October 2005 - A home in Gulfport, MS, well north of I-10, with LDR volunteers working on the roof. The workers, from OH, VA, and PA and I were all based at Bethel Lutheran-Biloxi. We spent approximately 2 1/2 hours on securing the tarp and removing tree branches and other debris from the yard.
This time around, I will be curious to see how many roofs will still have blue tarps, how much yard/park/cemetery cleanup still needs to be done... In October there seemed to be billions of armloads of branches around that needed to be moved from here to there, so many fences that had been blown down, lots and lots of trips across lawns, around houses, to the street and back. This has meant a need for armies of people. The site director at Bethel told me a few weeks ago that more than 4000 people have come through there to work since last fall.
In October there was also a lot of emphasis on "mucking out" houses; that is, stripping drywall, insulation, etc and spraying bleach solution against toxic mold. We'll go where we're sent to do the work that needs to be done, but I confess that I liked the unskilled branch-moving-type work, in part because it was possible to speak to and connect with other workers and with homeowners/survivors while the work was going on. More difficult, I'm sure, with the respirator and suit.
Between the 23 of us, we'll wind up doing all kinds of work in Mississippi. Whatever we're doing, it will simply be good to get started. In October I arrived at Bethel in the mid morning and started working in the food bank within five minutes. There was work everywhere one looked, and all kinds of blessings involved in being part of it, too many for me to count or tell, and I've been counting and telling for more than seven months now. To know in a new way what it is to go where we're sent, to where the needs are, is one of the more amazing blessings that I'm praying each of us will have while there. It will be a powerful blessing to bring back.
-Pastor Glen