Mississippi Trip

I have been back from Mississippi for about a week now and I have been wanting to make this post for some time, but everytime I have tried there has been something up with blogger. But finally I have been able to make this thing work. So, here is a little report from my trip down south to Mississippi...

A group of 40 people took off on Sunday, July 16 for an 18 hour trip on a charter bus. Yes, that meant we all had to sleep on this charter bus. I don't care how nice the charter bus is, it is no place to sleep. Let's just say this - I missed my king size bed. So, there were 40 of us on this bus. Half of us were from Lakeshore Vineyard, and the other half were from Acts Gospel Ministries in Grand Rapids. It was great going down with the guys from GR - what a great group. They have a great pastor, Pastor Moses, and I hear he cooks some mean ribs. He didn't cook any on the trip, but I'll have to give him a call and get hooked up with some ribs.

After the 18 hour bus ride we arrived in Biloxi, Mississippi. When we first got into Biloxi it looked like a normal city. However, as you got closer to the Gulf of Mexico you could start to see the devestation. Here are a couple homes that still need a lot of help, and they give you a good idea as to what a majority of the homes look like in the area.



We spent the week working for Urban Life Ministries. They are a great organization, and have their ducks in a row. Since Hurricane Katrina they have rebuilt over a hundred homes. I'll put a plug in for them here - if you want to go down and help out, which I think everyone should do, check out Urban Life Ministries. Once you get down to Biloxi they take care of everything - your housing, your meals (which are cooked by a chef who worked for Chef Emeril Lagasse), hot or cold showers, and much more. But the best part of it is - it's free! So check it out! They have the money to get them through the fall, but now they need people!!!

During the week we were down there we worked hard. We wired a house, insulated two homes, and drywalled one house. I was amazed at how hard everyone worked. It was awesome to see teenagers hanging drywall, and feeling that they really accomplished something and helped people out. And they did - they really blessed people by drywalling their house and giving people back what they lost. Here are some pictures of one of the rooms we finished...




For more pictures from our trip check out the "Lakeshore Vineyard" website.

Finally, here is a picture of the team from Lakeshore Vineyard that went down. They were awesome, and it was great getting to know the gang! All of them really worked hard, and displayed the love of Christ.



Until next time... And next time will be coming soon - I promise

Peace out
Dave