Yesterday, Texas. Today, Mississippi!

Good mawnin’ from southwest Mississippi! Yesterday Mack and I loaded up my little car and drove five hours to Bay St. Louis, where we will be for the next two weeks doing hurricane relief work. And when I say “loaded up my car,” I do mean that literally. It’s sort of embarrassing how much I require in order to survive for two weeks with my looks somewhat intact.

But here we are, in our home away from home ever since I first came down here in Thanksgiving. My pastor, Rick, oversees a base of operations here, which is basically a house large enough to squeeze in about 25 sets of bunk beds. And three bathrooms, heh, meaning there’s always a line and a five minute shower limit. (Which Mack and I shamelessly break every time we step inside. Lord . . . for all those people who have gotten cold showers because of us, please forgive us . . . ;)

There are always a bunch of different crews down here from various parts of the country, volunteering their time to help rebuild this devastated little town. Right now, for instance, there are about 47 people here from Kansas, most of them teenagers. Of course, I, ever the people person, am reveling in the craziness – so different from my quiet, boring apartment at home!

So I will be carrying on my regular blogging duties from here, hopefully tossing in a story or two as the people here give me new material to work with. An unharvested field of blogfodder! How I do delight in it!

It’s Like Real World Meets the 700 Club
From the beginning of this ministry (Rick came down here twelve days after Katrina hit, with several other ministers), Rick has insisted that this camp remain open to any person who calls him or herself a Christian. Which makes this operation a little bit unique – the Baptists, for instance, have their own base camp where all the Baptists go, and so do the Foursquare people (and probably other denominations of which I’m unaware), but this is the only ministry I’m aware of who accepts any Christian of any denomination.

Frankly, I think Rick orchestrated it that way simply because of the amusement and hilarity he gets from putting a bunch of Pentecostals and non-Pentecostals together and forcing them to work and worship together for a week or two. Actually, in hindsight it’s been an excellent decision – I can’t even begin to tell you of the scores of people who’ve come down here and discovered – as did I – that there was a greater depth and power available to them in their walks with God than they had previously experienced.

Freedom from Religion
Take, for instance, the group of young Amish people who came down here for a few weeks. They left completely different people, going home and having beard-cutting and bonnet-burning parties. The ladies went shopping for new clothes and the guys got driving permits. Needless to say, their newfound freedom from religion did not go over real well in their communities. A council convened, they were banned, and Rick went up to help them start a new church. Last Wednesday, during an all-night prayer meeting, all of them – I believe there’s about 15 of them – received the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues for the first time in their lives. Since then, one of them even called Rick with a report of them praying for a little boy who had been hit by a car. He had no pulse and was feared dead, but after two of the formerly Amish guys prayed for him, he sat up from where he’d been lying in the road, completely healed and free from pain.

So now you know why I come down here! God is so obviously working here, and I love being in the thick of it. Tomorrow, I’ll give you some background about this ministry and some of the people here and answer any questions you may have, but right now my friend Sabrina (in whose room I have my computer) needs to go to bed. She’s talking to her stuffed animal Eeyore, so yeah, I better let her go to bed quick!

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