Mississippi [revisited] Slide Show beta 1

This is the Initial version of the Slide show that I am producing. It should appear on the right hand side of the screen (click play) but if not or if you would like to see a larger version click here

A note from Pastor Rob

Two men went under and came up renewed in the Mississippi Sound. Even though the signs said it is not safe to go in, our extraordinary God assured us that he is still in control as he did in each and every moment on this mission trip. We were able to be 19 different instruments in several different families lives, to lift burdens into laughter and fear into peace. As we stepped out in faith we were able to bridge the gap between two different nationalities as we became friends. Each day we went out to be the hands of our Lord we expected to bless others, but always returned to camp more blessed than we could ever imagine. May we all pray for the courage to open our eyes and see as Jesus sees those around us.

~ Pator Rob Brown ~

we are home!

Well it is ten p.m. and we are somewhere in Georgia. It is just indescribable how difficult it is to leave these people in such a position as they are in. They are in need of so much help that we could never do enough. We must leave knowing that what we did was awesome and amazing and pleasing in the Lord’s eyes. The first few days seemed to go so slowly, but then we are packing up. It seemed that we were missing a few days. A lot of the crew is speaking of the next trip and we haven’t even returned from the current trip. It feels like we left a lot of things undone when you walk away from a house that you have been working on and you do not see all the furniture replaced back in the bedrooms, but those of us that went in January got to see one of the houses that we worked on and when we entered, most of us were in disbelief. It was amazing how things were back in order. There were clothes in the closets that we hung drywall in, there was toothpaste on the counter in the bathroom, there was lights plugged in to the outlets we cut around, and there was the realization that what we are doing makes a big difference in people’s lives. It was weird because I felt like it was January again I felt I could see Mason working in the closet putting up drywall, I felt like Luke was covering nail holes in the bedroom, and I felt like I could all most hear Bryan running around joking with everyone. It was just an amazing experience seeing the finished product of what you have done. The ride home is long, tiring and is a little exciting to know that we are going to get home and see our family pets and our BEDS.

Well we all are now home and it is 9:35 Friday morning. We have seen our family and friends and have received some sleep. It is great to be home and again thanks for your continued support and keep posted to this website for more testimonials and more videos to come

Kolby

Pics

We leave today

well today we leave for georgetown, delaware! in about an hour we will be departing from this wonderful place with all these wonderful people that need so much help. Last night i typed up the next post and was putting pictures in and I fell asleep. When i woke up it was all gone! i am a little sad. But either way yesterday was filled with paint touchups and goodbyes. It is tough to leave all of these people who need so much to go back to our normal lives. The condition down here has improved since we were down here in January, but it is going to take many people's time and effort to show the love of Christ and to help restore their lives back to normal. Many years will pass and still houses will be in need of work. Also last night we all met out on the beach to share what was most impactful about the trip and for some worsip and TWO PEOPLE WERE BAPTIZED! Mr. Dave Dittrick and Mr. Ralph were baptized in the Gulf of Mexico. It i sjust awesome to here the stories of how everyone was impacted by what they did and saw down here. If God sent that hurricane just for those two people to be baptized it is all worth it. Well we leave in about an hour so I should probaly pack some stuff up well hopefully I will be able to type on the road in more detail on the trip and mabye we can find a Mc Donalds that has free internet and i will post it. Thanks for your support through the week and we wish that YOU came with us that we may have accomplished more. There is always next time. By the way keep checking this website periodically we will be posting a video and probally some testimonies of how people were impacted.

Thanks

Kolby

Monday - get er done!

Monday morning we woke up bright and early and ate frosted flakes. Then we headed out to our jobs.

Johnathan, Lewis, and and Tom went to Mrs. Verlas, who we helped back in January. They did a bit of yardwork and cleanup. Lewis got a good bit of sun and now his back is very tender.

Rusty, PRob, Bryan, Kolby, Kyle, and Luke went to Karim's house (or however you spell it) and painted the kitchen and living room, as well as the master bedroom. It looks completely different. The colors are beautiful. It looks as if once the Karim's get some flooring in, they'll be ready to move stuff back into the rooms.

The rest of our crew (Dave, Ralph, Eleanor, and Brian Daubt) went to the Jones' house to finish priming all the newly installed drywall. They also put a coat of paint in Jess' room. It too, is a nice color paint. Jess will have her own privacy very shortly...and the rest of the house isn't too far off. If we only had another few days we could have painted their entire house. Or if we had some more help! You'll have your opportunity soon if you desire to do so!

