Pease Help
By Your Financial Contribution to New Song Katrina Fund 
Pease Help
By Your Financial Contribution to New Song Katrina Fund
LATEST NEWS! -- Nov. 6, 2007: Sixth Katrina Work Team returned
from their recent trip on Nov. 6, 2007. Our church supported the
Main Street Church giving them $3,000 over the last 2
years. The Seventh Team will plan a trip later in 2008.
(see pictures below):
The Team: Virginia Fitspatrick, Carl Hom, Judi Brawner. Reclining: Aleta Basso,
Back Row: Dick Mayfield, Jerry Brawner, Elton Tietz and Mike Fitzpatrick
December 3, 2007 - Many people have asked how the Katrina Trip went in November. Every member of the team would agree, it was a very successful trip. We’ve been asked if there is any progress and our answer is “Yes, but it’s slow!” After more than two years, many people are still struggling, still in FEMA trailers and hoping to get one of the few MEMA (Mississippi Emergency Management Agency) trailers that have become available. These are larger trailers made to look more like cottages and lead one to believe that these will be permanent houses for those lucky enough to get one.
The exciting events we witnessed were the dedications of three NEW homes the UMOM Gulfside Disaster Center has completed. Members of our group actually worked on one of the dedicated houses and our entire group help to finish a fourth house. Our job this time was to do all of the interior trim of baseboards, doors and door frames. We also framed and painted an attic access door, completed the siding and worked on electrical wiring with the local inspector and worked with a plumber connecting the hot water heater and bathroom plumbing. We had a variety of tasks with team members with a variety of skills. Our main claim to fame at Gulfside Disaster Center is we are a team that can be depended on to complete our jobs and do them well. We were also responsible after a day’s work to do cleaning chores at the compound, lead devotions one night and cook breakfast and dinner one day. We were told by the “Alabama people” that our cooking day provided the best meals all week. Our recipes were requested and will be in an upcoming cookbook.
Will we continue this mission? When meeting with the Katrina Committee after our return, we unanimously decided it was a mission we must continue next fall. We will continue to seek support from our congregation and will perhaps do a fund raiser in the new year to help with our expenses.
May 29, 2007 -- Our 8-person mission work team has returned from spending a week working in the Gulf coast area of Mississippi ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Support our ministry to the victims of Hurricane Katrina by your prayers and your financial support. It costs about $500 per person for a one week work trip. If you couldn't help with this trip, then help pay for the next trip. Contact the Brawners for more information.
January 12, 2007 -- Jerry & Judi Brawner will be leading an 8-person team on our 4th work trip to the Gulf Coast from May 12-18. The team purposely wanted to be there on a Sunday so they could worship with our partner church, Main Street UMC, in Bay St. Louis, MS. They will be staying at the UMCOR center in Waveland and spending a week working with homeowners in rebuilding their homes and lives. If you would like to contribute to the cost of this mission, please make your donations to New Song UMC with a note that it go to the Katrina Mission Team.
November 7, 2006 -- Our 8-person work team led by Jerry & Judi Brawner returned from Mississippi where they spent a week working on rebuilding a home in Waveland devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The home belongs to a missionary for the Gulfside Assembly, which also lost all of its buildings. UMCOR has established a recovery center in Waveland and hosts 50-60 volunteers weekly. Jerry & Judi also met with the leaders of our partner church, Main Street UMC in Bay St. Louis, and presented a check for $1,000 as well as providing a number of quilts and prayer shawls to children in the preschool and to members of the community. To read Judi's most recent journal of their experience in Mississippi, click here. To view some pictures, click here.
March 30, 2006 -- Our mission team led by Dick Mayfield returned from Bay St. Louis. The ten-member team spent three days of hard work painting the interior of a house and installing insulation in another. They found that much cleanup has been done in the area, many more businesses are open and residents appear to be returning as the town recovers from the devastation. Jerry & Judi Brawner are leading another team in May.
February 23, 2006 -- Jerry and Judi Brawner announced two planned mission trips to Bay St. Louis. The first trip will be led by Pastor Steve the week of April 24th and is now filled. The second trip will be led by Jerry & Judi Brawner the following week (May 1-6). There is still room for 3-4 people. Applications and medical forms can be obtained from the Brawners. Over $2,000 has been raised for these two mission trips, but with an expected cost of over $500 per person, more funds are needed. We need your support and participation.
