Absorbed by the Lord’s Work

Katrina’s Ruin Persists, So He Does Too 

During a sleepless night three years ago, Brown Pearson felt God telling him to go to the Gulf Coast and help rebuild homes devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
This October, the Chesterfield County resident will make his 12th trip to Pascagoula, Miss.
Although Pearson had no actual experience dealing with floods before Katrina hit the southern coast of the U.S. on Aug. 28, 2005, he figured he had the right background to help out. He had studied engineering at Virginia Tech, spent six years in the Marines, was a Boy Scout leader for 25 years and has been a property manager for more than 30 years.
In the last three years, Pearson has learned a lot about cleaning up after a flood. He has mucked out houses, hung sheet rock, run ground wire, changed circuit breakers, assessed damage, argued with insurance companies trying to deny claims, ripped up vinyl floors, pulled out kitchen cabinets, offered encouragement to people who had lost everything and made new friends. He also has helped repair roofs, jack up houses and rebuild porches.
It will be years before Pascagoula, a town of about 27,000 blue-collar workers, will be restored, he says. And Pearson probably will be there when the last house is completed.

Tossing and Turning
Pearson, a member of Southminster Presbyterian Church in Chesterfield, recalled the night he never closed his eyes. As he tossed and turned, thoughts of shootings, robberies, fires and people being rescued raced through his mind. He now calls that night his “little walk with Jesus.”
To his surprise, the next morning he was as refreshed as if he had slept all night. “I emailed 15 friends saying I was going to the Gulf Coast to help with rebuilding. I got four responses [from people] that went with me for two weeks. Two others came for one week.”
It was an email from Southminster’s former associate pastor, Beth Weirman-Lambert, who now lives in Pittsburgh, Pa., that prompted Pearson to take his team to Pascagoula rather than New Orleans. She requested prayers for her mother-in-law and other relatives in Pascagoula who had lost their homes.
Weirman-Lambert’s husband, Chip Lambert, a former Richmond-area emergency room physician, and a team from Pittsburgh would later join Pearson’s group on several trips.
For his first trip, Pearson took 2,000 pounds of tools, valued at about $8,000. “I had almost every tool that I needed, except a power washer, which I borrowed from the Baptists,” he said. Pearson worked about 640 hours during that trip.

Unimaginable Damage
Pearson was surprised by the “sheer magnitude” of the devastation in Pascagoula. It is bigger than anybody can imagine, which is why rebuilding is slow, he said.
“You don’t realize how overwhelming it is until you get there and see it, feel it and touch it,” he said. “If I weren’t a Christian before I went, I would be now.”
Pearson’s wife Laura, a nurse, has been on three trips with her husband.
“I wanted to go because I could see how much it had changed Brown,” Laura Pearson said. “He’s a more spiritual person and more committed to other people.”

Hard-working Residents
She was impressed with the people who live in Pascagoula. “They are so industrious, ingenious and hard working. They don’t want charity. They just want some help. They are so grateful.”
Another Southminster member Joe Bishop also has accompanied Pearson on three trips. “Once I went, I just wanted to keep going back,” Bishop said.
Pearson can talk for hours about the people he has met and helped rebuild their homes.
He recalled a woman who had fled to Houston, Texas. After her 90-year-old husband died, she decided to move back to Pascagoula and live in a trailer. The couple’s house had bobbled in the water and the porch had floated up. The waterline inside the house was at two feet, said Pearson, who met the woman six months after Katrina hit.
“It took three people working with two power washers for a day inside that house to get the mud out. We rebuilt the porch, pulled out the kitchen cabinets and ripped up the vinyl,” he said. “We were dealing with her while she was dealing with her [late] husband’s clothes.”

Crews are Disappearing
This year, Pearson has taken two teams to Pascagoula. He is troubled by how few crews are going there to work now.
“I think we will be working hard on the Gulf Coast at least three more years,” he said. “People have forgotten about Katrina and moved on. Some say: ‘I’ve been for a week and  helped, so I’m through.’ Able-bodied men and women are duty-bound by their faith and as a fellow Christian American to help.”
Pearson added: “I never thought I would be so absorbed by anything. I need to do the Lord’s work. I need to do what I’m called to do.”

Alberta Lindsey spent 42 years as a newspaper reporter. Now a freelance writer in Richmond, she enjoys reading mysteries, traveling and photography.

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