A Little Blurb From Each Of Us

Today (this was actually written LATE last night) was our final day on our two worksites, and although we haven’t yet had our final debrief about the full effects of this trip on our personal journeys, the experience has been incredible.  God has revealed Himself in some amazing ways, spoken things to us we did not expect but we welcomed, and the memories created will forever go down in our histories as some of our best moments with Jesus.

We wanted to give you a quick snapshot from each person on our team.  So enjoy the updates, and this will be our final entry before we fly home tomorrow.  And yes, even though we won’t get into Mechanicsburg until after midnight, we WILL be at Daybreak on Sunday morning.

Thank you ALL for your prayers this week.  We never could have done this without you.

From Mark: What an incredible week! The people of the Gulf region have an incredible spirit and perseverance and it was a remarkable privilege to spend the last several days serving and interacting with these great folks. We had the pleasure of building homes with the dedicated and inspiring people of Habitat for Humanity and found out very quickly that we were not simply building homes, we were building hope within the community. I am amazed by the number of people who have expressed their sincere gratitude for the small part we have played in the continuing massive renovation process. Although the time has gone by very quickly and I love the Daybreak Biloxi team (the Mighty 11)I miss my family greatly and look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. Love you, Lu, Alex, Todd, Kara and yes…you too Nala, our cat! See you tomorrow!

From Jeff B.: Katrina still leaves her mark these many years later – physically, economically, emotionally. Not sure what I was in for when I signed up, but I hoped my work might help someone. In the end, I am leaving with far more than I contributed to the Gulf Coast. God spoke to each of us in some way. Our team was a joy. Hi love….I miss you, and can’t wait to see you tomorrow!          

From Mel:  This team has knocked my socks off!!!  God has spoken to us individually and as a team, and the moments where I’ve thought to myself, “I love my job, I love my job” have been endless.  Highlights for me included relationships with the Habitat staff, a great connection with home owners, a killer team co-leader, personal time with God, all the laughter, and deep, life-changing conversations with my teammates.  Thank you BFF’s & prayer partners for all of your prayers – they were felt a lot!  Family, my neck is feeling great and I haven’t had any trouble with it all week.  Deb, this trip was only made possible because of you… seriously.  Scott Kaplin, I could not have imagined this trip without your incredible wife – thank you for everything and for allowing me to share this week with her.  John, I can’t wait to share everything I’ve learned this week with you – I miss you and love!!!

From Andy: Real quick, if you need any sanding done just give me a ring. Me and the electric sander have become best buds. Seriously, I was looking forward to helping build a house this week. I had no idea God was going to teach me about what true serving looks like. Hint, hint, building the house is just the vehicle. What I learned from my teammates this week peeled back another layer of my soul, and I will always be grateful for their trust and friendship. It was awesome to show the image of Jesus to others, and see his image in others. A guy name Slim rocked my world. I will never forget him as long as I live. Maureen, I Love You and will never be able to re-pay your prodding for me to take this trip. Kaci, your journal was inspiring. Rock Star!!! Brendan, I missed seeing you after school each day. All my prayer partners, I felt your strength all week. I can’t wait to get home to share some of my experiences with all of you!

From Jason:  What an experience! This has easily been one of the most positive and powerful experiences of my life. In addition to helping to rehabilitate a house by operating seven different types of power tools and at least a dozen hand tools in order to demo a few walls, build an interior posts, and hang soffit, I had the opportunity to do so much more. I had the pleasure of serving alongside my team members throughout the week to give hope, and show Christ’s love to the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I look forward to returning home to share my experiences with family and friends and hope to continue some of the great things we experienced this week, including peacefulness, prayer, deeper conversations, and stronger relationships.

From Alicia:  This has been an absolutely amazing week filled with so many blessings.  In addition to operating some power tools, going under the house (again!), getting up on some scaffolding and doing whatever else was needed, I grew closer to each person on our team and grew in my relationship with Jesus Christ.  Interacting with the Habitat site crew, Brad and Paul, was awesome.  We also got to spend some time with Mark, the Habitat site manager we worked with when I came with the 2010 team.  Each person we encountered showed us so much love and grace.  And it was such a blessing getting to share this experience with Jason.  Our marriage has grown stronger because of this trip.  While here, we have done so much more than help build a house; we built life-long relationships.  To all my friends and family, please know that I love and miss you and I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.  Dad – I miss you!  And give Emmitt a big hug from us!

