MP3 Stories: "The Barn"

It was the beginning of the fall semester 2005. A good many Wesley students were returning from the previous year and after six years of serving as Wesley Director a new co-directorship had been formed with LaSonya Turner, my first Student Intern in 1999.

This new venture was comforting, but my spirit remained restless. I was a planner, an organizer, an extremely detail-oriented person. Nothing seemed concrete, programs and projects were still fluid. The Back to School Bulldog BBQ was on tap, flyers were out for Tuesday night’s Bible Study and Sunday evening Vespers. Beyond that, nothing was definite or so it seemed. Trying to justify my restlessness I assured myself we deserved some ordinary time. The campus was still healing from the deaths of three students killed in February 2005. The driver had survived. He was one of our baseball players, Fred Lewis, who went on to become an outfielder with the San Francisco Giants.

My husband and I were building a new cottage in Success during 2005. We had sold the big house our four children had grown up in and were living in a camper trailer. The building project had consumed my summer, and I knew part of the problem with not being prepared for the fall semester was due to neglect on my part. We were hanging the new kitchen cabinets when our daughter phoned to let us know a predicted Category 5 storm was less than 24 hours away!

A day later, Katrina struck. The strong winds were still gusting when we set out, equipped with two chain saws, to find our families on the coast. The 25 minute ride took nearly 3 hours. We found them! Some were clinging to all that remained of their possessions. Their houses were gone and somehow, they survived.

Fear struck again! What about my students? Our cell phones had some battery life remaining so calls went out, one after another. Shawn Foles and his mother were already helping others. Andrea Noll’s home was destroyed but she and her family were out searching the neighborhood for survivors. Soon all were contacted. All were safe, many homeless, but nonetheless safe.

The following months were days with no end. We began and ended our days trying to salvage what was salvageable, shelter those needing shelter, cook on grills and transport food to family and friends staying in tented parts of their homes that remained. The County let us move into our house that was under construction so the camper could go to a family without one. Our unfinished home became shelter to elderly family members and a hub for overnight visitors checking on family and friends.

A month after Katrina hit land, MGCCC (Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College) opened the Perkinston Campus letting students back into the dorm rooms. For students, the possessions they had left behind were now priceless. The old house we affectionately called The Wesley House had a large oak lying across the back, but was still standing. Wesley Foundations from other states soon came to spend their fall breaks with us mucking out houses. As each new group arrived they brought fresh new energy. Perk Wesley students joined in the recovery efforts for months but were growing weary and hollow eyed. They wanted normalcy. They, like many, were growing weary of the storm’s destruction. Little did we know, for us, the real storm lie just ahead. A new year and a new semester arrived.

LaSonya and the students seemed to be settling into a good routine of ministry. It was January 12. My bags were nearly packed and ready for vacationing in the mountains when the call came from the college. Six students had been killed in an early morning accident. Two others were in critical care at Forest General Hospital. LaSonya, crushed with the news, asked me to come and be with her as she ministered to the campus. One of the joys of serving the Perk Campus had always been the closeness of its faculty, administration, and student body. During tragedies such as this, however, it was the closeness that compounded the pain and sorrow. Everyone hurt. Everyone mourned.

Andrea Noll, one of my favorite students had been at The Club with those in the accident. She sobbed as I held her. “We never meant to do anything wrong. We just wanted to be together. We just wanted to sing. We just wanted to dance.” Her words would haunt me for days and months ahead. After the funerals and memorials, it was time for a sabbatical.

This time there was no promise of a return date. In the back of my mind, there was no returning. There was no trip to the mountains. My spirit was too far down in the valley, with no desire to ease the pain. Thoughts of the students tragically killed, seldom left my mind. One was our baseball pitcher, two were sisters, (the only two daughters of a mother whose spouse had died the year before), three were Perkettes, four were cousins, five all went to the same Catholic Church, and six graduated from the same high school. All were good kids. All were God’s children.

Mourning cast a dark shadow over me. I became even more rebellious than normal. The deep seeded warnings not to read books of the Apocrypha no longer held their grip. 2 Esdras (the complete version with all 16 chapters) was read repeatedly. The Prophet Ezra was discovered. His vision in Chapter 10 of a woman that refused to be comforted when her only child died gripped my soul. Just as Ezra cried out to God, so too, I cried in my heart. God sent Ezra to a field to fast eating only plants that flowered. Perhaps my cry was also heard! My husband brought home a garden tiller as my Valentine gift! The garden became all consuming and eased my sorrow.

The call that came asking me to return to Perk Campus Wesley Foundation was a heavy burden. After a sleepless and prayerful night, the cross was, again, mine to carry. My first visit with Dr. Mary Graham, Vice President of the Perkinston Campus, brought news the Perk Barn was going to be torn down. Another Katrina casualty! As the Perk Barn was demolished the vision for a new Barn was birthed. A new barn to house the Perk Wesley! A shelter - a safe place - a sanctuary in a sense. Instead of Perk students going to The Club they would go to The Barn. There would be karaoke, and dancing. There would be lemonade and sweet tea and nachos and cheese. Hotdogs, chili and homemade brownies! We would eat, drink and be merry! We could use trees damaged by Katrina, and volunteer labor! We would get sponsors from local businesses and pledges from donors! My mind was racing with possibilities!

