DISASTER RELIEF TEAMS:
REBUILDING IN SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
This is not exhaustive or a legal document, but we hope the information will help team members have an idea of what to anticipate.
Facilities:
1. We stay at Robinson Road Baptist Church (20035 Robinson Road, Gulfport MS 39503).
The "Family Life Center" has a "restaurant" kitchen, large multi-purpose room, more than ten rooms to sleep from 3 to 12 people, showers, etc.
2. There is one telephone at the church (228/ 832-9695), but this line is for use by the local coordinator of our relief work, and for emergencies only. Some team members usually bring mobile phones, so please plan to use these rather than the line telephone at the church. If you have a laptop computer, the office often has broadband network which you may use if your laptop has a built-in receiver to connect.
3. Please be considerate of others using bathrooms and showers. The amount of hot water is limited. We don't have janitor service, so please clean up your area, and take your soap, shampoo, conditioner, etc. back to your room with you each time you finish.
4. There is a common area available to groups to gather for devotions and group meetings.
5. Please remember that this is a church which has graciously opened their facilities to us. We want to make everything look presentable and as neat as possible, especially if we are here on Wednesday night or Sunday.
6. The church does not have janitor or maid service. At the end of our stay, trash should be carried out and all rooms and common areas should be clean and vacuumed so as to be ready for the next group.
7. It is often difficult to sleep in a strange bed, much less on an air mattress or cot. Some peope take their favorite pillow. If you want to listen to music, play dominos or other games in the evening, it is important to be considerate in noise and time of others who need to sleep.
8. Laundry facilities for volunteers are not available on-site. The nearest laundromat is about six miles away in Gulfport.
9. Each person takes his/ her bedding such as a cot, air mattresses, pillow, sheets, blanket, towel, etc.
What Will It Cost Me?
It costs almost nothing except for some snacks en route and perhaps a souvenir or a meal at a fish restaurants. Transportation (or gas for people who want to drive their own vehicles) plus "room and board" are provided.
Meals:
1. The Tennessee Baptist Convention provides food, which has been excellent. In spite of our work and exercise, some of us gain a pound or two as a result of the "hearty" food.
Be especially courteous and demonstrate thanks to the volunteers who prepare our meals.
2. The Church provides coolers which teams may borrow each day to take ice, bottled water and other cold beverages, and a packed lunch to work sites.
3. Most teams usually want to eat a meal at one of the seafood restaurants in the area.
Gulfport Area Facilities:
In Gulfport, about 6-8 miles from Robinson Road Baptist Church, the typical businesses such as banks, restaurants, grocery stores, drug stores, gas stations, Home Depot and Lowe's, Walmart and KMart, recovered quickly after the hurricane. Therefore, if you forget to take something, it is probably available in the area, but it will not be very convenient to go more than 7 miles to buy it.
What Kind of Work Will We Do?
It is impossible to know what type work we will do until we arrive. We do not go for the purpose of doing some particular work but to represent Christ and to be God's instruments to bless others in our words, attitude and actions in addition to our work. However, we honor Christ by doing "quality" work.
1. Some teams re-roof houses and churches, but most of our work has been finishing the interior of homes which have been gutted: install insulation, drywall, mud joints, sand, paint, flooring, and other light construction or cleaning up lawns, etc.
2. Some of the work may be new to you and some may be outside your comfort zone, but volunteers will not be asked to do anything which is personally dangerous. Individuals may learn some new skills in the course of these experiences. "Missionaries" need to practice FLEXIBILITY.
3. Building supplies, nails, paint, sandpaper, etc. are furnished by the owner and by Tennessee Baptists
4. Volunteers should bring tools. Cordless drills and other tools are especially useful on many jobs.
Mark your personal tools and other equipment clearly with your name.
Think and Practice Safety:
1. Let's be happy and let's laugh a lot, but let's also resist an urge to play practical jokes which can be dangerous or unkind to others.
2. Masks and safety glasses are usually available. Please wear them when appropriate.
3. Mosquitoes can be very bad. You may want to take some repellent.
4. You may want to use sunscreen if your skin is sensitive
5. The Tennessee Baptist Convention recommends a tetanus shot or booster within the last five years.
Paperwork:
1. The Tennessee Baptist convention requires each team member to fill out the Medical Information Form and Volunteer Liability Release Form.
2. Please notify an onsite coordinator if a team member will be absent from the group, or if the member arrives later than the group. We like to keep an accurate head count for emergency situations
Insurance:
Each individual is responsible to provide primary health and hospitalization insurance.
If injured, contact an onsite coordinator immediately.
Miscellaneous Information:
1. We represent Christ. We also represent Central Baptist Church, Tennessee Baptists, and Baptists in the Gulfcoast Baptist Association.
2. Most of the reconstruction work after the hurricane has been done by volunteers from religious groups, NOT by the government. Almost every denomination and humanitarian organization has been actively present: Catholics, Presbyterians, Mennonites, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Methodists, Baptists, Habitat for Humanity, Campus Crusade, and others. Even "The People of Saudi Arabia" have sent relief supplies.
3. There are only three small Baptist Churches in the Pass Christian area. and these are struggling because a large number of people who left and never returned. The largest denomination in this area is Roman Catholic
4. An important ministry we can do is to listen to people. Many have been traumatized, and part of their recovery is to tell their stories and have someone listen. We are here to demonstrate compassion.
