November 16, 2005	Back to Articles Listing

Changed! Old North Team Returns from Hurricane Relief Mission Trip

By Pastor Chris Jarrett

From November 5 through 13 it was my pleasure to lead a team of seven people to Mississippi to do relief work in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The team included (l to r) Ted Miller, Christ Jarrett, Dan Ninneman, Jen Daniels, Rick Buttle, Anthony Farrell, and Erin Hladuik

The hurricane hit on Monday, August 29, and almost three months after the storm the damage left behind boggles the mind. There are still places that are quarantined because the recovery of bodies continues.

Our team partnered with John and Shirley Corley of Steppin' Out Missions. John and Shirley are working with several local churches to help victims of the hurricane.

We arrived in Gulfport, Mississippi on Sunday afternoon along with a team from Phoenix, Arizona, and after a quick welcome, we all got back on our bus to get a tour of the area. What we saw left us speechless.

On the drive down, more than sixty miles from the Gulf we saw ample evidence of the hurricane, and the closer we got, the worse it got. Trees snapped like matchsticks, debris bulldozed in to piles everywhere, blue tarps on damaged roofs.

There is hardly a home in the whole region that doesn't have a blue tarp on it indicating roof damage to some extent. Other homes filled with water to various degrees but could be repaired. Some homes were damaged beyond repair, removed from their foundations, twisted and crushed like paper models. Other homes were completely obliterated, their structure and contents scattered for miles.

The loss of lives and property is simply overwhelming. Authorities estimate that about thirty percent of the residents have simply called it quits and moved away for good. Others have vowed to rebuild even though they have lost everything.

Like the story of the child throwing beached starfish back into the sea, you might ask "Why bother?" You can't possibly help everyone. But we went to help those we could, so early (and I mean early) Monday morning we went to work.

Some of our group helped with cutting and clearing trees - a job that will take months to complete. Ted Miller assures us that a chainsaw that feels pretty light at 6:30am gets pretty heavy by 5:00pm.

Another part of our group teamed up with some of the group from Arizona to work on the home of Mike and Neng. They had several feet of water in their house, so the crew worked all week to cut out the bad drywall and insulation throughout the house and then repair the damage.

A third part of our crew did roof work most of the week. They started at Chuck's house repairing an end gable that had been blown off and patching the roof until it could be shingled. Then Anthony, Dan and Rick spent two days at Miss Marcia's, an elderly but very spry widow, where they removed and then re-shingled her roof.

It was a busy week of working sun up to sun down. At the end of the week we were exhausted, but given the opportunity we would have all stayed for at least another week - the needs are so great and the people are so appreciative.

Please continue to pray for the victims of Katrina. God is using the catastrophe to open up doors of ministry and give local churches the opportunity to reach people with the gospel in ways they never could have before.

As for our team, we will never be the same. God has taught us numerous lessons along the way (but that will have to wait for another article). In the mean time, we're just chomping at the bit to go back!