Our family of 4 went on this mission trip together. It was the first time any of us had ever been on one. Our boys are 12 and 14 yrs old. They were really wondering how this boring trip could have slipped in and taken over the family vacation to Disneyland, the one place they are absolutely sure EVERY kid their age has been to, except them. I must say when we look around, the people here in Washington seem to be well traveled (at least all the folks we know). The mission trip was an opportunity that was whispered to us in that soft spoken voice our Pastor has, “Would you be interested in going?” When I heard the question....it took about 1 second to answer, and then when I asked my husband, he took about 1 second to answer too! It was a great feeling just knowing that we were both on the same heart page. When we approached our boys about this awesome opportunity, we got the deer in the head light look. Wow, their world turned upside down on them that day and we were smucks for changing plans on them. Not only were they going to Mississippi where it would be very hot & humid, they would be driving in a van for a total of 5 days and would be leaving the first morning of NO school. They brought up that idea of sleeping in for the very first time on a summer day. We were not off to a great start selling this idea of a mission trip in place of a family vacation. They moped about it all the way to the church van.....they hopped into the van and “Our Lives Have Never Been The Same Since.” All the negative went out the side door when we entered, and God took over from there. He’s so great that way, we just got to stand back and watch it all unfold for our family.
Our boys got up every morning ready to go, more importantly WANTING to go! To see them work long days under extreme heat, yet recognizing “The Face of God” at least once if not several times each day, was one of many, many blessings. When you hear your child say “I just saw the face of God, Dad & Mom” straight from their heart.....it is as sweet as a song from an angel.
As for Marlon and I, we took each day and submerged ourselves from head to toes, and from heart to heart with an open mind and open arms to embrace whatever God put before us. The jobs varied for us and each one felt just as important as the next. So many names and faces and stories. So many tears and hurt and pain. We actually cried WAY MORE every day over the Blessings and Miracles we experienced, then tears of sadness from what we heard and saw. I guess that’s another beautiful thing God is capable of showing us. With all the pain, Love is so much more powerful.
We were Thanked by store clerks, post office folks, waiters and people from a tire shop, the custodian of the church, a man standing at the memorial we visited, the Home Depot delivery man, an A/C furnace dude, lots and lots of folks from Mississippi, and even people waving at the van as we drove down the freeway. It felt really different to be doing good works and to have so many people appreciate every single thing you did. Your smile, hugs, tears, a listening ear, a small purchase to help out with an elderly man’s income, making and serving food for other servants, taking garbage out, sweeping glass up......do I get to write a book? I know, not now.
I leave you with this; there is more love in Mississippi right now then probably any other place in the U.S. The appreciate is times 1,000 of what you actually give. The people are saying “Thank you God, for what we have.” (not Lord, why?)
We are home now, the week is slowly going thru my mind non stop. It is hard now....those tears of sadness have let go and the weeping and pain has started, now that we’re not so busy in the middle of it all. This is turning out to be a harder time then it was when we were in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Please pray for all who went on this trip, and please be considerate of our feelings at this time, because it is heart crushing to see such devastation and meet so many people who’s lives will never be the same.
Peace and Understanding,
Rochelle

Since being home from Biloxi I have really been struggling to get back into my life as I was living it before the trip. Everything seems so small and unnecessary. Before leaving on the trip I was wishing for my kitchen to be restored to normal and for all wildlife to evacuate our house. When I arrived to Biloxi and started working with Patricia and David, I soon realized that I did not care about those things any longer. I have so much now, and there are thousands of families down in Mississippi with NOTHING!

Yesterday (Monday, July 10, 2006) our paintings from Bill arrived. I immediately had a rush of feelings flooding my body again. I began to think of Bill and where he lives, and the unknown he faces each day. I continue daily thinking what is the current status on the house for Patricia and David.

I believe that as a group we grew close during this trip and discovered hidden talents about each one of us. More than that we really saw working together and leaning on each other was needed to get through situations we faced. Rochelle and I had a situation we were faced with immediately upon our arrival to Bethel Lutheran. Together we worked through this challenge; and I believe this was an opportunity to strengthen the great relationship we had prior to our journey.

