A Mission of the Heart

There are a few experiences that we all undertake that we always have stuck in the back of our mind as we walk our journey's path. We use that experience to guide our feet and mold who we are. I firmly believe that I can say that the Fall Break hurricane relief mission was one of those experiences in my life that I will never forget.

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When Hurricane Katrina first hit, all of us were struck with horror of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gulf area. The director of campus ministries of Carson-Newman, Jim Wilson, immediately started to set-up a team of students and faculty from the college. When the campus-wide email went out about this Fall Break trip, I suddenly felt that God was telling me to go on this trip; this was one of few moments in my life that I knew for sure what God wanted me to do. He told me not to worry about classes or needed rest; He told me to go on this trip and that He would provide. So I put my trust in my Father and signed up to go. After days passed, over 200 students had signed up to go on this trip (nearly 10% of CN's students and faculty went); we were not sure where we were going, how we would get there, or how we would pay for it. We trusted God to provide everything, and He certainly did! We had enough vans and enough money to support our mission to the Gulf area! God also led us to three different areas of Mississippi (Biloxi, Hattiesburg, and Bay St. Louis). My team was sent to help out in Biloxi.

Wednesday afternoon came and it was time for all the teams to set out on God's mission. My team met each other for the first time, and set out for our 10 hour plus van ride to Biloxi. We finally arrived at First Baptist Church of Biloxi at around 11-12 that night.

Now would be a good time to explain how we operated as a relief mission. The Southern Baptist Disaster Relief group is the third largest relief organization in America. We sort of operated as a part of that group. Their headquarters was at this church, and this is where all the relief meals were served and the place that the workers slept. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were provided free of charge to both relief workers and members of the community. They served us plenty of food; it wasn't the best in the world but it certainly was filling for a long day's worth of work. The Southern Baptists also had a trailer set up that they called the "shower trailer," which is where people in the community and relief workers could come and get a shower if needed. The guys had it pretty good, but the girls had to wait like an hour every night just to get a shower. Sometimes, they would not allow the guys to take a shower and use all the showers strictly for girl use. One night I had to take my shower in a sink because of this. Oh well. The people of the church were also very nice to allow us to use their youth center as a place for all the workers to sleep in. In the morning, one of the associate pastors would give each team work assignments for the day; people in the community would request help due to special circumstances, and we would be sent out to help them.

When we first arrived, I got a little worried because the water was not usable and we had to use water bottles for the sink; also, there was talk of using the port-o-potties and buckets as toilets. I thought to myself, "What in the world have I got myself into?!" Luckily, the water was determined to be clean enough to use by that evening, and I never once had to use a portable john or a bucket for the restroom!

One thing did irk me with the arrangements at the church. All of the guys were in one large youth room that look like it was the site of Christian concerts. Most of the college students and most other relief workers didn't have to leave until like 7:30 in the morning. This would mean most guys would need like 30-45 minutes to get ready and eat breakfast. But for some reason, the older guys that had to get up around 5:30 determined that the others should also get up at that time so they decide to turn the lights on every morning. I murmur to myself when this happened, and I would just try to fall back asleep until my alarm clock went off. One morning, some fool decided that it would be really cool to play the harmonica at 5:30 in the morning even before the lights were turned on; the next night I had my shoe by my side just in case someone decided to do that again! The thing, though, is that when I walked down the hall towards the bathroom at about 6:30, I noticed that the lights in the girl's room were never turned on until everyone was awake. I was so ready to join the girls for a nice, undisturbed sleep!

