Of Bunks 'n Beds

Two quick bits ‘bout beds today: new ones for weary volunteers and somewhere to put old ones for weary folks starting over....

"I, along with 14 others from my church (First Baptist in Goldsboro N.C.), spent the week of March 26 - March 31 in Pearlington at the Recovery Center at the Charles Murphy Elementary School. We were the first group - along with a church from Wilmington N.C. - to be housed in one of the Bunk Houses built by the Navy. We started the rebuilding of the Smith’s house while there. I was so touched by the love and appreciation in this community. Even in the midst of the devastation, the First Missionary Baptist Church feeds everyone lunch each day. The spirit inside that building beside their devastated church is so strong. We plan to return to Pearlington in the near future and continue the rebuilding efforts.

God bless Pearlington and everyone there.

Jerry Phillips"

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The following was posted in the Savannah Morning News March 28, 2006, letters to the Editor:

"Please permit me to tell your readers that I know first-hand that "all things work together for the good."

My husband and I spent our 57th wedding anniversary in the attic of our daughter's home in Bay St. Louis, Miss., riding out Hurricane Katrina, with our daughter, three cats and two dogs. We watched as the water rose and when the ceiling began to give way beneath us, we sat on the rafters. After what seemed to be an eternity, the water began to recede. We realized that everything below us was gone, but we were all alive with a new appreciation for life.

After five days we were able to check on our home in Pearlington, Miss. What we found was absolute destruction. Our whole little town was gone.

We had resigned ourselves to the 100-percent loss of our home when a band of angels from Savannah, whose group is called "Pickin' Up the Pieces," arrived and simply said, "We've come to help." What they have done to restore our old lives is nothing short of a miracle. It has been an edification to realize that people so far away care enough to come here to help.

Count your blessings, treasure your loved ones, be grateful for a drink of water and please continue to pray for those in the path of Hurricane Katrina who are still in need of help.

Patricia Wilson
Pearlington, Miss.

Editor's note: Pickin' Up the Pieces, a local 501(c)(3) corporation headed by Michael L. Edwards and Linda G. Edwards, reports that on Feb. 10 Mr. and Mrs. Wilson became the first family to move back into their home in the Pearlington community."