Pearlington Revisited

What an amazing transformation from our mission trip to Pearlington last year. The community spirit is up and there are signs of hope everywhere. Many more houses are under construction and the widespread debris that was in every yard and ditch has been greatly reduced. That said, there is still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done.

I am proud of our team and the work that has been completed on Loren Gordon's home. New kitchen cabinets installed, a big hole in the kitchen ceiling repaired, and over 700 sq ft of ceramic tile laid. Everyone has worked exceptionally hard and this has been a very congenial group. And yes, (This is for Philip), in addition to our work, we did develop a relationship with the homeowners. Such a relationship that Loren and Jackie have agreed to put our entire youth group up in their house this summer. There are, however, a few little things Loren wants the youth to work on.

The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. So many people from all over the United States coming to the little town of Pearlington to help. It gives me inspiration and a renewal of faith in mankind.

The Egyptian Taskmaster-Jack

Miles and miles of tiles and smiles

Today was a very busy and productive day. We worked in Loren's house again and began the process of tiling his home. He has fifty boxes of tiles to lay, we used over fifteen, that works out to two hundred and fifty tiles. It was a team effort as the Egyptian foreman kept us all on task and very motivated.

The Hebrews (pictured to the left) worked with little complaint and subsequently, were allowed a delicious lunch break. Here we were once again in fellowship with many different groups of people from across the country working for the Lord to help those in need. Then it was back to the house for more tiling and fixing a ceiling that had not survived the storm. Tomorrow we will finish his kitchen and dining room with more tiles. This family has been so appreciative and we are so blessed to have had this opportunity. The group has been a blessing to me, it is such a joy to work with these amazing Christians. I hope many more of you take advantage of opportunities like these to put your faith to work to help those in need. You will be truly blessed, you will laugh a lot, sweat a lot, and accomplish more than you could ever hope to by yourself. Thank you to Laura for arranging this trip and the Church for supporting this trip. Blessings to all:
Sherry Whiteman

Faith and Works (James 2)

Day two was another great day in Pearlington. The kitchen cabinets are in and they look great. We also prepared the floors for the beginning of tile work tomorrow by our team and carpet laying tonight by the homeowner.

We had another great meal provided by the ladies of the Missionary Baptist Church. While there, we were inspired by music provided by two ladies of the church which was great, but even greater was to see and hear the many people there joining in on the songs. We have met people from Maine, Pennsylvania and Tennessee and some who like several of us are returing to Pearlington. There are several groups of college students here on their spring break using their time off to help others. One young man who sat with us at the lunch table said this was his third trip to Mississippi. What an inspiration to all of us to see these young people giving of their time to help others.
Yesterday we had a great adventure with Jack driving around in circles looking for a seafood resturant, but today we took a drive down to the gulf to see what improvements have been made since last summer. There is still so much work to be done, but the people in Mississippi are determined to rebuild their homes and lives. Thanks to all who helped make this trip possible. Eileen

A Snake and A Lot of Cake

As usual, the first day was a VERY slow start.
We were assigned to help Loren install cabinets. He met us at his home and is extremely appreciative having us there to help him continue work his house. He and his family had evacuated before Katrina struck but in their absence the water came fifteen feet up and into his house. He had already done a LOT of work before we arrived. He is a lot of fun and we are really enjoying helping him. Tomorrow we will finish the cabinets and are going to start laying tile.
Oh yes, the excitement for the day, we killed a snake in the attic and at dinner when deserts were ordered, one of us received the "tall size", two sliced of cake, one would have been quite enough but it was big enough for all of us to share. Plenty of cake for tomorow.

Dick Voss

We've arrived!!

It is Sunday evening, almost 11:30, and we have arrived! It was a very long trip. We left the church about 9:45 this morning after being commissioned at the 8:30 worship service, and found our way to Slidell, Louisiana by 7:15 p.m. Finding the Super 8 was a bit tricky, since it was a Comfort Inn until recently and they have yet to replace the sign. We had dinner and started a five day study of the five chapters of the book of James. Then Eileen and Sherry watched the Mavericks and the Lakers game, and--lo and behold!--there was our very own senior pastor, Dr. McKee, behind the Laker coach!
We are all tired and are looking forward to starting our mission tomorrow morning. We'll check in again tomorrow evening with some stories and photos.

Blessings,
Laura