A Blessed Holy Week

Friday, March 30th, 2007

Greetings from Mississippi,
           
We are on the brink of Holy Week and the activity is picking up.  This is an especially heady time for us at Redeemer as Easter Sunday we will return to our property on the beach for services.  Holy Saturday will be a day of beehive activity as we clean up construction debris, place audio-visual equipment, set up 200 chairs, move our “portable church” from the elementary school to a place that we can call our own, and hide Easter Eggs for a mega hunt.  A 4 ft by 8ft sign stands in front of our parish house announcing our return and the local news plans to come to Redeemer on Saturday to interview parishioners.  We have contracted with a marble company to repair the Camille Memorial and we plan to create a “green space” with the help of 70 or so Massachusetts kids this spring.  The site of the old church, twice destroyed by hurricanes, will become our gift to the people of Biloxi as a memorial park, maintained by Redeemer, for visitors to come and sit for a while and take in the natural beauty of the place.  It will also be a gift to those who mourn the loss of life and for those who hold out hope for a brighter future.

It has also occurred to me that I have written very little about my work at Redeemer.  I am a bit of a workaholic, but today my boss ordered me home to rest.  Miss Kitty is glad to have the company.  I have focused my work on volunteer coordination in conjunction with the other non-profits in the area, work with the youth of Redeemer, Christian Education, and of course liturgy and preaching.  The rector and I have enjoyed having each other as colleagues.  We are both comfortable in our work and enjoy what we do.  I am developing relationships with many parishioners and I like the parish a lot.   I have encouraged them to step outside of the parish and to become more actively involved in the community.  That ministry will probably not surprise anyone who knows me.  We are beginning to set-up Godly Play for the Church School.  Our numbers are small, so we plan to mix ages in revolutionary ways.  It is our feeling that the closeness brought about by this cataclysmic loss will make it possible for us to worship and learn in such a diverse mix and will be powerful for both students and teachers.  A volunteer group from Maryland has offered to come and do a Bible Camp for us in June.  We will offer this program to all the children in the area.  For our part we will support the parents by offering a full day of activities so that parents who work will be able to send their children.  Our facilities are great as we have a wonderful day care center in our newly renovated DiMiller Hall.
           
One of the most often asked questions is “how can we help.”  One way is to spread the word that this effort down here is not going to be fixed in a year or two.  We are facing a 10 year effort just to get back to where we were in August of 2005.  And with hurricane season fast approaching the realization that it could happen again is foremost on the minds of residents and relief workers alike.  When I come to Boston I will bring pictures and stories about day care ministries, sheet rock ministries, human rights work, housing advocacy, financial counseling for low wealth families, and much, much more.  But the most important message I will bring is “Thank you”.  From all of us to all of you thank you for standing strong with us through this nightmare.  Thank you for praying for us, for your gifts of money and time, and thank you for letting us know that we are not alone.  If I have learned nothing else in my work at both Ground Zero and in the wake of Katrina, it is that the message of the resurrection is that God desires life for us – not death.  God yearns for us to be fully alive and filled with the joy of this beautiful creation we call our home.  Have a blessed Holy Week and a most joyful Easter.

Jane+