Mission trip helps bring relief to Gulf Coast
By Dolly A. Butz Journal staff writer | Posted: Saturday, July 08, 2006
A Morningside Lutheran youth group does hurricane relief work in Mississippi. (Submitted photo)
From the van's window Ocean Springs, Miss., looked just like any other normal town to Morningside Lutheran Church youth director Jennie Osterholt.
But when Osterholt and 13 teenagers began a week of hurricane relief work, she saw first hand the devastation and trauma that remains nearly 10 months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area.
On June 10 Osterholt, her students and several adult volunteers piled into two 15-passenger vans and headed for Ocean Springs, located on the Gulf Coast near Biloxi, Miss.
Osterholt had traveled to West Virginia and Belize on mission trips before, but when it came time to choose this year's trip she said she knew she wanted to go to the Gulf Coast.
"I knew I wanted to go do hurricane relief," she said. "There's just so much that needs to be done there."
In Ocean Springs Osterholt and her youth group stayed at Camp Victor, founded by Christus Victor Lutheran Church. The building is able to house 208 volunteers, and also serves as a distribution center.
While some laid bricks, others painted and did demolition work, but Osterholt said for the most part they did a lot of cleaning and picking up garbage and debris.
The first place the group went to work was a controlled storage building that was owned by a woman named Deborah.
During the storm Deborah took refuge in the building's attic. She told Osterholt the water was so high that the building's 7-foot-tall garage doors were no longer visible. Deborah climbed into the building's attic to ride out the storm. When the roof came off, Osterholt said, Deborah was stuck on a cement slab.
"She was seeing white caps going through the center of her livelihood," Osterholt said. "She was just trying to hang out until someone could come by to rescue her."
Osterholt said she met several people with stories like Deborah's that greatly impacted her. People who were once considered middle class, Osterholt said, were suddenly just trying to get by.
"It was really incredible to see the 'new' poor people down there," she said. "They're middle class. They're used to working in their businesses. Jobs just aren't there. They're not used to asking for help, but they have to."
At Camp Victor Osterholt said items such as bleach, dish soap and feminine hygiene products were in high demand. Families of up to five people were allotted two bags of groceries and families of six or more were allotted four bags of groceries from the distribution center.
"That was really eye opening for me," Osterholt said. "I think about when I go shopping ... I like to choose the shampoo that I like or the soap that I like and these people have no choice. They're happy with whatever they get and they don't always get what they request."
On her last day in Ocean Springs Osterholt said she met a man in his late 20s and his 4-year-old son. She said while most people make requests for cleaning supplies such as bleach, the man instead asked her for a coloring book.
"I really thought about what that would be like to be a (parent) and have someone depending on me to care for them and not being able to do that on my own," she said. "This father was not just asking for help for food and water, but something that could make his son feel normal again. As a Christian that really helped me relate to our heavenly father's love for us and the way that he cares for us beyond our physical needs."
Osterholt said she thought the trip was "crucial" in helping her youth group understand the severity of Hurricane Katrina. She said she also thought it inspired them to continue to do what they can to help others.
"So many of them have gone on mission trips before and the more they are able to go and help other people the more it gets into their heart and the more they want to keep going because they know it's something bigger than themselves," she said.
Related content
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2006/07/08/news/faith/8D9515EBA7831097862571A40081811D.txt/”> Youth director Jennie Osterholt’s journal
But when Osterholt and 13 teenagers began a week of hurricane relief work, she saw first hand the devastation and trauma that remains nearly 10 months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area.
On June 10 Osterholt, her students and several adult volunteers piled into two 15-passenger vans and headed for Ocean Springs, located on the Gulf Coast near Biloxi, Miss.
Osterholt had traveled to West Virginia and Belize on mission trips before, but when it came time to choose this year's trip she said she knew she wanted to go to the Gulf Coast.
"I knew I wanted to go do hurricane relief," she said. "There's just so much that needs to be done there."
In Ocean Springs Osterholt and her youth group stayed at Camp Victor, founded by Christus Victor Lutheran Church. The building is able to house 208 volunteers, and also serves as a distribution center.
While some laid bricks, others painted and did demolition work, but Osterholt said for the most part they did a lot of cleaning and picking up garbage and debris.
The first place the group went to work was a controlled storage building that was owned by a woman named Deborah.
During the storm Deborah took refuge in the building's attic. She told Osterholt the water was so high that the building's 7-foot-tall garage doors were no longer visible. Deborah climbed into the building's attic to ride out the storm. When the roof came off, Osterholt said, Deborah was stuck on a cement slab.
"She was seeing white caps going through the center of her livelihood," Osterholt said. "She was just trying to hang out until someone could come by to rescue her."
Osterholt said she met several people with stories like Deborah's that greatly impacted her. People who were once considered middle class, Osterholt said, were suddenly just trying to get by.
"It was really incredible to see the 'new' poor people down there," she said. "They're middle class. They're used to working in their businesses. Jobs just aren't there. They're not used to asking for help, but they have to."
At Camp Victor Osterholt said items such as bleach, dish soap and feminine hygiene products were in high demand. Families of up to five people were allotted two bags of groceries and families of six or more were allotted four bags of groceries from the distribution center.
"That was really eye opening for me," Osterholt said. "I think about when I go shopping ... I like to choose the shampoo that I like or the soap that I like and these people have no choice. They're happy with whatever they get and they don't always get what they request."
On her last day in Ocean Springs Osterholt said she met a man in his late 20s and his 4-year-old son. She said while most people make requests for cleaning supplies such as bleach, the man instead asked her for a coloring book.
"I really thought about what that would be like to be a (parent) and have someone depending on me to care for them and not being able to do that on my own," she said. "This father was not just asking for help for food and water, but something that could make his son feel normal again. As a Christian that really helped me relate to our heavenly father's love for us and the way that he cares for us beyond our physical needs."
Osterholt said she thought the trip was "crucial" in helping her youth group understand the severity of Hurricane Katrina. She said she also thought it inspired them to continue to do what they can to help others.
"So many of them have gone on mission trips before and the more they are able to go and help other people the more it gets into their heart and the more they want to keep going because they know it's something bigger than themselves," she said.
Related content
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2006/07/08/news/faith/8D9515EBA7831097862571A40081811D.txt/”> Youth director Jennie Osterholt’s journal
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