Summer Mission Trips: Team Pearlington has truly been tasting Southern culture during Prep Week.  During this week we have been prepping a home for inspection so that the first of our summer mission trips team is able to legally work on the house.  It has been a ton of work!  We have learned so much construction and worked ten hour days.  The house is being built for the Bennett Family.  The hospitality of Stacey, Eddie, and their thirteen year old daughter, Miranda, has truly stolen the hearts of the EM summer Staff. They constantly come to the work site to chat and offer help or a cold drink.  We have truly gotten to know them and now consider them friends. 

The Bennetts have lived in Pearlington their entire lives and survived Hurricane Katrina.  Unfortunately, their home did not survive.  Stacey, Eddie, and Miranda evacuated from their home and took refuge at NASA for about a week.  After the storm the Bennetts realized that they had lost everything.  The Bennetts lived in a FEMA trailer for a period of time, but the mold negatively affected Stacey and Miranda’s allergies and asthma.  They currently live in a trailer that is too small and also affects Stacey’s allergies.  Another local community partner, Glen, feels very strongly that this family is well deserving of this home.  They do a lot for others in the community and truly have servant hearts.   On Friday night, the Bennett family took us to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. What a great meal!  Afterwards, we went to Miranda’s softball game with Stacey and Eddie.  We had a great time watching the game and talking. It was a much needed break from all the construction.  Team Pearlington is already amazed at how much we have been served and blessed in the short time we have been here. 

We look forward to see our relationships with the Bennetts continue to grow as God reveals his plans for us in Pearlington this summer. 

Note: Experience Mission will begin the third year working in Pearlington to help families rebuild their homes and lives after the devastation of hurricane Katrina. Summer volunteers from youth mission trips and adult mission trips will provide over 500 energetic workers. If you’d like to join a mission trip with EM for 2010, visit us at our website www.experiencemission.org

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.

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

We had a three week break in between teams, and I felt it was my responsibility to go out and appreciate God’s creations in Arizona. To do this right my cousin flew out from Indiana and took me on quite a memorable adventure. We hiked through the Grand Canyon, took a flight over and around the canyon, and rafted down the Colorado River. It was just the exciting escape I needed to rest for the remaining teams to come. I write this not to brag about my vacation, but to write about what God did in my life through this excursion.

Before going on this trip with my cousin, I was feeling pretty beat down. I was so exhausted from the work aspect of it all, I was missing my family pretty badly, and feeling just incredible low point in my life. I needed something in my life to rejuvenate me. I felt as if I had been running a marathon and did not feel as if I could go any further. Then out of nowhere God provided me with this excursion with my cousin that just completely rejuvenated my soul. This served as a reminder that God knows how to provide for your needs, and just when you need it He will give you a drink of cool refreshing water. I just need to remember that if I rely on Him, He will provide for me.

-Chris

Sometimes the hardest part about going on a missions trip is that you are only there for a week, and because of being there a short time you don’t always get to see the whole project finished or see the after-affects.

This past week, though, got to go against the norm, and saw projects finished and lives changed. In our last meeting together on Thursday night multiple people shared how wonderful it was to actually see a work project completed. “In past trips we’ve always had to kind of leave things half done for someone else, but it was so nice this week for us to see everything get done that we set out to do. It was especially good for the kids to see all their hard work come together at the end.” said Youth Leader Tina McGuffey.

The teams had three different large work projects this week, two of them being rebuilding porches. It was a great sight to see them get done by the last day, and to see the happiness and thankfulness of the families who we worked for. At one of the project sites we built it and left them with the stain and paint brushes to finish the porch. We were skeptical as to whether or not they would actually put the stain on or just let it sit as most people do in this area. We ended up being able to see the family that night and to our surprise they had painted it that afternoon! This was especially exciting for the kids who really got to know the family because it says that they are taking care of something on their home, and that’s a trait that’s not very common in this area.

The third worksite was at a house that is being renovated for a family, and our job was to paint about five rooms and two hallways of the house, and to attack the three ft. tall grass in the small but overwhelming yard. By the end of the week they had completed all the painting and got about half of the yard whacked down. It was really exciting for the family and for the team that had got to know them while they worked together all week.

All in all I would say this week could not have gone better, projects were completed, kids lives were changed, and most importantly God showed up in all of it.

Lovin’ the Lord in West Virginia,

Leanna

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

The last few days of this rural mission trip, the team from Montgomery, Texas spent in Pearlington brought the Vince and McArthur homes even closer to completion. The team resolved the plumbing problem in the Vince home and began working on some electrical issues they had discovered. Also, members of the team enjoyed time visiting with Kendra McArthur’s former caregiver, Dot, who is currently housing Kendra and her two children until their house is finished.

On Wednesday afternoon a few women visited a loving, Christ-filled woman named Lily. Each woman was blessed through listening to this elderly lady’s stories about life after Katrina and her faith in God. Full of praise for her Heavenly Father, she radiated His love to her guests.

Another highlight of the week here in Mississippi on this adult mission trip was Wednesday evening, when the Montgomery Team blessed our team of interns by taking us out for pizza. Each of us thoroughly enjoyed this time of fellowship. The evening was completed by joining another team of volunteers for worship and evening service in Bay St. Louis where Glenn Locklin shared a message of encouragement. Glenn’s wife also thanked the groups present and discussed her personal growth through the last few years, helping to create the atmosphere of mutual edification. Members of each team stood to retell situations at their worksites that had positively affected their attitudes.

We were sad to see the Montgomery Team leave early Friday morning, but we exchanged emails and might even have the chance to spend more time with one member, Sharon, later this summer as she hopes to return once again.

-Cheryl Knowles