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Mission Trip to Mississippi
November 1
Today was our first workday. Two nurses worked between Biloxi and Gulfport in a clinic in Bethel Lutheran Church. One nurse and and a physician's assistiant worked in a clinic in Ocean Springs. Several of us stayed at the church in Ocean Springs to cook and serve meals. 16 went out in two work crews to help individuals in their homes.
Our group in orientation. We learn the reality ofthe situation: broken lives, suffering, loss & grief. The hurricane has affected so many lives and there is so much work to do. The message is simple: care for the people.
The bride on Hwy. 90 from Ocean Springs to Biloxi was completely ripped apart. The concrete sections were broken apart and tossed into the bayou.
Most folks had homeowners insurance, but not flood insurance...they were told they didn't need it. Needless to say, when they found out that without flood insurance they wouldn't receive a penny for all their losses, they developed a bit of animosity towards their insurance companies.
These few possessions were all that was left of a family's home. They are sitting on top of the foundation of their home. The rest of the home disappeared in the storm surge. Note the figurine of the young girl. It is telling that it is missing a leg. The area, like the figurine is broken but not destroyed. The people struggle to put their lives back together. We only hope to help. 
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Here is one of our work crews taking a break from a day of gutting a home which was destroyed by Katrina. The truth is that you could smell this house from 40 yards away. The truth is that they worked very hard on this, their first day. The truth is that our labor was menial in comparison to the loss of the person who lived here. (If you look at the top left corner of this picture you will see items on the roof. The storm surge was so high that these things floated up there!)