FREE!!!!!

This photo is what's left of a local business = nothing! It's the norm around here, destruction everywhere you look, still, after all these months!

This morning we ran an errand to pick up even more drywall mud for the finisher. It's amazing how much it takes to do an entire church! He is getting closer and closer to being ready to paint the sanctuary and people are getting more and more excited to see it get done! Selecting all the color combinations is not an easy task but they are getting there.

Our entire afternoon and evening and into the night were spent at a church in the town next door, Moss Point. The church is Calling all Christians. They were having a free clothing give away from 4:30 - 7:30pm. They borrowed our forklift to unload the semi carrying the clothing. All of the clothing was brand new. The entire effort was organized by an organization called HANDS, Helping Americans Needing Disaster Support. This is an incredible organization working nationwide and what a wonderful service they provide! We estimate that around 700 plus individuals had their choice of 4 pieces of clothing along with a pair of shoes and a jacket. It was more than difficult to organize a crowd of this size and it was on the boarder of getting out of hand. We did call in a policeman and they were hard to come by because the president of the US was in this county today and that took most of the law enforcement! Monty were at the front door handling "crowd control" the entire time and what an experience that was! The entire event was just another type of disaster relief and another way of bringing all churches together doing what churches are supposed to do, model Christ. The label we hang outside or over the door are not what is important, the name we call ourselves is not important, what is important is that we are here helping people! Nothing else matters! Nothing! We are so thankful to HANDS for the part they are playing in the rebuilding of lives! We pray God's blessing continues to be upon you!

We had a new volunteer come in this evening and are expecting another group tomorrow evening. I need to make some clarifications about volunteering and want to apologize for leading anyone astray, please accept my apologies! Someone commented and asked about helping and if there were any age requirements. Please allow me to explain how it works. We encourage anyone who would like to volunteer to call us. But----due to the conditions here we feel it is not appropriate for children to be here. By children we mean anyone under the age of atleast 12 or 13 and they MUST be accompanied by their parents! They also are responsible for assumption of liability forms and health information. This is a disaster area and there are many unsafe things that come with that label. There are rusty nails and screws everywhere, there is broken glass all over the place, the working conditions are some of the worst, there are mosquitos that are the biggest I have ever seen and bite like I have never been bitten, the sleeping arrangements are sleeping on concrete floors with only 1 shower for men and 1 for women. I hope you get the point I am trying to get across. This just isn't a place for children and if I have mislead anyone I sincerely apologize! We will try and have photos of the clothing give away tomorrow. Right now it is extremely late and my mind is just about on empty.

We want to thank everyone who is reading and following along with us on our journey! We appreciate all of you and pray God' blessings for each of you.

Until tomorrow....Susan and Monty