I am still wringing out my clothes! I believe my socks could not be any wetter if I had jumped into a swimming pool. So what am I talking about? Well, a F2W team, made up of 16 volunteers from 2 states representing 5 different churches, returned yesterday from a mission trip to Bay St Louis, MS. The team and I went to Mississippi to bring a little Christmas cheer to the residents of this small coastal town still dealing with the destructive blow dealt by hurricane Katrina

“So what about your socks?” Hang on! When we got to MS to host a block party (outside) and deliver presents (outside) we were met with the largest rain storm to hit the area since the hurricane. Yes that’s right, the largest. Reports of severe flooding and streets being blocked off by police because of water; that kind of large. At this point I am trying not to freak out. I have volunteers ready to work, a band with electrical equipment, and hundreds of presents wrapped in paper (oh yeah and I am sick by the way). Ok, can’t let them see you sweat. No wait isn’t that a deodorant commercial!

So what could we do? Well we could get all upset or we could turn the block party into an indoor concert and change the venues for delivering the presents. And that’s what we did. I should say that’s what these awesome volunteers did. The South Carolina band, Loss 4 Words, put on an awesome Christmas concert that was attended not only by residents but by volunteers from other organizations serving in the area.

And Santa’s elves came through. Soaking wet but came through. Volunteers braved the elements and delivered presents to the young children of a Head Start program, the children of Bay St. Louis Public Works Department’s employees, and to various other families in the area. In total over 100 youths received gifts! Yeah, over 100 kids!

From the beginning this team was determined to bring some joy to the residents of this great city. And even with the record rain fall, they accomplished just that. See they chose to focus not on the rain, the wet clothes, and the uncomfortableness; but instead they chose to keep their focus on God and doing HIS work. What a great team! Let’s not forget, even in the “rain” of our lives, we can still choose to do God’s work.

Ike Boyette