Wayne Wicks describes the mission trip, what they did, where they stayed, and the tremendous need for volunteers. After reading this article, you might be interested in going on one of the upcoming mission trips!

It is hard to believe that it has been more than a month since the Diamondhead Mission Team has returned. The team had a wonderful, fulfilling trip. It will be 3 years on August 29^th that Hurricane Katrina hit land at Pass Christian, Waveland and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The coastal area was hit with a 40 foot high, 80 mph tidal wave. It destroyed everything in its path for 1 mile inland all along the coastal area. All this along with 175 mph winds that spawned tornados which touched ground all along the way.

Imagine losing your home, all of its contents, your possessions, memorabilia, along with your livelihood. All this happens in just 8-9 hours! You would be depressed, stunned and disoriented all at the same time. How are you going to survive? Where are you going to stay? How will you rebuild your life and care for your families?

Since August 29, 2005 more than 500,000 volunteers of all ages and sizes have traveled to the Mississippi costal area to help rebuild homes and lives. The Presbytery of Mississippi Disaster Recovery slogan is “Out of Chaos, Hope”. Our 8 person team provided hope to 3 families in the Gulfport area from March 30-April 5 this year. We performed hinged and bi-fold door installations, installed baseboards and painted at the homes of Hylton & Katherine Spillman, Rosie Harper and Horace Latner. This was all new construction.

The Presbytery of Mississippi Disaster Recovery organization has received a grant to build 40 new homes this year! They have contracted with the Amish to prefabricate the homes and send them via tractor trailer. The homes and the Amish workers arrive in Mississippi where they erect the exterior of the new home. Then local electricians, plumbers and HVAC contractors come and apply their trades. Next, a large number of volunteers are needed to install drywall, prepare and paint the interior, hang doors, install bathroom and kitchen components, flooring, decks, baseboards and what ever else it takes to complete the home for occupancy.

The local Presbytery has removed a lot of road blocks that may prevent people from taking a mission trip. For example, the Diamondhead camp can house up to 72 people in air-conditioned sleeping quarters. For communications we now have cell phones which work very well there and for those that can not be without their computer the camp has Wi-Fi! My how mission trips have come of age!

Our PHCPC has set in the works 3 trips a year to this area. The next trip will take place October 11^th through the 18^th. This is an easy trip to be a part of. First, it is in the U.S. Second, they speak English in Gulfport and that eliminates the language barrier. Third, you eat the same food in Gulfport that you eat in Pittsburgh. Fourth, you can fly or drive. There are many servant needs that you may be able to contribute to such as cooking for the team or performing administrative duties for the Presbytery of Mississippi Disaster Recovery in addition to constructions skills.

The Gulfport area is going to be rebuilding for the next 2 or 3 years. They desperately need our help!!

Please consider taking one of the future Gulfport mission trips. If you have questions or would like more information about becoming a team person, please contact the church office at 412-655-2000 and just say you want to talk to someone about mission. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible. We are waiting and looking forward to hearing from you!!!

Submitted joyfully

Wayne R. Wicks,

Diamondhead Mission Team Leader

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2008 at 2:51 pm