BCF students help rebuild broken homes, lives

PASCAGOULA, MISS. (BCF)–It’s been called the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Hurricane Katrina swept a path of destruction throughout the Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana coastlines. It was like nothing ever seen before, leaving behind a sea of broken homes and broken lives. Baptist College of Florida (BCF) students made two trips to the hurricane-ravaged area of Pascagoula, Miss., recently to help residents there rebuild both.

What they saw when they arrived was more heart-wrenching than media reports could have depicted. As they gutted a historic two-story 1800’s home to remove mold damage, the owner, “Ms. Carolyn,” as they called her, pointed out the F-150 sitting out in front of the home.

It was her son’s truck and during the height of the destruction was completely submerged in water. The home itself, inherited from her grandmother, was flooded up to the eighth stair on the staircase leading to the second floor. The entire first floor was flooded.

Work was slow as the group removed sheetrock from the floor to the 12-foot ceilings, taking a full day to complete just the first floor. As students stood atop tall ladders pulling down small sections of sheetrock, they talked with “Ms. Carolyn” about her life and future.

“She assured us that she knew Christ,” said Lauren Parnell, a mission intern at BCF from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas who led the trips. “This was obvious in her spirit and trust in God to provide for her needs.”

At another home students continued with the “mud-outs,” as the process is called. In addition to removing the sheetrock on the home covered with mold from floor to ceiling, in a heart-wrenching process they removed all of the homeowner’s possessions and discarded them on the side of the road. Nothing in the home could be salvaged.

The homeowner was out of town during the group’s visit, but her brother worked side-by-side with the students in the cleanup. His home sat in the same state of disrepair just down the street, but the group was impressed at his insistence that her home be finished first.

“I think these trips were an eye-opener to all of us,” explained Parnell of the experience. “Our group has seen first hand how we can be stripped of all our possessions in a matter of hours, and have nothing left but our faith that God’s hand has not left us,” she said. “Truly we have to rely on God every day for the provisions we have every day.”

Editor’s Note: BCF’s mission trips were coordinated by the Jackson County Baptist Association in Pascagoula. According to the association, the area is still in need of assistance. The association is especially seeking sheetrock finishers and roofers, but according to a representative “can use anyone who can come do anything.” For more information on how your group can help, contact the association at (228) 769-7101.