Home Already! Sat. Sept. 30th

We are thankful to be home safely, and can only say that every aspect of the week was a huge success! God was working in SO many ways - both through us and in us. A quick re-cap of the past couple of days;
Thursday we finished gutting the Memphis Street house that was begun on Wednesday. We are now regular customers of the ice cream truck that frequents the neighborhood. Actually, the fact that there WAS an ice cream truck is a sign of hope, although I'm sure most of the customers are construction workers, not homeowners, as the vast majority of houses are still uninhabitable. Dorinne, John, Bill, Jessie & Phylis worked at Canal St. church, putting together tables, installing a window a/c unit, cleaning out an overcrowded supply closet, and taking out the trash. We finished early (on purpose) to allow some time for sight-seeing. Some folks headed for the Garden District, others for the French Quarter, and several more napping back at Woodland House.

Friday the team split into 2 yard work groups - both houses belonging to Canal St. members whose homes have been gutted but not rebuilt. The yard have debris, dead trees, trash, and overgrown weeds, broken fences, objects from homes (often not from THAT home, but items that floated in during the flood) that all needed to be removed. It was a gorgeous day to be outdoors, and everyone enjoyed the change from being in a moldy house, although one home still had a dreaded REFRIGERATOR to be removed from the back shed. One could write volumes on refrigerator stories - suffice to say there is a smell associated with them that can never be forgotten!

Friday evening we hurried back to Canal St. after showers to help set up for a neighborhood bbq that the church has been putting on once/month to reach out to folks. It was an amazing time of fellowship, getting to know church members better, grilling some burgers & dogs (Steve & Matt taking turns sporting the LSU apron!) and meeting the people that live around the church. There were dogs, kids, life! And everyone you meet with a unique Katrina story to tell.... One of the men from Canal St. lost his home just a block away from the 17th St break, but he had nothing but praise and glory to give to God, because of the BLESSINGS that have come from this tragedy. Things that used to be Christian slogans, such as 'God will provide for your needs, He will never let you down, He will be your strength' are his family's daily reality. He testified that the body of Christ is amazing, as they have been overwhelmed with the people coming to help. We also heard some fantastic music at the church by a band made up of young adults from the church + a few friends, until we had to leave to get back to Woodland house for one last group time together.

Our group barely scratched the surface with things they don't want to forget from the week - the gratitude of the people in NO, the indescribable condition of the ruined homes, the enormity of the need, the wish that more people would come down to help, the FAITH of the Canal St. church, the smell of refrigerators, the team unity and comraderie (I'm going to Disneyworld!), how God spoke through the daily events, how our understanding of the complexity of the problems has changed, the hope for restoration, etc. We also re-told some of our favorite stories of the week as we gave out 'awards' to each team member, highlighting just a few of the gifts that each one brought.

Today's flight was thankfully uneventful, as we said good-bye to the Crescent City and hello to the Mile High City, but most plan to return and to find creative ways to continue partnering with Canal St. We were aware of all the prayers, and are now praying ourselves, that God would continue to call out his people to come alongside the good people of N.O. as they walk by faith into the future.

Wednesday, Sept 27

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Today was a good day. It’s always a good day for me on a mission trip, but in spite of that fact, I’m pretty sure it was a good day for our team. Our homeowners from the last 2 days that we worked for, surprised us by coming to work WITH us on our next house! They worked SO hard all day, and it really helped us out. They wanted to show their gratitude for our help to them, so they helped on this site.

And this home was in dire condition. Not much had been done at all, and the house and all its contents were completely trashed & molded. We made short work of it – this team works incredibly hard!!!! Fortunately it was a corner lot, (on the corner of Memphis & Lane) which gave us lots of curb space to put all the contents of the home, including drywall, ceilings, insulation furniture, bathroom fixtures, pantry contents, a couple dozen of the thousands of roaches we encountered, toys, clothing, etc. etc. etc. It is a sad sight to see the items that represent a family’s life pile up on the curb waiting to be trashed in an unknown landfill site.

Today we were given the image that to these homeowners, we represent new life, like turning on a switch so they can move forward. We were also given another image by our friends that we are the body of Christ in the flesh to so many people here, and that our assistance to them is nothing short of sacramental.

Tomorrow we will finish the house from today, as well as work at Canal St. Pres., helping them get some odds and ends done around the church. Tonight, our friend Kristin from Baton Rouge gave us some more background and insight into the complicated relief and rebuilding process for N.O. She also made the plea for us to spread the word about the ongoing need down here, which is still monumental.
So……when are YOU coming???????

Phylis

p.s. – I don’t know if any of you have responded to our blog. I apologize, but we have not had easy access to internet, so we don’t have time to check e-mails & postings. Thank you for your prayers! Please respond and we’ll all check it out when we get back.

Tuesday, Sept 26

Tuesday Sept. 26th –
God is amazing us with his presence through his people! We have been called angels twice now, and it puts us in an uncomfortable place, as we know we are simply God’s very flawed (but willing!) servants. The heartfelt gratitude that we are experiencing here has overwhelmed and humbled us!

Our team split up today, in a very surprising way. We were told that the new home we were working on required folks who had some ‘patience’ to be flexible with what the homeowner needed. So, I simply told Louise, our work coordinator, that’s easy – I can tell you who is ‘impatient’ and everyone who is left can go to the new house! What started out as a joke, quickly materialized into the group being split neatly down the middle, and all those who had been called out as ‘impatient’ embraced the label wholeheartedly!