From Matt: This has been a truly blessed week. We came here to be a blessing to others and come away feeling we were the ones blessed. I met several wonderful and spiritually mature young men. Brad, our site leader, and Paul, his assistant, they are true servants and have a deep, deep faith. We heard a testimony from Mark, who was our site leader on my last trip, WOW! It was amazing. I felt as if God was speaking to Lesa and I directly through him. There were many more moments to share, when we get back. I missed you Abi, Joey and Noah, see ya soon.   

From Lesa:  Wow!  I just have no idea where to start.  I have had an amazing week and have once again been blown away by how awesome my God is.  I came here to build houses and spend some time with Matt and ended up with something else entirely. Matt and I served at separate sites and I did VERY little actual building (9 pieces of soffit in 3 days is less than impressive!)  But God’s plans are ALWAYS better than my plans and I have been overwhelmingly blessed by this trip and my precious teammates.  And to think this trip was not my first choice!!!!!  Melissa and Wally, thank you so much for sacrificing your convenience to make this trip possible for Matt and I.  You are such a blessing to me and I am so glad I count you as friends.  Thank you JR for STAYING WHERE YOU BELONG!!!  Abi, Joey and Noah, I miss you all and love you so much.  I can’t wait to come home and be with you again.  And yes, Momma and Daddy have surprises for you!!  See your really soon!!

From Jeff G.:  A truly amazing week!  I spent most of the week on scaffolding and ladders doing some hard but rewarding work.  I am just amazed at the spirit of the people in this region.  They are so gracious and inviting.  Everywhere we went, we were blown away at the gratitude they showed us for just being here.  It was my honor to serve them humbly.  God has done so much here and I am blessed to be a small part of it.  I came here as one of eleven on this team but I am going home with relationships that have bonds that will never be broken.  A ton of laughs, tears, phrases, and stories have made this one special week.  Thanks to everyone who provided support to me.  It was evident.  Most importantly, thanks to my best friend for giving me letters to start each day.  I love you so much Jan and cannot wait to see you tomorrow night and share this experience with you.

                          

From Beth: This has been one of the greatest experiences of my life! I am just amazed by our God. He has demonstrated over and over again this week what a good God He is and that He has a plan for each of us…AND IT IS GOOD! The people on this team are amazing, the people at Habitat are amazing and the people at AmeriCore are amazing. I am truly blessed! Cameron & Emily I love you more than cheesecake! Miss you!  Can’t wait to see you and tell you all about this experience.

From Robin:  In reflecting on my experience here in Biloxi, I was reminded earlier today that I was a “last minute addition” to this team.  I have had a fantastic week with the team and I am so glad I said “YES” to come down and join God in His work here in Mississippi.  This week has been another life-changing experience for me. I had an incredible opportunity to lead part of our team on one work site, while Mel led the rest of the team at a second work site…we saw God show up in incredible ways and I find myself, once again, in awe of God’s faithfulness and goodness in my life.  I, too, learned how to use many different power tools this week, engaged in some serious demo, learned how to hang soffit, got to suit up in a Hazmat suit, ate some yummy BBQ at the infamous SHED and had many incredible moments of relationship-building with our site crew and teammates.  God is clearly at work here in the Gulf and He showed His favor on us as a team as we made ourselves available to be used by Him.  Of course, I am excited to return home to see my family…Alexia and Megan…I will be home soon (and I am bringing home a little surprise for each of you).  Babe, THANK YOU for your support…it means the world to me.  I Love You and will see you soon!! 

We'll be at BWI tonight at 9:45 PM.  Probably won't get back to Daybreak until after midnight, maybe 12:30 PMish.  If anyone is waiting for us and wants to know exactly when we'll arrive, call my or Robin's cell phone.

A Few Extra Thursday Details

This is our final workday on the Mississippi Gulf Coast doing God’s work in two locations, yesterday was a great day for our team. Spending a glorious day under the leadership of Brad and Paul from Habitat for Humanity, the entire team spent the day together in Pascagoula on the new home build.

