KEN-TENN Relief Team

While on the Gulf Coast many families, individuals, and other volunteer teams have asked us to share their stories of the devastation they have experienced since August 29th, 2005.

I met Tanya Ladner in Bay St. Louis the same day that I got to meet Gov. Barbour and President George Bush. Tanya and her husband lived in the Bay St. Louis area with their three children. They had went to FL. to stay with her family before the storm hit. Her husband returned to their home on Thursday after the storm, to find they had lost their house, 3 cars, a camper, and their boat. She came home on Saturday and then returned to Fl. for three weeks. They now live in a 29 foot FEMA trailer on their property and are waiting for their home to be torn down so they can begin to rebuild their life. Tanya is an employee of the Bay Side Grill. The owners are currently rebuilding their restaurant and hope to reopen soon. Tanya, as well as others that I have met are adjusting to their basic living conditions and they are looking to the future so that they can once again resume a normal life.

Platteville, WI. is 1100 hundred miles from Lake Shore, MS. During a recent visit to Lake Shore I met this group of college students. The students attend the Rolling Hills Church in Platteville where they met. They heard about Lake Shore from the Southern Baptist Adapt A Church Program in December and signed up to volunteer. Megan Shea, John Kinney, Wendy and John Sterniteky, Sean Melvin, Blake Stevens, Mike Glatzel, Brian Andaloro, Mike Thompson, Jamie Dunbar, and Ryan Greif were working at the Lake Shore Baptist Church distribution center in Lake Shore during their Christmas break. They left Platteville at 4:30 A.M. on Monday, January 9, 2006 and they returned on the next Saturday. While in MS. they worked on finishing the church interior, such as building walls and painting and some of the students worked in the store, which was a distribution center which was set up for the families in need of food, clothes and other supplies. As I was told some of the students had money for the trip, some had only time, but they were all ready to serve the Lord. They told me, "We are here to help out those who need it, but more importantly we are here to show the love of Christ to those who need encouragement. Katrina was big, but she is nothing compared to the power of Christ." Nothing could have prepared them for what they had seen. Words cannot explain what has happened in the Gulf Coast. The needs are great, some people still live in tents, others in campers. People are still missing. No matter what your skill level is this community needs you, come ready to serve. It may be handing out food, picking up debris or talking with those who are still hurting.

We are humbled. What we think is necessity is just a mere luxury. After seeing Lake Shore your heart will break, but your life will be changed. John Sterniteky.

Andrew Sauer, Monica McNichols, Lindsy Adams, Bailey Diveley, Chris Newman, Harry Milar, Tony Gemma, Justin Kruse, Jenna Campbell, Jason Link, and Graham Shepherd. I meet these wonderful students from IN. on a Sunday afternoon at Gods Katrina Kitchen in Pass Christian, they were eating lunch and had nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon. I asked them if they could help clean up a lady's yard. They said they would love to help her, so when they finished lunch, they went to Kay and Mike Locklin's house on Second Street in Gulfport. The students spent the afternoon removing bricks and debris from the yard.

As they put it, "We are just a group of college kids who felt the need to come down and help out the people of MS. and hopefully ease the burdens and show them the love of God through our actions."

Sophie Grinder, Flynn Paul and Reagan Paul at God's Katrina Kitchen in Pass Christian, Ms.

Kim Smith, Brooke Moses, Michele Grinder, Kevin Moses, Melissa Paul and Billy Williams at Michael and Michelle's apartment in Gulf Port, Ms.

After our first trip to Waveland in October, 2005, Michelle Grinder is the lady who asked us to come to Gulf Port to help several families that had moved into her apartment complex. That trip to Gulf Port was the second trip in our relief efforts and since then we have made around 40 trips to Ms. and La.. Michelle and Michael, although they did not lose their home to Katrina, they wanted to ensure that their friends and neighbors were taken care of. Since we met the Grinder's, they have opened their home to our teams and have always made sure we had a a place to stay and something to eat while we are in Ms.

Pictured below is the youth group from Frankfort Baptist Church in Corbin, KY and their chaperones.

The youth helped several families in Pass Christian, Ms during their spring break.

I don't know if this group had a nickname for themselves before the trip to Ms., but after the trip they are officially known as the "No Seems Gang."

For you that have never been to the Gulf Coast, the No Seems are a gnat like bug that appears invisible, but has a vicious bite. You can't see' um, but you can definitely feel 'um.

Heather Jo Dedeaux Story

On a personal note, I can not believe even FEMA could stoop to this kind of low.

Heather is from Kiln, Ms.. She is a guidance counselor at one of the Hancock County elementary schools. On March 31, 2006 she had to send a letter to FEMA to add add her son, Todd Joseph Dedeax to their family. He was born on August 31, 2005 and FEMA did not think they should include him as part of the family because he was born two days after Katrina hit.

Heather and her family evacuated from their home on August 28, 2005. She was nine months pregnant and the local hospital told her she could not go there unless she was in labor. She went to her parents home in Fort Walton Beach, Fl after Katrina hit. Their home was destroyed by a tornado. On the morning of August 31st, she found a doctor who was willing to deliver the baby when she went into labor. Later that evening Todd was born. After being discharged from the hospital she registered for FEMA assistance. On this date all three of her children were included on the application.

Since December Heather had requested that an inspector come to her property, as no one had been there up until this point. Finally a woman came in January to inspect the property. During the interview process Heather remembers the inspector stating that Todd was not part of the family when Katrina hit. It is Heather's belief that the lady removed Todd from the application at that time.

After all of the trials and struggles Heather and her family had faced since Katrina hit, she was told that they were not deserving of a full size mobile home and that they would be fine in a FEMA camper.

If most states, if not all of them, consider a fetus that far along to be a person, when something tragic happens to the mother and child, then why did FEMA not consider him a living being and part of the Dedeaux family? Does FEMA have or need the power to make this determination?

Youth from Greenland Baptist Church in Corbin, KY

JUNE 18 TO JUNE 23, 2006

Greenland Baptist Church from Corbin, KY stayed at Calvary Chapekl rRelief Center in Bay St. Louis, MS. They spent the week cleaning debris from yards and houses of families that live in the area.

Pictured in the group photo...

Roy Keys, Roy Petrey, Keith D. Barnett, Casey Lindsey, Mary Grace Mayne, Alex Rains, Richard Garland, Frankie Garland, Franky Barker, Tyler Riggs, Heather Petrey, Bobbie Garland, Laura Keys, Stevie Lemons and Sarah Moses.