Emotions ran like rushing water in a river during our journey. I don’t recall a “Face of God” session where someone was not tearing or straight out crying. Some were happy tears and some were sad tears, but nonetheless tears that we ALL shared. I remember the last ride from the Patricia and David’s to Bethel. It was Friday afternoon, we were hot and tired. Normally there was discussion; what we need for the next day, or what we had done etc… This day we sat in the van that pastor was driving and nothing was said. It was a silent ride; this was a time of reflection. I can remember as we drove do Hwy 90 the tears streaming down my face, this was not a new experience, however, this particular day was much harder. Again, we passed by the cemetery (as we did each day) and again, I was choked up with emotion. This place of peace where these people have been laid to rest; and it is destroyed. The crypts are destroyed and may never be restored again. Then I think are there any family members left in the area, are they aware of how their loved ones graves are destroyed? Are they themselves in a place of destruction? I can’t answer these questions and I struggle with that daily. I was there for a week, but feel like I barely scratched the surface.

Now that I am home I want to drive the point home to people here. I want to speak with electrical unions, and plumbing unions. These people need to know they are needed. There is a need for household items as well, used or new; I want to organize drives. I want to speak and let people know there are people in need. The media has dropped the story, and I feel it is my mission to pick it up. The people in Mississippi are no different than you or I they are people just like us. They deserve what we have home, family and security. Right now some may have family and others may not, some may have a partial home and others nothing. I ask you is this how you want to see yourself or a loved one live. We are all “Children of God”; we need to help each other. We need to start now in spreading the word, and working together to care for this community.

I believe that Cross and Crown has many talents, and we can make a difference. This is our time to use our talents and make a difference.

Child of God,

Stacey~

Greetings, everyone!

I never got a chance to post to the blog before we left for Biloxi – there just wasn’t time. And I didn’t get a chance to post to the blog while we were in Biloxi – there just wasn’t time there, either. So, now that we’re home, I’m going to give it a try. Too many things happened to try and talk about them individually, and anyway – hearing about it just isn’t the same as living it. So, I’ve decided to focus on something I learned instead. I learned that I’ve never really understood what is “possible”.

Following is a list of things that, before Biloxi, I would not have believed were possible. I was wrong…

- Housing 100 volunteers per night in a church the size of Cross and Crown – not for a night or two, but night after night, week after week and month after month
- A Mississippi Power truck that drives down a street of homes in a mostly deserted neighborhood where almost no one even has power just when you will have to stop work because of a seal on the power box that can only be opened after consultation with the power company, and actually stops when suddenly pursued by a band of dirty, sweating, shouting and excited strangers
- Cooking two meals a day for 100 in a kitchen just a bit bigger than mine at home, with a single ordinary kitchen stove with one oven (not a commercial stove and oven) and a single, home-style dishwasher – again, not for a day or two, but day after day, week after week and month after month
- Turning a two-stall horse trailer into a portable shower facility with just a little bit of imagination, two pre-formed shower stalls, and some pipe
- 100+ people living day in and day out in a church with a four-stall ladies’ room, a two-stall/two-urinal men’s room (so I am told), one handicapped restroom, and one plain, ordinary bathroom, with shower, off the sacristy
- A family that has lost everything, including their car and pet dog, and still manages to greet strangers with a friendly smile, words of welcome and greeting, and encouragement in time of our loss and need
- A store clerk willing to personally deliver the very last tub enclosure available to a house where no one lives on the same day it is purchased
- A home nearing the move-in stage, thanks to unknown strangers who mucked the house out and fixed the roof, Methodists who hung the sheetrock, and Baptists from Tennessee who perfa-taped and mudded (and, they were willing to let us use the one working john for blocks around!)
- Getting 100 hot, sweaty, dirty and tired volunteers through three showers with enough success that no one not in on the secret would have believed that showers were in short supply
- A competent business woman and mother, acting as an electrician in a pinch, fishing a wire through one hole, around a blind 90 degree corner, and out another hole – on the first try
- With Andy's help and expertise, cooking seven turkeys in one oven in one day and having them ready to serve for dinner at 6:00
- Three vehicles (two with over 100,000 miles already logged) safely driving 6,408 miles each in a matter of days with no more trouble than a flat tire and a failed re-tread