Before I go any further, I must make a shoot out to my awesome group that I was apart of. Brittany, David, and myself had signed up for this group not knowing the other members. As I walk towards the van with the "team 4" sign on it, I notice that the van says on the side, "East Rogersville Baptist Church." Now if you knew me before my pre-college days, I absolutely disliked anything associated with Cherokee High School and Rogersville, TN. I find out that the driver and the van is from that rival town; I then soon discover that three of the four other group members are not only from Rogersville but are also from Cherokee! I didn't like this at first, but I eventually warmed up to my group. I can firmly say that Team 4 was one of the best; we got so much work done together and had so much fun in the process! Every day, all of us were laughing so hard in the van that we could hardly breathe. This was the first time in a very long time that I had so much fun and I had laughed so much! We certainly bonded and had a great time together, and I will always treasure those moments we spent together! "CHAINSAWS!!" "WHATABURGER!!" "OK...hee!" "I like mold. I like flies. But I love PACO!" "Sorry about the Sars" (some inside jokes)

Onto the missions side of the trip, God certainly touched our hearts as we departed every morning to help these people. The first house that we stopped at was the home of 93 year old that needed help cutting down trees and clearing the yard of debris. Not much damage was done to the home so we were a little discouraged at first that we were not being used for houses that had been totally destroyed. We soon realized, however, how important our job was to that woman. She had no way of doing all of that work by herself, and we were God's instruments in giving that woman a blessing. It may not have been extreme work, but we did good for that lady. As we left she said, "I will never forget you all." We knew right then that God had much planned for us on this missions trip.

That evening, we saw some homes that had been totally destroyed by the storm. We were going to work for this woman named Lui. When we got there, our hearts sank! The neighbors had piles of rubble in their yards; everything that these people had spent years working for was on the street waiting to be sent to the dump. Houses were completely destroyed on the inside and could not even be lived in. These people's lives were covered in sewage and just sat in piles waiting to be taken away. Some of the most heartbreaking aspects was seeing people trying to salvage pictures that they had taken of weddings, birthdays, holidays, and the great moments in life; these were items that no money could ever bring back. This woman Lui was certainly an encouragement to us. As we walked through her totally destroyed home, we saw that everything was in shambles. One thing though was not destroyed though, her marriage license was still like new, and they had taken special care to hang it on the wall with a push pin. Out of all this tragedy, they still had each other and their love for one another. As we left, she sang Amazing Grace with us and had a special prayer. Such an encouragement! Despite all the tragedy, she still lifted up God's name and praised Him for all His glory! Talk about a true saint!

The next day, my team went to a house where the family had just bought the place but the structure was totally destroyed on the inside; the landlord at their former residence had forced them out onto the streets, and the family had to find a new place. On top of that, the husband had just undergone knee replacement surgery. Another house we went to was in a more upscale area of Biloxi. It was horrible to drive through that neighborhood! The houses were still standing but everything that everyone owned was blown all over the yards and streets. Everything that the people owned at our house had to be shoveled out and thrown onto the side of the street because all of it was contaminated from the flood that covered everything but the roof. It also smelled horrible in that neighborhood! It smelled 10 times worse than any sewer. Other areas that we went through just had a roof laying on the ground with no home or a slab of concrete where a house once stood. It was so sad to see the teddy bears, pictures, couches, and more just thrown all over.

I truly hope that I keep the people and images in my mind that I encountered in Biloxi. This experience helped me understand life a little bit better. I wondered to myself, "Is my faith strong enough to withstand disaster?" These people were going strong even though everything around them was telling them to just give up. These people had such a strong faith and determination to finish the job, despite the circumstances. I hope that when my faith is put to the test that I will be able to stand tall like these people did. This experience also made me realize the important things in life and the not-so-important things. It made me have a better appreciation of the stuff that God has blessed me with because I saw how he can take it away in an instant. These people had spent their lives building up to what they have and in an hour or two the hurricane took everything away. I've always had felt that friends and family were special, but that feeling has grown stronger inside of me because of this trip. We heard about one man that grabbed his family by the arm as the 50-ft tall storm surge came ashore; after that, he never saw them again. I thank God so much for showing me this and revealing to me the truly special things in life! Treasure every moment you spend with your family and friends; they might not be here tomorrow!

filed under: katrina, college, christianity

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