Though Hurricane Gustav was played down as a near-miss storm that largely spared the Gulf Coast, the flooding and consequent damage did deal a devastating blow to the morale of many residents who had finally begun to regain a sense of stability for the first time since Katrina struck in 2005.

Some are calling it quits, including residents of Pearlington, Miss., an Experience Mission partner community. While Gustav’s damage was light in comparison to Hurricane Katrina and newer structures withstood the storm, a general sense of discouragement is sinking in among those who have twice suffered significant property damage.

Janyne Evans, 52, owns the popular Turtle Landing restaurant in Pearlington. She said two good friends of hers—who are also good customers—are choosing to skip town.

“They’re going to pack up and they’re moving out. They can’t handle losing everything continuously,” Evans said during a telephone interview. She said she had just gotten back to the Turtle Landing to find the bottom floor flooded with water and was assessing the overall damage.

As she spoke, she said, she was awaiting an evacuation order for Hurricane Ike.

Other residents who suffered through Hurricane Katrina, however, had cause to be thankful. While 137 homes in Pearlington suffered water damage due to Gustav, those built in accordance with more stringent new building codes remained largely unscathed.

Many of those homes, which are raised on sturdy posts to sit at least 15 feet above sea level, were built by EM volunteers in partnership with the Pearlington Recovery Center (PRC).

“All the new houses are fine, because they’re all on posts. None of them got water, none of them lost a single possession,” PRC Director Glenn Lockin said. “All the houses are perfect, which is just a blessing.”

Locklin said that while the storm set community restoration work back about 90 days, the return to normalcy seemed streamlined, and just days after the residents returned from a mandatory evacuation, Pearlington was up and running as it had been before. Still, he said that rather than the optimistic sense of community that has fueled much of the Katrina recovery effort, many people appear downtrodden.

“The faith is not here, which I was kind of surprised by,” Locklin said. “They’re nervous, and I do understand that.”

Locklin is trying to stay positive. He himself lost a car to the storm, but said he wasn’t sweating it too much.

“It’s all good. It’s just a car,” he said. “It’s not the same as a house—it’s not the same as rebuilding again.”

Back at the Turtle Landing, Evans said that despite her soaked restaurant and more difficulty on the horizon, she was fighting to keep her spirits up as well, since she had no plans to leave Pearlington.

“I’m going to try to stick it out because I got six years into it, and life savings. I can’t really just walk away from it right now,” she said.

Locklins estimated it would take about two more years to get Pearlington back to normal once and for all. Meanwhile, he’s also attempting to plant a Foursquare church there.

He said volunteer teams serving Pearlington through EM helped speed the recovery process along this year and enriched local youth—including his daughters—by giving exposing them to people from all over the country.

“We had a positive experience with all the groups. The kids had a ball, and we got a lot done. We worked on so many houses, it was scary,” he said.

Experience Mission is offering Summer 2009 mission trips to Pearlington and other locations in the U.S. and abroad. Visit www.experiencemission.org or call 360-732-0986 to learn more.

Urban Mission Trips ::  Atlanta Mission Trips :: Experience Mission :: www.ExperienceMission.org
The following blog was originally written for Krista Jensen’s Facebook friends.

By Krista Jensen

Atlanta, GA - Summer Mission Trips
Most of you may know the opportunity that was given to me this summer but for those of you who do not, I was given a job as a student intern with a mission organization called Experience Mission with the title of Outreach Coordinator. Little did I know about the tremendous amount of responsibility that would be placed on my shoulders.

I was placed in the south side of Atlanta, GA with three other amazing interns, Adrienne, Lyndee and Matt, where we would embark on a journey of struggles and triumphs. I love these people to death and they have become such a great part of my life! Our task this summer was to take the leadership role of a short-term mission trip and coordinate each team that would come to Atlanta every week. Youth groups traveled far and wide from South Dakota, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and South Carolina and joined us for a week that would change their lives. For most of the teams coming from small rural towns, Atlanta was a big cultural shock for them and even those teams from inner cities themselves their eyes were open to a whole new life that they didn’t even know existed.

