Tornado

                        At about 4 o'clock today a tornado hit about 20-25 miles from us here in North Carolina.
                        One of our crews saw the tornado on their way home from the work site.
                        Just as we were finishing our supper we got a call for our team to come and help put up

                        plywood and tarps on some homes that were hit because it is going to rain tonight.
                        We drove down to the area of destruction. The women weren't able to do much but the
                        men all were busy. It is now 11:30 pm and they are still putting a tarp on another house.

                        It was almost dark when we got there but I managed to get a few pictures.

This is what is left of the home belonging to a family of 8.  The mother is due with her 7th child
 in a week. They had  a 1 year old set of twins. They barely made it out of their house on time.

People sorting through the rubble looking for anything that survived the tornedo. Their whole
place was dumped on a big heap in their backyard and  a lot of trees where mixed in with the
rubble. They found some toys, shoes, clothes, books, papers etc.



The family van.


We went to a few other homes too. The father of the women in the above home is
the pastor of the URC here. The roof of their home was ripped right off. They had to
move all their stuff out this evening. There are a lot of trees down everywhere and
debris hanging in the trees and lying around. It is quite something to see in real life!


The pastor's deck.

A taste of what we've been up to!!!!!

We had a wonderful two months at home in Langley. Actually, we weren't at home because we rented out our house. Maria and Michael were very kind and generous and moved out of their condo so that we had a place to live. We spent a lot of time with our adult children. Here we are enjoying dinner just before Aren and Deb go back to London. We had a chance to visit with family and friends and it was good to connect with our church family as well. Our trip back to Florida on Feb. 18 was uneventful, however, we unpacked our suitcase to find sugar spilled throughout. I suppose that having a metal bar for a bike rack and a suspicious looking white substance in your suitcase causes a "random" bag check.

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."  
Ps. 139:13-14


Maria and Michael picked us up in Seattle with a sign that said, "Welcome home oma and opa." What a wonderful surprise. We are so happy for them and pray that all will go well. The baby is due 5 days after Stephanie and Brent's wedding. That should be an exciting week!

INTERIM PRINCIPAL HIRED!

We are pleased to announce that Mr. Peter Roukema has accepted the interim principal position at Centennial for next year. Peter and his wife Mabel are from Langley where Peter spent the last three years as principal at Langley Christian School. We praise God for His continued faithfulness.

CCS School Board

This is the announcement that was in the Centennial Christian School’s online newsletter.

Yes, you read right ---- Peter is starting his first encore career in August. The current principal is taking a one year sabbatical. Although Peter will find an apartment in Terrace, we are not moving our household. Peter will come home regularly and I will fly up to stay with him for some of the time. Peter is excited about this new adventure and challenge. It is an 80% position.

We spent a fair bit of time enjoying
the beautiful Florida beaches.

We saw alligators, sea turtles, vultures, egrets, and many other
birds as well as a variety of plants and grasses in this park.

We drove the 150 mile beautiful drive through the Florida Keys. From Key Largo, we took a glass bottom boat ride which takes you to the coral reef that stretches 210 miles along SE Florida. The reef was amazing. We  took a trolley tour in Key West and toured the house where Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote most of his novels. In the pic below we are standing at the southernmost point of the USA---- 90 miles from Cuba and 150 miles from Miami.

We had a lovely visit with Hilda in Fort Myers Beach, FL for four days.

                                 

RESCUE
On Friday, March 7 something unbelievable happened.
Late in the afternoon we stopped to go for a walk on St. Pete's Beach on the Gulf of Mexico. We had planned to bike but we changed our mind because there was no bike path. We parked at the far end of the parking lot and walked on to the beach. We enjoyed a pleasant walk and we even jogged a bit. On our way back, we noticed two elderly women in the water near where we had left our sandals. At first glance it looked like they were playing in the water but we soon realized that they were in distress. They were lying down in the water, not able to get up. The waves were rushing in, pulling them deeper and deeper. They were swallowing water and desperately grasping at the sand. When we reached them, they stared at us with blank looks and couldn't communicate. We pulled them on to the dry sand and eventually they began to talk. It turns out that they were sisters in their early 70's. Anne is from England and Doreen is from Boston. Anne had walked into the Gulf intending to drown herself. Her husband had died two years ago and she told me later that she had thought about suicide many times but this was the first time she had actually attempted it. Doreen had followed her when she had left the condo. Doreen was not able to help her out of the water, so now they were both in trouble. After we got them out we walked them to their condo with the help of two other guys. Those two left when we got there, but we went in to help them. Doreen's husband, John, was quite shocked to see his wife and sister-in-law walk in sopping wet and sobbing somewhat hysterically, along with two strangers. He helped his wife take a shower and get on dry clothes while I helped Anne. We made them tea (seeing as they were British) and then talked to them separately and together for the next hour and half. They were in shock. Anne sat next to me with her head on my shoulder for most of the time. They kept calling us their guardian angels. Looking back now it doesn't seem real. But it was! We pray that God will give Anne peace and comfort. 

