The day dawned gloomy, threatening showers, so the roofing crew -- comprised of people who can't stand to leave a job unfinished -- made haste to Bayly Street to ensure the house would be rain-proof by day's end. Meanwhile, painting, drywall hanging and back porch construction continued at number 211.
An unexpected treat is the abundant fruit hanging from the blood orange tree next to one of the houses. With the owner's permission, the work crew harvests a fresh crop of the succulent fruit every day.
Gracelyn stepped out of her comfort zone to work on the roof today. In her words, "Despite how focused the experienced guys were on finishing the job, they still took the time to teach me."
Hal reported a transformative experience working in the Micah Center this morning. The Center, next door to the Mission House, offers homeless people a place to do their laundry while enjoying snacks and coffee and conversation with the volunteers. Biloxi has no homeless shelter, so this is one of only a few places where those in need can regain a bit of their dignity by changing into clean clothes. "This is as meaningful as the construction work we do, maybe more so," Hal told us in a moment of sharing this evening. "If TSA would let me on the plane, I'd leave all my clothes at the Center and go home naked." That's impact.
At Loaves and Fishes, the soup kitchen, Gary and several other volunteers served a generous breakfast and lunch to over 100 grateful people. He reported that the job was as taxing in its own way as working at one of our job sites. The kitchen is run by four employees and serves two meals a day six days a week. "This is what it's all about," he said, "Serving."
Before dinner we heard from Mike Grote of the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio (part of the College of Architecture Art and Design at Mississippi State University) who shared with us how the community is responding to the continuing threat of flooding along the Gulf Coast. While we concern ourselves primarily with the loss of homes and property, the impact of major storms like Katrina extends well beyond to threaten fish, game and wildlife that rely on the delicate balance of fresh and salt water in the marshlands surrounding the coastline. He expressed the hope that response to Hurricane Sandy in our own region would benefit from the lessons learned here in Mississippi.
Our meal this evening was a shrimp boil -- practice for the First Church fundraiser planned for May 11. Hal single-handedly shelled 14 pounds of shrimp and Diana played chef. If the response here is any indication, our boil back home should be a rousing success.
Our final official activity of the evening was practicing our two hymns for tomorrow evening's visit to the Main St.Missionary Baptist Church. It's a good thing Pastor Kenny's wife plays the piano so she can help us carry the tune.....
Finally, some faces of our happy campers
And to all a good night.
An unexpected treat is the abundant fruit hanging from the blood orange tree next to one of the houses. With the owner's permission, the work crew harvests a fresh crop of the succulent fruit every day.
Gracelyn stepped out of her comfort zone to work on the roof today. In her words, "Despite how focused the experienced guys were on finishing the job, they still took the time to teach me."
 |
| Gracelyn conquers the roof with Connor |
Hal reported a transformative experience working in the Micah Center this morning. The Center, next door to the Mission House, offers homeless people a place to do their laundry while enjoying snacks and coffee and conversation with the volunteers. Biloxi has no homeless shelter, so this is one of only a few places where those in need can regain a bit of their dignity by changing into clean clothes. "This is as meaningful as the construction work we do, maybe more so," Hal told us in a moment of sharing this evening. "If TSA would let me on the plane, I'd leave all my clothes at the Center and go home naked." That's impact.
At Loaves and Fishes, the soup kitchen, Gary and several other volunteers served a generous breakfast and lunch to over 100 grateful people. He reported that the job was as taxing in its own way as working at one of our job sites. The kitchen is run by four employees and serves two meals a day six days a week. "This is what it's all about," he said, "Serving."
Before dinner we heard from Mike Grote of the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio (part of the College of Architecture Art and Design at Mississippi State University) who shared with us how the community is responding to the continuing threat of flooding along the Gulf Coast. While we concern ourselves primarily with the loss of homes and property, the impact of major storms like Katrina extends well beyond to threaten fish, game and wildlife that rely on the delicate balance of fresh and salt water in the marshlands surrounding the coastline. He expressed the hope that response to Hurricane Sandy in our own region would benefit from the lessons learned here in Mississippi.
 |
| 7 pounds down, 7 to go |
Our final official activity of the evening was practicing our two hymns for tomorrow evening's visit to the Main St.Missionary Baptist Church. It's a good thing Pastor Kenny's wife plays the piano so she can help us carry the tune.....
Finally, some faces of our happy campers
 |
| Rick |
 |
| John |
 |
| Sarah |
And to all a good night.
No comments:
Post a Comment