Destruction is our game, Demolition is our name

Another beautiful day on the Mississippi coast. Sunny and warm (almost too warm, but we are not complaining).

This morning we had some training on our new task of assessing homes. We were cautioned to be very careful in talking to the homeowners and to be sensitive to their situation. If a home needs to be condemned in our opinion, we are to be very cautious and to say something like 'I think that someone with more experience needs to come look at your home' rather than saying flat out 'I think your home needs to be condemned'. Again, if you try to put yourself in this situation and some volunteer told you that your home needed to be condemned, how would you react?

We went back to the same general area of Biloxi to the grid that PDA has been assigned. It is about five to six streets with maybe 30 homes on each street. That is a rough estimate. Anyway, we split into ten teams with people from different groups on each team. The idea was to make sure each team had someone with some experience in this work so that a reasonable assessment could be made. We went door to door and spoke to homeowners that were there. By lunch time we had assessed about 50 homes which gives a good backlog of homes to work on. Here is a picture looking through the front door of one of the homes we assesed. Without the smell, it probably doesn't have the same impact that it had on those of us that were there.



One of the teams had an interesting experience with a lady and her boyfriend who have already started rehabbing her home and are making excellent progress. While our assessment team and the homeowner were talking, another woman and man in a car with Oregon license plates came up. The lady from Oregon wanted to paint the home, but told the homeowner she would have to pay $1800 in advance to buy the paint. Well, if you know anything about the cost of paint, you know that $1800 worth of paint would be enough for probably 5 or 6 good size homes. Our team advised the homeowner to definitely not do business with someone like that. It was obviously a scam. It is so disheartening to see people try to take advantage of these people who have already suffered so much.

Back to lunch at Compassion Center. The menu today was fried chicken, black eyed peas, fruit cocktail, and cookies. We spoke to Carl Keyes from New York city who is in charge of Urban Life Ministries that is running the Compassion Center. He said that he had a friend that had already donated $300,00 in meat to the center and that the friend said he would provide support for up to six months. What a friend and what a commitment! When we thanked Carl for all he is doing for the volunteers, he just thanked us for the work we are doing for the people of Biloxi.

After lunch we did two more assessments and then went to cut some trees at a homeowners house. However, when we got there we realized that the trees had already been cut down and partially cut up and that they were at the very back end of the property and were not really causing any problem or danger. We requested to be reassigned to a homeowner who was in more urgent need of help. We got assigned to Mrs. Watts.



Hers was one of the houses we had assessed after lunch. We called her and she was able to come meet us at the house and confirm what needed to be done. She is a widow of about 13 years and had bought this house after her husband died. She has one son in the Marines in Iraq. The house had already been cleaned out and now needed to have the walls stripped. We are now pros at that work! We attacked the house with a furious determination. About 2 hours later it looked like this. We are really very good at making a mess!



We will be going back in the morning to finish and it may take us most of the day. It is an older home with no insulation in the walls and some termite damage, but overall it seems structurally sound. After we strip the walls, she will begin the process of spraying the structure with bleach. The recommended procedure is to spray, wait seven days, spray again, wait three days and then spray a final time. It takes a lot to kill the mold and mildew.

Since it was hump day we knocked off at four, got back to camp, took our showers



and went out for nice relaxing dinner at Logan's Roadhouse.

We got back just in time for the evening devotion/meeting. Our team had volunteered to do the devotion and Phil, Leonel and David Mahan did a great job. Phil read from Matthew and David read Psalm 121. Leonel, with the help of an interpeter from the California kids, told his story about coming to the US and why he wanted to come on this mission trip to help victims of the storm. It is very inspiring and deserves to be told. Tune in tomorrow for the complete story.

Here is the interesting picture of the day. This is a slab of concrete beside one of the houses in our grid. It floated here from one of the refrigerated storage facilities on the bay (which is couple of blocks from where is now rests). Anyway, concrete does not normally float very well so we were puzzled as to how it got there in one piece. Closer inspection revealed a layer of foam insulation (maybe 8" thick) on the underside. Our theory is that the foam provided a measure of flotation and the flood waters did the rest.



Our team (with the addition of Susan and Lon) continues to work very well together. It is tough work but very rewarding in that we know we are making a real difference in these peoples lives. And they are making a real difference in our lives as well. None of us will come home the same person that left last Sunday. None of us will ever look at coverage of a hurricane on tv and not understand what the survivors are going through. Truly amazing. Praise God!