Some students visit with the Alexander family in Pass Christian, MS

Click for more pictures of the Operation Restoration>>

Operation Restoration E-Journals Several students blogged about their experience over Spring Break Read their blog here>> Joe Wiley shares his experience the second time around in his E-Journal>> The participants of Operation Restoration share their thoughts and reflections on the week in Pass Christian. Read More>> The November Operation Restoration trip is over, but the students that went and the people they worked with will never be the same. These e-journals were written from Pass Christian from November 20-25, 2005 E-Journal pages>>

Pictures of Operation Restoration Pictures from Operation Restoration Team #1-4 are now posted! Click Here>> The Asbury College website has also put up some pictures from the trip. Click Here>> The scouting trip has taken place. Take a look at what the team will be facing for the first Operation Restoration. Click for photo album>>

Other news:

Governor’s Citation of Excellence given for Hurricane Relief Work

In March, Asbury College was presented with the Governor’s Citation of Excellence for the continued Hurricane Relief work in Pass Christian, Mississippi. The City of Wilmore and Asbury College adopted Pass Christian, Mississippi and have given thousands of hours of volunteer work, donated supplies, and money toward the recovery efforts in Pass Christian. Five trips (including an initial scouting trip) have been sponsored and a 6th is taking place in the summer of 2006. The recovery efforts will take years and we are committed to continue helping the people of The Pass. (New statistic that we heard during the last trip… only about 125 structures survived without significant damage out of a total of 4000 in town…still lots to do.!)

 

Back in Wilmore…
couldn’t be prouder

Mark Troyer March 28th, 2006

8 vans, 2 trucks, a car, and lots of people, supplies and equipment have all returned safely to Wilmore, though our hearts and prayers are still in The Pass. What a great trip and what a great group of people to be able to spend a week with. I was so proud of our students, faculty, friends, even my retired parents who went along and were troupers hanging out (and working hard) with all these college students

All I heard all week was how hard Asbury students worked and how joyful and kind they were. One woman made a profound statement to one of our staff…”this week the church came to me!” What a privilege it was to give of ourselves and to help people in whatever way we could. Between 35 and 40 different projects were completed from cleaning up a park, to tiling floors, hanging drywall, painting, mudding out houses, and serving food.

There are many good stories, and lots of pictures, hopefully we will have pictures posted on the www.wilmoretothepass.com site soon. Thanks to all for your support and prayers. We will keep going to The Pass for the next couple years. Proverbs says “Never withold help from those we deserve it when it is in your power to act”. We hope to continue to live out our faith with the people in The Pass….

Click here to read more team blogs>>

Click here to see pictures of the trip>>

 

6-minute documentary produced detailing Operation Restoration

Nate Halley has produced a 6-minute documentary of the first Operation Restoration trip that took place on November 19-26, 2005.
Click here to see the documentary>>

Operation Restoration does significant work on over 30 distinct projects

Last night (Tuesday Nov 29th) we had our final team meeting on campus at Asbury to debrief the trip, hand out lost and found items from the trip, and to do a little evaluation and plan for a chapel service on December 5th that will be dedicated to the Hurricane Relief trip. What a difference in the team from the time we left to the time we got back…a family has been created!

The overwhelming response was that it was a great trip, and that students and staff want to know when we are heading back! Many people came back with an overwhelming sense of duty and desire to continue to help The Pass get back on its feet, and to show the love of Christ to that community. Already some of the students have connected with people they met down there or people whose homes they worked on.

We tallied up all the projects that we had worked on over the week and the group was able to do significant work on over 30 distinct projects during that time, including many complete mud-outs of homes that hadn’t been touched in 2 ½ months. God was faithful in providing partners, funding, tools, and terrific weather for the week. (It started raining the morning we were leaving). We also made no runs to any urgent treatment centers or hospitals!

A few fun facts:

• Over 15,000 miles were driven
• 12 vehicles including 10 vans, two pick-ups, and two trailers were used
• 20,000 meals were served to volunteers and residents
• 30 projects were completed, yielding literally tons of debris moved to the roadsides
• 2 nails went through shoes and punctured feet
• We provided skin/food for at least 1.2 million gnats ?
  
  Seriously, I can’t say enough about the caliber of our students and the faculty and community members that went along. They worked hard, they were sensitive to the people down their and their property, and they didn’t complain,! It was indeed a privilege to be a part of this inaugural trip to The Pass.

Thanks to many who supported and have committed to continue to support the effort to help this city of Pass Christian Mississippi.! Though our initial trip is over, the residents and communities on the Gulf continue to struggle to get back on their feet. Please continue to support them and pray for them in whatever ways you can.

Mark Troyer for the Operation Restoration Trip to Pass Christian Mississippi