Mud, Sweat, and Tears: Recipe for Hope

by Sheila S. Hudson

It wasn”t my intention to volunteer. Like so many things in the Christian walk, it just happened.

My husband, Tim, and I were at the 11 am service at The Orchard Church, Loganville, Georgia, when we heard an announcement about a group from the church planning a Katrina relief trip to Biloxi, Mississippi. God tugged at our hearts, and before we left services we had volunteered to cook for the group. Thirteen in all, including us. Not a problem!

Then the second shoe dropped. The number swelled when I learned we were to join a group from the River Road United Methodist Church, Richmond, Virginia””all 40 of them! Wow! Cooking for more than 50 people. What had I signed up for?

It isn”t that we are inexperienced. In our 40-plus years of ministry, Tim and I have been on mission trips, including hurricane relief and building houses for the poor in Juarez, Mexico. But joining a group where we knew no one added a different ingredient to the mix.

The Orchard Church is where our children are members. Eric, our son-in-law, is the worship leader, so we are frequent visitors. Over the years, we”ve made acquaintances, but no deep friendships. All that was about to change.

 

TEAM ADVENTURE

 

We arrived at the host church, Heritage United Methodist Church in D”Iberville, Mississippi, on Sunday evening. This amazing congregation has housed more than 28,000 volunteers and logged nearly 555,000 hours of volunteer labor for hurricane relief on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Heritage generously donated dormitory space for 50 volunteers, showers, and a well-stocked kitchen for our use.

I was relieved to meet Jane Bren from the Richmond group, who was their designated cook. She and Tim calculated the amounts of various foodstuffs needed and purchased supplies for Monday breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Marcia Kines, Terry Lu, Jane, Tim, and I divided up the chores and planned the week”s events.

Terry took charge of getting the daily work assignments from the church liaison. Jane and Marcia coordinated breakfast and lunch crews. Tim and I reported for duty each afternoon and began preparations for dinner. I sautéed, sliced, and chopped and also kept the dishes washed. Tim ran to the nearby Winn-Dixie for extra bread and ice.

Evan, our token introvert, found himself as the site leader since he happened to be a contractor. Trevor, Megan, and Alex””the teens of the group””provided comedy relief and reminded us to be flexible. Terry modeled an easygoing spirit of love and acceptance. Patrick and Denie Bell, other newbies to the group, relaxed and gave out their share of good-natured teasing. Sharma, Laura, and Tracie, professional photographers, never missed an opportunity to record our week in Bayou Country.

The week was sprinkled with thundershowers and setbacks, all amid humidity and heat, but nothing dampened the spirits of the crew. In any other situation you might expect an explosion with so many type A personalities. Instead there was good humor, sharing, and laughter mingled with the spirit of adventure.

 HARD WORK

Day one began with tearing out rotten studs from a house about four miles from the host church. Our group finished early and enjoyed a jaunt to the beach before eating Jane”s wonderful baked spaghetti dinner.

The second day”s assignment was to finish a drywall project begun by another group. Homeowners Jake and Vera desperately needed assistance with this so they could get their home ready to paint. When Tim and I stopped at the worksite, Jake was on the porch trimming cornices and molding. His wife, Vera, recovering from cancer surgery, had visited earlier to thank the group. Their two daughters rotated working and taking care of their mother.

In speaking with this couple, Marcia learned they had a son who lived in Loganville, the city where The Orchard Church is located. It was one of many “God sightings” during the week. By week”s end, Jake was delighted to begin painting and moving back into their home. The Orchard group promised to put Vera and the family on the church”s prayer list.

Day three was a joint venture between the two houses. Our team split into two. One group put insulation in Jake and Vera”s house on Nixon Street while the others continued sheet rocking at the first house where we had worked. After finishing for the day, the insulation crew jumped into the ocean, clothes and all, to relieve the sting of fiberglass on perspiring bodies.

SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS

 

Each evening at dinner we shared our spiritual journeys. Terry said that just after he retired last fall, he went on his first mission trip ever. “That mission trip changed my life. That”s why I feel so strongly about this one.”

Marcia, an entrepreneur of Home-made Goodies by Gram, gave up a week of vacation, plus time with her family, to come on the trip. Laura”s husband took his vacation and teamed up with his father-in-law to care for their children to allow Laura to accompany us. Traci, Sharma, and the Bells also sacrificed time away from their businesses to show Jesus” love to those who needed an extra hand.

On Wednesday evening Mary Spain, the director of personnel at a local resort, treated our group to their buffet. She was excited to offer a complimentary meal to our team after Tim told her why we were in Biloxi. Total strangers noticed our neon green Katrina Relief shirts and came up to express “thank-yous.” The manager of the buffet, Dominique, and the head chef, who hailed from Georgia, posed for pictures with our group.

I felt God””as he always does””would push us out of our comfort zone on this trip. And he didn”t fail in that. Our cook”s tour could have been filled with distress, complaints, and negative results. Instead God ensured that our dissimilar crew spread joy, love, and hope to strangers in Jesus” name.

Nehemiah said of his volunteers, “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto half its height, for the people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6, 21st Century King James Version).

God”s 13 from The Orchard had a mind to work. We agreed that getting our hands dirty never felt so good. Team Orchard went to Biloxi to change lives, but the lives that we changed were our own!

 

 

Sheila S. Hudson is CEO and a freelance writer for Bright Ideas and a travel writer for the Athens Banner-Herald.