At lunchtime, we were thrilled to once again see all the ladies who had struggled to prepare food for us all. PBJ and various sandwiches were brought to us and we munched out! Who makes us the kitchen / laundry / lunch staff? None other than Marcia, Pam, Laura, Jasmine and Kate. Once again we appreciate their servanthood.

When we got home last night, we celebrated P Rob's birthday and Ralph's birthday. We also have been involved in our share of pranks down here. Last night we pranked Tom Perry. It was a good prank.

Other than that, we're ready to roll. Tommorow we put the finishing touches and we pack up and get ready to roll by Wednesday morning.

Cook Church Worship

Sunday morning we cooked and served breakfast at God's Katrina Kitchen. God's Katrina Kitchen is a tent with a kitchen and they serve hot meals to volunteers, victims, and anybody who stops by for free. It relies simply on donations to continue operating. After that expierience we attended First Pres. Church. After that we all did as our creator did, we rested. Later that night the musically gifted portion of the group was asked to lead worship at God's Katrina Kitchen. Bryan Simon, Lewis Gebhart, and Johnathon Murphy played four songs for us. Then we were treated to icecream back at camp!

today today today

this past weekend has been a busy one. friday we installed more sheetrock in various houses as well as finished and sanded the sheetrock. In Karems house, we did a bit of painting and cleaning as he prepares to install his new cabinetry and countertops. I think we go back monday to paint the walls and his kitchen / living room.

saturday was supposed to be our day off but we did do a bit of work. there was some sanding going on at the houses while extra coats of drywall finish was added. kolby and bryan spent the morning driving around to the houses we worked on in january of this past year. attatched are some photos of the finished product of a few of those ventures.

we capped the evening off eating at God's Katrina's Kitchen and then playing some games when the sun went down. It was a good day and we're eager for tommorow! we're serving breakfast tommorow morning at the kitchen and then we're participating in the worship service under a big tent on sunday eve. bryan and lewis and johnathan are leading worship and it's going to be great! we'll fill you in with more details as they occur! as for now, enjoy the pictures and goodnight!

Katrina Demo Vid

Bryan Simon has produced a video for one of our local churches back at home and i thought i would post it on the web. It is suggested that you have high speed internet but if you don't it will just take a few minutes. To watch please click here.
Bryan Simon worked for about 4-5 hours on this video so if you see him give him a big hug and say thanks.

If you would like to show this video at your church please email me at kolbydukes@gmail.com and we have a clearer version.

thanks

Pics...

Camp Hope livin'

Well sorry for the delay but we have had some issues with the internet, it would not turn on. Luckily the company providing the internet repaired the line or whatever the problem. Today Johnathon led his crew in yard work, Mr. Ralph was finishing up his work, and dad, Rusty, led a crew Mr Karime's house (I have no official clue if that is the correct spelling). Mr. Karime is the Iraninan that i mentioned earlier. He told us that he rode the storm out in his attick because the water level was so high. The water reached about 5 1/2 feet inside of his house. Tonight we ate some good dinner prepared by the Kitchen Ladies (Marcia, Pam, Kate, Jasmine, Laura, and sometimes Miss Eleanor) We like to tease the kitchen crew because they get to work in the ac but they truly have a tought job getting up early to cook breakfast and staying up late to wash dishes. I wouldn't want that job. Bryan Simon has prepared a 6 minute Video that was requested by central worship center and I will try to post that tomorrow morning. After dinner we watched a Video by Mark Lowry, a Christian Comedian. That is all for now. I am going to try to post pictures right now and hope it works.

Yet another day passes...

Today we finished hanging the sheetrock for Mr. Don's house. Now the drywall finishers have to come in and clean up our mistakes. Mr. Dave Dittrick, Mrs. Eleanor, and Mr. Ralph are our experts in drywall finishing. We had to use all of our scrap pieces to finish the walls because some of the material was damaged. Tonight we had dinner with the families that we are down here to help. After dinner Pastor Guy from First Pres. Gulfport shared the Word with us and we had worship. Then it was nap time. Tomorrow the drywall finishers will do their thing at Mr. Don's house and Johnathon Murphy will lead a crew in yard work at Mr. Anderson's house. Mr. Anderson is in his 80's. Another group will be at an Iranian's and is married to a Checkoslovakian and they are Buddhist. We have to leave now i will try to post some pics after lunch some if possible.

