Gulfport ho!

Lafayette - In late February, 14 men and five boys from the Lafayette Federated Church set out on a high adventure: a week in hurricane-devastated Gulfport, Mississippi, helping reassemble lives and homes. By the time they returned, they had laid the foundation for one family’s home, replaced the roof and one of the rooms in another, and recruited a new volunteer from among those they helped. “I recalled sitting in Yankee Stadium, which seats about 55,000 people, and I thought ‘that’s about half the number of houses Katrina and Rita damaged or destroyed in Harrison County, Mississippi,’” said Ray Delbury. “It made chills go down my back to think of all those people homeless, all those houses unlivable. But our effort was nothing compared with the need.” The North Carolina Baptist men’s group of which the Sussex County group is a member had promised to rebuild 600 homes in Gulfport, Miss., beginning in November 2006 and continuing until January 2008. The relief effort is funded entirely from private donations - no government funds are involved. Jeff Colarusso described the scene in Gulfport as eerily empty. “For blocks and blocks, we saw nothing but empty slabs and flights of steps leading to nowhere.” Colarusso, who teaches music at the Hardyston School district, said he couldn’t wrap his mind around the number of homes destroyed and people displaced. “God’s strong live oak trees were still rooted and standing, while the houses were gone,” Delbury observed. The wind had ripped the beards of gray moss from the live oak branches, and had strewn it on the ground amidst the huge piles of debris from the broken houses. The men agreed that witnessing the courage and fortitude of the people was inspiring and described the families as gracious and upbeat. The Baptist men’s group had chosen each family to be helped according to its willingness and ability to carry forward the repairs the volunteers had begun, and not according to financial need. “We wanted to help people who were willing to pitch in and help themselves,” Delbury explained. One couple had been living for 18 months in a trailer on the property, and during that time the wife, Belinda, had suffered through several back surgeries but had continued to bear up and even to help others. Isaac Delbury, 13, accompanied his father Ray, and Jimmy Cohrs, 13, accompanied his father, Glenn. Todd Deming brought his sons Chris, 13, Joshua, 16, and Jonathan 15. Although some of the boys are homeschooled, others attending public school were allowed to use the experience for academic credit. Isaac said that he loved doing the work, and seeing the open hearts and open minds of the people he came to help. “This was a different and very cool way to be an evangelist,” Isaac said. “The work the boys did was phenomenal,” said Colarusso. “They didn’t complain, whine or moan, and at the end all of them said they’d come back and do it all over again. Each man traveled to Gulfport at his own expense, and to pay for his room and board donated $10 each day to the North Carolina Baptist Men. The large group of volunteers who joined to work together in Gulfport came from all over America and from Canada. All 250 were lodged in the National Guard Armory, which Katrina had severely damaged. The State of Mississippi donated the armory to the Baptist Men’s relief effort for two years in return for a pledge to repair the damage to the building and build outbuildings needed for storage, as well as to guarantee the repair of at least 500 homes. Glenn Cohrs praised the Baptist group for providing the funds, the support, and the supplies needed to get the job done. The organization provided a bunk trailer that would house 22 people, a tractor trailer with hot showers, a water purification trailer, and a laundry trailer. In addition, the group cooked three meals a day for the entire group of volunteers. The work occasionally took an unusual turn. Once, the volunteers were asked to comfort a boy grieving for his gerbils by conducting a memorial service for the pets. Cohrs and Colarusso agreed that mixing mortar and hauling cinderblocks was backbreaking and exhausting, but despite the long hours, they were astonished at not being sore being or exhausted. “If we had done this work at home, we would have been wiped out. But we both felt great. The work seemed to give us energy,” said Cohrs. When the men were asked why they were willing to work so hard and spend so much time and money to help strangers, they answered simultaneously, “To show God’s love.” “We were inspired by James 2, 14-22,” Delbury said. “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” Then quoting St. Francis of Assisi, Delbury concluded, “Let all the brothers, preach by their deeds.”