February 11, 2006 -- Pastor Steve, along with our Directors of Mission & Outreach, Jerry & Judi Brawner, recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Bay St. Louis and Waveland, Mississippi. They took many pictures and shot over an hour of video. They talked not only with the pastor of Main Street UMC in Bay St. Louis but also with the UMCOR relief coordinator, members of relief teams from other churches who have sent teams, and with residents in the devastated areas. They shared their pictures and their stories at a special presentation to the congregation on Saturday, Feb. 11th. A DVD of their mission trip is available in the church library. Copies of the DVD may be purchased for $10.00 with profits going to our continuing relief efforts. Order from the church office..
Walk With Me
It’s a warm, sunny day as I walk out of my trailer and look down the street. Actually, it’s very early in the morning, but I often wake early now.I seem to have nightmares and my little ones are fretful sleepers too. As I watch the golden sun rise over the bay, I look to my right and I see empty lots with only slabs where my dear neighbors lived. I’m not even sure where they’ve gone. The last I heard, they were living with their daughter in Texas. I do see the slab, though, where their house used to be. That’s progress. There used to be mountains of rubble. Their yard is cleared now and maybe with that progress, this means they might be planning on returning. As I continue to look down the street, I see other lots cleared and here and there a FEMA trailer. Across the street I see a sign that say’s “MEMA, I need room for my family of six. Two bedrooms would be nice!” You see, some of my neighbors have graduated from FEMA trailers to MEMA cottages. They’re really glorified trailers, but look more permanent and do have more room. Some are pink, some turquoise, some yellow. I’m wondering if this will be their home for several years?
Across the street, I see a house. It’s a mess, but here they come again. It’s 7:00 A.M. and the cars pull up and begin unloading their supplies for their day’s work. I was surprised the first time I saw groups coming in. Those people are not young. When was the last time they ever did such hard labor? They came and mucked out our houses. They sprayed for black mold. Now they’re trying to put the houses back together again. I was over there talking to them yesterday and they said they were from Hawaii. Can you imagine, they came that far to help my neighbors fix their house? Last week, there was a group from Arizona, the week before that a group from Kansas. I don’t want to be a bore to them, but I feel good when they’ll stop their work and just listen to me. I tell them that I used to have a beautiful home. My family had lived here for three generations. Maybe some day, I’ll rebuild too. Right now, though, I’m still struggling with my insurance company and the few dollars I received from the federal government didn’t begin to help me with even the basic needs. You see, when Hurricane Katrina hit, it took everything. EVERYTHING. How do you replace every single thing you ever owned? You just can’t. How do you show proof of who you are when it was sept away with EVERYTHING you owned? My wife would love to see once again our wedding pictures and the baby pictures of our three children.
After two years, I’m still in a state of shock. I now have an hourly job, six days a week. I have to drive 60 miles each way. I was able to get a used car, but it’s always causing me troubles. By the time I get home at night, I can hardly think, let alone take care of my family and work on the clearing of my property. The FEMA trailer is small for our family of 5. My wife with her sense of humor, laughs and says,” I can clean the bedroom by sitting in the middle of the bed!” I guess we have to have a sense of humor or we wouldn’t be able to go on.
There is hope……………Habitat for Humanity is actually building new homes on our street. They’re small, but certainly castles compared to the trailers. There’s a place down the road called Camp Gulfside. It’s a Methodist Mission and I’ve heard the Amish are nearby too. They’ve been repairing houses for two years too and now they’re actually building new ones as well. That might be my only hope. When I can find the time, I’m going over there. Maybe I could get a new house too. I’ve waited this long, what’s a little longer?
This essay was inspired by the many people we’ve met on our several trips to Waveland, Mississippi, since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the area in 2005.
Archives -- Previously Reported
Stories and News Concerning Hurricane Katrina
January 10, 2006 -- Pastor Steve and Jerry & Judi Brawner,
our Directors of Mission & Outreach, will be heading out to
Mississippi for a 3-day evaluation trip. They will be leaving
early on Tuesday, January 24th and return late on Thursday,
January 26th. The trip will be funded by the Mission Team. The
purpose of this initial visit is to evaluate the situation,
determine priorities for relief and assistance, and establish
face-to-face relationships with the pastor and church leaders at
Main Street UMC and the Gulf Coast area. Once the team returns
they will schedule a special presentation for the congregation in
which they will show pictures and report on their findings.
