Check back here frequently between now and January 20th for updates and information regarding the NYC Presbytery Katrina Mission Trip.
The NYC Presbytery Katrina Mission Trip will depart on Saturday, January 13 at 2pm and will arrive in Gulfport, Mississippi in the late afternoon. The area was hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina and we'll be assisting with whatever work needs doing. At this point, we don't know our specific duties, but we'll pass along more information as the time approaches.While in Gulfport, we will be guests of Handsboro Presbyterian Church, the oldest Presbyterian Church on the coast, founded in 1877. Its present sanctuary was constructed in 1891 and remained virtually unchanged until Hurricane Katrina arrived in 2005. The church was severely damaged during the storm, its windows blown out and steeple destroyed. Since that time, much repair work has been done, though the steeple has yet to be replaced (update: on arrival, we discovered that the steeple has been replaced!).
The Presbytery of Mississippi chose this facility as its base of operations due to Handsboro's central location among the coastal churches that were impacted by Katrina and for its easy access to Interstate-10.After several years without an installed pastor, the congregation is happy to announce the arrival of their new minister, Scott Castleman, in July of this year. The church is now poised for a new era of growth and service to the community. We're looking forward to working with Rev Castleman, the congregation and others helping to rebuild the area!
For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the Gulfport region, here's a link to a detailed map of Gulfport, Mississippi
We hope this web log will let those who aren't able to be with us experience some of the sights and experiences of our work. Many volunteers on the trip will be contributing to this website and Reverend James and Sorrel Ann will be acting as editors and blog managers while we're in Gulfport.
Over the next few days, while still here in New York, we'll test the blog and make sure everything is going to work for next week. We're sorta learning how to blog as we go along, so please bear with us as we familiarize ourselves with the technology.
Having said that...we hope to have lots more to share with you from now until January 20th.
