After Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast, several of us felt a calling to help with the recovery effort. Obviously, with a disaster of this proportion, an equally large effort is needed to move recovery forward. The United Methodist Church has assigned certain conferences and districts to specific areas in need. The Raleigh District is working in and around the area of D’Iberville, Mississippi, just outside of Biloxi, and specifically with the Heritage United Methodist Church of D’Iberville. This effort is called Second Spring, which refers to the re-emergence of the flowers and other plants after the floodwaters receded – as if it were spring. Likewise, the homes and lives of people in the D’Iberville area are re-emerging as God uses his servants to help those in need.

In this area, the storm surge that the wind whipped up on the coast, and across the bay, was anywhere from 15 to 25 feet high. It traveled as far as 2 miles inland, and filled most houses with around 6 feet of water. Hundreds of houses were destroyed or severely damaged – some by the initial surge, and many by the force of the water in the house, as the surge waters quickly receded, (in about six hours), causing the water inside the house to literally blow one or more walls out as the water inside the house tried to recede at the same time. Many homes are still not inhabitable at this time, and many people are left with nothing but their mortgage.

To answer the call, many people at ESUMC have responded, in many ways. The most visible sign of this has been the work teams that have traveled to D’Iberville to help repair and rebuild houses and lives. Five ESUMC work teams (more than 150 people) have made the trip and given their assistance. In addition to that, many more have responded; supplying funds to finance the costs of construction material, food and travel, or agreeing to hold this effort up in prayer while the teams are there, requesting that God keep the teams safe, and that they be an effective and productive force to show Christ’s love through their building, humble servant hood, and compassion for people in need. They are truly ambassadors for Christ.

We will be going to Mississippi again November 10 - November 17 . Please hold these folks up in prayer while they are there. If you would like to join the work team, please contact our Missions Coordinator, Renae Newmiller at 832-7535 ext. 231 or via email. 

To keep up with the work and the experiences of the teams, we have established a blog site on the web. This will contain daily updates and pictures, and help keep us connected to our bothers and sisters, and what God is doing through them. The blog site link is: http://www.esumcgreenshirts.blogspot.com/

Other Links of interest are below:
Raleigh District's website for Operation Second Spring: http://www.secondspring.org/

D’Iberville City website: http://www.cityofdiberville.org/