Home again!

Our blogging time got away from us again at the end of the week - our apologies! The trip was a huge success, and there have been many thoughts post-trip. Some of these include how to expand our ongoing partnership, possibly by investing in some real estate in the area, which could provide housing for some families down the road. Others simply want to know when we can go back!

Our team reunion is going to be Monday April 23rd at 7:00 p.m. at Mary Archer's home. Thanks to everyone who has been involved, either by prayer, financial support, time, and interest.

Blessings,
Phylis

dateline New Orleans

March 30, 2007

Since our last posting, we’ve been busy; trying to accomplish as much as we can in one short week, while staying awake and open to the unplanned opportunities to meet and connect with the people here. On Wednesday, the majority of our crew headed to a site in St. Bernard’s Parish to help a congregant at Carolyn Park Presbyterian. A new law goes into effect on April 1, which carries a fine of $100/day for sites that have not yet cleared their yards of debris and plant overgrowth. Once we had the cleared a lot of the undergrowth and were ready to remove the two large trees, we discovered that the chainsaws we had for the work (and were grateful for…) were really not up to the job. In a moment of pure grace, a crew of professional tree trimmers working on the same street saw our struggle and came back to help. In literally less than a minute one of the crew made a perfect notch in the truck of the tree left standing, stepped back while it fell, and then cut the stump of the tree we had already cut in a single, perfect ground-level swath. Our story (and we’re sticking to it) is that the difference in result was all about the quality of the tools he had at his disposal. We also gutted the storage shed,

As we were working we met the neighbors, Rae and Lucy. Rae’s house, directly next door, was razed, but she also needed to clear her yard to avoid the fine. Lucy, one house over, needed to have a one-car garage demolished.

Lucy is a diabetic who has been living in a FEMA trailer in her front yard since she returned to New Orleans. The neighborhood finally has electricity, but she doesn’t have the funds to hire a contractor to rewire her house; same with the drywall and floors. She’s filed the paperwork and now she waits. She doesn’t know how much money she will receive to rebuild or when she will receive it. She says that life in the FEMA trailer has been challenging. The walls sweat in the cold weather and have to be continually wiped down with Clorox to avoid mold. The trailer is small and certainly was never meant to be a long-term dwelling. She says this factually, without an ounce of self-pity or whining. She refuses to vent her frustration at the clear inefficiencies of the governmental agencies. She immigrated to America from Guatemala when she was six and says that coming to this country was the dream of her parents and the greatest thing that ever happened to her. She says in Guatemala, no one would have even the expectation of help. So it’s hard for her to understand sometimes, the impatience of American’s or our tendency to treat everything like it is disposable and replaceable.

The destruction of the garage was like a barn raising in reverse. After gutting the structure of all the debris, we attached a short tow line to our coordinators vehicle and pulled the building down on its side. Then we removed the roof shingles, the roof felts, the roof beams and then the skeleton of the building. Given the number of people swarming over the garage, the work went amazingly quickly. God was faithful to protect us from loose nails, flying debris and the occasionally flying hammer (J).

The evening meal took place across the street from our lovely home at the Woodland Pres. Church. They host a community and church meal every Wednesday night. It was a great chance to interact with our host church members and meet new and old friends.

Thursday

On Thursday we had 2 new worksites. Four people went to the home of a man named Matt, who is partially paralyzed. Matt has been refinishing his home, and has lots of skills. He needed extra assistance for the drywall that is above his head. The majority of the team went to New Genesis Bible church and began to paint a home that is now the church building. The former church building was ruined in the flood, both from below and also from above, as the roof leaked heavily. The ruined building awaits demolition, but we toured through to see the damage. Mold is everywhere, and the only things intact are on the walls – banners from the construction themed VBS that was going on before the storm. These banners say things like “Built to Come Down”, “Built to Last” and “You must tear down before you build up”. Pastor Charles Garrison met us for lunch and challenged us to think of New Orleans in a different light. He likened the city to a young girl who has been prostituted out for many years. His hope is that she will be reclaimed to be the beautiful place that God intended.

WOW

New Orleans update –

Well, it is Wednesday night and we are trying to post the first blog of the trip! I can’t believe the whirlwind we have been in since Saturday when most of us arrived! I’ll give a brief overview of each day to catch you up, but just know that God is blessing us with an incredibly rich experience!:

Saturday – we began to gather here at Woodland. Some of us drove over from Houston, Phil & Caitlin arrived in N.O. at 1:30 and Dick & Sharon pulled in with the 5th wheel at about 5:00 p.m. We shopped for food, put together a quick dinner (avoiding the large bag of cooked crawfish in the fridge left by the last group!) then managed to stay up to greet 12 others who arrived at about 11:30 p.m. By the time we were done with luggage, rental cars, and the drive back to Woodland House, it was nearly 1:30 a.m. before we got to bed!