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At some point we left the Gulf and travelled on to Titusville to camp at a county campground for awhile. It is a true campground --- all campers/no manufactured homes/families/lots of trees, squirrels and gekkos and only $25.00 a night. We toured the NASA space center on Cape Canaveral. It was interesting to see but neither of us are space nuts so it wasn't our favourite activity.

Does this make you want to be an astronaut?

                                                                       

Celebrating my 59th birthday with my best friend. I had a great
 day talking to our kids, mom and 2 sisters. Our kids sent a
beautiful Shutterfly album with pictures of their adult lives
to the campground. Robyn did an amazing job on it. It was a
perfect gift, especially since we are far away from home this year.

 We are headed North now. Our first miles towards home. We toured St. Augustine, Florida which is the oldest European settlement in North America.  Ponce de Leon arrived there in 1513, in search of the “fountain of youth” – according to legend.  It was a thrill to drink from the fountain (pictured on below) that I first heard about from Miss Slopsema in grade school – actually I think that’s the first history lesson I (PR) remember – must have been in grade 3 or so. 

We spent a full day in Savannah Georgia. Lovely city with a long history dating back to the 1600’s. Beautiful tree lined streets.  The old section of the city consists of about 20 “villages”, each village with a park called a “square” in the middle and three or four blocks of houses in each direction.  One of these, Chippewa Square, had the park bench on which Tom Hanks sat in Forrest Gump.  In one of these squares we heard a tour guide make a huge point of the filming here of Forrest Gump and other movies.  The irony for us was, that he was standing in front of “Christ Church” an Episcopal church and the “mother church of Georgia”.  One of the engraved signs in front of this church says, “To the Glory of God, In Memory of John Wesley, Priest of the Church of England, Minister to Savannah, 1736-1737”.  This is the same John Wesley who returned to England, and started the Methodist movement which resulted in the formation of the Methodist Church – the largest US Protestant denomination.  There were many other edifices of note including Union General Sherman’s headquarters in the last years of the Civil War, and the childhood home of Flannery O’Conner. 

"Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
                                                                                                                                  Forrest Gump

We started off in Charleston, South Carolina by attending a Sunday morning service at the French Huguenot Protestant Church, a congregation which was organized in 1681.  We thought we were early because we gave ourselves extra time to find parking, but as it turned out, it is practically impossible to park an RV in the centre of Charleston with its narrow streets and small parking lots.  We missed the first part of the service, which was too bad because they follow the Huguenot liturgy from 1772.  So we missed the singing of Genevan “Psaume 68” in French and the traditional reading of the 10 commandments.  We walked a lot in Charleston including a beautiful neighbourhood where almost all the homes were built in the 1700’s.  They have been restored and are very well cared for.

              

We visited the Old Slave Mart Museum which used to be one of about 40 private slave markets in the decades leading up to the civil war.  This one was called “Ryan’s Mart”. You can’t visit these places without an emotional response.  We took a guided carriage ride – which was free for us.  (long story – you may just have to ask us about it) – Good, entertaining tour guide.  The horse’s name was “Rob” and Rob’s amble turned to almost a trot as we started to approach the end.  

