Libby men to help rebuild destroyed church

A group of volunteers is headed from Libby to Waveland, Miss., to help rebuild a church destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

The group, consisting of Pastor Darwin Scofield, Bob Dewald, Coby Bennett and Rick Morrow of Libby and Gordon Mott and Greg Belisle of West Kootenai, left Sunday afternoon from Libby Baptist Church. Taking turns driving the church van, they expected to be in Mississippi in about 48 hours. Plans are to begin work on Wednesday, March 1, and continue for one week before returning to Libby.

Scofield said he found out about the Waveland church after weeks of searching for a suitable project. While he received assurances that there was plenty of work to be done, he had a hard time making contact with anyone about specific needs.

"You just about couldn't talk to anybody who actually had boots on the ground," he said.

The church in Waveland — located about a half-mile from the ocean — was about 70-percent destroyed by the hurricane, Scofield said. Through an oversight of the church administration, the damage was not covered by insurance, he said.

Groups from all over the country have been taking turns working on the project. Volunteers from Kalispell recently returned home from Waveland, and a group from Maryland will be relieved by the Libby contingent.

"It's kind of a tag team, " Scofield said.

The Libby church is absorbing the travel cost, and a spaghetti dinner raised funds for the purchase of floor tiles and other materials for the project.

The Baptist churches in Libby, West Kootenai and Troy, along with a camp at the Thompson Chain of Lakes, were built with help from volunteers from Mississippi and Louisiana, Scofield said, and this is a chance to return the favor.

"They have invested their money and their lives for four decades here in northwest Montana, and it just makes sense for us to go down and partner with them," he said.