Bay St Louis

This is a picture of the side of a newly restored store in the heart of Bay St Louis, the next city East of Waveland. It is a little mysterious and very colorful.

Due to the busy project schedule here, and the large number of interesting stories I still have to relate, and the slow dial-up internet connection speed, I'm going to continue after arriving home in the Boston area, Friday night.

There are many more extraordinary people and stories to tell, so please check this blog in a couple of days for lengthy updates. There is a story about this building and the interesting store inside.

Hubbard's Waveland Hardware

If you're not sure, just ask them....

Hubbard's Waveland Hardware

This hidden-camera view shows that they have just about everything.

Hubbard's Waveland Hardware

Hubbard's Waveland Hardware is about a mile from the church, on Nicholson, Ave. It's the kind of place you go to, when you need tools, supplies, and advice . The parking lot is continually full. The crowd of contractors ebbs and flows through the narrow aisles.

Dave is doing mudwork in the church secretary's office.

Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - Work At The Church

Jim is painting doors.

Becky 's Story

A Home Set For Demolition In Bay St. Louis

So is the last big one...

The Hurricane Is Still News

"Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

What Was Found - 3

This Christmas mug is all we know about their love of the Lord...

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children , talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

"Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates... Deuteronomy 11:18-20

What Was Found -2

The mark couldn't say that someone loved chess, and had an alabaster chess set, or that they liked to use stainless steel tableware. What music did they listen to, or did the sweet constant surf lull them to sleep ?

What Was Found -1

The mark on the door did not disclose that a Soccer champion lived there....someone who liked tea, someone with white china...

The Mark

After hurricane Katrina, the house was inspected by the authorities for hazards, survivors, and bodies. The mark on the front tells, in Homeland-Security shorthand, when this was done and what was found

A House

As you go East on Beach Blvd, just in Bay St Louis, there is a house.

It must have been grand.

The walls are made of reinforced cement, with a coat of white stucco. It is a home of delicate beauty, with arches supporting the side of the porch. The living room floor is constructed of polished terra cotta tiles. Sitting inside the picture window, you feel the warmth of a stone fireplace as your family gathers on Christmas eve. On a cool winter evening, with the pounding surf in the background, you sip hot mulled cider from a festive christmas mug.

"It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain. Isaiah 4:6

We Have Ignition

Dave and Ted, with the new Char-Broil Quickset grill.

Assembly Required

Ted and Dave assembled the grill from a box of parts, while Jim and I went back to Wal-Mart for groceries.

Danita's Story

Danita sold us our grill. On the next trip back, we went to her to pay for our groceries.

Danita lives in Bay St Louis. When the storm came, she endured 7 feet of water in her house and saved her 3-month old baby girl. Her husband pulled their 9-year old daughter out and saved her from drowning. The story was picked up by the news and was written in the paper in Washington state.

Her 82 year old neighbor wasn't so lucky. The neighbor's husband and children drowned. The woman, herself was saved by a tree.

Monday, April 3, 2006 Hamburgers for Dinner

We thought that we could save some money by fixing dinner. It seemed a good idea to get a grill, which we can leave at the church for future teams and for the congregation to have cookouts in the summmer.

Jim and I went to Wal-Mart to get a grill.

The Walmart is huge. According to Sonja, a manager, it was re-opened after the hurricane, in a tent. The store is a model of efficiency and quick-rebuilding.

This is important, because there are no other full-service grocery stores nearby. All the other large chain stores and supermarkets are stil closed.

This hidden-camera photo shows how the store was reconstructed quickly inside the high-bay store. The floor is polished cement. Plywood covers the interior walls.

I'm standing next to the new earthmoving truck that's waiting to rebuild the bridge.

Monday, April 3, 2006 A Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Highway 90 runs through the middle of Waveland and Port St. Louis. Before August 29, 2005, it used to continue to the east over a bridge to Pass Christian, and on to Gulfport and Biloxi.

"Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose ... Jonah 1:4

Fred

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.Galatians 6:9-10

Fred - cutting boards for the sanctuary wall.

Marvin

"...since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:24

Marvin - Wiring in the church kitchen.

Gregg and Troy

"Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men ... Ephesians 6:7

Gregg and Troy - Framed and installed the new kitchen window.

Dave

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Romans 12:11

Dave - Installing lights

Me Blogging

"Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? ... Deuteronomy 4:32

Jim

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men ... Colossians 3:23

Jim - Sanding and preparing sheetrock walls in the crying room.

Ted

"So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul ... Deuteronomy 11:13


Ted - Installing lights in a classroom.