January 9, 2006 -- Pastor Steve has been in communication with the Mississippi Annual Conference and through them have discussed with the pastor of Main Street United Methodist Church the possibility of partnering with them in helping to restore their ministry. Pastor Steve, along with Jerry & Judi Brawner, our Directors of Mission & Outreach, hope to fly down to Bay St. Louis later this month to begin to evaluate the needs and establish a working relationship with that church. Rev. Rick Brooks, pastor of Main Street UMC, said that the parsonage was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and that the sanctuary and other church buildings suffered 50% - 60% damage. Thanks to UMCOR volunteers and other churches, they are now able to worship in their building and just last week reopened their day care center. Our Christmas Eve offerings, which totaled approx. $3,500.00 were designated for missions and especially Katrina relief. We will keep you informed of the progress we make and the needs that we hope to address.
UMCOR (United Methodist Committee
on relief) to Work With FEMA to Provide Case Management to Gulf
Coast Communities
NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2005-Eight weeks after one of the worst
hurricanes on record displaced more than a million Gulf Coast
residents over a 90,000 square mile area, United Methodist
Committee on Relief officials said the agency will lead a
consortium of providers in a two-year case management grant worth
$66 million. UMCOR is the humanitarian relief and development arm
of the United Methodist Church and a unit of the church's global
mission organization.
The agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, will benefit 300,000 people scattered by the winds throughout the 50 states. Survivors often have a tough time knowing their rights and understanding the daunting application process, officials said. Using a review panel, UMCOR will select up to 12 other agencies with expertise in disaster response to assist these vulnerable citizens to become self-sustaining. FEMA will supervise the implementation of the grant. In its lead role UMCOR represents a broad-based coalition known as NVOAD-the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. NVOAD members are secular and faith-based. UMCOR plans to choose consortium members from the NVOAD as well as from other sources.
UMCOR's specialty in long-term disaster response is case management-the whole spectrum of listening, documenting, connecting survivors with services, assisting them to make individual action plans, and leading all toward self-sufficiency and recovery. UMCOR's role will be to coordinate, monitor, and report on the work of 3,000 professional and volunteer case managers in delivery of services to people who were living in Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina displaced them. A core group of paid workers will supervise teams of trained volunteers. All agencies to be considered as partners have proven experience in the case management field.
"The program will complement, not duplicate, ongoing government efforts," said Paul Dirdak, UMCOR director, who said the grant is the largest ever received by UMCOR. "FEMA turned to UMCOR because of our competence in this sector and their confidence that we can provide accountability," he said. The diaspora forced by Hurricane Katrina extends to all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Partners in the consortium will have broad geographical reach, established referral networks, and high standards of care. Formal requests for proposals are being released this week, said Mr. Dirdak.
Every network member will have access to case files through a unified reporting system. For survivors that's good news. They will avoid the emotional turmoil of multiple intake interviews and be able to receive assistance quickly. Consortium members will easily be able to identify unmet needs and duplication of services. At the same time, clients will be assured of confidentiality, a primary component of empowerment.
"Case management is a concrete way to assure that disaster survivors who require long term assistance will achieve self-sufficiency, strong families, and cohesive communities," said Mr. Dirdak. The usually unsung case manager has the potential to spell the difference between a chaotic response full of duplications-or worse, full of gaps-and fair, equitable treatment of survivors as they resume normal life, he said. UMCOR has perfected the application of case management over many disasters, small and large, urban and rural, he said. The agency will follow best practices, honed over more than a dozen years, in areas of bidding, evaluation, monitoring, and financial reporting. UMCOR will manage and report on program expenditures for the project.
To accelerate pace of outreach, the consortium will allocate small grants to grass roots organizations aiding the evacuees. Gifts from United Methodists and other private donors will help fund these grants so that communities will have capacity to continue case management beyond the two years envisioned by the proposal. "Communities will be better prepared in the future," said Mr. Dirdak. Consortium members will hire locally, to strengthen communities' ability to address future disasters. UMCOR is also providing private disaster recovery resources to its own voluntary networks in the Gulf Coast disaster zone.
United Methodists Mobilize to Help
Victims of Hurricane Katrina
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, United Methodists around
the country are mobilizing to help the nearly one million people
left homeless by this devastating natural disaster. Our church
and other churches in our conference are responding to an urgent
plea from our Bishop to raise funds, put together health kits and
flood buckets, provide meals and housing, and other assistance.
Here are some of things your church is doing and suggestions on
how you can help.
No Mission Trips Until January,
2006
Pastor Steve, his wife Sue and six church members attended
training for UMVIM (United Methodist Volunteers in Mission) on
Sept. 17th to plan future work trips to the affected areas.
