Katrina Relief Trip (September 19-23, 2005)

September 19, 2005 - Four of us (Steve Brandon, Brian Cunningham, Nick Mosca, and Doug Sosnowski) left at 5am for the full day of travel down to Christ Fellowship Baptist Church. Mobile, Alabama. During the drive, we had great time of fellowship, Bible reading, prayer, and sermon listening. When we arrived at the church (around 9:30pm), we were met by several men of the church who helped to show us orient us with the food, showers, and sleeping arrangements in the gymnasium, our new home for the next few days.

September 20, 2005 - Doug, Brian, Nick and I were up and ready to go at 7am this morning for our work. We loaded up our supplies and drove about 40 minutes to a neighborhood in Pascougala, which is where Christ Fellowship Baptist Church is focusing their efforts.

We spent the day at a home owned by a woman named Ginger. She lives in a neighborhood that hasn't been flooded in 40+ years. As a result, these people generally don't have any flood insurance. But, Katrina got them. As a result, they have literally lost everything that they owned. We learned today that this wasn't technically a flood. It was a "wave surge." Katrina hit the area at high tide. Additionally, the east side of a hurricane is the worst side (due to the rotation of the hurricane). The ocean simply swelled with a large wave of salt water that came into these homes. Most homes in this neighborhood were under 2-6 feet of water.

Ginger's story is that she was in the home waiting to endure the hurricane as she usually does. However, this time was entirely different than at other times. As she was watching outside, the water was rising up her car.  She went out to move it to higher ground. By the time she went outside, the car was completely under water. She finally left her house when the water in her house was up to her chest. She swam over to her neighbor's home along with a few friends that were with her. Her house was about 4 feet underwater for several hours.

Her husband has deserted her. So, she was a candidate for help. We tore up all of her carpet, tore down all of her walls, took out all insulation, took out everything in her house, and finally disinfected the house. The work was very difficult and very hot. The high temperature for today was 97 degrees as well as being highly humid. To make matters worse, we wore masks over our faces to protect us from the mold.

During our lunch break, we visited the beach in Pascagoula to see the worst of the destruction. The neighborhood we are working in today was several miles from the beach (talk about a giant wave surge!). The picture below is typical of the destruction.

Ginger was in tears on several occasions. We gave her some cookies that Yvonne had made for her and a gospel track that Darcie Robyn gave. I had a few opportunities to speak with her about our heart as a church to love people, because the Lord has first loved us. At the end of the day we prayed for her. Soon a few ladies will come and speak with her to see if she needs any other help, especially spiritually. In a month or two, Christ Fellowship Baptist Church plans on returning to help rebuild her house, once they help the others who need the moldy dry wall taken out of their homes. It has been a great joy to help her in this way.

September 21, 2005 - After reading our Bible reading for the day (Colossians), Doug, Brian, Nick and I headed off to Pascagoula again to minister to those who need help cleaning their homes.

Today we ministered to a woman named Krista. She is about 20 years old and lives with her handicapped father, who isn't even in the area right now. He simply cannot handle the living conditions. When we arrived, her house was still full of many of her belongings. Before we began working, we "moved" her. This consisted of taking most everything that she had in her home and dumping it on the street to be picked up by the authorities at some point.

Having done that, we cut most of the drywall off at 48 inches from the floor (to allow for easy application of the drywall in the future).  Her house was under about 2 feet of salt water. Some of the drywall was particularly moldy (i.e. past the 4 foot mark). For this drywall, we removed it all the way up to the ceiling. The heat wasn't quite so bad today. I figure that it only hit the low nineties. We are drinking lots of fluids.

When talking with Krista, she told me that she was Catholic. She expressed a bit of disappointment when nobody from her church has come to check up on her. Certainly there are several reasons for this. I suspect that those in the church (who live nearby) are all trying to get their own affairs in order. When departing again today, Krista received some cookies and a tract. We prayed for her and her family in their situation. The workers from Christ Fellowship Baptist Church assured her that some people would continue to call her and visit her to see if there is anyway else that she needs some help.

