Everyone was late getting up this morning (8:30), so we all kind of meandered in as we got up and made our own waffles with fresh fruit (BEST thing ever!). We finally got to work about 9:30. One group went into the office to work on the drywall some more to get the texture up so it would dry by after lunch so the painting could begin. Another group went to the upper level of the church to help organize a bit and get the carpet laid out from the old office. Me, Judith, and Stacy all worked on labeling all of the tools because they kept getting left at the homeowner's homes. It was great! Judith and Chris re-organized one of the "closets" in here, which was GREATLY appreciated as before you couldn't even walk into the area. It was GREAT! We got a lot accomplished.

We were planning on heating up left-overs for lunch, only for one of the families from People's bring us a wonderful home-made lunch of red beans & rice, baked chicken, and salad. They stayed and ate with us as well as Pastor Eunice which was wonderful to enjoy their company.

After lunch the room got primed and a first coat of paint on the purple wall, the beige walls were completely finished. Stacy and I KP'ed and then made dessert - rice crispy treats and then stained some boards for the front of the church. Pastor Eunice also got a new desk that was built with some more organization upstairs.

Judith, Chris and I helped cook a dinner of pork chops, sweet potatoes, apples, and onions. I also cooked up a special treat of baked brie bread, which was quickly gone. After dinner we went over to the sanctuary for a service that Pastor Eunice and Rob put on for us. We talked about what we were getting out of being here this week, what our favorite praise songs are, and just had a good grounding moment.

The best part of tonight was that after the service, two of the congregation members (the same two who brought us lunch today) stayed and talked about what they went through after Katrina hit. It was absolutely heartbreaking to hear their story, but it was absolutely what we needed, I believe. It made this more effective as to what we're really doing here in New Orleans, why we're helping to work on this church. It brought home the devastation that the citizens of New Orleans faced during this horrible storm.

Their story is that the Saturday before Katrina hit, they drove up to their children's home off the coast and packed to stay there for 3 days, when Katrina was suppossed to be gone and it would be safe to come home. Katrina hit on August 15, 2005, and they were not allowed to return to their home until November 1, 2005. When they came home, they could see the water line in their house from where it had flooded. The water had come up and stayed at 3 feet above the ground outside the house, and had flooded and filled their house with water all the way up, just 3 feet shy of the ceiling. They lost their wedding pictures, all the clothes, anything that wasn't completely water-proof. When they went through their china and glasses, the glasses were still filled with water from their home being flooded, and they just threw them out because it had gotten so molded. They would have paid their home off completely in December 2005, but because they had to rebuild, they had to take out another 30 year mortgage in order to get their home back. It was only this week that they were able to move back into their home.

We all really enjoyed talking with them and hearing their story, and it was obviously difficult and the woman began crying thinking back on all they lost, but as she kept telling herself and her husband, "It will be alright." Her philosophy is one that everyone should remember and live by. If she can live through that and be alright, then anything we go through can turn out alright.

After the service and impromtu conversation, we all went back to the volunteer center and chatted. The younger crowd went out bowling and from what we gathered had a great time. Us old people (ha ha) went out to get more beignets. Chad leaves tomorrow morning and hadn't had them yet, plus Stacy and I wanted to get the mix to take home for family, so we conned Kevin in to taking us down there and let me tell you, it was a RIOT! Chad isn't exactly used to hanging out with us, so everytime he would go to take a drink, someone (mostly Chris) would say something and he would about spray his water out his nose. It was HILARIOUS! Then, while we were chowing down on our beignets, he went to take a bite and decided to inhale the powdered sugar that covers them and we thought he was going to die, but somehow couldn't stop laughing long enough to make certain he was alright. Kevin was laughing so hard we thought he was going to hack up a lung. I don't think any of us have laughed so much the entire trip, it was definitely a much needed break from the serious and solemn tone of why we are here. Of course, Judith has been feeling a bit under-the-weather, so we stopped and picked up some honey for her on our way and brought it home to her so that she could have hot tea.

Today was a good day full of insight, things to ponder, and the most important thing in life, lots of laughter. I thank each and every one of you that has taken part of this trip to make it what it is, you will all hold a special place in my heart and a special moment in my memory. I love you all.

Well ladies and gents, I believe I definitely need to get to bed now. I have been talking with Chris as I type this, which makes it difficult to pay attention to what I'm writing, so this has taken me much longer than I expected and need my beauty sleep, which will be much less than I originally intended.

We will see you all back at church this week, and I hope you all are enjoying this week as much as we have been!

Love and miss you all,
Joyce

written by  Joyce on March 12, 2008 from New Orleans, United States
from the travel blog: New Orleans Mission Trip
tagged Tom, Abbie, Tess, Jenn, Craig, Judith, Rob, Chris, Kevin, Chad, Stacy, Wayne and Tobie
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Thursday was early rise for Rob and Chad as they had to get Chad to the airport bright and early. Rob had enough time to get back, fall back asleep, and be woken up not long after.

