Hurricane Katrina Response, Ocean Spring, MS
	On August 29, 2006, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast. The NPC Mission Team chose to come alongside the Ocean Springs Presbyterian Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi to help them re-cover and re-build with prayer support, financial help and volunteer work teams. Out of the 360 OSPC members, about 80% were directly affected (damage wise) from Katrina. Of the 80%, 40% suffered severe flooding in their homes and were temporarily displaced. Those permanently displaced were 30 families who lost their homes entirely. Eight of those thirty were homes of the Elders. The Church facilities were structurally sound, but suffered major damage due to the storm surge which completely submerged the Children’s Ministry/Sunday School Floor and on-site Montessori school. The Youth Building and Manse each flooded with about 12 feet of water. A Disaster Response Team was immediately coordinated and deployed after the storm to go out and check on each of the church family members and their homes. Then the DRT matched volunteer work teams that came to help with specific families. Volunteers gutted homes, removed debris, ripped up floors and carpets, and through it all stood by the church and community families to support them. Volunteers are now in stages of reconstruction, doing everything from installing insulation, to hanging sheetrock, to replacing roofs. Interior reconstruction will be the final stage. The first NPC team took over $5000 in gift cards and presents, donated by members and friends of NPC, for the OS Toy Bank the first week in December 2005. They were able to survey the hurricane devastation firsthand, establish relationships with the DRT, help set up the Christmas toy distribution area, and confirm a week in March 2006 when a larger work team would go to serve. The second team of 19 spent the third week in March 2006 working out of OSPC on several projects. The former manse was being renovated to be a house for the youth by First Presbyterian Church Greenville, SC, so several NPC folks did finishing work, mold removal, insulation and sheet rocking there, while other teams were sent into the community to do extensive debris removal, ripping off shingles from leaking roofs, tearing down moldy wallboard, and in general, getting homes ready to begin the re-building process. This team was privileged to work side by side with the homeowners, to listen to their personal stories, to hear their pain, to accept their gratitude for our gifts of time and energy. Yet "we were the ones BLESSED by serving them! We were the ones to whom Jesus showed Himself in a cold bottle of water, in an encouraging word, in a smile when a mud-caked baby photo was discovered, and in a homemade pot of jambalaya." (Contact NPC Pastor of Mission to borrow professionally produced DVD from this trip.) The third NPC team worked out of OSPC from Nov 6-11, 2006, installing insulation and sheetrock plus other jobs that "just need doing" in the community. This was the last time the team stayed at OSPC, but there is much work to do along the Gulf coast for several years! Although we are no longer involved as a church, we believe that God is still doing the work of rebuilding the Gulf Coast, and the work will be for many years to come.