Cheryl and Julie are almost home. We spent the final day on the job, mudding and primarily sanding.

See photos from Ken's trip!

Our focus this week was wrapping up the finishing work necessary on several rooms and getting them ready to prime and paint. Since our 10-person group was relatively small, we focused on one side of the house. We were able to get five rooms ready for prime/paint:

• lanai (off master bedroom)
• kitchen
• utility room
• guest bath
• master bath, toilet area and hallway leading to walk-in closets

Three other rooms are just one step away from getting primer and paint. They include the half-bath off the foyer, dining room and the kitchen nook. The great room, master bedroom and sitting area, breakfast nook, walk-in closets, foyer and foyer closet need a final coat of mud and a final...

For the last five days, we’ve gotten to know Cheryl and her cousin Julie. Both women will share the 2,500-square-foot home we've worked on all week.

See photos from Ken's trip!

Cheryl is a disabled veteran who now gets around on a motorized scooter because of two accidents. The first accident happened when she was on active duty and fell out of a helicopter during a training exercise several years ago. She fractured one of her legs in 20 places.

A second accident happened several months before Hurricane Katrina when she worked for the VA Hospital. Her powered wheelchair flipped over on top of her because of an uneven surface. Cheryl had to have two pins put in her back. She’d been bedridden just before Katrina hit.

In talking with her this week, Cheryl told me, after the storm that struck just six days before her birthday,...

The worst of what nature can dish out left parts of the Gulf Coast in ruins.

During Hurricane Katrina on August 28, 2005, water from the Gulf reached as high as 10-feet - flooding coastal communities like the Gulfport, Biloxi and D’Iberville.

For our evening Devotion, our Mission Team went down to the beach, on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast one day this week.

The mighty ocean along this gulf coast that wreaked so much havoc on this community was now the back drop for the evening’s Bible lesson.

According to Pastor Taylor, Devotion is an important time for our Mission team to reflect on what happened here and how this experience will help shape our lives.

Returning to the Gulf Coast where Katrina pushed the ocean inland – destroying communities and uprooting families – helped us better understand our mission. With the waves gently lapping against the sand and seagulls perched on remnants of what use...

In our daily lives, our work schedule sometimes varies. Most members of our Mission Team work day time hours. Others, like me, work nights. So, I’ve had to adjust my body’s time clock.

Our day here usually starts with a 7:15 a.m. wake up call. However, some members of our team are usually up before that time since they’re used to getting up early.

See photos from Ken's trip!

Since we’re sharing the dorm with another Mission Team from Michigan with the same amount of members, the kitchen can resemble a "Breakfast Waltz." At times, four or five people are turning around in the kitchen; some already know what they’re fixing for breakfast; others are contemplating what they have a taste for at this hour.

Food choices aren’t usually a problem since the pantries,...

The Mission Team from Avent Ferry UMC arrived in D’Iberville, Miss., on April 19. The host church here in D’Iberville, Heritage UMC, assigned us to the 2,500-square-foot home of Cheryl Lewis.

See photos from Ken's trip!

Ms. Lewis is a disabled veteran who now gets around on a motorized scooter. She moved into a FEMA trailer shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit. Team Avent Ferry started work on April 20 doing some finishing work on Ms. Lewis’ new house. Half of the house is Ms. Cheryl’s private residence. The other half will be used for temporary transition quarters for paralyzed veterans.

Ms. Cheryl does a lot of volunteer work with disabled and paralyzed veterans in the Gulfport/Biloxi/D’Iberville area. In order to get her moved in by May 1, we’ve prioritized the rooms that are the focus of our finishing...

Like any group, a leader emerges followed by role players. The Mission Team from Avent Ferry United Methodist Church is no different. Members of this group have gifts and talents they bring to the team that I now will call the AFUMC Fantastic 10.

Our fearless leader, Lori Drum. Major Drum, as we affectionately call her, is using her experience as a project manager to keep us on task. Rob and Jessica Anastes are showing us the art of how a happily married couple can work together. Benson Kirkman, the former Raleigh City councilman’s calm demeanor keeping us focused. Drew Grimes, our historian. He earned that name since he’s documenting every aspect of our mission.

We can’t escape his camera lens. Ann Yount is our moral compass. Ann had to put those skills to work the other day when she ended up taking a ride to the grocery store with two, shall we say, adventurous members of our group. I’ll let you guess who they are. The two adventurers decided to...

Team Avent Ferry UMC has been busy doing finishing work on a new home for a disabled veteran. Ms Cheryl Lewis is a retired Army paramedic. She lost her home when Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. However, Ms. Lewis is among a list of residents and businesses still trying to rebuild four years after that devastating storm.

See a short video of the deplorable conditions Ken Smith is seeing in D'Iberville.

A member of our host church, Heritage UMC was kind enough to give us a tour of the D’Iberville/Biloxi area, post Katrina. We drove through areas that were once thriving neighborhoods, now just empty lots. In most cases, there are very little reminders that houses once occupied the space. One of the main bridges is still out. Several roads are still being worked on before they can reopen to traffic....

As a reporter, my day usually begins with a newsroom meeting, followed by an assignment. As a member of the Avent Ferry United Methodist Church’s Mission team, my assignment when we arrived on our job site was sanding.

See pictures from Ken's trip!

I figured I’m not going to be able to work out this week, so sanding will keep me in shape. Let me be the first to tell you, after almost eight hours of sanding, I’ll opt for the gym next time.

I was covered in a layer of caked on dust from head to toe, hence the nick name Sand man. However, if you ask Michael, he’d rather call me Mr. Sandblaster. You see, I would get a little over zealous with the sanding. At one point, Michael said, “Ken when the tape or the sheet rock starts to show, you’re sanding too hard”, Oops!

Truthfully, though,...

I made it to D'Iberville, Miss.,  but even before I arrived, I heard my first story of Katrina’s aftermath.

On the flight from Atlanta to D’Iberville, I sat next to this wonderful lady – Mrs. Peggy Jones. When she told me her name, I was reminded of that old television western when I was a kid, “Alias Smith & Jones”.

Here were two strangers sitting on a plane, my last name is Smith and hers is Jones. Well, my last name is Smith and hers is really Jones, but I digress.

Mrs. Jones just celebrated her 79th birthday and was heading to Mississippi to visit her daughter. She used to make her home there until Hurricane Katrina hit.

The battered brick house was still standing when Mrs. Jones and her husband returned, but the storm destroyed everything inside. The Jones’ eventually sold their property and moved to Indiana.

Mr. Jones passed away last December. As Mrs. Jones fondly...

Ken Smith sent the first set of photos from D’Iberville, Miss., where he and some church volunteers are helping rebuild communities ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

First let me tell you about our Mission Team. We’re traveling with our Pastor, Taylor Mills. The rest of the Avent Ferry UMC family making up the team are Michael Lester, Benson Kirkman, Diane Corbin, Lori Drum, Drew Grimes, Ann Yount and Rob & Jessica Anastes. You’ll hear more about Rob in a moment.

On my first day on the ground in D’Iberville, I traded in my reporter's notepad for a chef’s hat. When I was assigned kitchen duty, since I was flying in a day later than the rest of the team, I thought I’d be helping out in the kitchen. Turns out, I was the cook for the day for 21 people. Imagine my shock and awe at the thought of feeding that many people.

Pastor Taylor and I put our heads together and came up with a menu – burgers and baked potatoes. However, I needed something memorable since I was following Rob in the cooking rotation. You see, we all suspect Rob was a chef in another life. He’s a great cook. That’s when...