We were all up and adam pretty quickly and had left-over french toast and the super yummy waffles that Stacey and I told Kevin he HAD to make. It was fabulous. So after a nutritious meal, we all got workin.

Most of the day was finishing up and typing up loose ends at the church. Everyone worked pretty hard getting the sanctuary cleaned up from all of our traffic, dry wall dust, and paint, and most everyone was up pretty late (myself and Judith, who was not feeling well, excluded), but Tom, Tess, Jenn, and Craig were up until 4 in the morning making certain that the office got almost completely finished including the floors, shelves, the desk was built, most of the touch-up paint was done, it looked great, I mean, really absolutely wonderful. I'm certain Pastor Eunice was absolutely THRILLED to have her office back after being in the fellowship hall all week, and not just any office, but one that was filled with love and hard work.

Chris completely cataloged the tools for the two volunteer ladies at the center. People were having a hard time finding tools and things like that, so he made up a list of where everything was so that way it would be easy to find things.

The best part of Thursday was that we got to go down and see the 9th Ward finally. It was positively heartbreaking to see all of these houses in disrepair and only a few families coming back and trying to get back what they lost. Each house had a large X spray-painted on the front of the house with four pieces of information: the organization that searched the house, the date it was searched, how many people were found alive, and how many people were found dead. I am glad to say that most of the houses we saw had 0 for that last category, but not all of them did and everytime someone saw something other than a 0, it just kind of took us all aback. We saw houses that had been completely ripped off the foundation and turned on their sides, homes where the roofs had collapsed and nothing was left. The most heartbreaking was seeing messages on the homes that said, "Help!" or "Thieves, look in the window before you break our door again, all the copper has already been stolen." Even when these people thought they lost everything, looters were stealing the copper wiring and pipes and selling them all. It was extremely disheartening. This made us realize why we were there trying to help out, what we went there to do. I only wish that we could have stayed longer, done more, helped another family, but we did what we could, what we were able, and will do it again if the time is right.

We went through and saw the habitat houses that are being built. They are all these crazy colors like green, fuscia, blue, I loved it! There were two gentlemen sitting on a patio, so we all stopped and got out and chatted with them for a bit. It was incredible the luck that we had. It wasn't just anyone that we had stopped to talk to, but a well-known local blues drummer, Bob French. And while talking with him and the pianist from next door, Smokey Johnson, who had played with Fats Domino for a long time, cruised by in his wheelchair "listening to his tunes." It was quite the chance encounter, that's for certain. After hearing his story and how this wasn't the first storm he's weathered and lost everything to, but the second (Hurricane Betsy being the first in 1965), and how he couldn't be happier than where he is right now with what he's got right now, we all appreciated things a bit more. Bob gave us all his CD's and everyone got at least one, but Chris, who is the music junkie and the one that Bob teased about being the youngest of the group (and actually thought was in high school), got all three of his CD's and I think was very excited to have done so. Afterwards, we all went back to the center and the church and finished up working. At about 11:30, I made cookies for everyone to give them a bit of a sugar kick and something to keep going on as everyone had a late night.

We were all up before the crack of dawn at 4:45 and out the door and at Enterprise by 5:15 to turn the van in and get on the shuttle to the airport. We were a bit nervous as to whether we were going to make our flight or not because we only had an hour and a half to check our bags, get through security (which didn't look like it was moving at all), and get to our gate, but it turned out alright and we got there right before they started boarding our section. I think we all were asleep before the plane even took off and didn't wake up until it had landed. We landed 15 minutes late, so we only had half an hour to get to our connecting flight, but we all made it, passed back out and woke up long enough to get a muffin and a drink and then we were all back out until we were almost to Phoenix. We were all exhausted by the time we got home and I know that as soon as I got food, I laid down in my bed and slept the day away, it was great.

After having been home for a few days and having time to reflect on the trip, I wish I had thought of things differently while I was there and made more out of the trip than I did, but I truly appreciate the experiences that I had and the memories that I will forever keep. I've become closer to the people from our group and truly look forward to where we're all going to go and the things that Pastor Eunice can do with her new office. So a big "thank you" and "I love you" to all those that took part, including the kids across the street, the congregation from People's UMC, the Reno team, and everyone that made this trip what it was - the trip of a lifetime. I look forward to the next time that we can go and enjoy the community and share our gifts of labor to those who need it.

Peace and God Bless to all those who need it.

Joyce

written by  Joyce on March 17, 2008 from New Orleans, United States
from the travel blog: New Orleans Mission Trip
tagged Tom, Abbie, Tess, Jenn, Craig, Judith, Rob, Chris, Kevin, Chad, Stacy and WayneAndTobie
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