We also made it to the Vanderhorst House on Kiawah Island just outside of Charleston.  This was the main home of the Vanderhorst Plantation which dates back to the 1600’s.  For obvious reasons (Mabel’s “maiden name”) we wanted to visit this “plantation” but when we got to Kiawah Island we found out that it had been sold to developers and that it’s all private property.  We had come this far and it became a challenge to find the place anyway.  With the help of the “Kiawah Island Golf Resort” map, we found it, and inched our way on our bikes up the private drive to finally snap this picture.  Arnoldus Vanderhorst and his descendents must have been prominent Charleston citizens as there is a Vanderhorst Street (which the locals pronounce “Vandrost”), as well as the William Vanderhorst home in downtown historic Charleston.

Before leaving Charleston we spent a morning at the Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens.  Established in 1681, it is still a working plantation today.  Their Black History in America exhibit is on display in nine original brick slave cabins, and is excellent. These bricks were made by the slaves. They were given all the reject bricks to make their own cabins.

 Fort Sumter---where the first shot of the American Civil War was fired.   

                    

We leave you with this quote from Abraham Lincoln, which was on display at the museum across the water from Fort Sumter.  Surprising words from the man who announced the emancipation proclamation.  Shows how the spirit of whatever age we live in so blinds us from seeing how things are supposed to be.  Makes you wonder in what way(s) we simply do not imagine God’s shalom as it was intended from the beginning.

      

Each day is a gift from God. 
This Saturday, April 5 we begin two weeks of service with World Renew’s Disaster Relief Service (DRS) in Hyde County. North Carolina.   Blessings to you all. 

The Deep South

Over the past two weeks we have toured the Deep South and have seen a lot.  Impossible to relay everything on this site, so what follows only scratches the surface of all we saw and heard. 

From the church in Kenner LA, we drove to Natchez, MS, founded in 1716, which makes it the oldest European settlement on the Mississippi.  Very historic, very interesting.  In its day it was a bustling port and the fourth wealthiest pre-civil war city in America – after NY, Boston, Philadelphia.  As in New Orleans, there are many antibellum (before civil war) homes which are gorgeous.  We toured Longwood, which they stopped building in 1863 because that’s when the life of privilege in Natchez came to an end – so Longwood is unique in that you get to see the completed ground floor but the other four floors have been left the way they were when building stopped.  The more you see of antibellum plantation homes the more you have to think about how these homes were built and maintained on the backs of slave labour.  

Also toured the William Johnson House built by (you guessed it) William Johnson, son of a white master and a mulatto slave woman.  His father freed him when he was 11 and he went on to set up three barber shops in Natchez and became very well acquainted with Natchez business and political class.  Next was the African American History Museum – featuring stories and information about interesting black people from Natchez – including author Richard Wright, whose most important books were Native Son and Black Boy, a heart wrenching story about his childhood and youth in the Jim Crow South, and in Chicago.  In this museum we met a lady who had grown up in Natchez who said Natchez’ schools weren’t integrated till 1990! and that now besides the official school integrated prom, there is also an unofficial whites only prom.

 Love the history, but much of it is difficult .  The most difficult spot to visit was Forks of the Road – just outside of historic downtown Natchez. This is the site of the second largest slave market in the deep south.  Slaves would be brought from the East by sea via Florida, New Orleans, and up the Mississippi, or down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, or - the hardest route - on land via the Natchez Trace.  Good signage explaining the horrendous events that happened here.  We posted some of the advertisements for newly arrived slaves. Slavery and the slave trade ended in Natchez in 1863 – when Union Forces freed Natchez from the Confederacy without a fight.  Ironically some of the Black Union soldiers on guard at Forks of the Road had been sold as slaves on the same spot years earlier.

Vicksburg, Mississippi is the site of one of the most important battles of the Civil War, which was won by Union forces giving them control of the Mississippi River, a turning point in the war.  We took the 16 mile tour through the Vicksburg National Military Park on the site of the battle.  Historical markers explained where the armies from each state – Union and Confederate were positioned and where actual combat took place.  Sometimes the armies were so close that soldiers could see the whites in each other’s eyes.  Soldiers from opposing sides were known to fight each other by day and chat with each other at night after orders to cease fighting had been given.

The red sign is where the Confederate Army was located the blue sign in the background is where the Union Army was situated.

17,000 Union soldiers are buried in the cemetery in the Military park. 13,000 were unidentified soldiers who had originally been buried right where they died and were later moved to the cemetery. The confederate soldiers are buried in a town cemetery.

