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February 5, 2006EditorialSchool, students show courage, compassionLike the people of the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast they went to help, the 118 students from Traverse City Christian School who spent a week helping others rebuild their lives can thank Hurricane Katrina for one thing: It has made them wiser, and from that wisdom has come strength.The students, some as young as 12, saw firsthand what the ravages of nature can do to buildings, cities and people. They did what not many of us have done - looked into the eyes of people who have lost everything but the will to keep going, wherever that may be. They saw despair, destruction and hope. It was a brave thing for the students to do. It was even braver for the school to organize such a trip, knowing it would expose their young people to a hard side of life not often seen in northern Michigan. It was a leap of faith for everyone involved. The students labored for days in and around Moss Point, Miss., sweating in the heat to put up drywall, clean up debris, paint houses. After their labors they slept on hard gym floors and then got up to do it all again the next day. Student Eric Pardini, 16, said the destruction gave the students a lot to think about. "We talk a lot on the bus ride back," he said. "We're so tired, but we feel so good about being here and helping people." The students also kept journals and made nightly devotions. It all helped them focus on what they were seeing and doing. "We sit and talk about how we've seen God through these people," said Kim Romberg, 14. Twelve-year-old Meagan Van Til said she saw God's hand in the disaster that struck the Gulf. "This experience has given me perspective on how natural disasters can influence faith," she told a Record-Eagle reporter. "God is not punishing people, he is only making us stronger." Youth pastor Les Wiseman told students that the experience will change them. "You will be a different kind of believer after this experience," he said. They are also older and wiser, even for their tender years. That's a good thing for their school, their church and their community.
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