Thursday was a productive day at both houses, with perfect weather.

Thursday evening we rewarded ourselves with a great meal at the Half Shell Oyster House, which has become a tradition.

The forecast was for rain on Friday, so the plan was to go to another site for indoor work — more flooring and painting. However, the prediction improved by Friday morning, so the crew hot-footed back to Dixie Avenue to try to finish the rehab house. By day’s end it was 95% finished.

Once again, Craig donned his chef’s toque and made us a sumptuous shrimp boil, accompanied by Jack’s outstanding biscuits and my always-on-the-last-night mac and cheese. Our flight leaves around five Saturday evening, though the Chadwicks and Murphys are leaving at dawn and Derek and Sean have a 10 a.m. flight. The rest of us can sleep in and polish up the mission house for the next group arriving Sunday.

As always, it was a terrific week. First-timer Ally did a superlative job as our spiritual leader, sharing pitch-perfect reflections before dinner each evening. Jim, as usual, effectively wrangled the site workers. And we provided much-needed support for the food pantry, Micah Center and Loaves and Fishes.

It was exciting to hear from Craig about BBM’s ambitious plans for building affordable housing and executing their vision for transitional housing via tiny bedrooms on wheels and tiny houses. As always, we heard stories that tugged at our heartstrings about people living at the edges of Biloxi society, left behind by municipal government and invisible to most of the faith community here. Probably most heart-wrenching to me was hearing about the effects of homelessness on women, who become victims of rape, abuse and sex trafficking.

RayRay, who runs the Micah Center, observed that “you’ve got to be spirit-led to do this work.” She describes their guests as “good people who’ve made bad choices.” Micah is a haven for these folks, so much so that some people come to the center to die.

Our hearts are full as we begin the journey home tomorrow. Friendships have been newly made and old ones strengthened through our shared experiences.`We’ll be back again next year!