Be The Hope

Here are a few pictures from my recent trip to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, which was ground zero for Hurricane Katrina. This past week I took a small group of youth down to Christ Church, which St. Mary's has partnered with (more impressive pictures are available on their website). The first picture is what Christ Church looked like before Hurricane Katrina. With winds of 150 mph and a storm surge of 25+ feet, the church building was completely wiped out. In fact, everything about a half mile inland was wiped out. Several different work groups from various churches have built the Quanset Hut (the silver chapel). Camp Coastal (in Kiln, MS - the hometown of Bret Farve) was the volunteer camp where we stayed in a tent. It was definetely camping, but the food, people, and hot showers were wonderful. We met people from Ohio, Michigan, New York, Washington State, and North Carolina.

Some highlights from the trip:

• Learning to mix concrete...we hauled, mixed, and poured over a ton of the stuff. If you were to pour water on my jeans right now, I'm convinced they would turn solid from all the concrete mix dust.
  
• Seeing "Larry the Cable Guy - Health Inspector" with a theater full of genuine rednecks (I, too, technically was a redneck because I got sunburned that day).
• Eating at Barnhills. This, too, was a new experience for me.
  
• The Fran McKendree concert in the Quanset Hut. A great musician, check him out.
  
• Meeting the people. These people are literally building their lives from scratch. Their schools, businesses, churches, and homes were completely destroyed. They are very gracious people, and have a unique perspective on what is truly important in life.
  
• A billboard I saw which read - "Be the Hope"