What would the Board of Directors think? What would Higher Education and Campus Ministries think? What would the District Superintendent and, for that matter, the Bishop think? Perk Wesley had $30,000.00 in the building fund. That was only a tenth of what was needed to re-build. Later it occurred to me a tenth was a tithe. It would take sacrificial giving of time, and talent, and money. It was going to take complete trust by two families (that of Larry Haley and Dale Vuyovich) that God was going to provide for them as they took time off from their jobs to build The Barn. It was going to take nothing shy of a miracle to build The Barn! The miracles came. Jim and Jody Nightengale donated the land. Local businesses became sponsors. Donations for matching funds came forth and much was given by those closest to the building project. Perk’s Soccer Coach and Drafting Instructor, drafted our working set of plans. Over 60 large pines, damaged by Katrina, were donated by Preston and Deb Webb of McHenry and that was only the beginning of tree donations. Tommy and Lisa Bennett, saw-millers from North Carolina, milled the trees into rough cut lumber for no cost, while board members worked to spray it for termites and stack it for drying. Perk Wesley students, both current and former, came to work on The Barn’s construction. College Students from J.D. Campus, Massachusetts, Simpson College, Iowa, MSU, and USM spent their fall and spring breaks building walls, decking the roof, and laying water lines. When it was time to stand the second floor, Woodville United Methodist Church arrived in full force. In two days the loft stood totally framed! We needed a lift to get the plywood to the second story roof.

The next day one was on the job site. We needed a lift operator. One appeared. When it was time for the shingles we received the best Christmas present ever!

From local painters, to drywall hangers, to finishers, and the guys that installed our metal soffit, gifts came forth. Our heating and air, insulation, electrical, and appliances, all came with blessings too numerous to count. Woodville returned a second time and helped install our siding and light fixtures. The skills they brought helped tremendously, but it was their encouragement and financial gifts they left that kept us moving forward.

Magnolia Restaurant served as the hub for Larry Haley, Chair of our Trustees. It was there he shared The Barn project with everyone that came in to eat breakfast. It was Larry, the “git-er-done guy” as he became known, that found The Barn’s windows. Amazingly these windows had been stored on a trailer rig in a neighbor’s horse pasture. Beautiful, brand new, Pella Windows! Huge windows and over a hundred of them. The sizes and shapes were an exact match to the plans that had been drawn!

The Barn’s miracles kept me in awe and as it neared completion, my heart spoke to God; “Will they come?” Since the work had begun in August 2006 God had been faithful. The skills, the materials, and the money had always been right on time. The doors would open August 2007. There would be something new for Perk Students that fall semester: Club Night @ The Barn. Students would have a choice. “The Unequivocal Choice.” Dr. Graham said, during its Grand Opening where hundreds of students gathered to sing and dance on the first Club Night.

The Barn –It’s a beautiful place for beautiful people. It’s home to the Perk Campus Wesley: A United Methodist college ministry that strives to make a positive difference in peoples lives everyday. The ministry has grown from a few dozen students to a few hundred students. Every week night The Barn is the place to be if you’re a Perk student. Everything from a Taize’ style prayer, to the traditional Wesley dinner and Bible Study happens here. From the Gospel Choir, to Faith Renown, our cutting-edge praise band. From being in step with the Step Team, to Karaoke night and Bulldog Dominos on Club Night. The Barn is the gathering place for students that just want to sing! That just want to dance! The Barn is used on weekends for wedding gatherings, golden anniversaries, graduation parties and college gatherings for retirements and such. The usage funds help the ministry keep pace. It is difficult to budget for a ministry that booms from having 25 students attend the Statewide Convention one year, to over 60 the next. The Perk Campus Wesley has over 60 members going to Statewide Wesley 2009! Its visioning board and extreme student leadership continues to be its strength.

The Barn looks and sounds like a night club on Thursday nights. One of the plumbers that donated his time and skills during our construction phase, John Tisdale, is now our Karaoke D. J. He’s a great guy and the students love him. Each week the Karaoke equipment goes up but the Altar never comes down.

Not long after the grand opening several students came into the kitchen and one of them said, “Ms Susan, we notice all the stuff hanging around.” “What stuff? I asked. “You know, the stuff!” and one pointed to a cross on the wall. “What about it?” I asked. “We’re atheists,” he replied, “Do you want us to leave?”

“No,” I said, “I want you to stay.” “Cool,” he said, “cause it’s pretty cool here.” He came back every week and each time he came into the kitchen for a hug. Finally one night he burst open the door and shouted, “I LOVE THIS PLACE!” It was the last Club Night before Christmas break. When it came his time to sing he dedicated the song to me: “God Bless The Broken Roads That Bring Me Home To You.” He came into the kitchen for another hug. “Why are you crying,” he asked, “I did the best I could!” With tears streaming down my face I asked him if he understood the song. He looked at me, smiled that beautiful smile, and said, “I wasn’t always an atheist, Ms. Susan. My church didn’t like me. Everyone accepted me here, just as I am. Merry Christmas, Ms. Susan and thanks for The Barn. It’s two thumbs up!”

It’s one of many, many, stories that keep my heart full of joy and my soul strangely warmed. When I do retire, I going to sit at The Barn and tell the stories over, and over again!