BLC - Mississippi Mission Trip

Mission Trip to Mississippi (2)

January 24

After a “restful” night of sleep (imagine 40 human buzz saws going at once!) we rose early to greet a beautiful, sunny, warm Mississippi day. We were divided up into two work teams to begin “mucking out” houses. That’s the local term for stripping out all of the drywall, flooring, carpet, and anything else that requires removal due to moss and mold from water. Once the house is mucked out everything is sprayed with bleach.

As groups arrived at their work destinations the magnitude of this hurricane began to take its toll on us. We drove into a subdivision where every house had disappeared. It was reduced to concrete slabs with debris strewn all over. Front porch steps led to nowhere.

As one group began its work they found it very sad to find layers of personal items- makeup, DVD’s, teething rings, baby shoes, a skein of yarn, and toys. Clifford the Big Red Dog and “Woody” from a Toy Story were buried in the rubble. A vacant rope swing hung in the yard. One had to ponder, ‘What was this family like?” “Who are they?” “Where are they now?” Of course, there was no guarantee that these personal possessions belonged to this house. They could have floated in from another. A ruined paperback book was found and we discovered it was a Bible. We opened it to Genesis. “In the beginning…” Mucking out this house will be a new beginning for this family. We are humbled to be God’s answer to prayers for a new beginning.

We are amazed at the spirit of the people here. Everyone is so appreciative of even the smallest efforts. We see God everywhere in the faith of the people. We mucked out the house of a 77 year old woman who donates blood and sings with a karaoke machine in senior citizens homes. She even shared a rousing number with us! Someone commented, “I want to be like her when I’m 77!”

One of the teams finished demolishing another house including the windows, water heater, toilet and A LOT of tile. Whoops! We broke a water line! We’ll have to come back to that one tomorrow. We cleaned yards to prepare them so the FEMA trailers could be moved onto the slabs. We became acquainted with a new insect called a “no see ‘um.” You can’t see ‘em, but they bite!

Comment from the kitchen crew: “It’s fun working with Pastor Jay…as long as you do his bidding!” Really, we are amazed by his organization and we are eating like royalty. Tonight a complete turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Tomorrow pasta bar!

It is hard work. We put in a long day – and we are very blessed. Thank you for your prayers.

Your sister in Christ, Pastor Marcy Miller
Ascension Lutheran, Kentwood