I pray that I will never view what is “possible” with the same blind eyes again…

Mark 9:23 – “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

Yours in Christ,
Melodie Campbell

Most of us are now back home, following stops in airports and some long distances covered on the road. A couple more are still out on the road, spending time with family on the way home. We lost a tire on the church van 3-4 miles outside of Ontario, Oregon. That set us back some in terms of time, but while at the Les Schwab dealership in Ontario we were blessed by Cynthia, a Les Schwab employee who insisted on putting the bill for the new tire on her account. We had the money- that wasn't the issue. She wanted to bless us. Lots and lots of people have found ways to bless this project. While in Mississippi, during devotions one night, I spoke of "riding a wave" of goodwill toward those who travel to the Gulf Coast to work as volunteers. I found myself riding that wave all the way home, having chances to speak of our trip with strangers at gas pumps, restaurants, and other places. We were also blessed by Ann's father Frank and his wife Pat, who prepared a beautiful dinner for us in Tulsa, and by Mel and Faye, Melodie's mom and dad, who put breakfast out in West Jordan, UT. The trip is long, even with several drivers to share that work, but we were blessed throughout.
When we pulled into the Bethel Lutheran parking lot in Biloxi ten days ago, I felt this relief- that now there were 21 other people who would be spending the time on the Gulf Coast and then trying to describe what they were about to see and hear. I, for one, can't wait to hear more from everyone. I haven't seen many pictures yet (except my own) and I"m looking forward to that also. We have so many people to pray for, so many people to be thankful for, so many people with whom to try to stay connected.
I was blessed to share a word at worship on Wednesday evening, and I spoke on Revelation 21- about that day when "mourning and crying and pain will be no more." I got closer to that word last fall, and once again during our time on Gulf Coast over the last few days. The healing that we saw and heard about, the healing that we got to be a part of, the blessings and the wave of welcome and of connection that we got to enjoy, they are all amazing. In the end, though, they are all signs of a day and time to come that is so much bigger and better. We have a hard time communicating the blessings that we've seen. How much more difficult it is to get our minds and hearts around that day that is promised to us. I believe that we have had the blessing of spending a few days in places where God is working all kinds of signs and wonders. There's so much mourning and crying and pain, though, that thoughts of that day of the Lord at the end of time have not been far away. Maybe that's the best blessing of all for me. - Pastor Glen

Bill, Patricia, David, James, Johnny, John and Virginia (Jinks) who prayed with Isaac and me for Marion back home, Judy, Jerry, Sam, Evelyn, Douglas and all of the family of Jerry and Colette Vierling, Marie, Elmer, and all members of Bethel Lutheran Church, Biloxi, near and far, Tiffany, Terrell, Jaren, Jessica, Jourdan, Jezebel the dog, Andrew, Susan, Pastor Otis, Pastor Derek, Natasha, John, Annie, Gloria, Cora, Virginia, Terrence, Destiny, Tamika, Halda, her dog Mocha, and the rest of her family, the man from Texas and his wife for whom I called 411 and relayed directions while in the Edgewater Mall parking area looking for some other place, the elderly man who was taking a walk down Fayard street in East Biloxi in the afternoon yesterday, Rava, Bill, Orlin, Joan, Randy, Kyle, Neil, Mary, the rest of the young people from St. Peter and St. Paul Episcopal Church in Arlington TX, Pastor John from Salem, Pastor Mary from PA, Judy, Skip, and all of her people, Pastor Barbara from Southern CA, Linda, Bea, Tyler, Pastor Judy from Christus Victor LC in Ocean Springs who is in the hospital here after a heart attack, her husband Tim, "other Glen" from Salem OR, Dorothy, Verna, Markita, Betty, Tommy from Furniture Galore and More, D.W., who let me walk around on his shrimp boat in Pascagoula, Dale (owner of Southern Tradition restaurant), Allison, Pastor Eric and all of the people of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Biloxi, Maria, Alys, Alynne, Barb and Ray, Michelle, all who will be at the first worship service of Community of Christ Church, Moss Point MS, one week from this Sunday...
I had in mind to ask around for names from this trip to put on a prayer list to take with us. I got sidetracked, so this is my first shot. If you're praying with me, don't forget to include, in no particular order, Emily, Marlon, Don, Jessica, Erin, Mitchell, Tor, Ashley, Isaac, Scott, Rochelle, Dave, Bill, Scott, Stacey, Ann, Sue, Derek, Christine, Andy, Melodie... these last 21 names became part of the story of this place whenever the story of what happened here got into each person's heart. I have been so thankful for each one, each with unique gifts to bring, just watching each move around this church and this area, hearing reactions... We pulled into the parking lot, with the water tower in the background, just like on the first picture of my little slide show last October- we pulled in here almost a week ago, and it has gone so very quickly. Now it's late, and it's time to pray my way through this first try at a prayer list. Here are some pictures from Moss Point, MS this afternoon. Many more pictures to come. - Pastor Glen