Our first day of work...

well it was hot and well it was humid and well we accomplished alot. Most of the crew is working a man's house, his name is Mr. Don Jones. His house had about a foot of water through it and was pretty water damaged. We had to remove the drywall in one room and replace in pretty much all of them. Some rooms we can do just the bottom half and some need total redoing. We had three rooms going today. We finished one of them and the other two should be completed on wednesday. After that there are still a few rooms left and then we will trim the house out and paint it.

We're working hard and playing hard. Yesterday, we had a wiffleball game along with another group of believers who are camping here. Bryan Simon was the MVP of the game with a few RBI's and many great plays. Lewis Gebhart had the play of the game to make the final out. Kolby Dukes hit the final drive deep into left center...it was going to land in the pool, until Lewis came flying, jumped, and caught the ball before diving into the pool. What a spectacular play.

This is such a great opportunity for the Body of Christ to get together, fellowship, and in the process, help rebuid not only the homes but the hearts of those affected by Katrina. We pray your very own heart will be stirred along with our own and the heart of Jesus as we continue to fulfill the great commission...reaching people and helping them find their way.

Til tomorrow...ta-ta for now.

The First Day!

Well today was our first official day at camp hope! The team leaders went out and viewed our tasks that we need to complete in the next few days, while the rest of us unpacked and played a makeshift game of baseball in a vacant lot. Tonight we went to a pre-4th of July celebration. It was less than pleasureable. It was hot, humid, and there were lots of people. Thomas Perry managed to lose his wallet durring this time period. Hopefully the Lord has placed it in the hands of an honest person who will return it. It is now ten minutes after 12 and I am a little tired. Hopefully tommorrow night we will have pictures of the job we are working on and will post them. Pray for Thomas Perry that his wallet may be returned!

Thanks,
Kolby

A Long Ride...

Right now we are just leaving Montgomery, Alabama. We have about 4 hours left until we reach camp hope (No stops). The only way to describe this ride is, “wow, I don’t want to do that again.” Those attitudes will be overcome when we see all the destruction and all that needs to be accomplished. It makes a 24 hour drive seem not so bad when you see that all that someone owned was taken out in a storm. Your total perspective changes when you realize just how much these people have lost. During the first half of the trip we did not make k good of time as we needed, but we made up for it in the second half. We are looking at about a 10:00 arrival. There is an hour time difference here. If it is 4:00 in Delaware it is 3:00 here. All the vehicles made it here fine. We have had hardly any problems at all. It is fun for me to sit back and watch the techniques of each driver for their way of keeping themselves awake. We couldn’t get the bus’ ac to run correctly for the first while, but thanks to the ingenuity of Mr. Dave Dittrick we now have ac in all vehicles. Some even complain that they were cold on the bus. Our plans are to scout out our jobs today, possibly purchase some materials, pray over the homes we are going to be working on, and tonight have a awesome worship service. Right now the local time is 4:49 and in the truck with me is Pastor Rob, Bryan Simon, and My Mom, Marcia. Bryan and Mom are catching up on some sleep so they will be well prepared for the day, Pastor Rob singing along to a Jeremy Camp CD to keep him awake and just to worship the Lord. I figured I would use this time to type a journal of the day to post when we find internet.

Now it is 10:30 here and we are driving down along the gulf coast viewing all the destruction. Some areas have been restored and some casinos are functioning. Pastor Rob described it best. It is like they are putting band-aids on a wounded body. You would think that a year later things would be back to normal, but there is still piles of debris everywhere and buildings without a first floor. The destruction is indescribable. Along what was a barren gulf coast last time there are houses starting to sprout, but those are few and far between. What I see cannot be put into words.

Packin'...

Toothbrush... check, Socks... check, Tools... check. Well hopefully everyone is packed and getting some sleep to prepare for the long ride. I am almost fully packed except for 10 or 12 items and I will be set to go. We will be leaving Delmarva Christian High School in about 81/2 hours. We will be taking Delmarva's coach bus (thanks DCHS) and my father, Rusty, is taking his truck and camper and Mr. Ralph is taking his truck. We will have a caravan of 3 taking a long ride down. We will try to post on here as often as possible and with as many pictures as possible. Please spread the word of this site because I cannot tell everyone. As you may have noticed there are links on the right side to... our last Katrina Trip, Emergency #'s and email addresses, a relay message system, and ways you can help us. Please check out those links. The team thanks you for your continued support and interest. that is all for now and don't forget about the place to comment at the bottom of each post!

Kolby :-)