This is an article from Dr. Wyman Hall, CTBC Sr. Pastor, recalling his experiences on the recent mission trip. It appeared in the March 2008 Beacon, CTBC's monthly newsletter.
Thank you for your prayers for our mission team. Ed Burwell, Dan Hartless, Newman Sisk, Beth and Jim Warnick, and myself left Charles Town at around seven p.m. on Sunday evening February 17. We had reservations in Christiansburg, VA and arrived just before 10:30 p.m. We set out at 6:00 a.m. Monday and began to realize we probably would not make it by the 5:00 p.m. arrival time. We calculated the Map Quest estimated driving time and they had us making 65 mph for the full 15 hours and 30 minutes of driving time. So we ate on the road, gained an hour as we entered Central Time Zone and made it about 6:15 p.m. They accommodated us well and generously. Thank God we didn’t get into any traffic slow downs.
We stayed in bunk houses at Yankee Stadium, which was a former High School football stadium which was purchased by the Salvation Army just a year or two before Katrina hit. Habitat is leasing one side of the stadium. We watched the training video before we left for work on Tuesday. We worked Tuesday and Wednesday in Pascaqoula right on the Gulf Coast. The block foundation and the floor joists had been completed the week before. There were seven houses being worked on at this site.
Under the direction of “Bob the Builder” (our boss) and his assistant Jim, we finished nailing the side plates which connected the floor joists and the foundation plates together. Each plate had 12 nails with 24 plates to a long side and seventeen on the short side. We finished that and started putting the sub-flooring down, built two porches, front and side (no flooring), built steps and put on the lattice. That was Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday we were to get pre-formed walls and set them up temporarily, fit them, cut top plates to connect the walls together, then take them down for the big Jimmy Carter Habitat Build in May. There were to be about forty of these ready by May.
Then the rain set in Thursday and Friday so four of us were transferred to the window and paint shop. The other two stayed behind to help clean up the dining area and other things. We made window frames by the score, over 70 in one day. The painters complained it was so humid their fast drying paint would not dry. These window frames would also be for the Jimmy Carter Habitat Build, so if you see the Biloxi Build on TV, we worked to prepare for it.
Friday, three of us went back to the paint shop. The rest of us went to the just acquired Habitat warehouse with most of the volunteers. It came into their possession just that week. It was a community center that had been damaged during Katrina. There were some big holes in the walls and trash galore. We stripped and cleaned it out, from the trash to removing the air and heat ducts, which were molded and still damp. We disturbed some occupants, an owl, a raccoon and several lizards. We had it cleaned out in the early afternoon, broken windows boarded up, holes and missing doors boarded up.
The significance of this warehouse is that it will become the headquarters of the Gulf Coast Habitat for Humanity, offices, storage (much needed) paint shops and assembly areas. They now have to rent all these. The warehouse is just two blocks from the Yankee Stadium facilities.
We left on Saturday morning and returned to Charles Town without incident. We felt we had made a contribution to the still devastated Gulf Coast. There is still so much to be done. Thanks for your prayers!
