Day 1: Hanging Out With Brother Carl

I knew what to expect when I arrived. I just didn't know how emotionless I would be when I saw how much work was still left. Last year, it was hard to not get frustrated with the lack of urgency that I felt the government displayed in helping the people that lost everything down here. Today, I wasn't angry. No, I was just eager to work. And, that's what I did.

We arrived at sister Denise's house around 10am this morning and began the painting. I could tell this lady had some "style." From the electric fireplace that was being installed to the polished clay tiles that were laid throughout the house, you could tell that Denise knew what she wanted her new house to look like. While we painted, she told us her story...

She left on August 27th, two days before the storm made landfall. She begged all her neighbors to leave with her, and most did. Only, a few remained. One was her trusted friend, Brother Carl. He stuck around because God had asked him to. To help the others that didn't understand how bad it was going to get.

When she returned to Pearlington, MS with her husband, and her grandchildren, she couldn't get back to her house. The National Guard had cleared a path for her family, and a few hundred others, but the only problem was that when she had finally reached her neighborhood, there was about 2 feet of thick mud everywhere. Telephone poles were littered about, as were most of the trees that lined her street. There was no electricity, nor was there any cell phone coverage. (What no one knew was that it wouldn't come back for months.) She really thought that there was going to be nothing left when she saw her house. She was wrong. "By the grace of God", she said, "my house looked great from the outside. It was the inside of the house that broke my heart." There was another foot of mud inside and it got into everything. That was only the main floor. You see, the water level in Pearlington reached 17 feet. By most standards, that means that you would have 2-3 feet of water in your bedroom (on the second floor). She went on. "My refrigerator was lying on top of the kitchen table! Can you believe that my refrigerator was floating in my kitchen?!" Sister Denise said that they were warned by the National Guard not to even think about opening the fridge because it would be toxic. The couches were upside down in a pile on her staircase. (Oh yes, she was able to show us the pictures.) But, the one thing she said she was grateful for was Brother Carl. Her friend was there when she returned home.

Brother Carl, how can I describe this simple, kind-hearted man? Well, if there was anyone that could find a silver lining in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina it was Brother Carl. He said point blank, "Katrina was the worst thing that ever happened. But, it was a chance for me to serve my people." And, that's exactly what he does. Carl helped everyone on the street clean up the mess that Katrina left behind. He spent the better half of the next couple of months helping everyone dig the mud out of their homes. Then, he went from house to house and removed destroyed televisions, refrigerators, freezers, stereos, and anything else that couldn't be salvaged. There was a lot. And, now he helps to cut, nail, paint, tile, roof, basically if there's anything that needs to be done Brother Carl helps. And, he never asks for a thing. He said to me, "These people are my family. Would you charge your family?" Not a dime I said.

It was a great day. And, it was only the first day, I thought.