FINAL MAY '08 REPORT

Good Sunday Evening,

We are able to report the safe return of all fifteen members of MCC's
Back Bay Mission Crew but not all of their luggage. In the words of the
Delta baggage agent last evening, the bags "appear to have been having
such a good time in Gulfport that they decided to stay an extra day".
Betsey, Kathleen and Jae are still waiting.

Needless to say, it would take a lot more than some lost luggage or
even a delayed flight to take the shine off the past week for the BBM
Crew. The week included a wide range of experiences ranging from being
simple tourists in New Orleans (a first time for some of the Crew) to
the satisfaction of hard jobs well done on the projects of the Back Bay
Mission. In the course of the week, we

- got to know our friends from MCC much better,
- made new friends of Crew members who are friends of MCC,
- met and worked with the Crews from North Community Church in
Marshfield, MA and Salem Evangelical United Church of Christ in Quincy,
IL,
- met and worked with the full time and volunteer staff of the BBM,
- sharpened old skills and learned new skills in the dry walling,
painting, door and window installation and roofing projects,
- served the poor and homeless at the "Loaves and Fishes" Soup Kitchen
- met some of the projects' home owners and heard their stories,
- saw the conditions that remain that will scar the Gulf Coast for
years to come,
- had the satisfaction of making a significant cash donation on behalf
of MCC to the Mission,
- saw the BBM facilities and heard about the exciting plans to expand
those facilities to better minister to the people of the Gulf Coast.

An excerpt from a recent edition of the BBM newsletter is attached that
reviews the BBM recovery efforts to day and explains the new facilities
that are now under construction on the BBM campus.

This past week and the week in February when another Crew from MCC
worked at the BBM were especially rewarding because we were able to
take some of our high school and college students with us. Olivia
Caputo, Abbie Hawkins and Emily Siegel were part of the February Crew
and Carolyn Bernier, Andrew McLellan and Lacy Stirk join the Crew this
past week.

The successes of the past week and of the week spent in Biloxi by MCC's
February Crew were only made possible by the combination of donations
by you all, the members and friends of MCC, during the past year and
the donations of time and money by the Crew members themselves. We
thank you all for your contributions and hope that you feel some
personal satisfaction in the knowledge that your contribution has made
a difference in the lives of the people of Biloxi who were served this
past week and in the lives of those from MCC who did the serving.

Thanks also to Darrah Doyle, Ken Cutler, Tom Powers, Alan Bernier and
Dave Wrightson for driving Crew Members to Logan Airport a week ago and
Jacqui Bausk, Katty Caputo, Karen Ross, Alan Bernier and Dave Wrightson
for retrieving Crew members from the airport this past Friday and
Saturday.

Your BBM Crew for May '08:

Bryon Bausk, Joe Bausk, Carolyn Bernier, Mary Bernier, Betsey Cutler,
Hal Cutler, Jae Doyle, Kathleen Kopitsky, Andrew McLellan, Dave
McLellan, DJ Oakes, Nancy Powers, Lacy Stirk, Sue Whelpley and
Barbara Wrightson

Your BBM Crew for February '08:

Kathy Caputo, Olivia Caputo, Joanne Cutler, Ken Cutler, Tony Deldon,
John Drum, Ed Hawkins, Abbie Hawkins, Bruce Horn, Rhonda Horn, Terry
Keeney, Debbie Keeney and Emily Siegel,

Good Friday Evening,

Your BBM crew is wrapping up its week of ministry to the people of the
Biloxi area with the satisfaction of knowing we completed several steps
in the rehabilitation or reconstruction of four homes that will be
occupied and enjoyed by their families sooner because of our efforts.

In D'Iberville, the roof and windows and doors installed by a crew that
included Hal Cutler, Bryan Bausk, Laci Stirk and Andrew McLellan all
week and Joe Bausk and Carolyn Bernier for the day on Thursday will
permit the beginning of installation interior wiring and plumbing.
Hal Cutler and Andrew McLellan, roofers


Betsey Cutler, Mary Bernier, Sue Whelpley, Joe Bausk, Barbara
Wrightson, Nancy Powers, DJ Oakes, Jae Doyle, Carolyn Bernier and Dave
McLellan accomplished their goal of drywalling an entire small house
and even getting primer coats of paint on several of the rooms.

Dave McLellan, drywall installer

Kathleen Kopitsky worked with others painting the exteriors of two
houses.

Kathleen Kopitsky, painter

Here are summaries from some of the crew members of their thoughts on
the experiences of this past week.

