Presbytery
of
Welcome! Thank you for your
interest in becoming
involved in one of the largest volunteer effort ever to take place in
Hurricane
Katrina was not an act of God; the act of God is what all of us are
doing
now. Please take a
moment to reflect on
the goals and objectives of your mission trip.
What do you hope to
achieve? What gifts
do you bring to the
churches and their people who suffered great loss in
this storm?
Without
mission the church has no reason to exist.
Through this experience, you will become more a part of
the church’s
mission than ever before. Paul
calls
upon us, in our lives and in our
mission, to be imitators of Jesus Christ.
Although the church, like the human body, is made
of many parts, it is Jesus who is the head.
In our dealings with those victims of Hurricane
Katrina, we must imitate the traits that he exhibited during his
mission to
earth - patience, humility, and love.
So, when you
come to work along side
of the people of the
Several forms are included with this handbook. It is necessary that you complete the skill level form and the group registration form and return to us at least three weeks prior to your arrival. All other forms may be brought with you when you come. Thank you.
As you are making
plans for your mission team to come to the Presbytery of MS to
help with our disaster recovery efforts we have one request:
Pastoral counseling.
We appreciate your help with this very much. Please include the name of your church and the dates for your travel.
In
Christ’s service
Ginny
Stewart
Office
Manager
Disaster
Recovery
Ashley
Hawkins
Office
Assistant
What is a
Mission
Teams are made up of adults and youth representing various
congregations and
organizations that commit to offering their time and talent to those in
need.
The
Presbytery of Mississippi is coordinating mission trips to the
1) Recruit and organize your team This
area is still a disaster zone. For
safety reasons:
*Children
14 to 15 years old are
invited to join
presbytery
of
For
every 14 or 15 year old there
must be an adult supervisor. the
individual
registration form for
each 14 to 15 year old must be
completely
filled out and faxed to
this office one month before arrival.
*For 16 to 17 year olds we require a ratio
one adult for every four
youth.
NO
ONE UNDER THE AGE OF 14 WILL
BE ACCEPTED BY THE PRSBYTERY OF
*
No one under 18 years old will
work up on a roof
There is plenty of work for everyone,
and we want to make
sure everyone can safely participate. Please respect our concerns.
2) Determine the types of projects your
Team is able to do.
See Skill Level Form page 8
What is your skill level? Do your have
professionals in your
group – plumbers, electricians, contractors, carpenter?
3) Decide on a first and second choice of
dates for your trip
Please plan ahead and give us plenty
of lead-time to try and
accommodate your group. We have seven Presbyterian churches on the
Our needs are greater than our
capacity to house volunteers.
4)
Contact
the Presbytery of
Include
the name of your church or organization in the subject line.
Include
host church preference if any.
Include maximum team size.
We cannot schedule teams larger than 30.
Include Name of Team Leader and phone
and e-mail contact
info.
Give first and second choice of dates.
Include arrival and
exit dates.
If
you contact the Presbytery in subsequent e-mail, please ALWAYS
INCLUDE THE
NAME OF YOUR CHURCH OR ORGANIZATION and DATES of YOUR TRIP, IN THE
SUBJECT
LINE.
5)
Once
we receive this information, we will schedule your team at
one of the host
locations.
6)
Once
we assign you a host location we will send you information
specific to your
host location. You will also receive all needed forms,
What
do
Teams
work with the Site Manager responding to work orders from churches,
their
members and residents of the community. Skills of volunteers on site,
the
weather, availability of material and other factors play into the
decision
regarding the specific jobs your team will be working on during your
stay. Work
orders include moving debris, ripping out drywall, removing roofing
shingles
and carting them to the curb, re-roofing houses, hanging drywall,
mudding and
sanding drywall, painting, moving furniture, and more.
Where
will we stay? Each
Team will be assigned to
a church in the Presbytery of Mississippi. Each church is able to house
volunteers. Dormitory space, showers, laundry facilities and kitchens
are
available at each site.
Where
will we eat?
Visiting
Teams are responsible for purchasing and preparing all of
their meals.
Refrigerator and freezer space is available; however please
refer to the individual site packet for information pertaining to your
host
location. Each team will provide its own paper products, as necessary.
Are
there places to buy
supplies?
Grocery
stores (Winn-Dixie, Sav-A-Center, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, etc.) and
building
supply stores (Home Depot, Lowe’s, 84 Lumber, etc.) are open and fully
stocked.
Food, paper goods, cleaning supplies can all be purchased locally.
Other
important information
Presbytery of
Disaster Relief
Office
1223 30th
Ave. Suite B
This
request will be waived if it causes a hardship for anyone.
Things you need
to do before coming
to the
·
One
month before arrival Fax the following forms to the Disaster Recovery
Office
Fax
Number 228-871-7185
*This
should be sent
One MONTH
Before arrival
1. Group Liability Waver (must be notarized)
3. Skill Level Form
4. Team leader with contact information, name of sponsoring church/organization.
Include
all contact information on all
communications sent to the Disaster Recovery Office.
All
other forms can be turned upon arrival.