I spent most of Tuesday in the kitchen, cooking for the volunteers. For a long time I didn't think that day had anything interesting enough to write about, since I didn't meet anyone who had survived the hurricane or had anything like the experiences I'd had the day before. I did come up with two rules for getting through a day in the kitchen though, and now that I think about it they're not bad ideas for the other days either. Here they are:
1. Pray for a servant's heart.
2. The best you can do is all you can do.
Overall, although it was a completely different day from the day before, it was just as rewarding in its own way.

In case you're wondering what it's like to stay here at the center, it sort of reminds me of summer camp. There isn't much privacy but there's always something to do and plenty of people to talk to. Lights out is allegedly at 10 pm, but it seems to have gotten looser every night. In fact, I'm flagrantly breaking the rules right now, and I'm not alone in here. There are three showers, one inside and two outside (but those are fully enclosed). The trick is to remember to sign up early the day before if you want a late afternoon or early evening shower. The day I was in the kitchen though, I went in around 9:30 am when all the workers were out and took a marathon shower!

We've gotten to know people this week from all over the country. There are quite a few from PA who are hearing about flooding back home while they are here. It's so hard to see them gathered around the computer looking at their local news on the web. I hope all their families and homes are safe. Meanwhile, at least speaking for myself I have found out things about each of the 21 other people in our group that I might never have known without spending this week with them. People's gifts have appeared in some extraordinary ways, and I suspect that my Sunday mornings back home are going to be a lot richer as a result.

I'm grateful to have gotten the chance to go on this trip after such a short time in this church, and I hope that everyone reading seriously considers doing something like this. It's impossible to describe the experience and all its rewards sufficiently for anyone to really understand, but they are there. Even the rough parts of the trip have truly been growing experiences for me. If you want to know anything at all about what it's like to come down here, please just ask.

/Ann

Tonight all 22 of us were sitting in a place called Southern Tradition in Woolmarket (north and a little bit east of Bethel), eating catfish and shrimp and other things that I'm sure will be talked about once we get home. It was good to have every single person from our group together, as we've been doing different things in different places. Today I think I visited each one. Lee has spent the week working in the big tool shed up the street at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. He's been there all week, and he's ready to go back tomorrow for one more day- a busy one, probably. Many of our group were working at Patricia and David's house in East Biloxi, continuing to do wiring and other things and taking delivery of a bathtub/shower insert. Four more were at the Food distribution center at Good Shepherd during the morning. Isaac and I were working once again at the home of an elderly couple who are trying to move from their FEMA trailer back into their house. In the afternoon, five of us drove to Moss Point, 35 miles east, to try to work to set up contacts between Lutheran Disaster Response/Habitat for Humanity and a missionary church in an area that hasn't had much attention since the storm (see the picture below).
Even amid all of the roofs that have been repaired since I was here last (blue tarps everywhere back then, very infrequent now- in this area) the effects of the storm are never far away at all. At the restaurant this evening, I asked the owner what damage his place had had. He said that a tornado took the roof from part of the dining room, but was repaired quickly. While the power was out (nine days) he iced the food he had in storage and then got a generator, started cooking, put up a sign on the road, and fed people until he ran out of food.
Tomorrow those who have been working at the house site will be treated to lunch by the owners. I hope to be there too, although I haven't been among those doing that work. I met Patricia and David, the owners, today, and it was very sweet. Patricia (shown in the picture, in front of her house) started to cry when she saw some plants and flowers that people of our group had bought for her. I gave her a hug and told her that back in Renton the preschool kids and I sing God is so Good, so good to me. she said "Amen."
We had worship here last night. Christine played her flute, and Sue played guitar. Many of our people showed up without their shoes on, and now they are calling for a 'barefoot Sunday' sometime at Cross and Crown. It was well attended and felt good and right. When we invited everyone to say names out loud for the prayers, it was good to hear the names of people back in Washington, just as it was good to pray for M. tonight before dinner. We will have a busy day tomorrow, some goodbyes to say and some traveling to do. It will probably be sweet and very difficult at the same time. I think that the difficulty in saying goodbye to Mississippi is some kind of measure of the quality of the week that we've had.
-Pastor Glen

