It's a Big World ... Shine Brightly

Princeton Presbyterians
Mission Trip to
Ocean Springs, Mississippi

Day Two: Sunday, July 2
"Devestation Road Trip"

Day Two:

Since it was Sunday, we gave the team the option of a 9AM contemporary service, (PowerPoint and guitars) or a traditional service at 11 (Choir and organ). Not surprisingly they opted for the later service.

After the service we grabbed our packed lunches and headed out in the vans for a tour of the coastal areas hit hardest by Katrina. First stop was the Biloxi-Ocean Springs causeway, a dramatic illustration of the brute force of the hurricane. We drove around Ocean Springs looking at empty fields that used to contain homes, partially damaged homes, and brand new homes that have been already replaced. Many of the damaged and lost homes belonged to members of the First Presbyterian Church, our hosts. Each van had a local tour guide, and each guide had lost her home.

We then drove to Biloxi, the long way, and drove the Coastal highway, with a mostly unobstructed view of the coast. Of course a year ago, you would only have seen the water between the buildings that lined the shore. While the casinos are mostly back in business, other less well-capitalized businesses are still shut down, and rebuilding will take much longer. An unreported effect of the storm was to raise land and apartment values dramatically. Biloxi was a blue collar, ethnically and racially diverse city, however because of the shortage of rentable units the average monthly rent has tripled in since the storm, pricing out many of the former residents.

We had originally planned a fast food dinner for Sunday night, but opted instead to have dinner at the Bay St. Louis Crab Fest and pump some much needed money into their economy. It was a typical Southern country fair, with rides, crafts and lots of seafood.

When we got back to the Church house, we divided up the work teams for tomorrow, including a large contingent that will be assisting a Habit for Humanity crew. The rest of us will stay in Ocean Springs where we will split into two teams to work on repairs at two parishioners' homes.

Because of the 6:15 wakeup call, we made lights out at ten, without much resistance, as it was a long day.