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...