Pearlington: Wednesday

Jack Thrash:
Had to drain the piling holes again! Things were going good until the rains came and the pump stopped working. Had to use buckets and form a bucket brigade. The rush to get water out of the holes was because two concrete trucks were arriving at 1:00 p.m. and concrete waits for no man. We needed as much muscle as possible and the other teams pitched in with their manpower to help us wheel barrow the concrete to 21 pilings. The trucks arrived at 1:30 and away we went. The temperature was at least 90 degrees and the humidity was close to the same. The youth and adults worked their tails off and we were finished by 4:00. In all, 17 yards of concrete was moved. Pouring concrete by wheel barrow is, I think, the hardest work I have ever done on a mission trip. I was so proud of the way everyone sacrificed to get the job done and do it safely. Everyone was looking out for one another and making sure that all had plenty of water.

As we were leaving I had a chance to talk with Jane, our homeowner. She and her husband Bert survived the storm surge that virtually wiped Pearlington off the map. They lived in a tent until the second Thanksgiving after Katrina hit. Then they lived in a FEMA trailer until four weeks ago when they were upgraded to a Katrina Cottage. For most of you who don’t know, a Katrina Cottage is basically a mobile home — 35’X12’. The home we are helping build will be 48’X32’ and 8’ off the ground. If it weren’t for faith based organizations, most of the Gulf Coast would not be being rebuilt. Our congregation can be very proud of the work our Youth Ministry has accomplished in this area over the past three years.

Austin:
Today my group had to fill in 4 holes about 4 ½ feet deep and 3 feet wide because we didn’t need them. After we were done with that, we put piers in that were 12 feet high. The piers hold the house up 8 feet above the ground. We got 9 done today and we have 6 left. Also, we ate cake made by Ms. Sams and couldn’t wait to eat them because everyone from last year always talk about her cooking.

Courtney:
Today was another hard day of work. We finished the concrete mixing and also started the porch of the house we are working on. It is owned by a man named Rick, who has gone through some tough times lately. I am glad that we can help him because he seems like a nice guy. A lot of the work today involved getting up on ladders and drilling. I went up there one time, and after much trial and error, drilled the screw where it needed to go. It feels cool because I know that with every screw I drill, or every shovel of dirt I scoop, I am making a difference. But, for the most part, today was a pretty slow day. To entertain ourselves during our many water breaks, our group (including Mrs. Little and Mr. Baab) had dirt fights. No one got seriously injured, but it was really funny. But I have to say, the best part of my day, was going back to Mrs. Sam’s house. We worked with her last year on helping to build back her church from the hurricane. She is the sweetest 90 year old woman you will ever meet. She treats everyone as family and always makes sure we feel at home. She even baked us cakes to take back to the group (and they were delicious!). She is one of those kind of people that are rare to see now-a-days, and she is truly a gift from God. I hope and pray that I will follow in her footsteps. May God continue to bless you all, and hi to everyone in Abilene! God bless.

Sara:
Day five was another great day! During devotional, we talked about how the “blind should not lead the blind” which really applied to our working groups. After that, we headed to our worksite and started to use a lot of different tools to begin the porch. I even got to use an automatic drill and a circular saw! Then after a long day of work, we went to visit Mrs. Sams again. She is such a cutie-pa-tootie and is the nicest person I have ever met. We looked at Mrs. Sam’s church that our youth group worked on last year, and it was so amazing. I truly felt like I could feel God’s presence in her church! May the Lord bless you and keep you and a shout-out to my bubby, Steven, in Abilene. :)