Katrina Relief Update from Pascagoula

I received this note from John Dobber at Central Church of Christ in Pascagoula Mississippi which I wanted to share with the group. While we have been unable to send a team there yet, I hope to direct some teams there after the first of the year when Hilltop is closed. You can find more info about the work they are still doing in their part of the country at John's blogs which are referenced.

Please be in prayer as to how and when you can start or join a team to go help in their community.

Hi John

Hope you are having a good Christmas season!

We are still helping people rebuild their homes, although they are having to buy their own materials these days. We spent most of our money already giving people sheetrock and stuff for their homes. Many have had a check from the Governor's Grant, and have the ability to buy the things for their house that they need. We do try to go the extra mile for those who did not get the grant, as much as we can. The greatest need is for skilled workers. We are still making some deliveries of beds, limited furniture, and food. Volunteers have also been working in our church building and I think we currently need some painting. We need a professional to lay the ceramic tile in our building as well. We continue to feed and house volunteers and have a pretty good capacity to continue that. On our work crew report you can see that we have a good number of folks lined up through July. (http://www.123jesus.com/work_crew_report.htm) I believe we are going to take another look at what we're doing about that time and decide what to do about continuing on. Things have improved dramatically in Pascagoula over the past several months, for which we give God thanks. And we do know of people who simply need their homes torn down and new ones built. We just do not have the capacity to do that for them. So we try to give them some relief...but ... it will not solve their problems. Many of these lived in sub-poverty homes before the flood waters came.

Well, I hope your holiday season is a great one. It's been unseasonably cold here on the Coast. I have enjoyed it, but I'm mindful of the people still living in campers. They are not too secure against the icy North winds.

God bless you...and let's stay in touch.

john