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Field Reflections |
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Photo Gallery
Download high-resolution photos of the relief
efforts on the Gulf coast for use
in your own materials.
Video Clips
Short video clips speaking to the need for
volunteers to help with the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita response. |
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Reflections from the Gulf Coast |
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Chris Bullock: It has been another good
day in Gautier. We began, as we always do, with prayer at 9:00. The contractors
have beaten us by nearly 3 hours, arriving around 6:00 a.m. to begin work around
the church. The plan, as we discern it, is to get the church building functional.
So, the contractors have almost finished putting up sheet rock in those areas
of the church that are usable at least temporarily, as we work with our architect
and decide which parts of our building are salvageable long term and what new
buildings need to be designed. It is just amazing to walk into rooms now that
have been sheet rocked. It is so hopeful. Looking at 2x4's and loose insulation
for four weeks has been painful. Never, has sheet rocked looked so good. I hope
to have some pictures for you soon. [Keep
reading] |
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Chris Bullock: It has been a great day. Every
day things are improving in Gautier and at Gautier Presbyterian Church. I found
sheet rockers at the church today, helping make our Fellowship Hall more welcoming.
By the time I left the church this morning to go visit, there must have been
40-60 volunteers gathering/preparing to go out into the community. [Keep
reading] |
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Dr. Larry Cuthill: The three trucks
and trailers pulled out of the Winter Park Presbyterian Church parking lot at
2:40 pm on Sunday, October 2nd, twenty minutes ahead of schedule. For the two
weeks prior to departure church and community people had brought requested items
all of which had been carefully sorted, packed and loaded into trailers. Now
brimming with supplies the 1,200 mile round-trip journey to the Gulf Coast began.
An air of anticipation accompanied the mission. What would we see? Would it be
as bad as the news described? And a prayer; "Grant us
journey mercies, O God and let these supplies be delivered to a people who needed
them." [Keep reading] |
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Lori Pistor: From the airplane
window blue tarped roofs seem to reflect the momentarily brilliant blue sky,
lovely to be seen, cloaking what could not be seen: families displaced, lives
destroyed, more tears and questions than comfort and answers. On the ground,
what could be seen changed: piles and piles and piles and piles and piles and
piles of debris. Bricks, trees, toys, tables, refrigerators and stoves and vehicles
crumpled like cardboard boxes mid mud, filth, trash … broken
pieces of homes and lives and businesses and schools piled useless at the curb,
scattered along blocks and blocks of what must have once been mowed lawns where
neighbors talked about the next football game or the weather. [Keep
reading] |
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Gary Payton: September 21, 2005 — My
work, for now, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is finished. Tomorrow, I begin my
journey home. It will be a journey taking me from the 90 degree heat of the deep
South to the wonderful coolness of North Idaho where snow dusted Schweitzer Mountain
last week. It will also be a journey taking me from the massive destruction of
Hurricane Katrina to family and friends I love dearly. [Keep reading] |
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With the communion ware of Gautier Presbyterian Church lost in the flooding,
Pastor Chris Bullock celebrated the holy sacrament on September 11th with juice
from a plastic cup and bread from a kitchen container. Photo by Gary Payton. |
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Chris Bullock: It is late Sunday night. I write from
Pensacola, where my fiancé lives, and where one of her members has let
me stay with them so that I might take a brief respite from Gautier. [Keep
reading] |
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Hurricane Katrina left behind piles of debris and flood damage at First Presbyterian
Church in Ocean Springs, MS, nine miles east of Biloxi. The Category 4 hurricane
caused widespread damage to the historic seaside community of 17,000 people and
much of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Photo by Evan Silverstein. |
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Gary Payton: September 17, 2005— I
have stopped taking pictures (almost). My mind has become numb to viewing destroyed
houses, downed trees, and piles of debris alongside the streets. As I enter my
third and final week of service along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, I realize these
scenes have become my new "normal" and
that I must concentrate hard to detect where our volunteers can be of most benefit.
[Keep reading] |
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Gary Payton: September 14, 2005 — I
had the distinct privilege last night of sleeping on the floor of a church sanctuary
not too far from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. A few pews up, a group just arrived
from central Florida were comfortable around the pulpit. [Keep
reading] |
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Gary Payton: September 12, 2005 — Our
first camp is complete and ready to receive volunteer groups! [Keep reading] |
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Gary Payton: September
10, 2005 — I am viewing Hurricane Katrina disaster relief "through
a soda straw." I haven't see a news broadcast or had time to read a newspaper
since I arrived in south east Mississippi last Tuesday. [Keep
reading] |
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Gary Payton: September
8, 2005 — The first full day at the scene of a natural disaster is
always a scramble of visual impressions, a push to orient quickly, and an overwhelming
desire to help victims. [Keep reading] |
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Gary Payton: September 6, 2005 — The
sunrise over the Selkirk Range on Tuesday morning seemed more spectacular than
usual. [Keep reading] |
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Kelly Allen: September 4, 2005 — Sunday,
the Lord’s Day. A day of worship. A day to give thanks. [Keep
reading] |
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Karen Wamstecker: September 3,
2005 — I have just
returned from Gautier, Mississippi where we were grateful to receive mission
teams from Alabama. [Keep reading] |
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