Today is our second to the last day here in Biloxi. There are many emotions being experienced each hour of the day. There are times of great joy, and there are times of sorrow for those in Biloxi who need help, but have not yet received help. Each day we make more and more progress on the construction of our house we are working on. However, if you take a moment and really look at the block we are working on you see a really large picture, one that you know you is more than you can accomplish. We are very proud of our success and the work we have accomplished this week, but we realize this is only a minute glimmer of hope for this block.

Each day as we drive through the Hwy 90 area we see yet more destruction. There is so much destruction that one cannot possibly take it all in at once. Taking pictures is only a beginning to sharing what we are seeing, you really need to experience this in person. The people here in Biloxi are so THANKFUL for everything, even those who have not suffered a great loss.

Today we brought a small hanging basket of flowers and and a potted tree to the owners of our house. When they arrived the wife broke down in tears, she actually had to take a few minutes on the side of the house to compose herself. These are things that we just think of as no big deal, but to them it is a big deal. This represents life, something that the people of Biloxi thought may have been gone forever.

Life down in Mississippi is different, there is a chance that it may not ever really go back to what it was. But we (Cross & Crown) have given a large effort to help this area. There are several of us on this mission that have a large desire to return in 5years or more and see what this area has become. They will get through this, but it will take a large amount of support physically and financially. We (Cross & Crown) really need to spread the word, we need to make everyone aware. This is so BIG that all of Washington needs to know that Mississippi needs our help! God is at work here, and when you are here you feel it and see if everyday.

Tomorrow will be our last day at the house and I am feeling sad tonight. I know we have accomplished more than anyone every expected, but I want to do more. I myself would stay here for months it I did not have family, work and other commitments waiting at home. I love my life in Washington, but feel that this is a worth while mission. I truly hope that I will have the opportunity to make this trip again in the future. During our time here we have not only connected with hurricane Katrina survivors, but we have built friendships with other volunteers and the Bethel Lutheran Church community. This trip has been a faith building experience, we all had faith but now we have seen it working minute after minute and our faith has grown stronger. There has not been a night yet that I have not shed tears, both happy and sad this is all part of the experience and I would not hesitate in a minute to go again.

Last but not least today we went for the last time to see our "Bill". Several of us our bringing home paintings that he has done. When we arrived today, Bill had already developed our photo and framed it for everyone to see. We are a very bright star in his life, and I ask each of you to take time to include him in your prayers.