It’s amazing the poverty you can find in your own city, being fully aware that it exists but just never seeing it face to face. Why can we go to the depths of poverty, gangs, violence, drugs and prostitution in an unfamiliar city, but when it comes to our own it’s an untouchable place?

While we were in Atlanta, we partnered with the Salvation Army Lakewood Corps with whom we had most of our service and outreach ministries. These ministries consisted of painting the outside of an apartment complex in the scorching Atlanta heat, and two locations for Kids Clubs in the afternoon. Aside from the Salvation Army, we also had ministry locations with the Initiative for Affordable Housing where a nature trail was being made as well as other small construction projects, and a few times in the summer we spent time building relationships with the clients at the 24/7 Gateway Homeless services center and volunteered behind the scenes help at the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

Needless to say, us interns had our work cut out for us this summer. But we knew that we would not be only, not only did we have the teams that came in, but we had a huge support at the Lakewood Corps church but specifically Jason Pope and Daynes Viera were our biggest and greatest support. They were not only awesome, amazing people with a heart and a vision for their community and so much fun to work with but they instantly became our closest friends and family. I thank God so much for the relationships that we were able to build with each other and with the congregation at Atlanta Lakewood. Another huge blessing that i can say for all of us would be Ms. Lynn our amazing, comical cook who made dinner for us all summer.

With that just being a basic intro, many people have asked me “so, how was Atlanta” and usually I just give the short, “it was amazing, best summer of my life” not because I don’t have much to say but that if i were to tell everyone exactly how it was, i would be talking for years! Writing this is a good way of reflection for me but it also benefits ya’ll who read it as well!

God taught me endless amounts of things this summer, about my life and about him as well. I know that i will continually be learning from things that has happened this summer. Even things that i thought i had learned a while ago, God would just use situations and people as a reminder.

I would like to share this verse of scripture. It is one that many of you probably have heard before–Matthew 25:35-40:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”

I am a firm believer of this passage, you can serve God in a lot of ways but i believe that to truly serve the face of God you need to be serving the “least of these.” We need to look outside of our self-recognition and see these people as children of God, loved by God despite their circumstances. In the Bible, it is told that Jesus hung around the poor, unclean, liars, cheaters and prostitutes so shouldn’t we do the same? We are created by God, loved by God, chosen by God to be like him to others and demonstrate his love so what does it mean when we choose to not do that? Ultimately it shows that those “lower than us”(described by the world) are not deserving of that love. And who are we to determine who is deserving of Christ’s love, for it is a gift given to us by the one who wants everyone to know.

Matthew 16:24-26 says:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Just like this passage says, we must deny ourselves, and deny our comfort and opinions of the world and although we might lose status in the world it would be much better than losing our soul. For if Christ is the one that we live for and love than we must go to the depths, go to the unseen and “unclean” and show them that their is no difference between you and I, show them that even though the world says that we’re different, that is not what I, in Christ believe.

You wouldn’t believe the amount of homeless people that we met this summer who was blown away by the fact that we would touch them, shake their hands, touch their shoulder, even hug them. Because they were dirty, hadn’t showered in however many days and seen as a disgrace to society.

My heart was broken even more for God’s people this summer, and it’s my heart’s utmost desire that more Christians would see the least and lost as God’s people too. And wouldn’t care about losing their life in order to gain something greater.

See, I told you that I could talk for years, and this is just one thing God has laid on my heart his summer. This summer, I laughed, cried, danced, was challenged, broken and faced down on the floor before God.

If you want anymore stories, feel free to talk to me.

To God be the Glory for all the things he has done!

Make a Contribution
In a move unique among missions organizations, Experience Mission has launched a new International Exchange Program to send the residents of its partner communities - those from disadvantaged areas who normally host incoming mission teams - on mission trips themselves.

“The International Exchange Program is at the heart of our mission and our passion, which is the communities,” said EM Executive Director Chris Clum. “To provide people from our U.S. urban communities or international locations the opportunity to do something like this has the potential to change their life forever.”

EM’s goal is to send more than 50 partner community members on mission trips in 2009, and 50 former EM summer staff interns are leading the charge to raise the funds needed. The cost of sending one partner community member to another location is about $1,000, and each student has committed to raising that amount through donations and monthly pledges.

