January 8 2006
Sunday January 8, 2006
The four flyers ( KatherineHenschen, Phil Field, John Mahler, Stan Moore) spent the day exploring.
We had coffee at a café in the French Quarter, then joined Canal Street Presbyterian at their service. They are meeting in a side room, the main part of the church having been damaged when part of the roof blew off. Their congregation is growing due to people drifting back to NO. They are extremely grateful for support from St James and other churches.
After the service and a quick bite of lunch, we drove to the “Ninth Ward.” This is the part of town which flooded severely, and of which we all saw pictures of folks stranded on roofs.
The destruction almost defies description, but here goes: Imagine blocks of your neighborhood swept clear of houses, phone poles, cars….And imagine that two blocks away, there are piles of rubble 10 or 15 feet high. Those piles of rubble are shredded wood, furniture, cars, and possessions. Also, houses, cars, trucks, buses, barges (!) are piled higgledy piggeldy, at all angles and in all states of repair, throughout the area.
We are already meeting many people and everyone has a unique and difficult story to tell. There is so much hurt, and yet there is a lot of hope and gratitude.
Tomorrow we start to work. Hope to post some pix.
The rest of the team (drivers) arrived safely today, and jumped into the mix. We are sharing the house with a group from First Pres. Boulder, so there are fellow Coloradans here! Praise God for safe travel and a good start….
The four flyers ( KatherineHenschen, Phil Field, John Mahler, Stan Moore) spent the day exploring.
We had coffee at a café in the French Quarter, then joined Canal Street Presbyterian at their service. They are meeting in a side room, the main part of the church having been damaged when part of the roof blew off. Their congregation is growing due to people drifting back to NO. They are extremely grateful for support from St James and other churches.
After the service and a quick bite of lunch, we drove to the “Ninth Ward.” This is the part of town which flooded severely, and of which we all saw pictures of folks stranded on roofs.
The destruction almost defies description, but here goes: Imagine blocks of your neighborhood swept clear of houses, phone poles, cars….And imagine that two blocks away, there are piles of rubble 10 or 15 feet high. Those piles of rubble are shredded wood, furniture, cars, and possessions. Also, houses, cars, trucks, buses, barges (!) are piled higgledy piggeldy, at all angles and in all states of repair, throughout the area.
We are already meeting many people and everyone has a unique and difficult story to tell. There is so much hurt, and yet there is a lot of hope and gratitude.
Tomorrow we start to work. Hope to post some pix.
The rest of the team (drivers) arrived safely today, and jumped into the mix. We are sharing the house with a group from First Pres. Boulder, so there are fellow Coloradans here! Praise God for safe travel and a good start….
posted by Phylis Ritscher at 8:18 PM
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