Katrina Relief Trip
(Ruben Hernadez and his son, Mason, took a trip down south to help with the relief efforts. Below is Ruben's journal from the trip)

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - Roscoe Illinois to Tupelo Mississippi
Mason and I left Saturday morning and followed my parents who were driving to Texas (where they now enjoy retired life) they had been visiting us when the call came for us to leave for Alabama and followed each other until we reached Missouri where we split up. Mason and I made it to Tupelo around 10:00 PM and rested until 4:00 AM before continuing the trip to Mobile. Along the way we met an assortment of people that were very hospitable and Southern (I enjoy listening to their accent), one gentleman told us to read Jeremiah 4 & 5 in regard to his take on the storm.

Sunday, September 25, 2005 - Mobile Alabama & Biloxi Mississippi
We arrived safely in time for morning service at Christ Fellowship Baptist Church with a trailer load of food, medical & cleaning supplies. After the service we met with Danny Chance (Relief Coordinator) who directed us to a Baptist church about 15 miles away in Semmes Alabama to help with food distribution in the Biloxi area. Once in Semmes we helped load three large trailers with frozen food, drinks & non-perishable items. After they found out we hadn't had lunch yet they brought in catfish platters for us from a local carry out place (the meal was great).

In Biloxi we had the opportunity to witness God's might shown in the destruction left by the Hurricane. There was a very large boat sitting in the middle of a cemetery with water nowhere to be found, further in we crossed a channel that had 20-30 boats tossed about like bathtub toys. The damage to buildings was equally as bad, everything from flooding, fire damage & complete destruction beyond repair. The Red Cross set up shop at a local church (as a food & medical supply distribution hub) which reminded me of a M*A*S*H* unit, people scurrying around trying to keep everything in order and people taken care of.

The Red Cross coordinator (can't remember her name) prayed with us and was thankful for the 300 picture Bibles & tracts Phil & Susan DelRe sent with us, they will be handed out along with food & supplies, the remaining 300 Bibles will be distributed by the Church in Semmes Alabama. We made it back to Mobile around 8:30 PM pretty tired, but the folks at CFBC took care of our needs, a cool shower, food and a warm bed rounded out the day well.

Monday, September 26, 2005 - Mobile Alabama & Pascagoula Mississippi
The second day on the job had us in route to Pascagoula with a team from California (John & Shawn), our CFBC Crew Chief (Neil) & his helper (Brandon) took us to the first tear down. We met with the owner "Anona" who along with her 1-year-old son were living in a tent in her mother in law's yard for the past month. Her husband is finishing up a job in Florida to send money back for the family's rebuilding effort, her mother in law just received a trailer from FEMA to house all of them until a second one arrives.

Her home received roof and flood damage requiring ½ wall and some ceiling removal to stop the spread of mold. As in all of the homes we worked on the appliances had to be carried to the street for collection. It was interesting (being from the North) to see that the interior walls were all 2" x 2" construction and that none of the exterior walls had insulation. From what I understand most of the homes were made during wartime in the 1930's & 40's and it made it economical to rip 2 x 4's in half. At the end of the day we had the opportunity to pray as a group and share Christ with Anona, we left her with a Bible and a tract that were greatly appreciated.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005 - Pascagoula Mississippi
Day three brought us to the home of Tommy who is a Vietnam Vet on disability; an Indiana team that brought the extra manpower needed for the day's work joined our Illinois & California crews. His home was completely wood paneled which required us to tear down every wall in the home and remove the (built in) kitchen cabinets, they were made so well that my hydraulic jack died in the effort. The wheelbarrow also took a hit experiencing two flat tires that were probably caused by the same nails that jumped up and attacked Mason's foot.

The strangest thing we ran across were (upside down) glass casserole dishes & bowls in the cabinets that were still full of water. Unfortunately the only way to throw them out was to break the suction seal created by the floodwaters when they receded, the month old stagnant water didn't exactly smell like wild flowers. Tommy was deeply moved by our effort especially during prayer time; he is on the FEMA trailer list as well but now has God's word to hold him over until then. Afterwards we drove down to the coastline and saw what was and wasn't left of the homes that took the initial blow, it was very humbling. Later in the evening Mason had the opportunity to play in a pick up whiffle ball game back at CFBC with the Florida team.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - Pascagoula Mississippi
Today we were joined by a crew from Spokane Washington and tasked to complete three homes. Two of the homes went fairly smooth but the third was quite the challenge, it belonged to an elderly lady (Ginny) that we never had the opportunity to meet, it was packed (and I mean packed) full of items that had to be individually sorted through. With the help of her neighbor Jan (who owned the home we did across the street) she manned the cell phone throughout the day ensuring we kept everything Ginny wanted. We ended up creating three piles outside "Save, Hold & Trash" the Church sent over boxes for us to pack things in before we brought them back in the house.

Our main concern with Ginny was that she was still sleeping on the mattress & box spring that was soaked by the floodwaters. With no way to control the spread of mold Jan said it had been making her cough quite a bit lately (CFBC will deliver a new bed on Saturday). Ginny has been working 16 hour days at the bank because the computer system died & half of her co-workers are still unaccounted for, all the transactions have to be recorded manually. After praying for both of them the evening allowed the adults to attend Wednesday night service and Mason to attend the youth group gathering, he mentioned that many people gave testimony about their life before and after Christ.

Thursday, September 29, 2005 - Pascagoula Mississippi
Thursday brought us two additional homes near the Church that fed us lunch during the week and a mercy call to help a woman across town with appliance removal. The roof had been partially torn off one home that required removal of all drywall and ceilings in three of the rooms. The other home wasn't too bad when compared to what we had seen over the past few days, it went much quicker.

The mercy call brought us to an elderly woman with an Autistic son (who was transported elsewhere) she has been sleeping in a tent set up in her front yard and rests on a cot on the back porch the remainder of the time. She told us they had to climb a jeep and get on the roof when the wind & rushing waters came, she saw people hanging on to whatever would float as the water carried them down the street (the levels here reached between 5 & 6 feet). What amazed me was her sense of humor given the situation; we found a "Yard Sale" sign that was promptly placed on the appliances hauled to the curb.

Friday, September 30, 2005 - Mobile Alabama to Huntsville Alabama
We left Mobile in the morning to see my wife's sister (Susan) & her husband (Joey) who is an EMT for an ambulance service in Huntsville. He has been taking relief runs to Mississippi & Louisiana the past few weeks and shared stories of tent hospitals performing surgery in K-mart parking lots. The grimmest story was one of riding in an army truck that had to go through the water at a crawl to avoid running over bodies. Stories like these remind us that each person has an appointed last day, our only hope is that the ones who perished in the storm knew the Lord before theirs came.

Saturday, October 1, 2005 - Huntsville Alabama to Roscoe Illinois
Our departure was bittersweet, although we were glad to be heading home it was hard to leave knowing there are so many people in need, even with all the homes being worked on there are literally thousands still untouched. My fear is that when the TV cameras leave these people will become yesterday's news and soon forgotten, if at all possible we should continue our travels to the region. All in all we put 2,600 miles on the truck & trailer without issue, we offer our thanks to God and to those who prayed for our safety.

On a lighter note the retired gentlemen we helped on Thursday noticed the plate on our trailer and asked "Are you from Illinois?" when I said yes he walked over shook my hand and said "Your alright for a Yank." :-)