The program is being launched in the hope it can help participants ward off the demoralizing, dream-stunting state of mind that can be engrained in those suffering in poverty’s grip.

“A combination of people, culture and circumstances can rob your hope and steal any ambition that you have that it can be different than it is,” Clum said.

Clum said the exchange program will allow participants to meet and learn from people in other parts of the world living in the same circumstances they are, equipping them with new tools they can take home to help inspire hope.

“What can be so powerful about this is that it’s like a match—it takes one match to light a fire in a field,” he said. “In so many cases you see that in a small little village in someplace like Jamaica or Mexico, it takes one or two young people who come back who are willing to step out of the status quo or break away from limitations, and it can change the communities and open up the eyes of so many others.”

“You put God in the middle of that, and it can be pretty powerful,” Clum added.

The idea is not untested. In July 2006, EM raised money to send a team of 25 high school students and young adults from Ruiz, a small town in Nayarit - the poorest state in Mexico - on a mission trip to the border town of Tecate. Participants described it as a special opportunity that spurred them toward pursuing further service opportunities. One young woman, then 18-year-old Veronica Bernal, ended up serving as an EM summer staff intern in Mexico the following year.

She said living in poverty left her especially prepared to work with others in similar circumstances.

“We have lived all that,” Bernal said just after her mission trip. “We have felt - at least I have - what it’s like to not have a definite place to live and to have to move from house to house.”

How you can help
Visit our Exchange page to learn the basics about the program and to make a donation. Your one-time contribution or monthly pledge would go entirely toward direct costs associated with the trip and could help make a life-changing impact on an impoverished partner community member - a person who might otherwise never have the opportunity to step outside the confines of their impoverished environment.

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to go to a homeless community in the heart of Baltimore.  I wouldn’t have expected it, but the park where the homeless gather is right next to the Metropolitan Police Station and lies on the property of St Vincent de Paul’s Catholic Church.  Initially I couldn’t figure out why they chose to stay in the place they were, but after spending some time with the people there, I realized that they had nowhere else to go.  In fact, they are still facing a forced move from the city and government officials.

As I talked with the men of the homeless park, I could see the hurt in their eyes and their desperation for food and water.  Although I was able to take a case of water with me, I still felt like there was so much more that needed to be done. I don’t know what that is in all honesty.  I’ve been thinking about what it looks like to help the poor and needy, but it’s a pandemic that is so much bigger than me.

The backgrounds of the people at the homeless park were so vast, I struggled to understand what their old lives were like.   Many of the men and women at the park left homes and families for one reason or another.  I knew there would be people who were evicted from their homes, caught up in drugs, and those who left for domestic disturbance reasons, but what was most shocking were the people who were so hopeless that they just simply didn’t care anymore.  They didn’t have motivation to live.  Perhaps the most tragic moment in a person’s life is that moment when purpose of living is lost—when the mountain of having true life in  Christ is so distant that life loses meaning.

I believe as we, as the Body of Christ, reach out this community and welcome them with loving arms, we can restore hope to a people who have none and share with them the true life of following Jesus.  I’m looking to go back soon and meet with these wonderful people again…very soon

For all of team Baltimore,

Blaine

This last week in Costa Rica, we had two different teams come down. While Chris and Thatia remained in the BriBri/Cahuita area with a wonderful team from Long Island, I had the privilege of climbing up “Tiger Mountain” with a group of six amazing people. We were a combination of Texas, New Jersey, Washington, and Illinois that was mosaically placed together. Words don’t seem to be able to express the memories and experiences we had this past week.

The journey as a team began with a three-hour hike Sunday morning. Muddy, tired, wet, and yet full of excitement for the coming week, we arrived at Leopoldo and Carlos’ house. They opened up their home to us with a love for Christ that overflowed into their love for us. Days were spent constructing a 36 square meter post house at the top of a mountain. Nights were spent in a time of fellowship with the father-son duo as we shared praise songs in both English and Spanish, and simply enjoyed loving each other. There is so much that I would love to share and am still working to process from the week but what I most want to share with you all is an example of love that I witnessed throughout the week.

