Salem Katrina Team Report - December 19

I forgot to mention the great campfires we've been having each night. Here are the kids from Monmouth Methodist-Presbyterian a couple nights back. Last night we had devotions around the campfire with about 30 folks. Tonight - same thing plus I'll try to have hot cocca!

We had a wonderful service yesterday at Gautier Presbyterian. Their little church is all decorated for Christmas and they're certainly ready for the celebrations. Chris Bullock is pretty much over the flu, thank goodness.

We were given a small tree from a church which sent many to Gautier Pres, and I set it up in the D'Iberville PDA camp where we're staying for these weeks. Phyllis Wright from Hillsboro, who has volunteered to be Steve's secretary, helped set it up, and now we feel much more seasonable, even in tents. Thank goodness the mud is drying out a bit, and the pallets have helped keep the tents much cleaner.

We have volunteers here from Athens (Georgia) Charlotte, Monmouth (Oregon) and Tampa. The camp should be up to about 75 volunteers by tonight, and hopefully the camp at Gautier will be up and running either tonight or tomorrow, depending on the mighty efforts of the crews putting things up.

Remember romance? Here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a little mold mask certainly won't bother two lovebirds trying to kiss!

We should continue to stress that teams coming to this are need not buy and carry drinking water with them. We have supplies here and it is much more practical to buy what you need at local stores. We would much rather your precious cargo space be used for tools for us to use, or for household items needed by local families.

Pam Martin from Gautier Presbyterian Church has prepared a list of what each church family has lost in Katrina. She coordinates replacement area rugs, microwaves, end tables, sofas, armchairs and all the other things typically found on a family's first floor. Please...get in touch with her to bring these vital items to Gautier. In particular, she needs a good sewing machine. Also, both the PDA camp in Gautier (www.gautierpdacamp.blogspot.com) and the Gautier Pres (www.gautierpresby.com) need camper trailers for the camp managers' use. One was donated by a very generous Presbyterian for the D'Iberville camp and now we need two more.