·
Have the members fill out the individual liability waiver
(must be
notarized)
· Assign team members responsibility for a morning or evening devotion
· Plan for evening debriefing times to allow your group a chance to talk about their experiences
· Plans for evening time with other groups for sharing and fellowship
·
Pray
for the
Things
your
Your team
will need to assess the skill levels of the team members and bring
tools and
equipment commensurate with their skills.
Examples of work are found at the bottom of the group
registration form:
·
Tools
for specialized work
·
Bring
a well-stocked first aid kit
·
Proof
of medical/accident insurance for each team member, to be presented to
the Site
Manger upon your arrival
·
Refer
to the individual site information packet for any additions to the above
Personal
Packing List
Meals and
Facility Upkeep
Please identify
these persons in you communication before arrival.
Each
team is to select one or two persons
to become a part of the facility management team. This team will be
responsible
for preparing meals and the upkeep of the facility each day.
Chores each
day include:
Mopping—all
areas used by teams
Vacuum—all areas used by teams
Take trash out daily
Clean grounds daily
It
is likely that your team will be scheduled at a facility hosting other
teams. Each team is
responsible for
their food; however we cannot have five or six teams in the kitchen
cooking at
one time. Therefore
we ask that each
team have funds available to purchase food as needed. The
facility management team will be
responsible for the purchase of food and preparing the food.
We
suggest you have cereal, breakfast bars and fruit for breakfast.
For
lunch we suggest sandwiches. Lunch
can
be at the church or at the work site.
Dinner
is usually your hot meal for the day.
We
have frozen food available which our Presbyterian Women have prepared
for teams
being hosted by our Presbytery and will share it as long as it lasts.
If
your team plans to eat
out, be sure the Facility Management Team is aware of this in advance
THE PRESBYTERY OF
Disaster
Recovery Office
Evacuation Plan:
2006 Hurricane
Season
I. Introduction
Another
long and active hurricane season is predicted for 2007. Due to
higher than normal water temperatures in the
II.
Hurricane Awareness
A. All
leaders of volunteer groups will stay abreast of current weather
Information
prior to the date of the group’s trip.
If any tropical
Weather
system (depression, storm, hurricane) is approaching the
Gulf of
will
assume no responsibility for the safety of your group.
B.
Site
managers will stay abreast of local weather conditions.
They will be prepared to respond immediately
to the directions of the Presbytery Disaster Recovery Office (DRO)
and/or local
civil defense/law enforcement agencies.
III.
Evacuation Implementation (to take effect when a tropical storm or
hurricane enters The Gulf of Mexico)
A. Upon
instructions from the DRO to evacuate,
all volunteer groups will be the first to leave.
If traffic flow permits, they are instructed
to return to their homes. If this is not possible due to congested
traffic
flow, they are instructed to proceed north out of the danger zone to a
public shelter
or to a Presbyterian Church, which has agreed to shelter volunteers.
B.
Following the weather event, volunteers
may return to the
their
homes. If the area was affected, they should not return unless
specifically
permitted to do so by the DRO.
C.
Site
managers, first and foremost, are to see to the safety of all volunteers at their site.
At
the time of
evacuation, they will order volunteers in a firm
but
friendly manner to follow instructions as outlined in Section III.A.
of this
document. The
Presbytery of Mississippi
will assume no
responsibility
or liability for any volunteer who willfully refuses to
evacuate
as ordered.
D.
Insofar as
possible, site managers will routinely keep equipment indoors in a
secure place
when it is not in use. Tthis will prevent
having to
secure equipment at the last minute as a storm approaches.
Tools
having high dollar value should be tagged for quick identification.
E.
Site managers will maintain contact with
the civil defense office for
the county
in which they are located.
F.
Each site manager will be responsible
for taking down and securing
tents and
collapsible buildings at their site, if any.
G.
After all volunteers have evacuated and
all supplies and buildings have
been secured, all
presbytery
staff will evacuate. Staff
should be
prepared to drive
vehicles owned by the
presbytery out of the danger zone, towing camper trailers and/or other
trailers
owned by the presbytery. Unless
instructed to do otherwise, they will report to a staging area at
IV. Reentry Procedure
A.
When advised by civil authorities that it
is safe to do so, all staff will
return to
their former locations and await instructions from the DRO.
* * * * *
Presbytery of
Office Manager:
Ginny Stewart
Office Assistance: Ashley
Hawkins
Office: 228-871-7114
Fax: 228-871-7185
Email: presbyrecovery@bellsouth.net scheduling for teams Revised 9/14/2006
Presbytery
of
Please fax
one month before
arrival
FAX 228-871-7185
Sponsoring Church/Organization
____________________________ Arrival Date______
Exit Date ______ Host Site____________
Team Leader Contact Information
___________________________________________________________________
Level 1
Level
2
Level
3
Level
4
Level 5
Inexperienced
Slightly
Experienced Moderately
Experienced
Very Experienced
Professional
| Individual Name | (Example) Phillip | | | | | | | | | |
| Painting | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| Minor
Repair | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| Plumbing | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| Electrical
| 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| Finishing
Drywaller | 5 | | | | | | | | | |
| Framing | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| Tile
Work | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| Finish
Carpenter | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| Roofing | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| Office Assistance@site | 1 | | | | | |