As usual a couple of "clowns" had to stop traffic while they cut house wrap.

Here is what a week of hard work looks like finished.

Here is what ya'all started with, and after a weeks work the finished photo don't look half bad.

One thing we do know for sure, is that Mel & Billie would want this team back if possible.

"How many volts did you say were coming through here? That many huh?

But don't worry"Wick", it's the AMPS that will do you in, not the volts"

Rev. Sharon Sabom and her husband left for a eight day trip to Jerusalem on the Monday of our first day of work, so we only got to spend a short amount of time with her. The other members we had dealings with were a great help to us settling in.

George rang the "bell" and won Vicky a prize.

Andrew rang the "bell" and got 2 prizes

"I musta dropped my tester again"

It's not a difficult question. Which way did you come from, Right or Left?

Russel

Jim says, " You want me to do what while I'm under here? No way, isn't it break time yet"

Poor George, on only his second VIM trip was allowed one night on the men's side, then banished to a room by himself, some said because of snoring, but not me George.
" Love the sheets & pillow cases "

After a hard days work, an evening of gambling to determine who wins at Phase Ten.

Excitement abounds!!!!

We're not sure if this is Rev. Tom's bed, but we definitely know it is not Russell's

Two (2) blind moles jacking up house to install new 4"x6" beam, hoping that the jacks don't slip in the Texas Mud, as usual Rev. Tom supervising.

Our home @ LaMarque Methodist Church for the week.

The whole crew on Friday afternoon! Smiling, but ready to come home...

The Crew... (well, most of them, the ones who showed up for the photo...)

The whole Motley Crew!

Front Row: Stephanie;Dottie;Vicky;Carole;Tom A.;Liz;Skip;Jenny;Joanne;Susan

Back Row: Stacy;George;Rev. Tom;Ernie;Rob;Jim S.;Russel;Blogmaster Rick;Lee;Dan;Jim D.

The place we are staying used to be an African-American camp for Methodists. It was purchased illegally in the 20's by the first Methodist African-American bishop. Illegally because blacks were forbidden from owning land. During the civil rights era many prominent leaders of the movement met and stayed here to plan their strategy.

It is now Monday evening and we all seem to have had a very productive day. We are working on 4 different houses ranging from a 'new build'. That is the term used here for a site where the house was completely destroyed and the Methodist Church relief organization is building a family a home from the foundation up. (Sometimes that foundation is pilings that go up as much as 18' above ground because of the new building and zoning laws put in place after Katrina.)

Well, we're here!
The team arrived in New Orleans Saturday evening after a smooth, on-time flight. Several members of the team are still wandering aimlessly on Bourbon Street... (just kidding... we hopped in our rental vans and drove straight to Waveland, Mississippi.) This is Monday morning and I've got to go to work. More later today... (Barb, Liz said she hopes you and Penny and [her other dog] are doing well...)

mudding and sanding at one of our houses

a few of the gang at a meal

Just some random photos from the past few days:

Robbie K. & Denny, Electricians. (Call 911)

Bill says Hi Tami! He really misses you... (some of the people he's with down here are really weird...)

We've arrived at Vancleave UMC and I'll have to be brief. It's after lights out time and I'm on Reverend Tom's work team. I don't want to get in trouble tomorrow! Yesterday was a day of rest. ( they don't allow volunteers to work on Sunday at this church. ) So half of us went to New Orleans (to survey the damage and to save souls on Bourbon Street, of course.) The other half toured the Mississippi Gulf Coast from Biloxi to Bay St. Louis. (Bay St. Louis was under 28 feet of water during the storm!) Today was our first work day and from all accounts it went well. The 5 teams are all busy at different houses. One is helping to construct a log cabin! Several are doing drywall and insulation. No one injured today... lots of sore and tired people... I'll just add some more pictures and let them speak for themselves: Click on them to enlarge...

Well, we're going back... (I suspect we'll keep going back until we're asked not to return.) This is year 3 and things are a little different this time around. Trinity Methodist Church in Gulfport is no longer housing, feeding and co-ordinating volunteers so we've found a church in Van Cleave, Mississippi to house and feed us. We'll be about 30 miles from where we were last year. Believe it or not, there are still houses in the area that have not been touched and need complete gutting! This is over 2 1/2 years after Katrina... So we may be doing some gutting. Certainly we'll be doing drywall and painting, maybe insulation. We've gotten pretty good at these trades.

We fly this Saturday 1/26. This church doesn't allow the volunteers to work on the Sabbath, so Sunday many of us will probably go to New Orleans to see the sights and of course to save some souls on Bourbon Street!

More to follow from Mississippi on Saturday night...

I'm going to try a video upload/link. Never did this on a blog. This is the short video I made after last year's trip to show in church the Sunday after we returned. i hope you enjoy it...

For those of you on last year's trip, you'll never believe what I'm listening to right now... A certain Ms. Angel Snow's 1st and so far only CD! I was looking for some music for this Sunday's presentations and I remembered Ron sending us her Myspace address. The Myspace thing refers you to www.DigStation.com where you can search Angel Snow and download the album for only $9.99! Anyone present at her after dinner performance last year knows that she deserves to sell a boatload of CD's... 3 of the 4 songs she played for us that night are on the album, with the exception being her renditon of John Prine's, "Angel From Montgomery." (A song I absolutely love that was passionately covered by Bonnie Raitt... I think Mr. Prine and Ms. Raitt would have been smiling at Angel's rendition...) Oops, low battery... more tomorrow...

well, it's Thursday night and we're feeling alright... Tonight another group from Ohio cooked up a shrimp feast for everyone, including the homeowners of the houses that are currently being worked on.

Above is the official 'group photo taken tonight... lots of happy, tired people...

Ann, Courtney (Trinity UMC's rebuilding coordinator), Mike, the homeowner , Russel, Carole and Luna Muna...

A team that was audacious in it's accomplishments:

I had no interaction with the homeowner, but heard some great stories... not the least of which is how this team went above and beyond 'reasonable' to get him a blue living room ("White'll show all the grandkids fingerprints!" They were sent to paint and they ended up jacking up a good portion of the house (complete with Muna slithering around under the house with the lizards and spiders...), completely rebuilding his front porch and reglazing his windows (sometimes several times per window, eh, RevTom...) among other improvements... I think this was the spirit of the entire group... go beyond just what's expected, to the core of what is needed. Many times, when we went above and beyond, we used the CCOP's funds that were raised specifically for this mission. Because of the generosity of donors, both within and outside of, CCOP, we didn't have to ask the homeowners if they could afford it or ask Trinity Church's rebuilding coordinator for the funds. Many thanks go out to you who helped us financially, as well as spiritually (ie. all the prayers and goodwill).

Who says men can't cook?

Our esteemed leader putting his love into action...