So, the impatient people returned to Monday’s home to finish the work there. It consisted mostly of removed very well-attached baseboards, lath & plaster wall about 3 feet up, and pulling nails out of exposed studs. But the joy of the day came from our homeowners, Laneta & Garland, who shared more of the struggle they’ve been through this past year. The details are too many for this posting, but it can be summed up by saying that you have no idea what people have been dealing with unless you’ve walked in their shoes. The complicated process of clearing a home, knowing how to proceed, knowing how to pay for it, etc. is nothing short of mind-boggling.

The ‘patient’ group cleared the plaster walls from one half of a double home, for a woman who is living in the FEMA trailer in the very small front yard, while she cares for a dying elderly friend. The team was doing a fantastic job, and were almost complete when the impatient people arrived on the scene to pitch in for the last hour, a needed assist at the end of a long day.

Tonight’s sharing centered around the idea of asking others for help, and how difficult (or not) that is! We tried to imagine turning the tables, where we were in need of help from others… Not so easy for most of us! It was unanimously stated that this week has already been incredibly special to each person on the team! There is much talk of coming back soon and bringing others.

Posted by Phylis Ritscher

St James Missions

St James Missions

Hello St. James and the world!
Wow. Its hard to imagine it but we have already been here two whole days! This blog comes really late and we as a team apologize. As it is, we have hardly had a moment that hasn't been filled with things to do. We met at DIA on Saturaday at 8:45 in the morning and headed out on our Ted Airbus. The flight went just fine and everything in the LA airport went smoothly and we were off in three mini-vans in the blink of an eye. For the remainder of the day we bonded as a team... or well a couple of teams... that is as volleybal players. Those of us with enough energy faced eachother on the wonderful sand pit in the back yard. Afterwards, it was a quick team meeting and off to the city to explore and eat.
The next day, Sunday, we joined our brothers and sisters in Christ at Canal St. Presbyterian Church. The P astor, Mike gave a wonderful sermon and worship was excelent. One interesting thing that we noticed was instead of a sharing time, Canal St. Presbyterian had a lot of prayer time where the congregation aid their prayers out loud and any prayer requests were, in themselves, a prayer that everyone prayed for on the spot. It really struck some of our team members when the pastor bowed before the alter of God to pray. It was very powerful and moving. At one point in the service there was a thuderstorm above us. During one of the praise/prayer times, a member of the band was totally throwing up praise to God when he paused and at that second a quake of thunder echoed through the church. It totally showed the awesome power of God and His wonderous timing, because, it was perfect timing.
The rest of the day, was spent in the touring of the city. As much as the destruction is and was, progress is seen everyday. The weeds have taken over where it was once dead. On one hand it shows the hope of new life for New Orleans, that the city and its people will survive with resilliancy. On the other hand, the weeds are choking the houses and the trees and sometimes covering the debris. This shows the need for even more progress and the need for more volunteers and resources. The choking makes us and the people of New Orleans think of the need for a plan, a way to get out of the mess and chaos that surrounds us everyday. Sunday at lunch, one of our team, Buzz, had ordered a huge double decker 2 lb. burger (maybe I exagerate a little). He said after eating, "I feel like I might go into hibernation now." We could all tell why!
Today was our first real day here. We awakened early to Phylis, saying loudly, "Get up its almost 6:30!" A time difference of an hour would make that 5:30 in Colorado. We got up made luch and then we were on the road again. We got to Canal St. Pres. met Louise, got our tools, were debriefed, then the most important thing, we prayed. With God with us we went over to Lanita and Garland's three story house. In the house, what we would call the first story, they called the basement and so on up. The condition of the house was remarkable. Dont get me wrong, it was a horrible mess with lots of mold inside the walls. However the water had only reached up to about a foot and a half above the floor on the first floor. The basement was in the same condition as most of the homes in New Orleans; dark, damp, dusty, completly askewed and rotting. As we worked through the day, removing the debris and rubble, the remnents of life before the flood, we began to see hope. Once the windows were opened and a light, cooling breeze was alowed throughout the rooms, for what was probably the first time in a year, the air became lighter, and easier to breath.
If the family was just Lanita and Garland, you ask, why did they have such a huge house. Lanita and Garland housed tenants there in their home. Tenants that were more family than rent paying people. The couple met in the place they both work, a hospital for the mentally challenged. With big hearts, the couple cared for their patients even when they were relocateded out of the city during the storm. Both of them are surfers and were extremely hospitable during our time with them. They made sure to hug us all, it might have been because their hearts were so full of love for us, but Im positive, part of it was the overwhelming feeling of gratitude and disbelief that 16 strangers came to help them get on with their lives. Im not sure what it is about the pure physical work that we do while we are down here, but it makes us more open to love. We find that as we get out, and suffer for the sake of others and serve with all that we can muster, the love that God puts into our hearts moves us closer together.

We will be thinking of and praying for your safe and positive trip. It was my privelege to go on the January trip and it was a very worthwhile, rewarding, and humbling experience.
Vaya con Dios!

Getting Ready!

Thanks for visiting our blog site! We are 10 days away from our return to New Orleans, and the sense of expectancy is growing! The team consists of 16 people, including 4 who are joining us from 'outside' St. James and 12 who are regulars at St. James. There are 5 of us who have had the privilege of being in New Orleans at least one other time this year, and made plans to return before our first trip was half over. We are all flying this time, hoping to avoid such things as sofas that act as roadblocks (an event on the way home last time!). We all would deeply appreciate your prayers for the week, and ongoing prayers for the residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Talk to you soon!
Phylis