Day One of Hard Manual Labor :)

Boy, am I wiped! I spent all day hauling limbs and clearing brush, but thankfully it wasn’t too hot or too buggy. I am all scratched up as well but I did get a little sun, which my skin hasn’t seen in years. I’m hoping to have a nice little farmer’s tan by the time I leave.

Something you can always count on when you work for people who stayed here through the hurricane is that they will always tell you their stories. Most of them will even start crying as they relive that terrible day all over again. We like to listen and ask lots of questions though, because it’s therapeutic for them to tell their stories. They can’t very well run to their neighbors and say, “We got nine feet of water in our house!” because their neighbors may simply reply and say, “Well, we got fifteen!” So it’s good for them to tell their story to outsiders who can’t top theirs.

Anyway, the lady we were working for today told us her home received $90,000 worth of damage, but received only $9,000 back from the insurance. Her son, whose home was flattened, received only $2,300. It’s a horrible injustice what FEMA and corporate insurance are doing to these people, but so many of them will tell you that the church stepped in when the government and their insurance companies failed them.

A Little History Lesson
Okay . . . I promised a little background on this ministry, which is quite a story. Like I said yesterday, Rick and five other ministers came to Bay St. Louis twelve days after Katrina. They made this town their destination when another minister, Darren, who was working for FEMA, told the five guys that this was one of the hardest hit areas he’d seen. Darren met them in town and began passing out chainsaws.

“Here are your pulpits,” he said. “Now go preach.”

And preach they did, spending the next two weeks pulling bodies from piles of rubble and praying with the survivors. A couple of days after they arrived, while driving around, Rick passed up a group of people working in a yard and felt the urge of the Holy Spirit to help them. Afterwards, one of the ladies offered the use of her property to park the motor home they were living in while she left and took her parents to St. Louis for three months.

To thank her, Rick and the other men began mudding out and cleaning her house, only to realize it wasn’t in that bad of shape. With her permission, they moved in and in two weeks’ time, they had electricity – even before the street lights were turned on. People began to come over to charge their cell phones, and so began the ministry here, as the men got a chance to pray for the people, talk to them and listen to their stories and figure out more ways they could help.

The ministers sent out a mass e-mail appeal for volunteers, and the flood of people hasn’t stopped. Churches from all over the country have sent truckloads of supplies and building materials, and it’s truly amazing how God has supplied. To date, three houses have been donated to the ministry, as well as an SUV and other miscellaneous items.

More tomorrow, cuz right now I’m beat . . .

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!