In January 2006, about 4 months after hurricane Katrina slammed into the US Gulf Coast on August 31, 2005, Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church (MAPC) began sending teams to assist in the reconstruction of the homes and lives of those who remained or returned to the Bay St. Louis, MS, area (knows as The Bay). Subsequent MAPC teams went to help in August 2006, January 2007, January 2008, and May 2008. There is still great need for assistance there, so MAPC will, Lord willing, continue to offer this short-term mission opportunity. The next team is now forming for January 3-10, 2009. If you are interested in joining the team, or need more information, email Ken Scheffter at CovenantBusInc@aol.com. Teams usually go to The Bay for a week and work through Mission to the World (MTW, www.mtw.org) and Lagniappe Presbyterian Church (LPC, www.lagniappechurch.com) to help families get into permanent housing. Experience in repair or construction of homes is helpful, but not required, in team participants. Our teams often work on several houses during a given week doing drywall, painting, framing, siding, insulation, roofing, electrical, plumbing, and debris clean-up. See pictures of past trips to The Bay below. Bay St. Louis “Blitz Build” Missions Team Report: The term “Blitz Build” is indeed appropriate for describing the rapid, coordinated construction of Dawn Lovett’s new home in the Diamondhead community near Bay St. Louis, MS, the week of May 12-16. The “before” and “after” pictures on this page clearly show that a house CAN be built in 5 days! During this week-long building project, about 400 volunteers with the Bay Waveland Mississippi Habitat for Humanity and Lagniappe Presbyterian Church (PCA) constructed 10 homes for Katrina victim families in a neighborhood about 6 miles from the place where Katrina’s eye came ashore. Mt. Airy PCA’s team, all of whom assisted with Dawn’s home, included Ken Hohl, Joe Killian (Kara Mason’s father), Scott McGregor, Jamie Moore, and Ken Scheffter. They stayed at Lagniappe Church in Bay St. Louis, MS, where our teams have stayed on our four previous trips to The Bay. They enjoyed the hard work, learning many aspects of home construction, and are especially thankful to God for the opportunities to work with, share with, and bear testimony to Christ Jesus with many church and humanitarian groups from all parts of the US, Canada, and even Ireland. The next team headed for The Bay will (Lord willing) be going January 3-10, 2009, so begin praying now that the Lord will provide laborers for His harvest field. It could be YOU He is calling to go! (Luke 10:2)
|
Bay St. Louis Mission Gallery Links |