---------------------------------------------------------------
My second trip to Biloxi was just as great an adventure as the first! I
got to meet wonderful people and got to know new friends in our own
group. It is very special to me to have a particular skill and Carolyn
Bernier and I are now "playpen pals". The assigned the task of
drywalling, mudding and paintinga 2 feet by 2 feet space because we
could fit in it. It iis a pleasure to have worked with everyone.

Sue Whelpley
---------------------------------------------------------------
I have had a lifelong dream to join a mission trip like this one. I'm
so grateful to have come on this trip and to make a REAL contribution
in
a way that people REALLY NEED. We came to came to know our own MCC
friends in a new way that's impossible in any other situation, to work
with new our friends from the North Community Church in Marshfield, to
have my son Andrew along on the trip and to see his experiences and
growth, to learn how to hang drywall, to know that the family whose
home we helped repair is forever grateful that we cared enough to shed
blood,
sweat and tears for their home. This is a life changer -- you should
all do this.

Dave McLellan
---------------------------------------------------------------
This week at Back Bay Mission has been a most rewarding and learning
experience. From our work sites where we learned new skills and where
we interacted with our "hosts" and learned new skills and especially
their first-hand Katrina stories, to living with fourteen other church
members in three bedrooms with two bathrooms (a REAL learning
experience, and we are still talking and I feel even closer as
friends), to our sightseeing in New Orleans where my most memorable
experience happened, it has been an amazing week. In New Orleans, we
were derided as "tourists" by one couple, until they learned we were
about to start a week's worth of mission work. Then they couldn't
thank us enough and even gave us a cash donation that they probably
couldn't even afford themselves.

Nancy Powers
---------------------------------------------------------------
I came on this trip knowing only my sister and my niece, coming to know
12 strangers. At the end of the week, I feel I have a new "family".
This week I have felt cared for and welcomed, I have truly had fun, and
am very grateful for being included in your mission trip. Combined
with the incredible satisfaction that comes from learning how to be a
'rocker', and the gratitude I felt from Elaine and Olin (our host
family), this has been a high point for me.

Barbara Wrightson (sister of Mary Bernier, aunt of Carolyn)
---------------------------------------------------------------
For me this has been a week of contrasts. The hustle bustle of
feeding, herding, and dealing with the cohabitation issues of 15 people
versus the too quiet neighborhood which ought to have children, cars
and lots of activity. Then seeing the open spaces on the shoreline
drive in Biloxi and GulfPort where beautiful homes likely would be
versus the crowds of the revitalized French quarter and back to the
quiet of the open fields of what once was and may be again the 9th
ward. The casinos in Biloxi, bright lights, surprisingly impressive
restaurants, noisy gambling games, then the realization that the house
we worked on which used to be the 32nd from the water is now the 2nd as
the ones in between are gone. Life pushes aside the devastation. Not
all at once and not nearly fast enough.

Jae Doyle
---------------------------------------------------------------
I am very thankful for this opportunity to spread God's love. I helped
to leave 2 coats of paint on 2 houses in Biloxi for two families who
were very grateful. Even so, I find that the situation in the Gulf
area, and the condition which people are living to be unacceptable.
Totally unacceptable. I love my church, the UCC, that pushes me beyond
my personal comfort zone, and shakes my sense of complacency. I find
comfort in knowing that I am called to be a part of something that
pushes and shakes people to make a difference in this world that can
seem so out of control too often. I am blessed beyond imagining.

Kathleen

THURSDAY

Good Thursday Evening,

We are nearing completion of our week at the Back Bay Mission and are
really feeling good about the fruits of our labor.

The house that Kathleen and others from Marshfield started on Monday
was completed this morning when the painting of the trim on the
building was finished. That crew has moved on to another house that
kept them busy today and will keep them busy tomorrow.

The dry wall crew has also completed the dry wall installation in six
rooms including the bathroom of its project house and started a first
coat of paint on some of the rooms. The treat of the day at that site
was a shrimp gumbo lunch prepared by Elaine, the owner. She and her
husband Olin are just left of center in the attached picture of the
crew that worked at that house. They will have some additional painting
tomorrow.

The new house project got a big boost from some extra hands today.
Carolyn Bernier and a young man named Will from Connecticut who is
traveling in the area joined the roofing crew. Their help allowed us to
put two nailing crews on the roof and significantly increase the
production rate. At mid afternoon, Craig, the BBM project supervisor
also worked with us so that we expect to complete the roofing project
on Friday. Joe Bausk joined Bryan Bausk and Ralph from Marshfield in
installation of three additional windows. Craig was particularly
interested in getting both the roofing and window and door
installations complete this week using the combined Sudbury and
Marshfield crews because he does not have any incoming crew that has
indicated it has roofing capability for several weeks. With the
building weather tight and secure, the work inside the house can now
proceed at full speed.

