One small step for our Community Church 'Disaster Relief' group is done (we are all home after an extremely productive and rewarding 10 days)... Many giant leaps remain for the people of the Gulf Coast...

The entire crew has returned safely (except for Dan, who is home but brought some sort of flu-bug back as a souvenier...) And what a trip it has been! The Community Church family should be extremely proud of the work it supported through donations, prayers and 'holding down the fort' while loved ones toiled in Gulfport, Mississippi. They should be even prouder of the way in which the group attacked each task with gusto, stopping only to listen to the stories that 'passeth all understanding' from the local people... You (and I) couldn't possibly understand what happened there unless you were there. TV does not convey it. Talking to we who went for a week does not convey it. Even being there for a week (and then returning to a house with a roof, heat, insulation, sheetrock, belongings, furniture, running water...) does not allow us to fully understand the tragedy that these people have experienced. As you view the following pictures pretend for a minute that this is Ocean City (assuming you are from around here... if not, use your imagination...) I'm not attempting to scare you... "Oh my, that could happen here!) I'm am writing this just to help you 'get' what it is like for 'them'... (the residents of the Gulf Coast). If you own property in Ocean City- Boom! All buildings---Gone!!!! Start over, just sand.... (see the pictures...) If you are in Ocean Pines or nearby, you're lucky, your house still exists... you've just lost all belongings accumulated during your lifetime, your house must be gutted (depending on it's exact level above mean high tide) and repaired (you're on 'The List' that everyone seemed to be on... waiting, waiting, waiting... for the lucky few- thank God for UMCOR/Trinity Methodist Church/CCOP...), except that you've lost your job because: A. You're a teacher and most of the kids evacuated to somewhere else so you've lost your job, or B: You're lucky enough to have your job , but most family members weren't, so they've moved into your FEMA supplied 'travel trailer' ( Meaning: 'comfortable for about a week of family camping', now 140 days later...)

Our work crossed all socio-economic, racial and religious bounds (I was told tonight that the Methodist relief organization- UMCOR, who we were working under the direction of, is the only denominational group that doesn't currently restict itself to helping only 'it's own'... ) I speak for myself, but the most bizarre part of the experience is that even in the midst of total devastation, I enjoyed every minute of the work... for me there can be no higher purpose than serving those in need regardless of race, creed, economic level, age, status... MLK must be smiling reading this on his day: 'I have a dream, that one day, a person will be helped by judging his or her need regardless of the color of his skin...' (my paraphrase...).

UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) has got it right. Their motto (official/unofficial? I don't know, but gospel according to Rev Tom...) is 'First in, Last Out'. And out is a long, long way away.... If we did a drop of work, there remains an ocean... There are people near Gulfport (Waveland, Pass Christian... devastated... wiped out...) still living in tents 140 days after the storm! Families, just like you and I, except this particular hurricane hit the Gulf Coast and not the Mid-Atlantic Coast... (Pat Robertson be Damned!- It's luck of the draw... My God would NEVER purposely injure human beings to convey some silly message about who's living 'right'... Talk to the folks who went about 'the stories' they heard. Stories about the will to live, stories about how if you are focused on helping others you feel no fear in the face of insurmountable odds, stories about pure human kindness, and stories of miraculous happenings that confirm (or shake) your beliefs...

Love and Service seem to me the two highest purposes for a human being on this earth. I just spent the purest week of love and service in all of my 47 years. My life is changed. Others on the trip (mission?) have served lovingly in Africa, Appalachia, with MLK during the civil rights struggle... and others have devoted their lives to this end. But I, for one, will probably slip quietly back to my 'real life' until another opportunity like this comes along (or I create it...) to define who I am and why I am here on this earth. (Sorry for the heaviness if you were just looking for some photos of the work we did to help the Gulf Coast residents, skip ahead for those...)