I Love NOLA!!!!
Well, what a week. A group of 24 teens and adults returned home Saturday morning around 3:45 am from one long and very hard week in New Orleans. Now, if you know me even slightly, I am not much for being hot and sticky and sweat? I don't think so! But there was no way that sweat was going to stop me from going. We went to New Orleans for one week to gut out a house. Our group was big enough to split in half, so we actually gutted 2 houses. By gutting I mean that everything, EVERYTHING had to come out. We took out personal belongings, refrigerators, ovens, toilets, tubs, water tanks, floor tiles, ceilings, dry wall, etc., etc., etc., until we had concrete floors and the studs remaining. Talk about exhausting!
Our group was wonderful, though. Our teens didn't complain. Our adults didn't complain. We all worked very well and very hard together. It was a trip I wouldn't trade for anything. Almost a year later, Aug. 27th to be exact, New Orleans still looks like a ghost town. Businesses are still closed, houses have fallen down, some were torn down because it was so damaged. A lot of people are under the impression that everything is back to the way it use to be. But it's not. We drove down the streets and saw the X's on the house were it told who searched the house for bodies, when they searched, and how many bodies were found. As we were driving down the road, I saw one 0 after another after another and began to think that this area was lucky that it was only property damage and no one died in their home. Until we passed a house that said 2 and then another that said 3. That's when it hit me. I began to realize how big of a tragedy this really was and still is. Although I don't think I will ever fully understand how huge it once was, I do understand that I am lucky. No, more than lucky. I am blessed. I have a home, friends, family.....I can only begin to imagine the hardships that the residents went through and are still going through.
One of my favorite things to do was to wave to people out the window of our huge charter bus. Now, they are tinted windows, but people knew exactly why there was a charter bus going through their neighborhood. (I guess it could have been the neon yellow shirts that gave us away.) The best thing was when people would wave at us first. They were very appreciative of everything that we were doing. Someone told a member of our group that it's because of the church groups like ours that New Orleans is still surviving. No doubt about it, we were showing Jesus to New Orleans.
The night before our first day of gutting we had an orientation about what to expect. They told us to take a break every 15-20 minutes. I looked at Ryan and we both chuckled. Yet, by the first 15 minutes of work on the first day, I realized that they weren't kidding. We were wearing work boots, long pants, a T-shirt (if not 2 T-shirts), protective glasses, gloves, and the worst thing.....a doctor's mask. I don't know what they're called, but I do know that they were ridiculously hot! Not to mention that we were also ripping out the entire insides of a house. During the first break, I was looking up and down the street and the other houses and the destruction to them and I see this guy wearing shorts, tennis shoes, and a T-shirt which was NOT bright yellow. At first, I didn't have a clue as to who he was. Then I realized that it was the bus driver. Paul, who drove us around during the week was a Christian, too. He is from Bridgeport, WV and was he ever wonderful? He worked with us 3 of the 4 days. Why not the 4th? He is an associate minister at his church and Thursday was his only chance to prepare his sermon. How sweet is that? I really think that he gave the group an extra push when we started to really feel worn. We loved him. And I think he loved us, too. When we switched drivers on the way home, he cried as he got off of the bus and drove away. He was an amazing man!
I could type for weeks and weeks on the whole experience, but I don't think I will ever be able to share with you what I was able to take away from New Orleans. The people who were impacted by Katrina still need us. They need prayers, support, help rebuilding their homes and their lives. We heard someone say that if the rebuilding process stays at this rate, it will take another 10 years to get New Orleans to be anything similar to what it was. I will never forget my experience there!
Check out the Grand Central Youth Ministry link to check out a very small amount of pictures.
Our group was wonderful, though. Our teens didn't complain. Our adults didn't complain. We all worked very well and very hard together. It was a trip I wouldn't trade for anything. Almost a year later, Aug. 27th to be exact, New Orleans still looks like a ghost town. Businesses are still closed, houses have fallen down, some were torn down because it was so damaged. A lot of people are under the impression that everything is back to the way it use to be. But it's not. We drove down the streets and saw the X's on the house were it told who searched the house for bodies, when they searched, and how many bodies were found. As we were driving down the road, I saw one 0 after another after another and began to think that this area was lucky that it was only property damage and no one died in their home. Until we passed a house that said 2 and then another that said 3. That's when it hit me. I began to realize how big of a tragedy this really was and still is. Although I don't think I will ever fully understand how huge it once was, I do understand that I am lucky. No, more than lucky. I am blessed. I have a home, friends, family.....I can only begin to imagine the hardships that the residents went through and are still going through.
One of my favorite things to do was to wave to people out the window of our huge charter bus. Now, they are tinted windows, but people knew exactly why there was a charter bus going through their neighborhood. (I guess it could have been the neon yellow shirts that gave us away.) The best thing was when people would wave at us first. They were very appreciative of everything that we were doing. Someone told a member of our group that it's because of the church groups like ours that New Orleans is still surviving. No doubt about it, we were showing Jesus to New Orleans.
The night before our first day of gutting we had an orientation about what to expect. They told us to take a break every 15-20 minutes. I looked at Ryan and we both chuckled. Yet, by the first 15 minutes of work on the first day, I realized that they weren't kidding. We were wearing work boots, long pants, a T-shirt (if not 2 T-shirts), protective glasses, gloves, and the worst thing.....a doctor's mask. I don't know what they're called, but I do know that they were ridiculously hot! Not to mention that we were also ripping out the entire insides of a house. During the first break, I was looking up and down the street and the other houses and the destruction to them and I see this guy wearing shorts, tennis shoes, and a T-shirt which was NOT bright yellow. At first, I didn't have a clue as to who he was. Then I realized that it was the bus driver. Paul, who drove us around during the week was a Christian, too. He is from Bridgeport, WV and was he ever wonderful? He worked with us 3 of the 4 days. Why not the 4th? He is an associate minister at his church and Thursday was his only chance to prepare his sermon. How sweet is that? I really think that he gave the group an extra push when we started to really feel worn. We loved him. And I think he loved us, too. When we switched drivers on the way home, he cried as he got off of the bus and drove away. He was an amazing man!
I could type for weeks and weeks on the whole experience, but I don't think I will ever be able to share with you what I was able to take away from New Orleans. The people who were impacted by Katrina still need us. They need prayers, support, help rebuilding their homes and their lives. We heard someone say that if the rebuilding process stays at this rate, it will take another 10 years to get New Orleans to be anything similar to what it was. I will never forget my experience there!
I LOVE NOLA!!!!!!!!
Check out the Grand Central Youth Ministry link to check out a very small amount of pictures.
posted by Jessie at 4:17 PM
1 Comments:
Good update my friend. I had fun with you in New Orleans. You make me laugh so much. I love you!
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