Below is a picture of Krista's house before and after to give an idea of how their lawns are turned into garbage heaps, as everything in the home must be thrown out.

This evening we attended the Wednesday evening service. Steve Lawson preached from 2 Timothy 4:6-8. Having listened to him preach a dozen times via their web page, I knew that we wouldn't be disappointed. It was excellent.

September 22, 2005 - We had the privilege today of helping fellow believers in Christ. We were up and ready to go at 7am this morning and headed again to the same city of Pascagoula.  We first helped Sam and Gladys. They are an older couple who haven't been able to remove their dry wall (and paneling). They have a sonwho could help them, but he lives in the same city and was also hit pretty badly. So, he has been busy with two houses. We came in to help.

Both Sam and Gladys were thankful for how we had helped them, but Gladys especially. I had an opportunity to speak with her. She spoke very highly of the Lord and His kindness shown to her through us. As we had several homes to help, I left before things were done. Doug and Brian told me that Gladys was very moved at our kindness to her family.

Our lunch was (again) provided for us at a local Southern Baptist Church who has used their facilities to be a center distribution center. Many Southern Baptist people have come down here to help. They have 10-12 RV's and campers in the parking lot which is housing people while they are down here helping.

After lunch, we split our group. (We were joined yesterday by a group of 8 men from Harvest Bible Church in Akron, Ohio). I went to another house. This house was a complete mess when we arrived (i.e. clothes on the floor, a waterbed still full, carpet still on the floor). The water was 41 inches high in the house. We worked the rest of the afternoon and didn't quite finish. The men from Harvest Bible Church will return tomorrow. They will probablyfinish by early morning. The situation at this home was a divorced mother witha 14 year old boy. Her name is Traci and her son's name is Jeremy. She is a school teacher and hasn't been able to clean her house by herself. She was also very grateful for the help.  She attends a non-denominational church andappears to be genuine in her faith. Some of her "junk" (read "possessions") were some Bibles and Christian videos.

We ended the day of work at a home of an older, single woman, whose children came to help her last weekend to clean up her home.  Her name is Carolyn. We came to spray for mold. Her husband died recently and she is all alone. She was very grateful for our little work that we did for her. Doug spent some time sweeping out her house and spraying. She attends a protestant church in Pascagoula. However, she said that she hasn't been visited by any in her church during this time. This is probably due to the fact that many of these people have been devastated as her house was. She said that the people of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church have ministered to her in greater ways than the people of her church. They have been by initially with ice and water. Then, some ladies came with some cleansing supplies. Finally we came. Carolyn entirely understands the sovereignty of God in this storm and is seeking her comfort in His good plan. When we prayed with her, again, we encountered a tear-filled face. When seeing these types of things, it is very heart warming and hardly makes this seem like work.

In a few weeks (or months), another group from the church will come to help her replace the dry wall. This is the type of ministry that Christ Fellowship Baptist Church is doing. Below is a typical picture of how the houses look when we left them. With the average water in the homes being 2-4 feet, many of the walls were cut to 48 inches and removed. This will help the next crew to come in with dry wall and simply tack on the 4x8 sheets with minimal cutting.

Over all, Christ Fellowship Baptist Church has made our trip very easy and enjoyable. The sleeping arrangements are adequate (cots in the gymnasium). The food they have feed us has been outstanding. We have plenty for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When we arrive back at the church, we put our "contaminated" clothes in a bag and they wash it for us. They provide towels and soap and shampoo for showers. Many in the church have been involved, everyone doing their own part. They are to be greatly commended and prayed for over the next months as they project to be involved in this type of ministry with many other churches across the country coming down to help.

September 23, 2005 - In order to arrive back home for our Friday night Bible Studies, we left Mobile around 10:30pm. All four of us arrived at home around 1pm Friday afternoon exhausted. Yet, we all would love to go back again and help in the work.