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2011 GULF COAST MISSION TRIP BRINGS HOPE TO FAMILIES NEEDING HOMES
Three new houses came closer to completion through the work of seventeen members and friends of Good Shepherd who took part in our sixth mission trip to the Gulf Coast the week of March 13-19.
The volunteers worked on houses with East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity in Slidell, Louisiana, and St. Tammany West Habitat in Mandeville, Louisiana. Work consisted of installing trusses, OSB board, and shingles, as well as painting and installing windows, soffits and siding.
Those from GSLC taking part in the mission trip were: Dave Adams, Ken Clark, Linda Dooley, Tim Grabenstein, Bob Hinman, Lora & Pete Jollis, Devin Ornella, Ginny Pape, John Soller, Linda Ziegler, and Pastor Larry. A former U.C. student who took part in previous Edge @ UC mission trips, Jake Reed, also took part, as did the following friends from Lord of Life Lutheran in West Chester: Tom Breon, Frank & Susan Fuller and Bob Johnson. See picture below.
Twenty-five students from The Edge @ U.C. Campus Ministry took part in a second mission trip the week of March 20-27. They worked in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, helping to rebuild homes there.
| A SPRING BREAK TALE - Tuesday, April 12, 2011by Cornelius Anderson (engineering grad student at UC)
This tale recounts a spring break adventure unlike most. The tale follows 22 University of Cincinnati students, mostly strangers on a week-long journey. Their fearless leader was none other than Pastor Alice Connor from Edge House campus ministry.
The journey started at 0600 hours on March 20. Two 12-passenger vans were loaded with eager yet half-awake travelers along with their luggage. The final destination was Ocean Springs, Mississippi in the Deep South (land of country music, grits, and southern belles). After crossing 4 state lines, 1 time change, and more pit stops that I could count, the 14-hour trip was finally over!
We stayed at Camp Victor, an old sewing company converted into a shelter during Hurricane Katrina. Bunk beds, chow hall, and curfew brought back memories of summer camp, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. The chain of command for the group was Pastor Alice at the top serving as the Admiral and the most senior student (me) as her Executive Officer (XO). The remaining 21 students were divided into three equal groups consisting of one team leader and six members. The groups were rotated to ensure that everyone got a chance to know each other. The team leaders were chosen daily and coordinated logistics, transportation, and equipment necessary to complete their missions.
The day started bright and early at 0600 (this turned out to be the magic number) and ended around 1530 with appropriate breaks and lunch in between. The work included painting porches, painting fire hydrants (kid you not, we painted the hydrants for half the town baby blue), cutting tires from their rims, house/warehouse maintenance, and the MARSH. The MARSH is a protected wetland miles from the coast. Houses around the coast were wiped out by Katrina and “dumped” into the MARSH leaving behind many interesting treasures. In four days of work, we gathered enough materials to construct a living room complete with two mattresses, a sofa cushion, and a refrigerator.
Semper Gumby or “always flexible” was our catchphrase at Camp Victor. Susie the camp director informed us that we will be working on the marsh the majority of the week. Many of us, including myself, were caught off guard since we were prepared to tackle home-rebuilding projects rather than wetland clean-up.
The end of the work-day signified the beginning of our spring break (until curfew anyway). Visits to one of the three surrounding beaches, walking around an art-driven town, karaoke, and shopping filled our evenings in Ocean Springs. A sampling of local delicacies such as a homemade donuts, old fashioned sodas, and buffet-style restaurant which featured crab legs (definitely the best $12 some of us spent on our trip) was also in order.
As we bid adieu to Ocean Springs, we headed not north to Cincinnati but rather west to New Orleans. What better way to end a journey than crawling around Bourbon Street? We stayed at the Lutheran/Episcopal campus ministry at Tulane University on Friday night then returned to French Quarter the next morning for more exploring and for the famous Central Grocery Muffuletta (a Connor family tradition).
The journey back proved to be more interesting than the journey down. Everything was going swell until we hit Birmingham, Alabama around supper-time. A tornado warning had been issued so, as a precautionary measure, we took cover at the nearest structure: a Wal-Mart. Twenty-three people wandering around Wal-Mart for an hour without buying anything is enough to make the store manager unpleasant. Luckily, the tornado did not hit our area so we were free to continue on our journey home, arriving in Cincinnati at 0600 (the magic number) greeted by snow on the ground. Interestingly enough, our entire journey took exactly one week (see that magic number again).
This week-long journey got me to appreciate what I normally took for granted. The thought of using sunscreen had never occurred to me since I hailed from the “Great state of Georgia,” however our skin started to frown as the sun smiled brighter. Therefore, sunscreen application was a must as one of us found out the hard way at the end of day one. Another thing that I re-learned to appreciate is the breeze that blows in the middle of the day. I have started to regard wind as an annoyance since it makes the already cold weather even colder. A few hours working outdoors under the southern sun turned out to be just what I needed. Every breeze that blew reminded me that GOD is looking after us and He will take care of us.
