Grace Lutheran Church - Katrina Mission Team - Daily Updates

Christus Victor Standby Emergency Generator Donations

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:01:34 -0600

Thank you to Marcia for spearheading this fundraising and the GLC congregation for responding!

August 1, 2007

Dear Bob & Christus Victor Lutheran Church,

Our Team Katrina members at Grace Lutheran Church received your email asking for donations toward a new generator. We took the request to our congregation and asked for offerings to help you out. We also included remaining money from a PEMCO grant given toward our ’06 trip to Ocean Springs.

We know how important it is for you to ready for recovery as soon as possible should there be another disaster in your area. Please accept our collected donation of $443.72 for the purchase and upkeep of a new emergency generator. If you have already earned enough money to support the generator, please use the money as you need for Hurricane recovery relief ministry.

God bless you in your ministry.

In Christ on the behalf of GLC Team Katrina and our congregation,

~Leena Prindle,
Parish Life and Education Director

Encl.

Emergency Generator Donation Request

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:55:50 -0600

April 11, 2007

I am sending this email to ask for your assistance. The congregation at Christus Victor Lutheran Church would really like to install a standby emergency generator at the church. For obvious reasons a generator would greatly enhance Christus Victor's ability to respond to our communities needs during a future hurricane. So, I am asking for your help with this project.

I realize you all have given tremendous service for us here on the Mississippi Coast in the past and present, and many of you plan to continue your mission work with us for the years ahead. I can never adequately express the thanks that is due all of you. So, it is with difficulty that I approach you about donations for a generator.

I estimate the cost to purchase a generator, automatic transfer switch, and propane tank and install the foundation, gas piping and electrical hookup to be about $16,000. Can you help us? If so, please make your check out to "Christus Victor Lutheran Church" with "generator" written in the memo line and mail to:

Christus Victor Lutheran Church
Atten: Bob Montgomery
2755 Bienville Blvd.
Ocean Springs, MS 39564

If you have any questions, please call me at any time. The cell number listed below is the one I use for my volunteer work with Christus Victor's Katrina Relief Distribution Center located at Camp Victor, so it is good twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

In His service,

Bob Montgomery, Volunteer
Christus Victor Lutheran Church

A note from Peter Young

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 14:28:46 -0600

Peter is a Team Katrina member currently a sophomore at Pacific Lutheran University. He was unable to be a part of the presentation on Sept. 24th but wanted to write a note of thanks:

First and foremost I want to say that I can't even begin to thank all of you for this wonderful opportunity.

Team Katrina - Hwy 90 Biloxi Mississippi video

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 14:15:37 -0600

This is a video of the crumbled Biloxi Hwy 90 bridge. Doug is narrating from a structural point of view. He says Gulfport but it is in Biloxi.

Turn up your volume. :)

-----> Click Here to view video

Thank You note from McVeay's in Ocean Springs, MS

Wed, 09 Aug 2006 13:22:25 -0600

Card greeting:

Warmest Thanks, You make the world a little nicer - thanks for being so special!

Personal greeting:

Seattle Times article on New Orleans & Total Gospel Experience choir

Wed, 09 Aug 2006 13:12:58 -0600

Joanne passed this article on to the rest of us, gives a good mental picture of how the communities are still recovering a year later from the Hurricanes:

Renew and Good-bye Day 6

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 07:54:15 -0600

(Marcia writing) There was no blogging last night as we finished up at our house and went to the Big Easy for celebration.

In the morning we were able to complete the task set out for us. Everything was painted and cleaned up and the owners of the house said it looked better than it ever had. The head of construction, Tony, was sad to see us go as it's hard to find crews that can really make an impact on a house. He wanted to send us to another but knew we had to leave. In five short days we developed a bond with the people and their home and we were truly sad to leave. We wrote a card and bought some new plants for their yard and hugged good-bye. Milly and Walter hope to be in their house in a month or two and have a feeling of hope for a normal life again.

