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[Hurricane Update] Message from Back Bay Mission Executive Director Shari
Prestemon
Aug. 30, 2005
Dear Friends -
Over the last few days your messages of care and concern have poured in
by email, and in some cases by phone. Thank you. It has been a stunning
reminder of the power of God to hold us together even when the very fabric
of our lives is being ripped apart.
Indeed that is how this experience of Hurricane Katrina feels... as if
everything has been ripped to shreds --- homes, landscapes, and hearts. I
have never experienced such a thing before, and feel inadequate to the
challenge that lies before me personally and before Back Bay Mission as a
ministry. But I am strengthened and humbled by your embracing love and your
offers of help and funds.
It has become humanly impossible for me to respond individually to the
mass of emails I am receiving. But I wanted to write this joint message to
share what I know at this point. Some of you will have already received
some of this information, and for that I apologize.
First, many of you have been concerned about my personal well-being. I
was able to evacuate on Sunday afternoon with two friends (Bruno and Linda
Schroeder) and came to Selma, Alabama, where I am staying in a hotel and
have been safe. I learned today that my home in Ocean Springs is still
standing. For this I am enormously grateful. I will leave Selma tomorrow
to attempt to get back to the Coast, so that I can check out my house for
myself, and of course, so that I can see what has occurred with Back Bay
Mission's campus and begin the process of re-imagining the Mission's
ministry for this entirely new time in the life of the Gulf Coast.
Here's what I know at this point:
1) The devastation
on the MS Gulf Coast (as well as other places) is entirely devastating.
Thousands and thousands of homes have been destroyed, leaving tens of
thousands suddenly homeless. East Biloxi, where the Mission is located,
seems to have received a particularly hard hit. Aerial footage reveals
that a huge area of East Biloxi is simply flattened.
2) In addition to structural devastation, the economy of the MS Gulf
Coast has been leveled. With many of the casinos destroyed and others
receiving major damage, a huge portion of that economy no longer exists.
No homes, no jobs... how can a community survive this?
3) Bridges connecting Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis on the western end
of the MS Coast, and Biloxi to Ocean Springs to the east, are simply gone.
4) Much of the Coast cannot yet be accessed by car.
5) There is no power, no phone lines, no sewer for anyone, and will not
be for perhaps a very long time. The temps have been in the mid to high
90's.
Here's what we don't know:
1) I don't know how
much, if any, of Back Bay Mission's buildings have survived the
hurricane.
2) I don't know the whereabouts of several of my staff at Back Bay
Mission, and fear the worst for some who had decided to stay on the Coast
during the storm the last time I spoke with them. The same is true for
several personal friends.
3) I don't know how or when BBM's ministry will be able to begin
responding in any meaningful way. I only know that we will do our best to
respond, and that the shape of our ministry will in some ways now be very
different.
Hopefully, tomorrow and the next day I can make my way into Biloxi to
assess the damage at BBM's campus, try to locate friends and staff as
possible, and begin to think about next steps. To the extent possible, I
may also try to make contact with Red Cross and FEMA personnel to let them
know of BBM's intent to be of help and service.
Since, however, I will have absolutely no way to communicate with the
world if I stay on the Coast, I will likely leave the Coast again and travel
to some point north where I can access electricity and phone lines, so that
I can begin to work with staff of the United Church of Christ, the Mission's
Board of Directors, and many Back Bay Mission friends to strategize our
response and begin to plan for our needs and those of the community we
serve. Then I will return to begin the work that awaits us. For the
moment, this seems the most useful, productive way of using time until staff
can be re-gathered and ministry re-configured. I expect this will be a two
or three-day period before returning again to the Coast.
So many of you have asked how you can help. Others have indicated
willingness to travel to Biloxi to assist in the relief efforts. Still
others have begun the process of collecting funds. Thank you for all of
this, but please, let me offer a few words of caution:
1) Do not attempt
to come to the MS Gulf coast at this time. We want you to come eventually
and we will need your helping hands over the coming months and likely
years. But now is not yet the time. We need time first to make a
thorough assessment, connect with FEMA and the Red Cross, consider how we
can best be of service, and think about how we can reasonably accommodate
groups who do come to the Coast. If you have interest in coming later as
an individual or with a group, you may contact Mary Schaller-Blaufuss,
executive for Volunteer Ministries of the United Church of Christ at
blaufusm@ucc.org. She will keep a running list and will act as our
liaison until we are ready to take that role on.
2) Re: financial
support. Do not send checks or cash in the mail to the Mission, as the
postal system is likely not functioning. We have no way of knowing if our
banks are operational, or whether any wire transfers are feasible. For
now, hold those precious gifts you collect for us. We will surely need
them, there is no doubt, and we hope you will send them in a general,
non-designated way so that we can use them best according to the needs in
front of us. But please wait for now. I will work to get you information
on how to get those dollars to us when it is possible to do so. In
addition, please know that the UCC national setting has established a
Hurricane Recovery Fund to which you may also contribute in the interest
of wider hurricane relief. You can access that information on the UCC
website at www.ucc.org.
3) Stay informed.
The UCC is developing a Hurricane Katrina page on its website, and that
page will include a link or section dedicated to Back Bay Mission
up-dates. I encourage you to seek information there on our status as time
goes on. Keep others informed as well. Please feel free to forward
emails as I send them to others you know might be interested. It will
simply be impossible for us to communicate in as comprehensive a manner as
we would wish.
4) Don't forget
about us and the LA, MS, AL, and FL Gulf Coasts when the network and cable
stations' coverage begins to fade. The needs we have will be enormous and
will continue for months and certainly for years.
5) Pray. The basic
and spiritual needs of people on the Coast, and of BBM staff, will be
enormous. Grief is and will be profound. The challenge of service and
ministry in this new context is unfathomable. We need every morsel of
faithful healing you can send our way, and we are grateful for the
consoling prayers you have already lifted to heaven on our behalf.
I'm sure I have forgotten to share much that you are interested in, and
some of you asked very specific questions that may not have been answered
here. I will continue to up-date you via email as I am able. But of course
know that over the next two or three days I will have no ability to
communicate from the Gulf Coast itself.
Thank you again for all your healing graces and faithful companionship.
It is precious to me and to Back Bay Mission, especially in these times.
Peace,
Shari |
