Day Two

We began early again today, to get a jump on the heat. We finished up the field that we were working on yesterday, then moved into a nearby neighborhood to start the clean up there. There were two elderly couples who needed help cleaning debris out of their yards.

We then went to the site where the Smithville medical clinic used to be. We spent time clearing that site of broken glass, and paper patient charts. We found one medical chart for a patient, buried in the dirt, jammed up under a tree stump, in the roots. We dug it up and it was completely intact.

Volunteers were being fed at the community center in Smithville, so we stopped by and picked up a box of bagged lunches to take back to the church, to enjoy in the air conditioned building.

Our team spent the remainder of the afternoon cleaning and organizing at the church where they've been staying.

After a dinner, that was once again provided by the church, the team went out to the theatre in Amory, to enjoy a movie.

Work Begins

We began the day at 6:00am on a piece of property on the outskirts of Okolona, MS.

We helped Mr. Roberts, who had lost his trailer, and had several fallen trees on his property. He is limited in what he can do, due to injuries sustained in war. Our crew began working on removing the fallen trees with chainsaws, and cleaning up the area.

Mr. Edwards had a tree that he wanted to stand back up, so our guys jumped on board to help him!

Later in the morning, we moved to Smithville, MS, where we began clearing fields of debris.

This Bible was found in the field near Mr. Cox's home. It belonged to his parents, one of which lost their life in the storm. He said that when he stumbled upon it, it was opened to Psalm 23.

I found this hymnal, while combing one of the fields. Notice the hymn it's opened to.

Of course, this crew always has fun and a few light-hearted moments!

Tiffany Smith and some of our ladies, worked with our younger children at Sav-A-Life, to help organize and box up donations.

Our team did a tremendous job today, working in high temps and high humidity. What others thought would take days, our team managed to complete in hours.

A HUGE thank you to Dana and her Sav-A-Life volunteers for keeping our crew fed! Not necessary, but MUCH appreciated! One thing about the women of the South, you will not go hungry!

After we stopped work for the day, Joey, his Dad, Ashley, and I drove through downtown Smithville. I had yet to see it, and let me tell you, it was shocking to see. All the pictures I had seen up until now, did not tell the complete story. Even a month after the tornado, there is still so much debris, so much destruction. It's unnerving to see.

Worship & A Visit To See "The King"

The team attended worship at Grace Fellowship Baptist church this morning, and then enjoyed lunch at a local mexican restaurant. Yes, folks, there are mexican restaurants in the South, and this one, surprisingly is pretty good! Still doesn't compare to mexican food in AZ, but we enjoyed it, nonetheless.

We then boarded the bus to drive to Tupelo, MS, to see the birthplace of Elvis Presley.

Everyone had a good time and we learned some interesting things, like how an outhouse works! Here's a pic of Junior and Don checking it out.

After visiting the birthplace of "The King", we travelled to Amory, where we attended a volunteer appreciation dinner at Save-A-Life Ministries. I saw lots of familiar faces, including my first grade teacher!

We enjoyed supper, praise and worship, and a short devotion, led by Pastor Joey.

We met Ed Roberts, a gentleman whom we will help on Monday. We'll be removing fallen trees and debris from his property.

Afterwards, we unloaded the donations that we brought from AZ, and then met with Dana Copeland, and the Save-A-Life team, to map out a plan for the work we will do the next four days.