On a mission

Team from Moses Lake Alliance Church leaves Friday to help with hurricane relief

MOSES LAKE — Sit down with Pastor Kent Copley at Moses Lake Alliance Church and he will have hours of stories to tell about those who have experienced the wrath of Mother Nature up close and personal.

There is the story of one well-to-do Louisiana man whom Copley ran into one day on a previous trip to the Gulf Coast after the hurricanes struck.

The man was looking for pieces of a trellis that once stood over his granddaughter at her wedding. The man had asked the group Copley was with to help find its remains.

"I'm proud of my kids and their careers," Copley recalled the man saying, sharing that his children were in good enough financial standing that they wrote him a check for $60,000 to rebuild.

But, Kent added, "he turned to us and said 'You have no idea how much of a difference you have done today. You think you have done so little, but you have done so much.'"

It is an example that no matter what sector of society hurricane-struck residents are from, the devastation affects people at all levels.

When Copley and 27 others with MLAC leave Friday for a week-long mission trip to Louisiana, they will likely be witness to similar stories of those who are still rebuilding their lives nearly 11 months after Hurricane Katrina hit the south central Gulf Coast.

It will be the third trip MLAC has taken to the region.

The first trip took place in October, seven weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit.

In January two MLAC teams would return to continue demolition work and rebuilding of a facility to house the Baton Rouge Ministry Center.

The center is the agency MLAC is working with and also where the team will continue some of its ministry on its trip later this week. The group will not only work in parts of Baton Rouge, but New Orleans as well.

They are also planning to help provide a summer vacation bible school for youth and have committed to assist in starting a church in Baton Rouge.

"Our hope is to hear their story and share God's love with each individual," Copley said.

Forming relationships with children is another important part of the trip.

"I think our main goal is to connect with children and to provide a fun learning experience for them," said Pam Swedburg, VBS coordinator for the trip.

Two days before leaving later this week, Chad and Carl Borg and Randi Fode, all 16, reflect on what they are about to encounter on their first mission trip.

"You start thinking we're going to be out there on the front lines," Carl said of being in the midst of hurricane relief efforts.

It's a scene where makeshift communities of trailers have popped up over night to house victims where once cow pastures stood.

Houses sit with water marks half way up their walls where the water level rose; others are now several feet from where they originally stood as water and fierce winds moved them from their physical location.

Those are the front lines Carl speaks of, but has yet to see for himself.

Carl talks about a book the 28 member team has been reading in preparation for the trip.

Entitled "Called to Greatness" Carl said the book is a good tool to guide him in ministering to others.

Twin brother Chad says even though he has done VBS at home he knows it will not compare to what he will encounter in Louisiana.

Fund-raising was another component of the trip. Team members were responsible for coming up with $300 each to offset the cost of the trip.

The Borgs and Fode name off different odd jobs they have undertaken to raise their share.

The group has sold concessions at music concerts and other church functions such as "Lattes for Louisiana" and lunches for Fathers Day.

"Church is like my second home right now," Fode said laughing.

When asked what he thinks of going to rebuild in a part of the country where it is likely more hurricanes will hit, Copley responds by saying what matters more is that the Gulf Coast is home to many hurricane victims.

"Some people think New Orleans is below sea level, why rebuild it," he said, adding that in different parts of the country varying weather conditions cause a threat to people's livelihoods no matter where they live.

"What they live with and take on is hurricanes," Copley said. "This is their home and we are to help rebuild their home."