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.