One of our team members, riding the Daybreak Church wave, said “on this trip we are one team serving in two locations!” And we’ve embraced the separate sites. But, honestly, it was sweet spending a sun splashed day together doing God’s work as one team.

We were introduced to Glenn and his two sons. A Daybreak team helped re-build Glenn’s house in 2008, and still four years later you see the genuine gratitude dripping off him. It helped show our team yet again how building homes is just the vehicle driving the relationship train.

Glenn’s oldest son, Kevin, told us “If you want genuine Mississippi Gulf Coast hospitality on a plate, go to The Shed.” So our team went to the barbeque shack last night.

Most of the male members went with The Sampler – one brave sole tackled the Jumbo Sampler. It was six meats and three side dishes. How can you possibly share a Sampler?? Let’s just say “audible eating” (lots of hmmmm’s and groans) was the order of the night for the male team members.

As we get ready for our final workday, our somewhat lack of youth in our team is pretty evident. Lots of moaning, Advil and Tums.

But today is New Day and Let Us Rejoice In It. One team at two locations doing God’s work. Our prayer this morning was to make today a new beginning. Amen.

Posted by Andy, our resident journalist (on behalf of the entire team)

Our Thursday Together

We’re too tired to write much, so here is a look at our day in photos.  It was the only day that all 11 of us got to serve on the same home, we went to visit Glenn & his family (one of our home owners from 4 years ago), we got to see the Gulf, we ate yummy barbeque at The Shed, and we had a great debrief time tonight with some awesome moments of affirmation.

Enjoy the pics!

P.S.  The plan is to have someone else post more in the morning before we leave for our final day of work…

Blessed By Another Great Day!!

We survived day #2!  It was another great day in the Mississippi sun.  God really blessed us today with great weather.  At times, it appeared like a storm was going to roll through.  We even saw lightening and heard thunder, but the skies opened up and the sun kept shining.  We also enjoyed a nice breeze most of the day, which helped keep things cool and comfortable.

Each team member stretched their limits today by learning a new skill.  Some folks got to use some sweet power tools, climb scaffolding, and sport a rockin’ hazmat suit that resembled the stay puff marshmallow man!  Through it all we continued bonding as a team, getting to know each other and our Habitat and AmeriCorps crewmates better.  God is good and we’re all being blessed by the opportunity to ultimately be serving Him.

We received a special blessing this evening when we were visited by Mark, who was the Habitat site leader from our 2010 trip.  He has a special Habitat assignment this week, so we’re not able to work with him on-site.  So, his visit was very special.  Mark shared his hurricane Katrina experience, how he came to work with Habitat and his amazing testimony.  We were all inspired and blessed by his honesty, authenticity and vulnerability.  A lot of happy tears were shed as he shared his beautiful story. 

We closed the evening by praying over him as a whole team.  We pray that God will continue to do the work in and through Mark and we invite you to do the same.

P.S. More pictures have been posted to Facebook by Habitat.  Please check ‘em out!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150904127829402.478489.11430399401&type=3

Posted by Alicia & Lesa (on behalf of the entire Biloxi 2012 Team)

Work sites, here we come!

Up early to catch the cool of a Mississippi day, our group kicked off work day No. 1 bright and early at 6 a.m.

Lunches packed, a quick breakfast under our belts, each group traveled the 30 minutes to their respective work sites to enter the world of the unknown.

Just in case you were wondering, it’s hot and humid here on the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast. And we were warned to stay away from fire ants and some snake called a “Sea Cobra”.

Off to work, under the protection of oh-so comfortable hard hats, our gang of 11 faithful servants set forth to do what was asked, be a beacon for God our Father and obey.

Our reward was some meaningful instruction and prayer by the Habitat professionals, followed by a quick familiarization with our “tool of the day”.

The rest of the day was filled with water guzzling, port-a-potty visiting and some back breaking labor all in the name of Christ while serving Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

And according to the leadership team, we get to do it all over again on Wednesday. And all of God’s people called to serve said? AMEN!

For those looking for a visual confirmation of our accomplishments and adventures on Day 1 On The Job, click on the Facebook link below.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150904127829402.478489.11430399401&type=3

Everyone on the team made it through the first day with flying colors. All prayers are helpful, meaningful and appreciated. We have plenty of Advil, so the rest of the week looks great.

