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.
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.
posted by Phylis Ritscher at 1:42 PM
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