Salem Katrina Team Report November 21

I am still disappointed about sleeping through church services yesterday. I'd looked forward to Chris' message and visiting with the church members. Oh, well...next time.

This morning is sunny and very nice, following a light overnight rain. We had a fine, fine breakfast prepared by the Michigan folks, who, like me, learned "right quick" how to cook grits. Boy, was breakfast great!! Nice moment to tell you about: our new volunteer cook had her $400 or so of food money collections clipped to her keys. Last night it went missing and she worried the whole evening about it...but Bubba found it on top of one of the refrigerators this morning!

Following devotions, David and Victor headed across the street to help a lady they've been working with as they'd offered to help her load stuff into a friend's truck for removal. We were shocked to find out that the lady's few possessions, mostly Christmas decorations, had all been stolen overnight! She had so little left, and that was taken. How miserable does life have to be? How sad can it make us? How shameful do some of our fellow citizens become? What on earth is going on down here?

Another client we're helping has been robbed twice. Still, he lent his chainsaw to a stranger who asked to use it to remove some trees three days ago. And now it's been added to his list of losses as well.

Shown in the photo to the right below is a trash collection in a culvert next to the church. It is typical of the entire Gulf Coast, typical of the millions of cubic yards of junk that fouls the infrastructure and prevents any return to normal life.

Speaking of normal-- the city's trash truck is picking up a bit of the huge pile of waste from the corner of the church tent city...that's a real blessing. I'm tired of trash piled everywhere. I'm weary of folks tossing more trash onto trash. Littered roads seem to invite even more litter.

Wayne and Mary called. He is like a junkyard dog which won't let go of a good bone. Wayne wanted to make sure somebody was taking good care of a lady he was helping! They made it to Tallahassee in their motorhome and hit a good deal of rain. Thank God for their safe journey. UPDATE: Wayne just called again as I was typing...he had a suggestion about a lady's chicken coop. The guy just won't let go. If you're ever really, really, really in trouble, you'd better make sure to have Wayne, Mary, Morella, Rick, Joan, Ed, David, Karen and Victor on your side!!!

"Yankee Bubba-San" David Dyer leaves for home today at noon. Have a safe trip, David, and travel with the certain knowledge that you have set a new standard for being a good man and have been a blessing to those you meet. Thank you for being a blessing to me and to everyone you've helped down here. Thank you for being my new friend.