We have also had one or two crew members per day working at the
neighborhood soup kitchen, Loaves and Fishes. Those folks have helped
out packing box lunches for people as well as preparing and serving a
hot miid-day meal.

We forgot to mention last evening that we were able to present an MCC
check for $1,350 to Rev. Shari Prestemone, the executive director of
the BBM. A picture of that presentation is attached showing Carolyn
and Mary Bernier and Barbara Wrightson (Mary's Sister) with Rev.
Prestemone. Personal fundraising efforts by Mary and Barbara were
responsible for much of that donation.

We hope that you, the members and friends of MCC who supported MCC's
Back Bay Mission Crews this past February and this week, are feeling a
great deal of satisfaction for your support of these trips and this
ministry. The Crews have certainly found many aspects of their work
camp experiences rewarding both in terms of the camaraderie developed
in the work camp and the satisfaction of making small but significant
contributions to the recovery efforts here in the Biloxi areas.

We look forward to sharing our experience with all of you.

TUESDAY

Good Tuesday Evening,

It's been another long, hot (mid 80's) day for MCC's Crew at the Back
Bay Mission. Up early (5:22 for some of the guys), breakfast of
pancakes, cereal and/or fried eggs and off to our work sites by 8:00
AM.

The painting crew consisting of Kathleen and folks from North Community
Church UCC in Marshfield, MA and the Quincy, Il, UCC completed the
second coat of paint on the exterior of one home. They'll be doing trim
tomorrow.

The fifteen person crew consisting of MCC and NCC campers continued
drywalling at their work site. The story of the day from that crew was
the description of Nancy Powers in a shower cap and dust mask sanding
joint compound. Sorry, no pictures. Dave and Mary completed the drywall
in the laundry where they had a large amount of detail work to fit the
drywall around the piping. Their objective is to complete the house
this week so next week's crew can move on to the next stage of finish
work.

Five others returned to the new house in D'Iberville to begin roofing
and installation of windows and doors that were delivered this morning.
One of the continuing tasks at this work site is the need to bring most
equipment to the work site with the crew in the morning and to remove
it from the work site in the afternoon including all tools and some
materials. That will change this week after the roof will be complete
and the windows and doors installed. That will make the building
weather tight and relatively secure. That will also allow the contract
plumber and electrician begin installation of the utilities for the
house. It''s a slow process but the labor is cheap.

Dinner at the dormitory consisted of chicken and hot dogs from the
grill, broccoli and bacon salad, macaroni salad and ice cream for
dessert. Several folks walked about a mile to the beach to enjoy the
slightly cooler breeze there. We also visited with some of the North
Community Church on the deck between the two dormitories (see picture).
After dark, a group started a puzzle while others monitored the
Celtics game on the internet. It's just like camp....... wait a
minute...... it is camp..... work camp.

It's now 10:30 and five or six folks have disappeared to the bunk rooms
and bed. There's no doubt the long day of physical exercise and the hot
weather have taken their toll on people.

Good night.

MONDAY

Good Monday Evening,

The vacation is over....... and it got over this morning when Joe got
out of bed , Hal asked him what time it was and Dave answered 5:18 AM.
Everyone was up and fed pancakes or fried eggs by 7:20 and we were at a
meeting with the other BBM volunteers at 7:30 at the nearby Baptist
Church (The BBM does not have any sort of assembly space but hopes to
have it when the campus is expanded by addition of a community services
building and a new dormitory. More on that later in the week.) We all
looked pretty wide awake for the attached picture on the steps to the
dormitory porch when we left the dorm at 7:20.

We're sharing the BBM dormitories and our job assignments with a group
of 10 persons from the North Community Church UCC of Marshfield, MA. A
group from the Salem Evangelical United Church of Christ in Quincy, IL
who are staying at another location are also working BBM projects with
us.

The Crew has been split among three work sites today and will be all
week. One crew was at an existing house that had been repaired to the
point of being ready for installation of dry wall. That was the hint to
Betsey, Mary, Sue and Joe, who gained experience as dry wallers during
last year's work camp week, to volunteer for that project along with
Barbara, Nancy, DJ, Jae, Carolyn and Dave. They had a very productive
day installing drywall, corner beads and mudding over joints and nails.
The house was the light green house in the attached picture.

Kathleen worked with folks from the other groups painting the exterior
of another existing house. Because she was the most experienced of that
crew, she spent most of the day on a ladder painting the eaves of the
house.

