky. She was renting a house when the hurricane hit. They were evacuated and when she and her husband, Sam, came home most of their belongings were destroyed. At first they were lucky enough to be able to rent an apartment but then the landlord jacked up the rent and they couldn't afford it. Now they live in a FEMA trailor at the house they evacuated and wait for the house to be repaired. They are representative of the people down here. There is tale after tale of woe--insurance companies who won't pay, dishonest contractors, aid money gone, etc.
We walked down by the gulf, which is very close to Becky and Sam's. Some houses are still standing as if the hurricane never occurred. Other homes have been reduced to the studs and roof only or simply a slab, or a fence or a chimney. It appears that Katrina was very selective in when she chose to attack. As the saying goes, " You may be the only Jesus some people will ever see." I hope we have been Jesus to those we've comein contact with so far.--Arla
Digging fence posts was sooooo fun--Steve
We woke up at 5:45 and we had eggs,hashbrowns, and bacon for breakfast. During devotions Theron went up and sang with three members from the Missouri team. Jim Tooly, our project director, talked about overcoming fears and how people look at you. We then loaded up into the vans after a shower of sunscreen and we were on our way.
We passed another Walmart and another Waffle House and soon we arrived at our project. We were greeted by an overjoyed elderly man named Charlie. He and his wife, Bettylou, have been living in a FEMA trailer the past 10 months.
Our team dug post holes after clearing some debris. We tore out drywall and installed cement board to a bathroom shower. We also installed two ceilings fans and primed another bathroom. When we were waiting for jobs to be completed so a different job could be done in the same area, we talked to Charlie and Bettylou.
During lunch, Charlie and Bettylou told us their story. Charlie explained that after Katrina they were without power for three weeks and without a phone for 10 weeks. He talked about how he could not get FEMA to clearly explain what help they were to receive. He still has not received any money or clear answers from FEMA. He has done alot of the work hisself or through various church groups. We were the fifth group to help out. We enjoyed spending time with him and his wife and their two dogs, Champ and ChiChi.--Becky
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