Sunday – Everyone arose a bit tired, but eager for the adventure to begin. We stopped at Café du Monde before heading up to Canal St. Pres for worship service. The service was beautiful and filled with the Spirit. We shared communion and prayers, as well as praises. A group of college students from First Pres. Boulder are staying at Canal St., so the sanctuary was quite full between all of us. The interior of the church continues to be worked on and improved. When I remarked on the sponge/faux finish of the paint in the hallway, a parishioner was able to joke “it reminds us so much of the….mold!” We saw Louise, Dan, Eleanor, Mike, and other familiar faces. Louise kids are both about a foot taller than last September!

In the afternoon, we picked up our remaining four team members, while others waited a LOOONG time for lunch at a restaurant up by Lake Ponchartrain. We discovered, however, that God had a beautiful plan for our delayed service and long wait! After lunch, we stopped by Garland and Lanita’s home, which we had worked on last September. They were not home, so I snapped a photo of the front of the house which was now sporting stairs to replace the one’s that had washed away. As we pulled away in our van caravan, Jessie noticed a car turning in ahead of us – it was Garland and Lanita! We had an amazing tear-filled reunion as we hugged and hugged, toured the house, and shared & prayed for a long time on the front porch. We knew then that if we had not been delayed so long at lunch we would not have seen them! What a blessing they are! They came over for dinner at Woodland House that night to spend time with us.

Monday – Our first day of work! This very eager team was assigned to a home of a woman named Iris. We worked in an area of New Orleans that none of us had been to – in St. Bernard’s Parish. Our commute involved the ferry instead of the bridge & its tolls! It’s different commuting to work on a boat! St. Bernards Parish still looks pretty bleak, dotted here and there with an open business or home being rebuilt. Iris’ house is in the final stages of drywall installation, tile floors being laid, painting, and other finish work. While we waited for specific instructions, we removed an above the ground swimming pool in the back yard that was ruined by the flood. Yuck! It was covered in muck and we befriended a bullfrog who now probably has to find a new home. In the afternoon, we met Iris' father in law, Donald, who is the contractor on her home. He gave us what we needed to be able to begin working inside. Soon there were drywallers, painters, grouters going to work all throughout the house.

We met the neighbor, Dave, who is living in a trailer outside his house and struck up a friendship. Some of the folks headed over to his place to clean out gutters and his backyard. As a show of thanks, he offered to cook a crab dinner on Tuesday!

Tuesday
This morning we sent a team over to Carolyn Park Presbyterian Church to spruce up the outside of their building with flowers. This church is struggling to recover in one of the hardest hit areas. We were overwhelmed with thanks from people stopping by just to say "thank you". This is how it is here in New Orleans. One small act of arriving here and we get thanked by everyone - the ferry operators, the store clerks, the homeowners, church members, neighbors, and even a man named Chance, who told us he lives under the bridge nearby the church. It is an amazing outpouring of love and a picture of the body of Christ pulling together - words truly cannot describe this - you must come and experience it!!

Dave, true to his word, threw the most amazing crab boil party at the end of the work day! When the planting crew arrived, we found the rest of the team sitting at tables in the back yard with newspaper on the table top, covered in crabs, potatoes, sausage, mushrooms, and garlic. It was such a celebration of culture and community! Folks who had never had crab were bravely diving in and getting into the spirit of it. Our youngest team member, Joe, even ate the eyes!

So much more to tell.... Each day is rich with experiences and blessings.

We've had trouble getting to where the internet is, and apologize for the lateness of the report. Please re-visit as we have so much more to say already! Thanks for your prayers!

Phylis

Back to the Big Easy!

As we prepare to return to New Orleans, I'm aware of all that God has done in the past 18 months. When we said the words, "how can we help?" in the wake of the Katrina disaster, none of knew what that would mean. The friends we have made in New Orleans, the witness of their faith, the friendships we've built on these trips, the pain and suffering we've heard from the survivors of the storm... God is continuing to call us there, to give us hope, to hopefully use us to help relieve just a small part of that suffering. Who knows what this week will have in store?

Phylis

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.