Volunteers Deliver More Hope to Storm-Ravaged Mississippi Coast
by Randall Murphree
June 13, 2006
(AgapePress) - - "Nothing ever happens in Waveland, Mississippi!" insisted Paul Jordan. And with that declaration, Paul and his wife Florence decided to stay in their home while Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast in August 2005. "We had over seven feet of water in our home," Florence Jordan said later, "so we lost everything. The insurance didn't do much, so we had to rely on these wonderful people to come down and help us. We're thankful."
The "wonderful people" were the volunteers of 8 Days of Hope II, a massive Christian-based relief effort organized by lay people who wanted to help storm victims. The Jordans got walls rebuilt in their damaged home on their 35th wedding anniversary.
It all began last fall when Steve Tybor, Jr. and his son, Steve III, decided to recruit a few friends and go to the Gulf Coast for some hands-on ministry in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's August 29 devastation. They thought they could make a little difference for a few families whose homes had been severely damaged.
The project grew into 8 Days of Hope I, and the few friends grew to 650 volunteers from 34 states. They completed projects at 84 storm-damaged homes during the December 10-18, 2005, project. Volunteers slept in tents, vehicles, church basements and anywhere they could find to lay their heads.
Many returned this spring for 8 Days of Hope II to continue the re-building ministry. After the latest project, Tybor III talked about how members of the Body of Christ use their unique gifts. He cited one lady who returned to the project just to do laundry for the volunteers.
"In 1 Peter 4:10, he tells us to use the gifts God has given us to minister to one another," Tybor said. "Eight Days of Hope II used this verse as our call. Some people did this with a hammer and a paint brush while others did it with a smile and a listening ear."
Tybor used his gifts of organization and administration, but he is quick to say all the credit goes to God. He also praises the volunteers, plus corporate and church sponsors who made the work possible, donating money, food, and materials.
"TGI Fridays was kind enough to bring us lunch every day we were on the coast," he said. "They provided lunch for all 1,140 volunteers! They also donated $75,000. Without these monies we would only have accomplished half as much."
American Family Radio provided advance publicity, and Tybor credits the 180-station network as the way most participants learned about the project. Volunteers each committed a minimum of three days to the project. They completed 260 projects in 202 homes in Gulfport, Bay St. Louis, Waveland, Pass Christian and Pascagoula.
They invested 30,000 man hours and tabulated these impressive stats:
- 4,150 pieces of sheetrock/drywall were installed
- 700 squares of roofing shingles were installed
- 15 homes were completely rewired
- 25 additional homes had some type of electrical work done
- Hundreds of rolls of insulation were installed
- 80+ homes had extensive carpentry work done
- 17 homes were primed and painted.
Tybor III has lived in Tupelo, Mississippi, for six years and his father lives in Buffalo, New York. Their spring co-laborers came from Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ohio and 32 more states.
"It took us 17 hours to get here," Julene Bryce said in an interview with American Family Radio (AFR). Bryce is from Bolivar, Ohio. She said, "There is nothing on television that gives you any concept of what you actually see. You don't see the people's hearts. It's absolutely amazing. Their hearts are still broken."
Ben Morris, member of the 8 Days of Hope leadership team, tells a story about having too many volunteers and not enough work. So he called Forest Heights Missionary Baptist Church in Gulfport looking for someone who needed help.
"The pastor was almost speechless," Morris said. "He said just seconds earlier, he'd gotten a call from an 80-something-year-old woman they all call Granny." Church friends had tried to get Granny to apply for help, but she always thought someone else needed it more. This time, however, she had called the pastor to tell him her floors were falling in and she could use just a little help.
"We assigned a crew to go over and do her floors," Morris said. "And Granny's got this wonderful, sweet spirit, and they were singing hymns and praying. And they couldn't leave. They couldn't just stop at what she wanted them to do. So they re-did her ceilings and painted them. They put a ramp outside where her steps were falling down. They just couldn't leave Granny."
Granny's story is among countless illustrations of blessing coming to both givers and receivers in 8 Days of Hope.
Jeff Scofield of Tullahoma, Tennessee, told AFR what a blessing Paul and Florence Jordan had been. Scofield came with a 14-member team from Christ Community Church. "We had a gentleman with us who got news while we were here that his son was going to lose his leg," he said. "As we were praying, Florence Jordan jumped right in and was praying with us and then began to sing praise songs to God. We were all in tears before it was over."
Tybor said he expects to announce dates for 8 Days of Hope III in July.
Randall Murphree, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is editor of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association. Learn more about 8 Days of Hope through its website or by writing P.O. Box 3208, Tupelo, MS 38803.