Katrina Mission - Day 5 - Restoration

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 20:39:50 -0600

8:45 (Tom) Again the lights came on in Antioch too early even though they let us sleep an extra fifteen minutes. Getting to sleep was a bit difficult with all of the noise. The bunk rooms are to be quiet after 10:00 p.m.; however, the curfew does not apply to the dining hall or hallways, areas from which we are separated only by a hanging curtain.

Katrina Mission - Day 4 - Lessons Learned

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 20:52:26 -0600

Too late (Tom) Patience, humility, perseverance, faith. The last 24 hours brought a lot lessons. One lesson was what “Format” means and the implications of what this little word can have on a digital camera full of clips and pictures. All gone!

Katrina Mission - Day 3 - Destruction

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 21:03:31 -0600

Today was a little hotter and more humid than yesterday. We returned to the McVeays and picked up where we left off. Sanding walls, scraping floors scrubbing ceiling beams and painting the ceiling were the order of the day. We were more prepared today and accomplished a huge amount of work. I am very proud of our group. The conditions are very difficult to work in and yet they jump into each task and do it as if it were there own. But maybe it is, in that these gracious and patient people are all a part of God’s family. There lives have been completely torn apart and the resources to rebuild them are almost solely dependent on the help of friends and complete strangers such as us.

Katrina Mission Photos

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 05:53:29 -0600

Click here for pictures

Katrina Mission - Day Two - McVeay's

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 05:35:24 -0600

6:30 (Doug) Apart from the alligators in the front yard, the McVeay’s house could have easily been mistaken for a house of one of Grace’s family.

But maybe we should start at the beginning of the day. Here at the Camp Victor “Resort” (where they provide the beds, 3 meals a day and daily “activities”) the lights come on promptly at 6. I was awoken from a deep blissful sleep (provided in part by the fact that it was 4am PDT and partly that I didn’t sleep a wink the night before due to my late night/early morning before we left). I couldn’t hide from the light more than 15 minutes before I got up, grabbed breakfast and made lunch.

Katrina Mission - Day One - Camp Victor

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 05:11:41 -0600

6:30 PM (Tom Pfaff) Well here we are in Ocean Springs! Mission work seems to start way too early for all of us. We met at Grace at 4:45 A.m. to catch a 6:20 a.m. flight with connections through Houston, Texas. Peter had gotten home at 2:00 a.m. from his job at the theater, Liz got home at 2:00 a.m. from a concert, and the Prindle's got home at midnight after catching a ferry from a camping trip wedding. Needless to say - sleep was abundant on the flights. We safely arrived in Gulfport, Mississippi at 3:05 p.m. right on schedule except for the Young's luggage which failed to arrive with the rest. After a few wrong turns, we arrived at Camp Victor, a pretty amazing facility run by Christus Victor Lutheran Church. The site is an old garment factory and warehouse. It is now home to 200 volunteers from all over the country. The bunk rooms each house 48 people. We are in a room called Antioch. Later this evening we plan to sight see some of the damage still remaining from Katrina, which hit 11 months ago. Flying into Gulfport we saw many of the FEMA trailers. They say there are more than 25,000 just in this area. At the airport there was visible damage to one of the large hangers and to main terminal building, which is still being reconstructed. Camp Victor is well stocked with many staples; however, the need is great. Neighbors can come every three days to picjup grocries and other items. More to come tomorrow when we rollup our sleeves and really get to work.

Getting Ready!

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 14:33:28 -0600

Thanks to Tom Pfaff for setting up this forum.

Just a few more days until we take off for Ocean Springs Mississippi.The website listed in the forum description is the organization the team is station to help out - Christus Victor Disaster Relief.

Katrina Mission Team Day Zero - Preparation

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 12:54:56 -0600

Your Katrina mission team is in the process of preparing for their trip next week. We will be working out of Christus Victor Lutheran Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

http://www.christusvictordisasterresponse.org/