Thursday In Mississippi

Good evening to our friends and family. Our focus today continued at the Ladniers home. Roofing, flooring, and cleaning continued to be our priorities.

Our friends from Virginia continued to help us.

There were many tough decisions to make. How do we cut this board and who is going to cut it?

That's easy to answer because Paul "I'll cut anything" Cobb is here!

Our long day included some rain showers, blustering winds, and cold temperatures. As the end of the day approached we were getting close to closure on the roof.

The last shingle

The last nail put in by homeowner Will Ladnier. They now have a home with a roof. Their journey home has just begun.

Our last day will focus on finishing up our work for this wonderful family. We have been invited back to see the finished product.

Thank you God for allowing us this opportunity and please help us have a safe trip back home to our families. Amen!

Phil, Paul, David and Gene

Wednesday in Mississippi

Our morning started out with waking up to a dense fog. We had a wonderful breakfast at Hardee's. It was over 85 degrees inside Hardees. They could not figure out how to turn off the heat. Our day could only improve.







We had another group from Virginia (Richmond area) assist us today at the Ladnier's home. The entire exterior siding was cleaned, windows washed, soffit replaced or re-installed, and more roofing and flooring installed.

At lunch time we had a devotion with our group
to reflect on why we were here. We read from the book of Romans.

At the end of our wonderful day we went down to look at the Ladniers family homes. The pictures can only tell you what we saw. They lost almost everything. Just a slab remains.

The following are pictures of what is left of the Ladniers old neighborhood.

The evening sunset was unbelievable. What an end of a wonderful fulfilling day. The Lord continues to bless us and look over us on our journey in Mississippi. Good night from Paul, Phil, David and Gene.

Tuesday In MIssissippi

Today was our first full day working in the field. Our assignment was working with a young family getting there newly purchased home back in order. Imagine buying this home after the hurricane with an eighteen month old baby.









The Ladnier family, Will, Kerry, and Juliana are looking forward to moving into their home. They have several generations of family on the gulf coast and plan to stay. The gulf coast is HOME and they are here to stay!

















Our jobs included finishing the roof and replacing the flooring in part of the home. This home is well above ground but still had over three feet of water in it on the living level.

The water line reached to the door knob in the picture below. The water remained at this level for several hours before receding. Note the river in the background.

Another crew gutted the home prior to our visit. David and Phil worked on the roof and Paul and I (Gene) worked inside. Following a full day the back side of the home's roof was completed and the flooring inside was making progress.

After a long day at the Ladnier home our team was famished. We dined at the local buffet diner Barnhills. Back to camp and lights out. The Lord has blessed us today helping this wonderful young family starting a home that survived a disaster. Please pray for this family and many others that need so much!

Good Night!

Gene, Phil, David, and Paul

Monday In Mississippi

Our day started with a sumptous breakfast of oatmeal, sweet rolls, fruit, orange juice and lots of coffee.











We spent most of the day assessing five homes and what needed to be done and what was a priority. We were able to meet most of the homeowners. These people were all very thankful for all the volunteers down here.





This afternoon we drove down to the coast for a view of the worst devastation. I can tell you Mississippi needs us just as New Orleans does. There are some areas that appear untouched.

First Presbyterian Church- on the coast

This afternoon we had our first meeting of all the volunteers at Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA). We are about 100 strong now. The camp here is continuing to expand and improve the facilities for the volunteers. Hot showers! The camp plans on being operational for three to five years. Yes years! You just can't believe how much work there is to be done.

We are blessed that so many people are assisting with the relief efforts here. Please continue to pray for these people.

Arrival In Mississippi

We arrived at the Orange Grove Presbyterian Disaster Relief Center late this afternoon. Our first priority was to secure our PODs and set up our living arrangements for the week.



Tomorrow we will be finishing roofing a home then performing some assessments prior to the a large arrival of volunteers.

Dinner at Cracker Barrel was exceptional.

It is evident that many areas still need assistance!

Good night from David, Phil, Paul, and Gene

Our next trip begins this Sunday. A team of David Mahan, Paul Cobb, Phil Brandt, and Gene Patterson will head down to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We will be concentrating on the town of Burlington Mississippi. There is a focus on 2500 homes of which we will tackle a few of them.

Pray for us and I will update you as much as possible.

Gene