Orthodoxy, eh?

My Trip

There's so much to say, and I couldn't possibly explain everything, so here are a couple of observations:

- The coastal communities are devastated, but recovering. No rebuilding is going on right now. Mostly people are trying to clean out the homes that were submerged under water. All that remains of the homes along the shore is foundations.

- People from all over the US are giving aid. We stayed at a Catholic Student Center with students from the University of Richmond and Charleston College. Other people just left their jobs and will be in Mississippi for months.

- All of the people we met who were devastated by the storm are in good spirits, saying that the Lord will get them through all of their tribulations. There was a lot of joy and thanksgiving to God for his many blessings. This attitude was the most powerful thing on the trip for me.

- The parish we stayed at in Hattiesburg is doing great things for relief. They have a distribution center and they also house anyone who wants to help out (including us). The priest there is incredible (Fr. Tommy - and he loves Notre Dame!) and all the parishoners are being very generous with their time. Here's the link to the parish if you want to contact them. They're taking donated goods from all across the US.

posted by Becky @ 3:41 PM