On Monday, I traveled to Gulfport, Mississippi, as part of a mission trip providing aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Some people perform their Katrina relief in the Big Easy, but I chose to do mine in Mississippi. This is actually the second time this year I have ventured into Mississippi. I must be living right...
I traveled as part of an eclectic conglomerate of volunteers from my church. My friend and minister MLM drove the church’s Sprinter (or Missions) van and I followed in Chanana II. MLM was transporting Jim Heizer (JLH), Jim Ingram (JCI), and Henry McCarter (HEM). I am the only rookie on the team. MLM has visited no less than ten times. JLH is a missionary to Russia who once headed the church’s trips to Gulfport. He has been eight times. HEM has been three. The only thing I think we all have in common is excessively pale skin. Naturally, we have volunteered as part of an outdoor work crew in the heat of the deep south.
I spent the better part of Monday on the road directly following MLM’s lead for about ten hours and 550+ miles. We actually may have set a lane change record. MLM set his cruise control at 75-76 and coasted in the slow lane until someone bogged him down. Each time this happened he passed and returned to the slow lane. He also changed lanes at virtually every ramp to nobly allow oncoming traffic to merge. I honestly think I changed lanes more on this trip than in the rest of my fourteen years of driving combined. I was a little worried my turn signal would burn out.
We made several stops, including dining at an Arby’s in Bessemer, Alabama. We also stopped at the “Dizzy Dean Rest Area” on U.S. Highway 49 in Wiggins, Mississippi. Dean (1910-1974) was a Hall of Fame pitcher who resided in Bond, MS, fives miles north of Wiggins. The site was just named in his honored on October 22.
We arrived in Gulfport at Robinson Road Baptist Church (20035 Robinson Road; Gulfport, MS 39503) just in time for 6 o’clock supper. I had no doubts that MLM would arrive in time for a free meal. Hearty breakfasts and dinners are served daily to volunteers made primarily from Sysco products. Sack lunches are distributed in the mornings so that workers are not forced to drive the 4-6 miles back from the sites.
Gulfport is less than an hour from New Orleans and actually registered higher tidal surges than in New Orleans during Katrina. It just lacked the media attention. We are close enough that I listened to a New Orleans radio station on the way in.
The mission is a joint venture of both the disaster relief branches of the Tennessee Baptist Convention (TBC) and the Gulf Coast Baptist Association . The TBC is one of just many denominational organizations (including its North Carolina counterpart) that has disaster relief offices in the area. The TBC has a contract with Robinson Road for three years in exchange for supporting the facility. The congregation was in shambles after Katrina as many of the member’s employers no longer existed. I never grasped the ramifications of the disaster until seeing the area - more than two years after the event itself!
Though they have had volunteers ranging from age 18-83, most of the volunteers are older. Few people have schedules flexible enough for an entire week off in the gulf. Though teenagers have helped in the past, they are now being discouraged from doing so as the environment does not lend itself to high school students.
One young worker named Jocelyn moved to Gulfport after assisting on mission trip. The Albany, New York, native had never even seen this region of the country before the mission trip. She had served 3½ years in public relations prior to heading south.
The facility is well equipped. The TBC actually owns portable showers that are always ensured to have hot water. The facility has countless volunteers staying in it.
The four other church members are sharing a room on the second floor. I had the option of residing with them or in an unfurnished room on the first floor near the noisy kitchen. Is there any doubt which option this only child chose?
Before closing I must acknowledge that the password for the church’s wireless connection is composed of 26 unrelated characters. Welcome to the inherent legalism of the Southern Baptist Convention!
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