There is a song by the band Wedding that says, “if you love me then just love me, don’t you give me pretty words, lay your life down at the altar, let me see how serious you are.” This song has been a challenge to me throughout this summer, and I have seen many examples of it being displayed throughout Costa Rica however the most distinct display appeared this week. So many times, Christians make following Christ difficult or “foo-foo” so to say. It becomes more of a show than a love relationship. This week, we had the pleasure of simply loving God.

Leaving behind all comforts and climbing into the unknown, for at least one week we were unable to “put on a show” and simply love God. Carlos and Leopoldo demonstrated such a love for Christ that was so simple and yet so genuine. No pretty words, no “foo-foo” just simple love for spending time with Christ. A love for Christ that is so real that it’s contagious to everyone around. I hope that I live my life with such a contagious faith that God’s love for me and my love for God overflows into the lives of others. May God be given all the glory.

Desiring Contagious Faith,

Alex Moses

After a fantastic weekend of camp meeting I was exhausted, but ready to start a new week of service. As the teams rolled in from California and New York, I realized that God was going to wonderful things this week. For these two teams we had one gigantic project for them to tackle. We set up 20 or so team members working on Grandma Suzy’s roof and the exterior of her house. Suzy had been having trouble with her roof for some time and has been asking her family for help for years, however no one had helped her. To keep the rain from coming in the house she had been nailing tarp to her roof to patch holes.

This was incredibly dangerous for a woman of her age to be doing this and thanks to the grace of God she never hurt herself. The team completely tore the existing roof off and replaced everything to protect her house from the weather. This was an enormous task, but by the end of the week we had the entire roof replaced and had painted the outside of her house to create an almost entirely different looking house. For me the best part about this week was seeing how much time the team spent with Grandma Suzy. The team sat down and talked with her and took interest in what she was doing with her life, and by the end of the week a lot of special bonds were formed that would leave a lasting impact.

This really reminded me what mission work is all about. It is not about the physical side that we accomplish with our hands, but the emotional and social side that we touch with our hearts that truly impact the people of this world. When all is said and done the roof will get damaged again some day and need replacing, but Suzy will always remember the people from California and New York that took time out of their lives to come help her and be her friend. That is what mission work is about and truly inspired me to take that lifestyle to heart.

-Chris

Delays and unforeseen problems seem to like to find their way into our first day’s schedule here in West Virginia, as we have seen this happen every week and thus have almost come to expect problems. Wesleyan Chapel United Methodist Church brought 31 members, and it was our largest single group yet. This group of 31 was full of spunk and already seemed quite unified and just happy to be together, which made for an easy-going and fun environment. The first night was off with a boom when Jackie Colenda and Elliot Malpass led worship in our group time on keyboard and guitar.

As I talked about earlier, Monday morning had a slow start when construction coordinator Todd got sick, which put him out of commission for our first day of work. So Emily and I scrambled to get scaffolding and ladders to two different painting sites, to find the right paint colors, to give out directions to a project 30 minutes away, and to do it all with one vehicle and to make sure everyone was happy while it was all happening. So we got Todd some medicine and sent him off to bed and then had to share the van to deliver groups and their supplies to each work site in somewhat of a timely manner. When all groups and we thought, all the supplies were finally to their destinations the problems didn’t stop there. The wrong paint had been dropped off at the wrong location, and the scaffolding didn’t fit together and there weren’t enough ladders and the benches for painting were wet, and our community partners, Jack and Brenda were gone for the day, and there was only one van and two interns to fix it all. By the grace of God Emily and I didn’t crack under the pressure though, and we slowly but surely worked everything out to where each group was happy and working, at least for the morning.

The next couple days mellowed out a little, and once again God proved He had it all under control and apparently just wanted to make sure we knew it. Life in West Virginia is always an adventure, and never without struggle, but we have come to expect and look forward to each new day, not matter what it brings. The week ahead is sure to be productive and a learning experience for all!

Lovin’ the Lord in West Virginia,

Leanna

 After a long break of no teams it is good to be back in to the swing of things. From the get go I was impressed with this new team from Texas. As soon as they got out of their vehicles they were ready to work, and we were ready to give them work.

This week starts a camp meeting where many of the local Navajo meet at the church here and have full day services…and there is a lot to do to prepare for this. So immediately we put them to work on putting up the tent, and the team, without any complaints, went straight into service mode with no down time from their drive. I thought this was incredible.

