"Helping one family at a time" that's what they are trying to do in the face of the daunting need left by the hurricanes last fall. I've been thinking about the people waiting for new roofs and interior repairs; people who have been on a list for months and months patiently living in homes wearing weathered blue tarp scarves, or among the bits and pieces of remodeling being done or nesting in their FEMA trailers.

We first met Miss Martha. (She really wasn't a "miss" but we soon learned that everyone down South is "Miss" or "Mr", even with first names.) She was thrilled and surprised, having been bumped up the list due to the discovery that the guy above her was actually a landlord wanting his rental property fixed for free. We started at her house while she was still at work. (She works for a doctor) We were novices at roofing with a little experience among us but we kicked right in. The first part of the job took no brains or skill...just a lot of tedious, back-bending effort. We tore off her old roof.

It was apparent immediately that the building codes were crazy-off from what we are used to here in Missouri. We were told later that some of the houses were built before there really were many codes. Anyway, her roof was made of 1/4" plywood on 24" centers and old. It was wavy as could be between the rafters and so weak that we didn't dare let Andy up on the roof. He'd have dropped right through to her kitchen! Johh insisted on going up but was pretty careful to keep his feet on the rafter boards. The rest of us walked at will but every now and then you'd hear a "WHooooaa..." as someone stepped into a soft spot and dipped precariously low.

There was one place that a tree had gone through and we replaced it with 2 sheets of solid plywood. The whole roof really needed it but we were there to get things fixed a.s.a.p and we had to remember that they don't have the snow on their roofs that makes it neccessary for ours to be so sturdy.

The roofing was so weak and old that it tore off in small pieces and strips leaving the nails behind. The tarpaper below was in the same condition and was stuck to the plywood below. It came off in tiny pieces mostly that had to be picked off by hand and then swept off. The nails had to be pulled out with a hammer or popped off by brute force with a shovel. We tried to send all the debris to the front of the house where our ground crew of 3 moved it all to within 3' of the curb where it would be picked up by the city.

We did end up throwing some of it off the back because it was just too much effort to drag it up and over the peak of the roof. The back yard was secured by a tall chain link fence with a locked gate. Miss Martha's house butts up to the housing project in the area. Her airconditioner was chained to the ground. We think she probably had good reason to have her backyard locked up but Tom figured out that he could just remove the pins in the hinge of the gate and we got right in for clean up. We had a giant magnet on a pole for retrieving the jillions of nails that went over the side with the rest of the debris.

We had only worked for the afternoon since we had been on the bus all morning getting to Gautier, Mississippi. At the end of the day we were very hot and very tired. It had been in the upper 80°s on that roof and we had really felt it. My back was aching from all the bending and effort with the nails/shovel. Everyone had worked well together and worked hard!

Day 2~ We started earlier so we could bet a jump before the heat. Miss Martha was leaving for work and was so glad to meet us. The first thing she said was how grateful she was and then she asked if there were any black people in our group. We told her there were not. (we didn't tell her that there are only 2 black (1/2 black) members of our whole church and not many more than that in our whole community) She told us she was disappointed...that all the people they had seen coming to volunteer...there were no blacks among them. We didn't know what to say. I don't understand that myself. But she was still, oh so grateful. She wanted to know each of our names. She left a note inside stating her gratitude. (she left her house open for us to use the bathroom) I left her a note telling her we were just trying to do what God expects us to do; welcomed the opportunity. The next day Miss Martha called the church to thank them for sending her angels.

We finished her house and cleaned up as best we could. I am afraid her lawn mower will find a few of the nails that we surely missed picking up. We spread a tarp on the grass below for the roof debris at the next house. It worked so much better... although we almost always filled it way too full before dragging to the curb.

Miss Ruby was the next homeowner we worked for. She was home while we worked on the first day and glad to see us but somewhat reserved. Her roof had four layers that had to be removed! We invited her to dinner with us and she accepted. It was taco salad night and it was good. We ate the delicious Taco Mountains and tried to make conversation with Miss Ruby. She works at the shipyard in the Maintenance Dept....lucky to be in that department since many others have been laid off. We made small talk. I asked her where she worshipped and she opened up. I think her reservations toward us came from maybe thinking that we would be condescending toward her, maybe even toward all those down there. You know, "Oh, how we came to help you poor needy people. Oh, aren't we wonderful." BUt when we got to talking about our churches, about our worship, suddenly we weren't black or white, we weren't rich or poor, we weren't Northern or Southern...we were just God's children. Christians one and all... just doing what we are called to do.

(More Mission Trip memories: our own little flood, Katrina Flood, First United Methodist Church of Kearney, Gautier United Methodist Church, Ander's house, Miss Martha & Miss Ruby roofs, "Mississippi Manicures", Flood damage, Gautier, Mississippi, Biloxi hurricane destruction, coming home, Mississippi Hurricane Relief Mission Trip)