I could not help being impressed with the students in the group. Most of the group were freshmen and sophomores students. They had decided to spend their spring break giving back to their community and helping others rather than partying at the beach. I cannot think of a better way to spend my spring break than making new friends, experiencing new places, and helping others. I want to thank Pastor Alice for her leadership and patience. I also want to thank the rest of the team for making the trip enjoyable. Lastly, I want to thank Good Shepherd Lutheran Church for making this journey possible and for the snacks (it helps us in more way than one). GOD bless. |
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Tweets from the road by Pastor Alice
"ASB." for those wondering, is short for "Alternative Spring Break."#edgeASB
Statistics: 23 people, 24 seatbelts, 2 vans, 2x25-gallon gas tanks, 1 cubic foot luggage space. #edgeASB
Early excitement/fades into silence, students/sleep, we keep driving.#edgeASB
Abby should be up by now. Suddenly homesick #homesick
Just passed "THE MOST AWESOME FLEA MARKET IN THE WORLD." I know, can you believe it's so close? And that we _passed_ it? #edgeASB
We're in Alabama--huzzah! Only 6 more hours to go... #edgeASB
Cornelius Anderson stretching out near Montgomery, AL
"We have reduced the Christian life to the eternal benefits we get from Jesus rather than living as students of Jesus." Greg Ogden
Passing Wetumpka, Alabama. Great town name or greatest name?#edgeASB
Susie from Camp Victor in Ocean Springs, MS says we should stop for dinner at a BBQ place outside Mobile, AL called The Shed.#edgeASB
Mississippi! Huzzah! And The Shed BBQ...looks marvelous.#edgeASB
Nate Weise at The Shed BBQ.
O. My. Gosh. You guys. This place is fantabulous. Next time you're in Mobile, AL you should come to The Shed. #edgeASB
Up 'n at 'em! Today we paint houses and fire hydrants and fight crime. Except not that last part. #edgeASB
SuzieHarvey,director of CampVictor, says thegovernmentfunds marked for KatrinaRelief will come inAugust when thereare no volunteers #edgeASB
And over springbreak when there are tonsofvolunteers, there is no money for supplies.Anyone up for a mission trip in hot hotAugust?#edgeASB
You would not bellieve the size of the truck I'm driving today. It's deisel! #edgeASB
Spending today painting Steves house. It was almost destroyed in Katrina &now has been jackedup 14feet. Gorgeous wrap-around porch. #edgeASB
Seriously, you guys, thus truck drives like a locomotive. #edgeASB
Lunch on the beach in Pascagoula, MS. A well-deserved break before jumping back into the fray. #edgeASB
Late-night pondering: why are they called "live oaks"? #edgeASB
Mopping thefloor at CampVictor in tandem with Stella. Feel like we should be wearing sailoroutfits and tapdancing a la AnythingGoes#edgeASB
One team is painting Steveshouse, one cleaning debris out of the swamp, &we're lounging. (To be fair,we cleaned the whole building)#edgeASB
On our way to cut tires off rims--it's a clean-up project. Team's excited and I'm driving the locomotive again. #edgeASB
Lunch in the county landfill=much more pleasant than you'd imagine.#edgeASB
Kareoke tonight? Public embarrassment with students? So say we all. #edgeASB
We have heard the word and the word is karaoke. And "Copacabana". And Journey. Photos to follow. #edgeASB
Realized (in a good way) that I cannot _make_ people act responsibly. I can only encourage and model and hope. #edgeASB
Told this morning, slightly in jest, that we were too efficient, admonished to take long, leisurely lunches. We were still superstars#edgeASB
All groups reported good work, fun from today's assignments. No drama, no whining, all awesomeness. #edgeASB
    
After some food-related miscommunication, he crew is eating at Pleasant's BBQ courtesy of brother Mike the owner. Outrageous!#edgeASB
Lovely evening prayer on the pier at Front Beach tonight. #edgeASB
Actually, I think something changed tonight. With the good day, the worship, the silliness--we're not strangers anymore. #edgeASB
We've been working cleaning detritus from a marsh this week. I'm here for the first time today. Hard, satisfying, sad work. #edgeASB
Finding bits of people's lives in the marsh: porch, attic vents, wallpaper, measuring cups, child's toy. Sobering. #edgeASB
Last day in Ocean Springs. We'll finish up some projects and drive to New Orleans for a day. #edgeASB
Why are we cutting rubber tires off the rims, you ask? So that Camp Victor can scrap them for cash to continue rebuilding. #edgeASB
Slight plan-change: driving to NewOrleans today for beignets, beans&rice, &muffalettas.Will return home in the wee hours ofSunday. #edgeASB
In the French Quarter. Just had red beans and rice. About to chillax with a beignet and chicory coffee. #edgeASB
Just got yelled at for playing cards at the CafeduMonde. Told that even if we order food,we cant play cards. An anti-gambling rule?#edgeASB
Lovely night at Tulane's Episcopal/Lutheran campus ministry Chapel of the Holy Spirit. Refreshed after sleeping on the floor.#edgeASB
Sitting in the peace of St. Louis Cathedral. Good few moments in prayer and air conditioning. #edgeASAB
On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again...#edgeASB
Alabama! Only 8.5 more hours to go... #edgeASB
Asked today what my favorite churchsong was.It changes with my mood, but I chose "SoftlyandTenderly" an old-timey hymn.Whats yours? #edgeASB
Please pray hard. We're in a county with a tornado warning. Going into Wal-Mart to wait it out. #edgeASB
There are a surprising number of things you can do to entertain yourself in a Wal-Mart when you're forced to spend time in one.#edgeASB
Right. Tornado warning is over. We're working on getting home.#edgeASB
We returned home around 7am, safe and sound. Also, exhausted. And satisfied. #edgeASB
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