It seems like there’s a few Texas people here but no Mississippians haha Honestly I wish people could realize how life changing these trips are…2008 was my third trip down to Mississippi with the ASB program and my fourth trip altogether down to the gulf coast. Each trip opens my eyes more and more to the reality of not just the situation down in the hurricane ravaged areas but also how foolish on one hand and amazingly brave on the other we can be as human beings.
People think just because a disaster is out of the news that it’s “all better” but really the healing has just begun…
Going down to Mississippi 2 years ago I remember a bus full of kids singing and laughing as we left the Gulfport/Biloxi airport on our first day…we got halfway down the road and every single person on that bus was silent…grayish debris, trees, mush, sat where houses once stood…It seemed I could count on one hand the houses we saw standing that day…what was weird though is everyone in town had such vivacity, such hope, such thankfulness for living…I came away from that trip realizing the strength we each have in ourselves…
two years later…we are laughing again (or falling asleep haha) but we get out of our van to take a walk…there’s that silence again…The debris is gone but so are the neighborhoods. What was once a town center is a bit of dirt, a little grass, and some concrete slabs…The people are still grateful and friendly as can be…but somehow the reality has set in…someone hasn’t done their job…someones taken away what little they had whether it be insurance money, friends, family… as they tell their stories you can see the sadness in their eyes…it was almost three years ago for us…but it is yesterday, today, and tomorrow for everyone down there…