Hal, Brian, Laci and Andrew joined Mal and Ralph of the Marshfield Crew
at a new house being constructed to replace a house lost to Hurricane
Katrina. That's the house below that is wrapped in Tyvex and set on
pillars. The house is being constructed to satisfy recent building code
requirements that the living spaces of a house shall be at least Their
main effort will be to install the roofing on the house but they could
not start that part of the project today because the shingles had not
arrived. They did other projects such as installing hurricane straps
used to tie the exterior walls of the building to the sill that is in
turn tied to the pillars that are in turn tied to the foundation. It's
all required by the building code to keep the house from being blown
away in a hurricane. Laci and Brian installed additional wall studs
required to support the dry wall installation.

All were back to clean up by 5:30 or so and have Betsey's ham and
asparagus roll-ups for dinner with Carolyn's brownies for dessert.
After dinner activities included washing the day's work clothes,
visiting with the folks from Marshfield and just relaxing playing cards
and that perennial BBM favorite, Yahtzee.

SUNDAY

Good Morning,

This is the first report from MCC's Crew at the Back Bay Mission. We'll
be here at the Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi this week doing work to
restore one or two homes to more livable condition.

Incredibly, we beat the odds yesterday (and that is not a reference to
the casinos). The eleven of us traveled on a total of nine flights in
our trips from Boston to Gulfport/Biloxi Airport through Atlanta or
Dallas-Fort Worth. All flights had on-time departures and arrivals and
no luggage was lost. That's a great way to start the week. We had all
arrived at Gulfport by 4:24 PM.

There were a few anxious moments in Boston, however. The bad news was
that Hal is so forgetful that he had misplaced his driver's license
and, of course, that mean the TSA security crew was not going to let
him board the plane in Boston. The good news is, Hal is so forgetful
that he forgot to remove his passport from his computer bag following
his last trip in February. Fortunately, Betsey realized that, found the
passport and Hal made the plane. Hal's license is flying down on Sunday
with the crew members arriving Sunday morning.

The evening was spent having dinner at the Outback Steak House followed
by a long shopping spree at Walmart to stock up food and other supplies
for the week.

We finally settled in at about 10:50 PM Biloxi time, 11:50 Sudbury time.

We're looking forward to arrival of the remainder of the Crew this
morning and a trip to New Orleans for a bit of sight seeing including a
trip through the Ninth Ward where last year's crew saw the worst of the
devastation. Our work week starts on Monday.

SATURDAY= DAY ONE

Good Sunday Evening,

The Early Birds found themselves up early this morning. Most were out
of their bunks by 6:30 even though they could have stayed longer.
Perhaps it was the creaking of the bunk beds as the person in the top
above you or the bottom bunk beneath you rolled out of bed. Or maybe
you hadn't even gotten to sleep because of the snoring. It's just like
camp..........

We continued our good luck with travels today with the on-time arrival
of the final four members of the Crew (and their luggage): Mary
Bernier, Carolyn Bernier, Barbara Wrightson (Mary's sister) and Andrew
McLellan (Dave and Jeanette McLellan's son). They arrived at 11:00 AM,
were gathered up by the Early Birds and dragged off to New Orleans.
Notice the quilt on the wall. It was, no doubt, donated by one of the
past volunteers.

Our first stop was the French Quarter where, like a bunch of tourists,
we walked along the levee above the Mississippi River, had some lunch,
wandered through the French Market, checked out Bourbon Street, watched
some of the street entertainers and window shopped (mostly). After
trying to move the group in unison from one place to another, we gave
up trying to stay together and went our separate ways in small groups
with a plan to meet at the Jackson Square amphitheater at 4:00 PM.
However, the attraction of beignets overtook most of the crew at about
3:45 and they converged on the Cafe du Monde for that treat.

We left the French Quarter late in the afternoon to seek out the part
of Ward Nine where we had seen so much damage last year. That was, of
course, an area that was submerged after the nearby levees broke. The
area continued to look very bleak but, where only 1 or 2 % of the
damaged homes were being lived in last year, the percentage might have
increased to 20%. However, most of those being lived in still looked
pretty beat up.

The ride out of the Ninth Ward continued to reveal high percentages of
homes and apartment buildings that are abandoned and continuing to
decay. We have to assume they will not be salvaged but eventually will
be demolished.

Back at the mission, we had pasta and meatballs and salad for a
relatively quick dinner before settling in to an evening of discussions
led by Kathleen and table games.

The fun is over tomorrow when we get our work assignments. We have to
be out at 7:20 for a meeting where we will learn our specific job
assignments.