We drove to Birmingham AL, where some of the most significant marches for Civil Rights took place in the '60s.  People marched  for Black voting rights (necessary because many state and local requirements prevented Blacks from voting), for the right to drink from the same water fountains, and the right to eat in white-owned cafes.  These marches and boycotts were organized and led by local pastors who invited Martin Luther King Jr to help.  We attended Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, one of the local churches involved in the planning of the marches and where King preached often.  It is also the site of the September 15, 1963 bombing which killed four girls, aged 12 – 14.  We heard Pastor Arthur Price give a powerful sermon on this first Sunday of Advent about Jesus who “exchanged divinity for humanity – without losing any of his divinity”.   Such a good command of language – wonderful oratory, e.g. “God’s divinity and glory was cloaked by his humanity…. Every now and then a glimpse of God’s glory was seen in the miracles he did… (such as) when he turned a box lunch into a anti-poverty program”.  

We also walked the Civil Rights Heritage Trail, the routes two of the marches took, which have many historical markers explaining specific events that happened along the march route. Also toured the “Civil Rights Institute” – across the road from the church. These bronzed shoes, at the beginning of the trail, were a poignant reminder of the death of the four girls.

From Birmingham we drove to Montgomery, Alabama’s state capital. In spite of the advice from the lady in the RV campground office, (“Y’all are best off takin a taxi”), we took the bus into downtown Montgomery.  It is an event in itself for white people to take the bus into Montgomery – where, it could be argued, the Civil Rights movement began – and to sit in the back of the bus.  Enjoyed a guided tour of Dexter Street Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King served as pastor from 1954 – 1960 and the parsonage. There is only one building between the church and the Capitol. Dr. King could see the

KKK gathering on the steps from his office window. 

In 1955 King, Rev. Ralph Abernathy and a number of other local leaders/pastors organized the well-known Montgomery bus boycott after Rosa Parks had been arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man.  Originally planned as a one day boycott, it lasted a little more than a year, and was supported by the entire Black community of Montgomery.  People still had to get to work, so car pools and other transportation options needed to be planned.  

We stood on the site where Rosa Parks boarded

that bus.

Tons more to say, but will leave it at that. As we hear world response to the death of Nelson Mandela, having just come from Montgomery, we can’t help but think of the similarities between Apartheid and the spirit of the Jim Crow laws in the US South.

Destin, Florida. Our first day back on the ocean was a foggy one with a momentary glimpse of the sun. From here we go toTampa, Florida where we'll stay until we fly home on the 17th. Our thoughts and prayers have been with our church family these past two weeks with the sudden death of Paul, a former member, and of Jan, who died after suffering much pain from cancer. We pray that God will give their family and friends comfort and peace.

New Orleans and DRS

A quick update on our travels since our last post:  After Houston, we spent a few days at Crystal Beach on Texas’ Bolivar peninsula, close to Galveston.  Beautiful beach and it was fun to be able to park the RV right on the beach.  This peninsula was under 12 feet of water after Hurricane Ike came through in 2008, so almost all of the homes along the shoreline are new and are now on huge 15 – 20 feet high stilts. Flood insurance is very expensive, and islanders are apparently upset that the Texas government has passed legislation allowing insurance companies to charge rates that actually reflect the flood risk.

From there we made our way to New Orleans where we arrived on Oct 30. We took a walk through an area on the other side of a levee from where we were camped - our first look at a neighbourhood that suffered significant damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  About one fourth of the lots are vacant, the destroyed homes having been moved off the site. Had an interesting chat with a fellow named Nicky who told the story of how he and his aging mother experienced Katrina.  The water was 18 ft. high for three weeks.  The next day we were joined by John and Marge Roukema, who were also traveling North America but were heading West. We met in NO and spent a few lovely days together.   We visited the beautiful, old St. Louis Cathedral, enjoyed Café au Lait and beignets in NO’s famous Café du Monde, walked NO’s Garden District, rode the streetcar, visited the historic St. Louis Cemetery but mostly we wandered the French Quarter – including a rainy but warm Halloween, (not necessarily a good idea – Bourbon St. is wacked enough on a regular night).

