Judy Bultman and Bethel Lutheran Serve Biloxi

published in The Bay Press

A visit to Bethel Lutheran Church on Pass Road reveals a busy network of dedicated church members, volunteers from all over the country and one tireless minister's wife, all continuing to work to provide relief, supplies and care of the people of Biloxi. 

Judy Bultman is the wife of Pastor Gerald Bultman. Before the storm, Judy, a self-proclaimed workaholic, worked full time at the Veterans' Hospital in Gulfport and had a very separate identity from that of a minister's wife. Judy said that she loved her work and the people she worked with and was devastated when it was all lost. "I was there all the time and I had all of my favorite things there." she said. Now, she's lost not only her son's pottery and artwork but also her identity, the purpose she felt she served, tans the career she worked 30 years to build. 

Today, retired from her job, Bultman has immersed herself i disaster relief and transferred her energy from her pre-Katrina life to serving those in need as much as she can, working 20-hour days and seeing her husband less now that they're in the same building than she did when things were normal and they met for lunch every day. 

The church has a free community medial clinic when doctors and nurses are available. They offer free food and provide clothing, tents, blankets, sleeping bags and other necessities to people living in the area. Bultman also works to coordinate a steady influx of volunteers, many from Lutheran churches around the country. The efforts are interdenominational and the church shares resources with several others, redistributing supplies where they are most needed. 

The church's relief efforts began days after the storm. Bultman had evacuated to Georgia and her husband returned to the area after the storm passed. Bultman said she was reluctant to come back, wanting to avoid the reality of what was lost. Her nephew called ad said, "Aunt Judy, you need to come down here. Uncle Gerry's having a hard time." So she, her sister and others drove a truck of water and food to Biloxi. The next morning  a line of people were waiting and they were out of food by noon. They didn't' know how they were going to continue to supply the people who needed help but somehow according to Bultman, every day more supplies arrived from donations. They've been serving the community ever since. Now, they have a tent city and plan to move the operation out of the church to a larger location. 

"The needs are so great and we want to take advantage of the volunteers while they're here." she said. "I want to make every person that volunteers here feel appreciated and treat their work is worthwhile so they'll come back and help us again. I'm very committed to that so I am very invested." 

The story about the area's needs is like a repetitious mantra all along the Coast. Even months after the storm the need for basics like shelter  and food have not diminished. "We're dead center between Biloxi and Gulfport and on the bus line," Bultman said, "This si a low-income area. It's imperative that we keep this place open." 

Bultman said that the group has seen about 250-300 people a day, beginning just after the storm and continuing today. She said that she's worried  that soon the casinos that were paying  some of their employees will have to cut them off, leading to an increased influx of people needing food. 

Bultman walked around the small church compound showing the clinic where needs are assessed and requests for work needed can be submitted. She showed classrooms, which look like college dorm rooms, with mattresses on the floor and clothes an d blankets everywhere. 

"We don't let anyone sleep by themselves on those nice, big air mattresses, " she said.  We tell them they can either sleep on the floor or with someone else." Even the chapel serves as sleeping quarters. "We clean it up on Sundays and have services," she explained. 

Bultman explained that needs of local citizens are assessed based on four priorities: the elderly, the infirmed, those with dependents, and the poor. The more of those categories an individual falls into, the higher their priority. The volunteers, including  a group of college kids who "worked like dogs," go out every day and clean out homes and make some repairs. In one week, 30 work requests were completed. 

Those doing the work tend to be either retirees or young students. Some who come to volunteer for a week return for extended stays. others decide to take the opportunity to retire from their careers and devote all their time to helping. 

Bultman spoke with emotion and admiration about her experiences working with the volunteers. She said that she's seen the experience of volunteering change people. "I tell them that they think they've come here to help other people but their lives have been changed in a way that they will never e able to get over and they will never be the same. I know it's true because I've heard it from every volunteer that comes here. They're honored to be here." she said. 

Bultman said in the first days after the storm people had what they began to call the "storm look." She could tell which ones had lost everything. People from all economic backgrounds, people who never thought they would need this kind of help were in the store looking fro clean underwear and food. The volunteers repeat another Coast mantra, that they've never seen this level of devastation anywhere before, that photographs and television coverage don't begin to explain it. 

Bultman walked around with contagious energy, showing a shower trailer made and donated by another LUtheran Church and a bus donated by a retired engineer who had it converted to a camper. Bultman is making plans to put a new volunteer, an engineer, to work converting the bus to a mobile health clinic. She showed me a poster advertising  a campaign by a retired Democratic party activist who wants to provide free roofing the the area. She showed the campers where long term volunteers get to sleep and the piles of goods coming in, ready for distribution. 

Finally, sitting down, Bultman opened up about her self and her loss. "It's overwhelming," she said. She admitted that she avoids going home because she doesn't want to face what she and her husband have lost. She's focused so much on the loss of others, avoidance becomes the norm. She repeated ta common feeling among those on the Coast who didn't lose everything but had damage. The guilt over having been spared the worst precludes real grief for what was lost. Asked about her won situation, she still speaks of the community. "We built this small church ourselves," she said, "We have a small congregation of about 100. Half of that is gone. The church itself is in jeopardy." 

For Bultman, the devastation has been an opportunity to serve people of the community and exercise the principles of her faith and of all churches, to serve in God's name. Bultman said after supper every night the volunteers gather around and are asked the question, "Where did you see the face of God today?" Hands shoot up all over the room and they tell stories of humor, courage and hope for hours. 

Bultman encouraged people who want to help their efforts to search on the Internet for "Lutheran/Episcopal Disaster Response of Mississippi" and find a needs list for the area. What would be even better, she said is to give a gift card or bank card so that specific items can be purchased from local retailers based on the needs of the community.