Church's mission team helps Hurricane Katrina victim
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| Members of St. John’s Evangelical Church mission team assisting in this year’s post-Katrina construction are William Kolbush (from left), Donald Lee-Brown, Dan Hille, Edna Knowles, Dale Fiste, David Drake and pastor Kim Lee-Brown. (Photo contributed) |
PRINCETON — Five area residents recently helped a retired fisherman in Escatawpa (Moss Point), Miss. get that much closer to being back in his home.
Pastor Kim Lee-Brown, Dale Fiste, David Drake, Donald Lee-Brown and Dan Hille were sent by St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church (Church on the Hill) to help with post Katrina reconstruction. The congregation has been sending a mission team to the Gulf Coast every year since 2007. This year’s team spent June 8-12 patching rotten floor, installing plumbing, caulking and painting exterior siding, repairing cabinets and putting insulation in the home owned by William Kolbush.
“When I first saw the state of things, I almost cried,” said pastor Lee-Brown. “There was so much that needed to be done. Then I found out that Mr. Kolbush had continued to live in his trailer long after Katrina because he felt he had no other recourse, and we were the fifth group of volunteers to be working on his trailer. It gave me a new appreciation for what we were doing and insight into what others, especially the poor, have to endure.”
Kolbush was currently staying with a neighbor, Edna Knowles, who in addition to having Kolbush stay with her, provided lunch every day for those working on his trailer. “The two were so appreciative. They thanked us to the point that I felt embarrassed because what we could accomplish in the time we had was so little compared to what was needed,” pastor Lee-Brown said.
The team stayed at Camp Victor in Ocean Springs, Miss. while working on Kolbush’s trailer, and the congregation of St. John is already looking to send another mission team next year. Said pastor Lee-Brown, “Every year we say ‘this is going to be our last trip’, then we go and see all that needs to be done, all the folks still waiting to get back into their homes, and we think, ‘well, we need to do one more trip.’” Camp Victor, a ministry of Lutheran and Episcopal churches, coordinates volunteer efforts in the area. More about the camp can be learned by logging onto www.campvictor.org.
