OPERATION FINISH WELL
Waveland, Mississippi
Camp Katrina CLC
September 11,2007
Update #2
Dear Partners:
Greetings again. Thanks to a great response to our first update, many of you are rethinking the need to return to Waveland, at least one more time. The job isn’t completed yet and we must finish well.
Mark and Melissa, the CAMA Services Missionary Candidates, are packing up and will be on site, September 20. Mark spent 6 days talking with residents, city officials, teachers, businessmen and women, former staff, and volunteers. He has been able to get a good picture of what remains to be done in order to finish well. There is no question that we have more than enough work to do as it pertains to getting folks back into their houses.
Think about it, 100% of the homes were impacted by Katrina, that is more than 2500 homes, 15000 people in both Waveland and Bay St. Louis. There are 600 families still in FEMA Housing. Two years cramped into a small two bed/one bath trailer. Better than a tent, but not very comfortable for two years. Mayor Tommy Longo, himself still in FEMA Housing, continues to work hard for his people in trying to get help to complete their homes so they can return to some sense of normalcy. He was very grateful for all that Art and George were able to do but pleaded with us to continue to help. He asked us to look at several things:
- A Day Care/Mother’s Day Out kind of service for children. He along with others maintain this a priority. There are no affordable places for the care of children since both parents must work to survive.
- A Tutoring service for kids and adults that have learning difficulties. Illiteracy is also a problem that needs to be addressed.
- A Free Counseling Service, 8 out of 10 people still suffer from PTSS (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) There are a few mental health services but the lines are long and people are on the waiting list for months. This would be a great opportunity to impact the community.
The Supt. Of Public Schools, also asked us to help children. We are in the process now of looking to help a 12 year old girl, under the care of her Grandmother. Her Grandmother can’t care for her, her Mother is in prison, and the child has head lice, depressed, and doesn’t know what to do. There are many stories like this. Parents gone, either in jail, or on drugs. The Grandparents, old and living on meager incomes, must now care for these kids. This is not a pretty picture! What can we do? We don’t know yet, but We will know soon. We are looking at ways we can help. One thing we can do, is PRAY! Prayer is our first work as we seek His will in all of these things. Please PRAY for wisdom is working with these dear people.
As we see it, we have a short window of 12-15 months to continue to do Volunteer work in building and repairing homes. We have 0ver 200 applicants that are waiting for us to help. Some of the work is simply drywall and painting. Other work is tearing down and redoing electrical and plumbing. We want to do all we can for as many as we can, as fast as we can! So YOU ARE GREATLY NEEDED! ALL OF YOU!
We have needs for all types of workers. Both skilled and unskilled. If you can paint, we need you. If you can cook, we need you. If you can clean, we need you! Get the idea! We also need those who have plumbing and electrical skills. We still have homes that need a complete wire job. My wife says, I need re-wired, but at 61 it’s a little late.
Here are the prayer requests for this update:
- PRAY for Mark and Melissa as they pack and move down from Colorado Springs.
- PRAY for George and his family as they look to God for the next step in ministry. They were well loved by many and will be missed.
- PRAY for the URGENT NEED for Volunteers. We have none for the rest of September and only a few for October and none for November. Some of you have said you are looking a ways to come down. Please do so during these months if at all possible.
- PRAY for a Christmas Outreach Ministry.
- PRAY for Professional Christian Counselors that will give of their time and come to Waveland on a regular basis to help these people. We have two that have said they will give at least two weeks. We need many more. If we had funding we could set up a Counseling Clinic. This is a huge need, so PRAY with us. God has the answer!
Friends, again, thank you for all that you are doing. We will honor God by finishing well. We will impact this community by showing the love of Jesus in tangible ways.
Be Blessed
Pastor Don Young
Genesis Church