Final Thoughts..

Today I received an email from Michael, the volunteer coordinator of Camp Coast Care, making an appeal for volunteers. As Michael puts it..

Help Camp Coast Care fulfill its 7 year pledge to the communities of the Gulf Coast.

We cannot do this alone, we need your support and most importantly your participation.

Volunteer today!

I've been slow to jump back into my old routine. Somehow the work back here seems so self centered and abstract. I've tried a couple of things like baking bread and gardening to get into a more centered and simple frame of mind, but I keep going back to the great feeling I got working so hard each day to achieve a simple and focused goal; to create and restore shelter for people in great need, and to do it in community with others.

Here is a note I received from Heather that expresses much of the same feelings I've been having.

Being on this trip really made me wake up and think about things outside of

Columbus, OH. Everything that happened while I was in Mississippi taught me

something new. The friends I made not only from St. Stephens but from other

groups also taught me a lot about myself and about everything around me.

Even listening to what the homeowners had to say about the hurricanes, and

what they and the people around them did to escape, just really opened my

eyes to how bad the situation actually was. The whole trip was definately

what you could call an experience, but its also one that I won't be

forgetting any time soon.

Heather

So yes, it would be great to go back and help Michael and the wonderful community there in Bay St. Louis continue on the road of recovery. Perhaps before the year is out, if enough folks are committed to it, we can do it again. But in the meanwhile, I hope we can find a way to bring the same commitment, dedication and the willingness to sacrifice and work hard to our own missions both corporate and personal here at home. Needs are everywhere. People in pain are everywhere. Hungry, lonely, abused, addicted, confused, and searching people are everywhere. I pray that the God of Compassion touches all our hearts and inspires works of love and charity in us all.

Finally, here is a picture of our sign, the one that we imagined and created together while at Camp Coast Care. It hangs on the entrance wall to their new facilities, among a wild array of other signs marking the visits of hundreds of other groups who have

worked to restore lives in the Gulf Coast region. We went back to our old "motto" at St. Stephen's, a quote from the Book of Micah.. to do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God ..

Please let George, Pam, or one of us who traveled to Mississippi know if you are interested in a future mission trip or just identifying good work we can do together here in our own community. Amen.

..Joe