Monday April 3, 2006 - Working on the Church

"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

The team spent the day working one the church. Fred rebuilt the side walls of the Sanctuary. Marvin, another member of the church, who is an electrician, came to install the new electrical wiring in the kitchen.

The Pickup Truck

This is from the house with the Corvette and the pool. How often did some child play with it on the patio, under the sunny Mississippi skies? Did Barbie and Ken take it for a joy ride?

The Corvette

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven ... Ecclesiastes 3:1

This oceanside pool lost its house

An Ocean View

Wildflowers bloom in the front yard. A perfect bench sits on the front porch, to provide a relaxing vista and pleasant sea breeze...

Monday, April 3, 2006 Ocean Front Property

"The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." Matthew 7:27

All of the homes on the coast of Waveland and Bay St Louis ( the town to the east) were destroyed.

The remains were full of irony and poignancy...

The entrance of this home is still guarded by ferocious, silent stone dogs and a locked gate...

Monday, April 3, 2006 The Ocean

A mile south, Nicholson Avenue ends at Ocean Blvd. This is the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina made landfall west of this point.

"He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. Psalm 107:29

The tree house

Monday, April 3, 2006 - Meet the Neighbors

Dan's neighbors live between him and the track, on Nicholson Ave.... in a new trailer, too. Their patio is has a number of children's toys. A red wooden shed is behind.

Ironically, there is a tree house safely up in the live-oak tree behind the house.

It appears to have been made from pieces salvaged from their old house.

Measuring for a wall at Dan's new house

Dan McManus watches the crew building his foundation

Dan and the workers didn't mind that I wanted to make a photograph.

Monday April 3, 2006 - Waveland Real People

A train track runs parallel to the coast, about a mile inland. South of the track, towards the ocean, all the buildings were destroyed.

Dan McManus lives in a trailer on his property less than a mile from the ocean. the trailer is new and tidy. A small pool and a garden adjoin the trailer. In front the floor of a new house is being constructed.

Dan came from New Orleans many years before, for retirement. The city was too difficult. He endured multiple robberies of his business. Now he had lost over $300,000 on his home. But he is determined to rebuild.

The Lumber Yard at Bailey's

Monday, April 3, 2006 - Bailey's Building Supply

First stop of the day is Bailey's Hardware store. Stores and mini malls are mainly destroyed and closed. Hardware and building supply stores are open and doing a brisk business.

Baileys is small but efficient, with all the essentials for electrical work and plumbing, and a well stocked lumber yard on the side.

Candy, at the counter is selling David a roll of spackling tape, for the sheet rock work. I asked If I might make a photo and explained we are working onthe rebuilding of the Lutheran CHurch of the pines.

"We give a discount for church work" she explained.

Jim Engel Preparing Breakfast - Pancakes and Bacon

Fred's List

Monday, April 3, 2006 - A visit from Fred Breland

... "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.Nehemiah 2:18

Fred Breland came over to work with the group today. He brought a list of things that we can work on and met with us over breakfast to discuss them. Today, the team is going to work on 1) completing the spacking and finishing of walls through out; framing and installing the last windows in the church kitchen; painting doors; and lights in Sunday School rooms. David Bonnette and I will tour waveland and Bay St. Louis to see what has happened.

Monday April 3, 2006 - Sunrise over Waveland

... the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth. 2 Samuel 23:4

Sunday April 2, 2006 - Visiting New Orleans

New Orleans is a large and vibrant city. Coming in from the North on I-10 , after crossing lake Ponchartrain, there were many miles of neighborhoods, between the lake and the city, which were eerily devoid of activity. Nothing was there. Nothing moved. Houses were damaged or boarded-up. Many had broken windows or structural damage. Cars were abandoned in place. Overall, they look like a silent time capsule. Whole neighborhoods will never be inhabitable, in their present form.

In contrast to this scene, the French quarter was alive with horse and buggy rides and tourists strolling on a balmy warm spring day. Downtown,canal street, a busy shopping boulevard retained its former glory, although the palm trees down the center of the street had clearly seen better days.

The visible damage in New Orleans was mainly due to flooding, in contrast to the havoc and destruction in Waveland, caused by the fury of the waves and wind.

Inside the Sanctuary

Troy working on Homework

Sunday, April 2, 2006 - Arriving at the Church

The church looks very good, both inside and out, although, the inside needs a lot of work and repairs.

The team finished installation of 2 more windows this morning.

When I arrived by 2 inthe afternoon, everyone was getting ready to make a visit to New Orleans to see the city.