To continue their service we sent part of the team to Grandma Helen’s place. Grandma Helen is a patriarch of one of the Navajo clans and has been in and out of the hospital for the past few years. She really has been through a lot in her life and is so grateful for the little things that she has that some of her stories really broke my heart. To help her out a little bit the team patched up her roof, painted the interior and exterior of her hogon (or house), and filled in the cracks of her house with silicon to prevent the wind from getting in. It wasn’t much, but every day Hellen would be so excited to show her gratitude and try to repay us by any means possible.

Every day it seemed that she had something new for us. From frybread to bologna we were constantly getting gifts and it was truly humbling. This woman who had little would give us everything she had. It reminded me a lot of what I should be as a Christian, completely giving no matter what I have.

-Chris

Yet again the oddness of West Virginia weather kicked in, and kicked us out of a morning of work on Tuesday, and for part of the afternoon on Wednesday. Rain is usually our biggest problem because so many of our work projects are outside, but luckily we do always have the fall back of working inside at the school, and there is never a shortage of work to be done around here.

This determined group of 26 from Maryland was not prepared to let a little rain stop them though, and thought they saw a break enough in the clouds to take smaller groups out to the work sites and try to get as much work done as they could. So the groups packed up and headed out, and you know the saying that science only goes so far and then comes God?

Well, our weather forecast could only go so far that day because the prediction was rain, but when the two teams got to their outdoor work sites, the rains stopped and left only a cool breeze behind. The sun was soon to follow, and the day turned out to be a success! Then it didn’t start raining again until after the teams were done for the day. God is so good, and I know His plan will be completed no matter what; He always makes a way.

Tuesday was not the end though, God has much more in store for this particular week. I love seeing the unique relationships that are being cultivated at kids club, and with the families at each work site.

The youth leaders from this team have a real focus on teaching the kids in practical ways, whether it is how to use a saw or how to minister to troubled youth. Each person has brought something different to the table, and I look forward to see how the Lord is going to use each and every one of those things.

Thank you for all your support! All your thoughts and prayers and such a blessing!

Lovin’ the Lord in West Virginia,

Leanna

This week has had a different, but good, atmosphere, as this is our first week with only one group at a time. They traveled all the way from Maryland, and despite wrong turns, tornado-like wind and rain and the treacherous mountain roads of West Virginia, they made it!

They came prepared with knowledge, skill and tools to take on some pretty big projects, and that’s just what we had planned for them. Monday morning got off to a slow start with divvying up just where everyone was going to work, but after all that was sorted the groups took off in a blur of excitement.

The devotional lesson the night prior had been about seeing others around us through God’s eyes, and respecting and loving them just as they are because that’s exactly how God made them. I encouraged the group to get to know the people, and as these past few days have progressed, I have seen that happening even more than I was expecting.

I noticed relationships forming in kids club, which has been smaller than usual but the group from Our Savior Lutheran Church has taken it all in stride and has used this to their advantage. “There have been some really awesome individual connections made between the kids and my group,” said leader Natasha Bowlds when asked how she thought kids club was going. “Ya know, we may not have as long of a story or song time, but we’re playing with the kids, and spending time with them, and that’s what they’ll remember when we leave; that someone took time to care about them, and to really want to spend time with them, and that’s what we’re doing out there.”

I also got a chance to visit the work sites today, and was in awe of what I saw when I arrived at the second one. I walked up the road to the old broken down house where the group has been building a needed new porch for a small and broken family. As I got to the front yard I noticed two of the girls sitting up on the finished portion of the porch talking with and getting to know the daughter and mother in family. They were dirty, and one could tell they had not washed for days. It is also well known that the daughter is a prostitute and crack dealer. None of this held back the two high school girls from Maryland though, they all sat together playing with the dogs, talking, and sharing their lives with one another. I could see the love of God flowing out of them as these may be some of the only people this family meets, especially the younger daughter that are showing them true affection and not asking for anything in return.

Needless to say, these first few days have already been exciting and that makes me more excited for the remainder of the week! God is definitely at work here! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

Lovin’ the Lord in West Virginia,

Leanna