“At least 1,836 people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina and in the subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. The storm is estimated to have been responsible for $81.2 billion (2005 U.S. dollars) in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.”

Although it has been more than eighteen months since Hurricane Katrina devistated the United States, the damage along the coast of Mississippi is still brutally evident.  Last week, the RAD team traveled with Atlanta’s Johnson Ferry Baptist Church to Gulf Port, Mississippi.  The missions team consisted of more than forty people staying for a full week and forty more staying for only half a week.  Can you imagine more than eighty people working together to restore a devastated land?  It is an amazing sight to behold.  Teams ranging from two people to nine people set off to work on homes asigned to them by the North Carolina Baptist Men, a group that has set up a reconstruction base in an old Armory in Gulf Port.  Each house project was unique.  While some houses were still in the tear-down/tear-out phase with mold, termites, and standing water, my group’s house was nearly rebuilt.  My team of six men and women from Johnson Ferry worked on daily tasks ranging from installing appliances, to painting rooms and fixing leaks. 

This week in Mississippi proved to be very impacting for me.  I met many new people, many of which I hope to keep in contact with through the years.  Originally, I felt overwhelmed by the idea of being placed in a group with people I didn’t know.  This fear was soon washed away by the kindness and generousity displayed to me by my missions team. 

Another special part of the trip was blessing a family whose lives were turned up-side-down by Hurricane Katrina.  The owner of the house I worked on, Ms. Marian,  was an elderly widow who had damage to the home she was living in, the house she had grown up in (which was the house we worked on), and to her granddaughter’s house.  Her granddaughter Danielle’s house was completely washed away leaving her and her family to live in a FEMA trailor.  Ms. Marian was having her childhood home restored so that Danielle and her children would have a new home to call their own.  Ms. Marian and Danielle were very open and loving towards everyone in my group.  They told us about their families, about the storm, and about their hope for the future.  They even took us to their family owned restaurant called Catfish Charlie’s!  Through building these relationships, my group and I were able to speak to Ms. Marian, Danielle, and their family about Christ’s love. 

Our RAD trip to Gulf Port/Biloxi, Mississippi gave me new eyes to see the pain, need, and devistation that lies in our own country.  Ministry and missions don’t have to mean traveling to another country to help people who don’t know what they’re missing.  There are opportunities in our own backyards!  Our own people suffer on a daily basis in a variety of ways.  Will we help them?