Unfortunately we learned that only teams that are entirely
self-sustaining (i.e, can provide own shelter, food, gas, tools,
etc.) are being allowed into the ravaged areas. Other work teams
that require shelter and food will have to wait until early next
year to get in. The good news is that we have received the
training and can begin planning for those future trips. Also, we
have put in our church's name to be a partner church with a UM
church in Louisiana or Mississippi. We have been told that 40 UM
churches in New Orleans alone have been destroyed. There are
hundreds of others in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama that
also suffered damage or destruction. So there will be plenty of
opportunities for us to minister to people in these devastated
areas.
Health Kits Collected for Katrina Relief
Thanks to the support of our congregation the youth were able to
purchase the needed supplies to make up 120 health kits for
delivery to the hurricane striken areas of Louisiana and
Mississippi. Members of the congregation also assembled health
kits bringing the total to 132 which Pastor Steve delivered to
the Conference Center on Sept. 15th for delivery to the Gulf
coast. The picture shows Bishop Carcano helping load health kits
and othere donated items.
Wally Athey, Director of Communications for the Desert Southwest Annual Conference reported on Sept. 15th that "not counting what was loaded in Tucson this evening (probably another ton of material), when the truck left the Annual Conference office in Phoenix at 5 p.m. it carried: 450 Flood Buckets (6 tons), 7,200 Health Kits (7 tons), 16 boxes of school Supply Kits, 60 air mattresses, 90 pillows, 120 bed sheet sets, 150 blankets, 31 boxes of bedding, and 8 boxes of miscellaneous items. Total weight BT (before Tucson): 30,000 lbs/15 tons of love."
A Letter to the Churches from Bishop
Minerva Carcano
Bishop Minerva Carcano is Bishop of the Desert Southwest Annual
Conference. This letter (dated Sept. 1st) to the churches and
congregations of our conference is an urgent appeal for help.
Click here to read this important letter.
More information will be shared as we receive it. Please keep the victims of this immense tragedy in your hearts and prayers.
UMCOR Emergency Appeal for Health
Kits, Water and Blankets
As president of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR),
I am making this emergency appeal for United Methodists and their
friends to supply Health Kits, bottled water and blankets for
survivors of Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast. The need is
desperate throughout the area devastated by the storm, especially
among people who have been or are being evacuated from their
homes. The need for Health Kits is especially acute, according to
Gwen E. Redding, director of the Sager Brown Depot of UMCOR in
Baldwin, LA. The center is to the west of the major storm impact
and did not sustain major damage.
While the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is beyond belief, what is not beyond belief is how United Methodists respond to the call for help. UMCOR is already mobilized and offering assistance. Let us pray for all those affected and let us give generously to support the massive relief efforts already underway.
Report from Bishops of Mississippi
and Louisiana Conferences (dated Sept. 7th)
The following paragraphs come from messages received by Bishop
Carcaņo from Bishops Hope Morgan Ward of the Mississippi
Conference and Bill Hutchinson of the Louisiana Conference:
Bishop Hope Morgan Ward writes, "We give thanks that we have now been in touch with all the clergy of the Mississippi Conference and report that we know of none who have been injured by the wind and water of Katrina. There has been loss of life in several of our destroyed churches where members and neighbors sought refuge from the wind and water. We are creating teams of clergy to surround each impacted pastor with support and care. Ministry continues in amazing ways and in surprising places.
I continue to be amazed at the patience and perseverance of the laity and clergy of the Mississippi Conference. These are times that try us - days without electricity, cell service, land lines, water - and yet there is overwhelming sense of the enormity of the disaster and the need for cooperation and helpfulness. Next door from our conference office, the fellowship hall of Galloway UMC has been transformed into a maternity ward and six families with newborns, including one family with twins, has been welcomed. Sharing abounds amid the suffering and light shines in darkness. On Sunday, a yellow butterfly fluttered over the bread and cup on a makeshift table by the ruins of one of our churches in Gulfport as we spoke the familiar words, Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. The best of all, God is with us."
Bishop Bill Hutchinson note says, "I've received many wonderful reports from around the state of churches that had wonderful services yesterday [Sunday]- increased crowds as they have welcomed evacuees into their lives and churches and as they are helping the displaced find some sense of normalcy in the midst of this craziness. The church is being the church and it is a marvelous affirmation. We may think there isn't much being done, but I assure you, there are major efforts being made and major accomplishments being met. Thank God we have had no reports of deaths among the clergy. I do not know about the laity of our churches and fear their fate may not be as positive.
Lastly, for this time, please know I pray for you daily and for your health and well being. I also pray for your ministry, wherever you may be and whatever you may be doing. Please pray for me as well. This is a daunting task that is ahead. All of us need all the encouragement, help, and affirmation we can receive. Until next time..."