Posted by Jeff B. & Andy (on behalf of the entire Biloxi 2012 Team)

In the Beginning...

Our day started on New Orleans (“NOLA”) with beautiful warm weather. In order to better appreciate why we are here and how we will be serving, we took a three hour bus tour of some of the main areas impacted by Katrina.

Some observations throughout our day:
* The Mississippi River,
* Where there was once hopelessness, despair, and poverty and in some cases still exists, we also witnessed gratitude, appreciation, encouragement, people working in community, neighbor helping neighbor.
* In terms of destruction, we saw homes with holes in roofs where people had to escape their own homes after fleeing to an upper story and then in order to avoid rising waters or to eventually get out - had to use a hatchet or other device to create a hole to get out; we also saw plenty of empty lots where homes and been moved off their foundations and/or demolished; further we saw homes with their sides ripped off.
* Finally, we got to see flood walls, flood gates, and levees that withstood the waters as well as those that had been compromised and repaired;

We gained a better appreciation through our tour guide as well as observing what most of the destruction came from – not so much the rains from Katrina, but rather how the rains impacted the already weak coastal system, it destabilized the levees, and overwhelmed the pumping system.

After the tour, we enjoyed lunch at The Gumbo Shop. Some of the meals included Creole shrimp, crawfish, beef po-boy sandwiches, blackened chicken, Gumbo, and jambalaya.

We arrived at our camp and were greeted by Ken, Dawn, and their children Elizabeth and Paul. We were pleasantly surprised at how nice the facilities are; our hosts were especially welcoming. We enjoyed a nice dinner of chicken, corn, baked beans, and rolls.

Our group wrapped up our day with fellowship, receiving our work site assignments for the week. We learned that we are being blessed with the opportunity to serve two different families and their homes this week. While this was a surprise, we are embracing it because in our preparation we established the goal to bless, serve, and help as many people as possible. So, half our group will be serving in Pascagoula and the other half will be serving in Gautier (pronounced “GO-sher”).

That’s all for tonight. Thank you for following along. Stay tuned throughout the week as we plan to update the blog each night after dinner.

Posted by Jason & Beth (on behalf of the entire Biloxi 2012 Team)

We are here!

This will be short tonight. We had a great day of travel and just finished dinner in New Orleans. We're exhausted. More tomorrow.

The 2012 Team Leaves on Sunday!!!

Here is 2012's Biloxi Short-Term Team! (As you can see below, we have traveled to the Gulf Coast several times for short-term trips. This will be our 6th trip down, and you can read up on our previous experiences by scrolling below...)

Thank you for checking out our blog and for following us on this amazing journey. We will be gone from May 6-12, partnering with Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We're not sure what our assignment will be, but we will be working with several Habitat staff either on a new home or what they affectionately call a "rehab." A rehab is a home whose foundation survived the storm but its contents were ruined, therefore needing to be stripped to its studs and refinished completely (or rehabilitated). The team that traveled in the fall of 2010 worked on the final stages of a rehab. But this year, we have no idea what we're doing until we get there! We'll do our best to update the blog as often as we can so that you can track with our journey and pray for us along the way.

So here's the team (from left to right, top to bottom): Beth, Robin, Lesa, Alicia, Mel, Jeff, Matt, Jason, Mark, Andy, and Jeff

Our team verse (which is important so that you know how to pray for us) is from 1 Chronicles 28:20 which says, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

Here is how you can also be praying: - Smooth, safe travels by car, plane, and foot :)
- Strong health the entire time we are away
- Our families at home
- Strong sense of team unity and family among us
- Hear God's voice and be changed by it

There are LOTS of other ways you can be praying, so when anything comes to mind, pray it! We love you all and thank you for your support, prayers, encouragement, and love.

If you have ANY interest in sending us off, we will meet at Daybreak on Sunday, May 6th @ 7:30 AM and hope to leave by 8:30 AM. If you're there by about 8:00 AM, that will give you good buffer to say your goodbye's and give lots of hugs. :)

See you guys soon!

Posted by Mel (on behalf of the entire Biloxi 2012 Team)