God Bless you all,

Stacey~

It is so odd to be able to go East via highway 90 to 'downtown' Biloxi and the home site being worked on by Cross and Crown. That stretch was closed in October, and traffic was a nightmare. I've used other roads that were closed back then. It's good to know things are changing and getting repaired, but I've been struggling a little bit to keep up.
This morning I stopped by and saw the home in East Biloxi (see pictures on Ann's entry below)and the various Cross and Crown members working very hard on electrical and many other issues. Isaac and I had finished helping a couple to move furniture, etc before carpet arrived (two weeks early). While there, I met a dog named Jezebel- a St. Bernard/German Shepherd mix. Her owner, Tiffany, told me that they had another dog, a Golden Retriever, who was killed by a truck a few days after the storm. Their fences had been blown down, the road was much busier than usual, and the dog was frightened by a thunderstorm and ran out. They keep Jezebel on the tether now, because they're concerned that she might run off as well. Jezebel really needed some petting and some talking to, or else I needed some dog time, or both.
Jezebel lives in Woolmarket, on the same highway that I traveled last October on the way to take people to the Red Cross shelter there. Back then it was pitch dark everywhere out there, and it was an adventure finding the community center that housed the shelter. While driving this morning, I knew that I had been there before. Once again, I'm just trying to keep with everything.
Yesterday Ashley and I, along with four women from Pennsylvania, went to Bill Johnson's house at his request to help him to move some items from a garage which he has rented and which now has been sold. There were many frames and paintings, and all kinds of other things, most of which had been soaked by the storms, much of which wasn't going to be recoverable or repairable. He saved some items that looked like lost causes, and just watching him pick up things very gingerly and look at them, and hearing some of the stories of paintings and so on, was very moving. When that was going on, I don't remember noticing the heat in the garage or that old mold smell that I remember so well from last October.
I look forward to hearing more and more about what Cross and Crown people are up to over in East Biloxi in the 300 block of Fayard street, and to going back there. I have some commitments to people to help with moving and other things. The week will have gone by way too fast.
-Pastor Glen

I will confess that I am not much of a speech maker, but here goes. I want to express something that I feel about Biloxi, which is the purely amazing amount and completeness of destruction in some areas. Some buildings and people came through the stom mostly undamaged, while some will never be seen or heard from again. A lot of cleaning up and construction has taken place since Katrina, but still signs of the storm are everywhere. Maybe it is something as obvious as a bare foundation or ripped up tree. Perhaps it is more subtle, like a family visiting a grave. Either way, these signs are impossible to avoid. I am sure that some else somewhere else has already commented on this, but it is equally impossible to understand what this is really about from pictures. I know that pictures you may have seen have illustrated a ton of damage and destruction, but you have to understand that a picture is only one place and one time in history. I like to compare it to seeing smething that you want in a catalog or on TV, or seeing your favorite sports player on a card. The experience is 180 degrees from owning that item, or meeting your sports idol. The whole picture is intangible from photos, or even from the video that I plan on making. Although it may be frustrating for you having me sit here and tell you that you can't grasp the whole picture, I wanted to let you know that there is more than the snapshots show. To switch subjects a little, I wanted to tell you that each night after dinner, we have what are called The Face of God, which allows all volunteers to share where they saw the face of God during the day. Some share stories of seeing God in the person in front of them in the checkout line at Wal-Mart, or somebody at their job site. I personally see the face of God anywhere relief work is being done, whether it is in a food bank, in a church, or wherever individuals are cleaning up the mess that Katrina left. God sent the storm, and God has sent help in all forms and from all places. Without taking twenty steps from where I sit, I can see huge boxes filled with blankets and pillows, large bins and shelves filled with food, and oddly enough, I see God in these donations too. To wrap it up, I feel deeply regretful for those who wish to be here, but cannot for the sake of time, or because of illness. That is all for now, and I hope that I will be able to write again before we leave. -Isaac

Yesterday most of us went to work at Patricia and David's house. They made it through the hurricane in their attic but lost their dog, and now they're in a FEMA trailer while their house is being rebuilt. Here's a picture to get an idea of where they were during the storm:

It's just a couple of feet high, sweltering hot and hard to breathe. Patricia said they couldn't move around much because they had to avoid the insulation. I felt around up there and I'm honestly not sure where they were able to sit, because I was touching insulation everywhere.

One more picture, here's their Bible. When we first went into the house it was just like this, right in the middle of the front room set up on a stepladder.

Their brother in law lives right around the corner. His house is a little further along, so he has a toilet back in and plumbed. He came over and invited us all over to use it when we needed. I walked over there at one point yesterday, and before I made it over I started talking to another neighbor. The next thing I knew he was inviting me in to use the bathroom in the trailer behind his house. It's humbling how grateful and generous everyone down here is, especially thinking about all the things I've been grumpy about since Thursday.

(Hi Mom - I know you're reading. I guess I'll be seeing you in Eugene!)
/Ann