From my multiple posts regarding day 2, I think that I need to cut things down to what strikes me as interesting or important to what we are doing down her (which is experiencing life and faith in another culture). I just don't have the time to tell the long, rambling minute-by-minute that comes naturally to my detail-oriented mind.
On day 3 we drove to the area around Gulfport, MS. We spent the day in the Pass Christian and Delisle areas. We worked on the house of a Shrimper named Billy. It is an awesome log cabin that is being built from wood salvaged from Katrina. Building the house has been a long process (it was started the day after Christmas 2009) since it is all done by volunteers, but, man, what a nice place. We worked with a youth group from Canton, OH. They worked hard in the heat and humidity. So impressive to see kids working like that.
While talking with Billy and his friend Rich (who was helping with the building) we touched on Katrina and the Oil Spill. Billy told us how his shrimp boat was carried on shore in Katrina. He still owns his boat, but doesn't have the money to fix it so he has been running another guy's boat, at least until the spill. He had received money from Katrina, which he bought a double-wide trailer with, but that burnt down in the middle of the night. (He's living in a beat down trailer now, which is why they are building the log cabin.) Jeff Hegstrom (the coordinator from Relevant Ministry and our contact person in Pass) told Evan and I that Billy escaped the fire in his underwear his trailer went up that fast. Also, he said that prior to Relevant meeting Billy and starting work on his cabin, Billy walked hunched over and suffered from depression and anxiety. Now, he is showing signs of hope and optimism.
I told Billy that people up north seem to have strong opinions about the BP oil spill, sometimes with no knowledge other than what they hear in the news, and I'd like to hear what his take on the situation was. His general sentiment was that this was a tragedy that possibly could've been averted, but who would've ever predicted it happening since drilling in the Gulf has been going on for so long. He seemed unsure of how to gauge BP's responsibility and response to the spill. He is glad that they are not denying that they have a responsibility, but he feels that the money that is being given to fishermen and seafood workers (like Kim) is basically just good-PR and a type of hush-money. He wonders how much this can or will even change things in the Gulf, but, "Sure enough," he said, "fishing ain't ever gonna be the same."
Rich represented a demographic that is more comfortable to the northerner: blue-collar factory worker. He recently retired from DuPont where he spent the last 27.5 years of his career (his wife works there still). Unlike the trend in the north though, Rich says that people down here, if they get a job at DuPont or Chevron or one of the other big industrial companies, don't leave those jobs. I asked him is it was because there was either a sense of family/loyalty or perhaps union jobs, but Rich said it had more to do with the fact that there is little to no other consistent work that pays a sufficient wage. He also said that few of the large companies are union shops, and seemed to be against worker unionization for this area. His opinion was that unions would lower the southern sense of responsibility for one's own actions, leading to self-centered people who were only out for their own dollars and were looking for a company that would work for them and not vice versa.
After lunch with the work crew from OH, we went over to the Marsha Barbour Community Center in Delisle. We met Miss Jackie, who heads up the center. She told us a little bit about the center and the work that the kids from Bethany Mennonite Church had been doing with their basketball and volleyball camps. She is a wonderful, joyful and compassionate young Christian lady who spends her time being Christ in a non-Christian atmosphere. I like to think of her as God's spy, which just made her call me silly.
Across from MBCC is Delisle Mt Zion United Methodist Church, where the youth group was putting on a VBS after the morning sports camps and cabin work. Evan and I (and Jeff, too) were not there to help with VBS, but instead we met with the pastor of the church, Rev. Rose Mary Williams. Wow. What a time we had with her. She is an older, shorter, African American woman who exudes confidence and compassion (a very unusual mix). To sum up our conversation with her, she is a woman pastor who has had great success in ecumenical ministry to benefit the communities around her because of two things: 1.) She has not shirked the calling of God and the vision that the Holy Spirit has placed on her heart despite her age, her race or her gender and 2.) she is so compassionate about the community that she considers everyone in the community "her child" even if they are a part of another church or don't attend any church at all. Before her call into ministry, she was a teacher in the Pass Christian schools for many years. She strongly believes that God used that time and the relationships that she built then to give her the "power" she has now. (She has been highly instrumental in the building of the MBCC and is a highly sought out individual in the community for prayer and counseling.) To hear her speak of the power of the Holy Spirit and his desire for all of us was amazing. It gives me such hope for the communities around her to know that they have someone like her praying for them and advocating for them.
After meeting with Rev. Rose Mary, Jeff took Evan and I on a tour of the shoreline. There were work crews cleaning up tar balls, which Jeff said could be anywhere from specks to grapefruit sized. We saw many empty lots, broken pylons and concrete slabs with no buildings. Jeff said no one is building there and that he doubts people will build on the shore front for many years. He took us to the Bay St. Louis bridge, which was developed as it was built. Apparently, with the bridge out, people (including relief workers) had to make a huge detour to get from one side of the bay to the other. Since the need for the bridge to be built was so big, the builders decided to start building and develop the bridge as they went along. At each side of the bridge are decorated concrete slabs that stretch up to the height of the water at Katrina's peak (27 ft.!). Standing next to them was awe inspiring.
We also visited the Friendship Tree, which has come to be a symbol of the community and its resilience. This tree is 500 years old. It branches are so long that in places they sink into the ground. It was pretty amazing to see a tree like that. ("Avatar" anyone?)
The rest of the evening was spent with the group from Bethany and with Jeff's family. Jeff is such a dynamic guy and the ministry that they are looking to carry out in that area is really compelling. The building and VBS aspects of ministry are not primary goals of Relevant, but they are key to their long-term vision as it helps them get their foot in the doors. Relevant's to big desires are to 1.) develop relational ministries for disciplemaking and 2.) come alongside and support local pastors and churches to encourage them for the harvest that God is preparing. Jeff told us stories of pastor's who aren't burnt out from ministry, or perhaps better stated from trying to do all the aspects of ministry. They are overworked and are frequently suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from Katrina, but are unable to deal with their own issues b/c of the issues in their congregations. They are trying to keep their churches going, but people have left and never came back or their people are discouraged and unable to fulfill the Great Commandment and Great Commission. Relevant is trying to get interns (preferably long-term) into the area to support these pastors, to help them do ministry and relieve some of the burden so that the pastors themselves can again achieve some health and renew their passion.
Day 4 coming up later...
Speaking with Jeff was (I think) amazing for both Evan and I since he has been both a Youth Pastor and a church planter like Evan. He and his wife were a great fit for us and we truly enjoyed their hospitality, kindness and friendship. I'd like to try to find ways of supporting Relevant's vision by getting people down to the Gulf.
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