So our time here is quickly coming to an end. Hard to believe. For me, it’s even more strange, since a week ago I didn’t even know that I’d be coming here. I was a last minute fill-in for a lady who wasn’t able to come, and so here I am!
Tonight we heard from some folks in our group talk about why they decided to do this, including a few people who were here once before and decided to come back. There were various reasons, but for a lot of people it started with a sense of duty and service, of faith in action. And by all accounts, we have been blessed to be of much service to the families who will soon be moving into the four houses we’ve been working on this week. But it didn’t take long after arriving here for me to discover that I was in for a big surprise. Because service and duty don’t begin to describe the feeling you get when you have the privilege to do something this tangible, meaningful and absolutely necessary for complete strangers. It’s almost wrong to call them strangers, since they hug you when you first meet them and they feed you and treat you like family. I’ve also gained a sense of community with the people I’ve traveled here with, and with the teams who preceded us, and with all of the relief workers from all of the other denominations, ministries and organizations who’ve been here to help.
Tonight we heard from some folks in our group talk about why they decided to do this, including a few people who were here once before and decided to come back. There were various reasons, but for a lot of people it started with a sense of duty and service, of faith in action. And by all accounts, we have been blessed to be of much service to the families who will soon be moving into the four houses we’ve been working on this week. But it didn’t take long after arriving here for me to discover that I was in for a big surprise. Because service and duty don’t begin to describe the feeling you get when you have the privilege to do something this tangible, meaningful and absolutely necessary for complete strangers. It’s almost wrong to call them strangers, since they hug you when you first meet them and they feed you and treat you like family. I’ve also gained a sense of community with the people I’ve traveled here with, and with the teams who preceded us, and with all of the relief workers from all of the other denominations, ministries and organizations who’ve been here to help.
Here are some statistics: Hancock county, where we are staying and working, had a population of about 43,000 people living in 16,897 homes. During Katrina, 11,000 houses in Hancock county alone were completely destroyed. Another 3600 homes were severely damaged. Officials estimate that it will take 9-11 years to rebuild this area. But in the 20 months since this disaster, over 60 million dollars have been raised through the Methodist (UMCOR) relief organization, and over 40,000 Methodists have come to Mississippi, Alabama & Louisiana, for a total of over one million man hours. And that’s just the Methodists. We’ve had close contact with Amish, Presbyterian, Baptist and other groups who have been doing the same kinds of work. It’s encouraging for me to see that kind of effort. I can’t imagine what it would be like for the people who live here. I can only guess that the area would have never recovered otherwise.So we have one more workday remaining. Until next time. Because I realize I have lost absolutely nothing by coming here. I have not sacrificed anything. But I have gained a whole lot.
PS: If you’re following “The Framers” work on Miss Dena’s house, check out the daily timeline on our Flickr page, which is linked here at the left.
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