The last couple weeks have been extremely busy. I got calls from NYC to send more detail on needs at Pearlington. I've been overwhelmed and found it hard to reply as we have about 60 college folk from Pen State campuses in Orange Grove this week, and next week we have 78 from U. Minn. campuses for a couple or three weeks. I'll get you more.
We have two new work site managers here in Gulfport. This adds to the confusion since they need a week or two to figure it all out.
On the good side one small set of the group of 60 (4-5) went into the logistics trailer and in the space of 2-3 hours had everything out and back in in a remarkable order. Amazing.
New Life Community Church, nee' Orange Grove Presbyterian Church held its last service this past Sunday at a 3PM service. In our normal morning service we discussed Rev. Castleman's scripture reading, I Peter 2: 4-10. It was a nice follow up on my earlier blog about volunteers being embers taken back to their home church to fan the flames of zeal. Living stones. You guys are a diaspora of a modern kind. Watch for a subsequent blog.
I had three other remarkable things happen in the last two weeks. First, I was in Pearlington late in the day trying to get back to Gulfport for Family Night but needing to stop at a home we are working in Waveland. US 90 is closed between Bayou Woods Drive and MS604. They are tearing the bridges out and rebuilding. As a result, if you want to get from Pearlington to Waveland you have to go down Whites Road to its original terminus and then drive about two miles over a washboard loose gravel road they have extended over to US90. It adds delay, beats up the car and is really dusty. (A couple of us from Fountain city PC tried tp drive down this road in November 2006, and we couldn't make it because it was so muddy and sloppy.)
We I get to the intersection with US90 and find an anomaly, a traffic jam. A big truck is stopped on the gravel road at the US 90 intersection and a van behind it, then me in my pickup. I lean out my window to see what is going on. The truck driver is talking to a couple of bicyclists stopped at the intersection. Soon both truck and van leave.
As I pull up I see these guys are long distance travelers. Being a cyclist myself I have to say something to them. They tell me left Biloxi this morning and are trying to get to the bike shop in Slidell this afternoon to purchase a tire but are puzzled by the closed US90. How do they get to Slidell?
I explain they have two choices, they can turn around and take MS607 to MS604S which dead ends into US 90 0n the other side of the two bridges, probably a 25 mile or more ride. The alternative is to go down the two mile washboard. Believe me, with a road bike that is insane if not impossible.
As usual I have that crew in Waveland on my mind, the homeowner dinner later in Gulfport and how long it would take me to help these guys out.
"Do you want me to give you a ride down to the point where Whites Road regains pavement?"
"That would be really nice of you if you want to do it."
So we put the bikes in the truck bed and I head or P-town. We talk in the truck. One fellow, Tony Thompson, is a 61 year old guy from Britain and the other fellow is from Baltimore, if I remember right. They are on a cross country ride primarily to raise funds for a young lad named Gus who is 10. He has a disability and needs a specially adapted bicycle to do this trip with his family. You can get details at .
I got to the intersection of Whites Road and Jenness where pavement started. I figured why not drive them all the way to MS604. I left them at the United Methodist Church on the corner and after some good byes and hand shakes, I spnd off to Waveland, quite a few minutes late but all the better for having met my new friends.
A few days later, I dropped by the Pearlington Recovery Center to talk to Larry Randall about their case load and to get some background on a few of ours. PRC is closing June 1. This will leave only our organization and maybe one other. I talk about one of my more troubling cases, I need to build some special roofs on this house. Larry says, why don't we call his contact with the Mennonites a they are really pretty good builders. I eventually talk to Aaron of CARE (Community Aid Relief Effort) whose "motto" is "Our goal is to help bring relief to those in need, showing Christ in every effort of aid."
Allen and James showed up today along with roofers and I spent all day with my work site manager driving back and forth to the Lowe's in Waveland bringing posts and beams, concrete pads, roofing felt and nails.We still need to go back for extra sheathing to repair, drip edges and shingles. I expect they will get the gabled roofs up before they leave this weekend.
It hurts me that I have to drive to Chattanooga Thursday for a friday morning physical and to have a conversation with my company. These fellows need my thanks.
Another good thing has been the series of essays I wrote for scholarship applications to Austin Theological Seminary and Columbia. Both were a good exercise, I refined my thinking about some subjects. Watch for them in a blog entry.
Part of that good thing was the gift card to Barnes & Noble from my brother, Mark. I bought four good books:
"Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson
"Dogmatics in Outline," a 1946 lecture series by Karl Barth
"Models of God" by Sallie McFague, and
"The Freedom of a Christian" by Martin Luther.
The first was good but not great. Barth'sbook, a dense (and verbose) tomb was very helpful. I'm not sure when I'll get to McFague and Luther, but soon.
The last good thing happened after the closing church service Sunday. One of the crew from Presbytery of Mississippi, Bruce Byers, came up to me and asked about another client here in Gulfport I am really feeling bad about. We will never finish his house before April 30.
Bruce mentioned this guy's name and that a crew who had previously been at our village and worked on the house raised the question of status. Bruce told me thy want to pick up the work on the house after we leave. What a relief.
All I can say is God is good.
All the time, God is good.
Peace,
Henry
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