The original Cafe du Monde was opened in 1862.
The place is packed all day long.

                     

     
        We visited the St. Louis Cemetery. People in New Orleans have to be buried above ground because the water table is so high. After Hurricane Isaac some of the underground coffins were floating in LaPlace.                                              

While we were volunteering in LaPlace we had the
weekends off. We visited a plantation, took a swamp tour and a ride on this old fashioned steamboat. There are only two steamboats left in the USA that run totally by steam. We saw a lot of alligators on the swamp tour through the bayou.

           Disaster Response Services

     DRS

We just completed three weeks of serving as volunteers with World Renew’s Disaster Response Service (DRS).   Our team of 18 volunteers worked on 4 different homes that were heavily damaged by Hurricane Isaac in September, 2012 in LaPlace, Louisiana, half an hour north of New Orleans.  With the entire team, we billeted in the Kenner United Methodist Church, where DRS has converted second floor classrooms into dormitory style rooms.  It was a wonderful team of committed, mostly skilled (present company excepted) people, who work hard and enjoy good fun and fellowship. 

The home where Peter spent most of the time, is actually a trailer which has had a number of sections added over the years.  It is the home of Ms Earline Wilson, who has consented to our posting these pictures and writing about her.  Earline has lived on the property for 60 of her 62 years, first in a house, and when that was torn down, in the trailer since 1978.  The trailer is home for Earline, and two granddaughters aged 13 and 21. When we arrived, this home was in terrible shape and our job was to tear down a wall and extend a small kitchen into an addition which was not complete and was only being used for storage.  After tearing down the wall, our team of up to five people insulated, dry walled, taped, sanded, straightened out the floor, and painted the new floors, giving Earline about twice as much living space as she had before. There were also a number of unexpected problems with the plumbing and she ended up getting a new bathroom. (The floor turned out to be totally rotten.) Besides Hurricane Isaac, Earline has endured many other trials and challenges, and we are so glad to have been part of this project for her. 

Mabel did a lot of painting, mudded and taped dry wall, sanded and mudded some more, and sanded and mudded some more, grouted two bathtubs and laid floor tiles. We have worked hard but it has been a wonderful experience. It is a bit like going to camp – sleeping in dorms, delicious food cooked by someone else, devotions and singing, playing games, or puzzling in the evening. At the end of the three weeks we feel like we have know these people for a long time. We learned a lot of new skills and feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet our clients and to be part of an organization that gives "a cup of water" in the name of Jesus. The clients are so thankful that God has brought us all into their lives. They testify to God's faithfulness to them despite the horrific things they have gone through.  We and most of our DRS team went to church with Earline - which was wonderful! It was what you would expect a Southern African American church to be like. Rich singing and powerful preaching!

Another client whose house we worked on told her Hurricane Isaac story. There was absolutely no notice. She heard a sound and looked out the back door to see what the sound was and the water rushed into her home. She had just come home from the hospital after chemo treatment for stomach cancer and was very weak. She told me that she prayed to God and God provided a neighbour's boat at her front door. She got in to the boat and floated down her street picking up neighbours. One young woman didn't want to get on the boat because she was too distraught. The flood waters had just ripped her twin babies out of her arms and carried them away. Our client convinced her to get into the boat and calmed her down with the story of Job. About 3 months after the hurricane a group came to gut her house to get rid of the moldy drywall etc. She didn't have money to fix her home because she spent all her money on chemo. She told me that she lost everything, but she had her life. She was so grateful for everything and praised God for his faithfulness.

                    One of many homes in the 9th Ward, NO that has been abandoned. 

We left Kenner Saturday morning and already the new team of volunteers from Canada and the US were arriving to take over our rooms for the next three week stint.  We have gained a deep appreciation for DRS - the organization, its leaders and the "greenshirts" who do the site work. DRS is presently serving at five locations across North America, and has been in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - ongoing: one three week team after another for most of the year.  DRS places teams in homes that have been identified by the board of the local Long Term Relief Organization, which represents a number of churches and community groups.  People receive assistance after they have met certain criteria, which will have been determined by an interview with Needs Assessment people and a visit to the site.   For more on how DRS operates, just go to http://worldrenew.net/greenshirts.

Back at "camp" after a hard days work.