Our first day of work

We had our first work day today and got a lot done. We broke into three groups. The first group hung dry wall on the ceiling and the walls of one home. The second painted the entire interior of another house. The third group put in insulation.

We got the opportunity to meet the home owners. One home owner was Mable who is turning 72 tomorrow. Her address is 385 1/2 Seal Avenue (we don't know how that is possible). The second was an elderly Asian couple who did not speak much English. The third owner was Steve, who barely survived the hurricane in the attic of his roof, with the water up to his neck. His house lifted off the foundation and floated "like a cork" several blocks away. He is still feeling the stress of the experience and trying to regroup after losing everything.

We also saw the Pass Christian library, now the headquarters of Square Foot Ministries. The police retreated to the library because they were trying to evacuate people when the storm started. The water reached to the ceiling, and they had to shoot out the door and swim under water to get out. Square Foot kept the shattered door in place as a reminder of their bravery .

We are really enjoying our stay at Project Hope and Compassion. We saw some familiar faces from last year, a group from Atlanta and another one from San Francisco. There is also a large (75 people) youth group here lead by a very strict but friendly priest. He has been keeping them in line, so they have not caused any trouble. Lights out at 10 pm on the dot!

We appreciate your prayers and support. People always ask if there is more work to be done in Mississippi and New Orleans after 2 1/2 years, but there is still so much to do. Some progress has been made, but there is still so much we can do to help. Now, we are going to get some well-deserved sleep!