Twenty-five Individuals, Five Churches, One Mission

by Jim Oaks

Sixteen Southside members were joined by nine members from Baptist churches in New Market, Athens, Pinson and New Hope from April 29 to May 5, 2007 for a house building project in Lakeshore, Mississippi, a small town devastated by hurricane Katrina.

Southside team leaders Larry and Betty Johnston and Les Brown were joined by fellow church members Randy and Debbie Kidd, Wayne and Nina Miller, Franklin and Melba Martin, Patrick Keel, James Martin, Jim Oaks, Al Taylor, John Vaughn, Tom Wren and Jacob Yarbrough for the five days of intensive work.

Wells and Mary Jane Johnston and Gordon and Billie Raney were from New Market; Kyle and Charlotte Jeffreys from Athens; Jackson and Margaret Lewis from Pinson; and Bill McKerley from New Hope. It was truly an “association” effort.

Larry Johnston and Wayne Miller drove one van that pulled a trailer with tools and Randy Kidd drove the Southside van. James Martin rode down with Tom Wren and Patrick Keel and I also drove our own cars. Patrick had to return on Friday and I was making the trip from my hometown in northeast Mississippi.

Everyone made it by eight Sunday night and we met in the church to get acquainted with all the members of the team. Lakeshore Baptist's church building was swept away by the flood waters and wind from Katrina. Only the steeple and pulpit remain from the old church. The pastor, Don Elbourne, and the congregation decided rather than rebuild the church in a traditional building; they would first help with the rebuilding of homes in the community. So they erected a large Quonset building for their church services and some smaller Quonset buildings for sleeping accommodations for visiting construction teams. Then the Lakeshore members went to work, both worshiping and rebuilding.

This was the second construction trip to Lakeshore by Southside members and several of our team had been there before. However, it was the first trip for Franklin, Melba, Patrick, James, John, Jacob and me. Although progress was seen by those who had been there before, the community still has a long way to go. And for those of us there for the first time, it was hard to imagine how bad it must have been a year and a half ago. It is bad enough now.

Our goal was to build a two bedroom house for a school teacher and her son from the slab to the roof. We hoped to at least get tar paper on the decking, and possible shingles in place by Friday. Material was there for that much work, however, progress was delayed in the first day since holes for anchor bolts had to be drilled in the concrete. The pouring of the slab had been delayed by rain for more that a week and when the crew finally got to the job the week before our trip, they were rushed to finish and actually had to move most of the concrete by wheel barrow since it was too wet for the truck to move close to the foundation. This resulted in some uneven and rough places in the concrete. That said, we were at least thankful that there was a concrete slab for our team to begin work.

Larry got together with his team leaders, Kyle, Randy, Al and Wells and they made adjustments that allowed us to proceed. By the end of the first day we did get part of one wall standing. Each morning we would begin with a couple of testimonies and a prayer for safety, then an outline from Larry on what our construction goal was for the day. Here we are at the beginning of Tuesday and by the end of the day we had something that was beginning to look like a house.

Work progressed on Wednesday and we quit in time to attend Lakeshore Baptist's service. Pastor Elbourne shared his heart with us that evening and asked some of those who had been there before to offer encouragement that progress was being made. Pastor Elbourne said that he still has to turn away many desperate requests for help and that he often feels that after almost two years that people have forgotten about them. He seemed encouraged by some of the testimonies.

“God once again touched our hearts by the dedication and love shown by their (Lakeshore Baptist Church) pastor, Don Elbourne,” Les Brown said.

Thursday was a very productive day and all the heavy support beams were nailed in and some of the ceiling joist was in place by quitting time.

Lighting and rain on the final day (Friday) forced work to end at 11 AM. However, the team was able to erect the walls and prepare for placing of roof rafters. (A team from Virginia was able to finish erecting the rafters on Saturday.)

During the afternoon rain some of us who had not been to Lakeshore before were able to ride along the Gulf to Bay St. Louis to see more of the hurricane damage. Some rebuilding has been done along the coast, but mostly all that remains are vacant lots or support post that once supported beach front houses. On the way back to Lakeshore along highway 90 we passed through Waveland and Wayne and Nina pointed out the shopping center where they had worked with a food serving team shortly after the hurricane hit.

The rain has stopped by four that afternoon and we were able to load the tools that remained at the house site and hook up the trailer for the return trip.

Friday evening, as we had most other evening, we met for more personal testimonies and some singing. All agreed that our experience with each other had been a very meaningful part of the trip. Larry told us not to be disappointed that we did not get as much done as planned. “We accomplished what God wanted us to do,” he said. Everyone made it back to Huntsville by mid afternoon Saturday.

If Southside should make another trip to Lakeshore, I encourage you to join the team. You will learn about building — both houses and lives.

For more information on rebuilding Lakeshore, MS, please view their website at http://rebuildlakeshore.com