Calvary Chapel Modesto sent a team of volunteers to Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi to serve alongside Horizon Christian Fellowship Emergency Response Team. The Calvary Chapel Modesto team, led by Pastor Garth Aderholt, departed from Modesto on Tuesday, September 20th and returned on Monday, September 26th.
     The mission of the team from Calvary Chapel Modesto was to assist in the preparation and the serving of over 3,000 meals per day to overwhelmed fire, police and emergency management crews that were struggling to recover and restore order to the hurricane devastated area. Our team also assisted in the clean up and partial restoration of the homes of the local firemen, police officers, Army, National Guard and medical personnel that were directly affected by the hurricane. These local families had not been able to work on their own homes because they had been so overwhelmed in providing assistance to others.

Sep 21 - 7:20am

     The entire team of 11 men arrived safely in Bay Saint Louis after a red-eye flight that left Sacramento at 11pm. Needless to say, most of us didn’t get any sleep.
     The team’s first assignment was to tear out sheet rock in the home of an elderly widow (who was the mother of the mayor of Bay Saint Louis). Her home has been fully flooded with about four feet of water. She is an extremely gracious woman who expressed a great attitude for the work the Lord allowed us to do (especially due to the fact that she rode out the hurricane in her home with her family, which included a 13 month old grandchild). Ethel told us of how she was rescued by a family member who had cut a hole in the roof to escape the rising flood waters. She has ridden out many other hurricanes since moving into her home in 1943; but she agrees, along with all the other wonderful people here in Bay Saint Louis, that Katrina was the worst hurricane.
     While in the food lines today, many people approached us and expressed their gratitude for our being here. What a wonderful opportunity we have to share the love of the Lord along our brothers and sisters from other Calvary Chapels from throughout the country!
     The heat and humidity has been a factor for all the men, but none of us has been too negatively impacted. We are keeping an eye on each other as we continue trusting in and serving the Lord.
     Please pray for our continued safety, endurance, and wisdom as we look forward to what God has for us tomorrow.

Sep 22 - 2:30pm

     Last night, actually early this morning (2:00am) we settled in for the night after a long hard day. We were definitely pushed to our limits. We started early doing construction and roof repair, and misc needs of the community. We did not really slow down all day, working straight into the evening.
     The generator and lights we purchased upon arrival were put to good use. After finishing our construction job for the night (11:00pm) we jumped in to serve the kitchen crew who were busy loading and unloading tractor trailer loads of food. We repeated the process several times before finally finishing for the night around 1:00am. We did enjoy the camp shower which consisted of a garden hose and a sprinkler attachment on the end, Boy did it feel good to get cooled off and cleaned up!!
     Once we did settle in for the night the winds of hurricane Rita showed up to blow our tents and deliver several inches of rain the rest of the night. We awoke to slushy chaos as the storm strengthened through the morning and into the afternoon. The strong winds that were coming off the bay (20+ mph) caused one of the "circus" type tents to collapse. This tent was used to feed the local community and relief workers. Praise the Lord no one was hurt! At that point the leadership team felt it was too risky for us to stay, and we evacuated to Laurel, Mississippi. We were taken in by Salem Heights Baptist Church and Pastor Brent Benson. They showed the kind of southern hospitality we have all read or heard about. Prayer Requests: Safety, Endurance, Patience, Wisdom

     Due to the severe weather conditions in Bay St. Louis we stayed with our gracious host Salem Heights Baptist Church. Early this morning the team jumped in to prepare breakfast for 80 people representing various churches from as far away as Wyoming and Missouri.
     One of the team leaders asked Pastor Franz to lead a group devotional which was quite an honor. The team enjoyed a sweet time of devotions and worship. The Lord really met with us during this time to refresh and refill us. The worship was led by two men from Wyoming and the Lord really spoke to us through His word. After breakfast we split up into three teams to work on what the Lord had in store for us. Pastor Garth and his team were able to bless the local fellowship by repairing drywall damaged during the storm. Another group of men stayed busy cleaning the kitchen and other areas of the camp, while a third group, helped to tarp a roof in the local community.
      Today, gave us a great opportunity to rest, and share fellowship with other believers from around the country. Pastor Brent Benson and others from the local fellowship took our team to “supper” at a local catfish restaurant. We could order anything that was on the menu, it was fried catfish, fried catfish, or fried catfish. It was the most catfish any of us had ever seen in one place at one time.
      Tomorrow we are getting up at 4:00am, so that we can drive back to Bay St. Louis to finish the work that we had begun. God willing we expect to put in a long hard days work. Our plan is to spend the evening near Mobile, Alabama so that on Monday morning we can return the vehicles with plenty of time to catch our flight back home.
      Most likely this will be our last update that we will be able to send from the field. Upon our return we are looking forward to sharing more details and photos of how the Lord has used each of us on this trip.
      We thank you for all of your prayers. Please pray for us that we will hear clearly from the Lord about what He would have us do tomorrow. Pray also for our safety while we travel and work, and that we would have endurance for the work that is ahead.
      God bless all of you! See you soon!

Sunday was our final full day in Bay Saint Louis. Boy, did we miss being at church on Sunday. But obviously we know that the Lord had us use that day for other purposes. We awoke at about 4:00am to pack up our gear and move out from the facility that was graciously provided by our host, Pastor Brent Benson and the fellowship of Salem Height Baptist Church, in Laurel, MS. Our team arrived back in Bay Saint Louis at about 8:00am and after eating a quick breakfast we all began our various projects. Pastor Garth and his team spent the day finishing the shelter that they built for the elderly man that was sleeping in his dog house since the hurricane hit. A group spent their day clearing the yard of an elderly widow. Others tried to fix the main water line at the home of another elderly widow's home so that she could recieve running water. While another group build shelving for the inside of a shipping container that is used by the camp crew where we were camped. By now the tent city was named "Camp Hope" and the feeding line was referred to as "Hope Cafe."

We learnt many things on this trip about the Lord's faithfulness. An example of this was how the Lord provided the fellowship of Salem Heights Baptist Church to meet our need for a place to stay when we evacuated Bay St. Louis. Another example was the need that arose to build the storage shelves for the camp. Where does the material come from without spending a good portion of the day trying to gather the material? The material was delivered to us by the US Army. The Lord is so faithful. Sunday night was our last night at Camp Hope. Monday morning we drove back to Mobile, Alabama to return the truck, rental cars and to catch our flight home. After making all off our connecting flights in Dallas and Phoenix we arrived joyfully in Sacramento at about 9:15pm Monday night. Through out our trip the Lord kept us all safe and healthy. There are many memories and many faces that will remain in our hearts and minds. It was a privilege to be sent out by our fellowship to serve in this manner. Please continue to pray for all the faithful servants that are a Camp Hope, and for the people of Bay Saint Louis. God bless you for all your prayers. Your prayers did not go unnoticed.