New Orleans is looking better…

Tuesday, June 26th

12:28 p.m. 

…or at least the small part on which we are working! The crew was up and at ‘em again at 6:30 a.m., although we seemed to be moving a bit more slowly today than yesterday. As I was laying in bed last night, I heard a voice say, “Man, I’m not even tired tonight!” I believe that’s the last thing I heard anyone say until the lights came on at 6:30 a.m. (of course, that could be because I fell asleep in about 5 seconds!).

 We’re in two separate groups today. Group 1 (Brian, Chris L., Kory, Danielle, Ryan, Maggie, Tim G., Jennifer, Jake, Laura, and Rachel) are working at the church. Most of us are working in the sanctuary spackling and sanding drywall, painting, putting up trim, and boxing in beams. Rachel had the special task of baking brownies and painting our group symbol that we’ll leave behind (see the pictures for a visual).

The rest of our group (about 18 of them) is back at Dee Jones’ house, continuing the process of hanging, taping, and mudding drywall. We hope by the end of the week to have really made a difference for her. That group reports that Dee is working right along beside them, and that her grandkids are there cheering everyone on. The work we are doing becomes so much more meaningful when you get to meet the person you are helping.

I’ve had a couple discussions with a few adults on our trip, and those who are with us for the first time have expressed two significant sentiments. First, they are simply amazed at the work ethic of our youth. This isn’t a surprise to those of us who’ve gone on mission trips before, but it’s nice to hear it affirmed again. Our youth are the hardest workers I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving with.

Second, they have been overwhelmed to see the devastation down here, and the difference they are making. It’s hard to put into words what it’s like to go from our relatively luxurious existence to the conditions down here. I think we would all stay a month if we could in order to help out even more.

 Most of the pictures so far today look exactly like yesterday’s pictures (look, another person cutting a board!), but we’ll try to get some more up this evening. We continue to appreciate all your love and prayers. Please feel free to leave comments for us; I’ll be sure to share them with everyone.

 We miss you all!

First day of work in the books…

Monday, June 25th

7:45 p.m.

We’re happy to report that all of us have survived Day One with our fingers and toes intact! In fact, the worst injuries were a few splinters from the wood we handled. All five of the groups got a lot of work done! Check out the pictures for a few samples.

After dinner (a delicious gumbo!), Brother Vance shared with us that this was a frustrating day for him, because the work he had planned for several of us didn’t pan out. Several in our group spent the morning waiting to get to work. And yet, he didn’t hear a single complaint from any of us (except for people asking what they can do to help). Even still, at the end of the day, a lot was accomplished by all the groups.

Vance made an interesting point about the sanctuary. A number of groups have worked on it in the past months, and each group does things a bit differently. While working in there today, one of the guys from the other group said, “Well, I wouldn’t have done it that way, but I can work with it.” That’s the spirit that defines volunteer work. You build on what has happened before you, even if it’s not cut straight or nailed in at the wrong angle. There are two things we know for sure about the buildings on which we are working: (1) they are not perfect, and (2) they are unique. Every crooked piece of molding, every gap between boards, every bent nail has a story to it. The sanctuary itself is a testimony to the love and work that’s been put into it. And each one of us working on it and the other sites contribute significantly to the building.

2 Peter 4:-5 says, “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” We’ll share the passage at worship tonight and talk about what it means to be a living stone.

God is using us in amazing ways, and we ARE the living stones that have offered spiritual sacrifices (giving up a week of our summer, sleeping in less than ideal circumstances) to build God’s house. Brother Vance has already told us our offering is acceptable to him; we pray it is also acceptable to God.

A good night’s sleep is guaranteed tonight! In fact, some of the youth (OK, and a few of the adults) are already crashed in their bunk. We look forward to more great work tomorrow. We miss you all very much!

By the way, we’re needing a few parents to help us out with our Stockholders Dinner on Sunday, July 8th. It would involve coordinating the people bringing food and helping us get set up. If you’d like to help, send me an email at ccckory@comcast.net.

The work week begins…

Lunchtime! This morning, after breakfast Vance divided us up into five teams. Here are the assignments:

Group 1 – Chris T., Sean, Jennifer, James, Mark F., Alec, Katie D., Maggie
This group went to a house in the community to hang drywall. I’ll have pictures to post later today.

 Group 2 – Tim A., Callum, Katie T., Rachel, Megan
This group worked on landscaping around the church: planting flowers, shrubs, washing sidewalks, etc.

Group 3 -Kory, Laura, Tim G., Chris L., Jake, Brian
This group worked in the sanctuary putting up trim, framing windows and doors, and putting a floor in an attic storage area.

Group 4 -Pip, Beth, Bev, Danielle, Ryan
This group helped straighten the living and eating area, including cleaning the mud off the floors. They also cleaned out all the furniture from the sanctuary.

 Group 5 – Will, Marc R.
These two went with a group to help tape and sand drywall at another house.

I only have pictures from around the church; I’ll add more from the other groups later.

As we expected, with this big a group there’s a bit of sitting around as we wait for work to come open. One group has to wait on another group to finish before they can start their work. We expect that as the week moves on and we get more comfortable with the work, we’ll move at a faster pace. There are a couple skilled laborers here who are a big help to us. Don’t forget to look at the pictures!

We had a brief rainstorm a few minutes ago, but it has passed quickly. We were told that it probably wouldn’t rain much, but when it rains, it RAINS! And with a metal roof on our building, it sounds like The Lord of the Dance is doing an impromptu show on our ceiling. When it’s not raining, it’s very hot and muggy. Thankfully for those working in the sanctuary, there’s air conditioning! That truly feels like a luxury compared to the weather outside.

 More later…keep praying!

Rise and shine

Monday, June 25th

6:40 a.m.

As I look into the sleeping quarters, I’m slowly starting to see heads rise and eyes open. I think because of the excitement of being here, our gang had a little trouble getting to sleep last night. Trust me, they are now wishing they’d gone to sleep a lot earlier! From now on, they should be tired enough in the evening that settling down won’t be a problem.

We’re about to have our breakfast and then will find out our work assignments. Vance has already tapped Sean, a contractor, as his right-hand man. Sean was showing a few of us the work that needs to be done in the sanctuary: putting up trim, sanding drywall, hanging doors, etc.

Last night we had a “get to know you” gathering with our group. We have a great mix of veterans (several have been on more than one mission trip, and a few have been on all five mission trips) and rookies (by my count, for nine of us this is their first mission trip). I expect that we’ll see the veterans mentoring the rookies, which is one of my favorite things about mission trips. The relationship that develops when you’re working side-by-side with someone for a week is very meaningful.

So far, Vance hasn’t threatened to use the bell yet. I’m going to do a run-through of the sleeping area to see who hasn’t stirred yet. I’m sitting in the kitchen, and breakfast is smelling awfully good! I hope to check in at lunch time.

Here we go!

What lies ahead…

Sunday, June 24th

8:14 p.m.

 We just had our orientation with Brother Vance Moore, the pastor at Westside Christian Church. This place has quite an interesting history. Before Katrina hit, it was a dying church that was down to 20 members (from it’s heyday of 250 members). A week before the hurricane, the 20 decided not to close, but to try and revitalize. Then the hurricane hit.

 Meanwhile, Brother Vance and his wife Jeannie were in Benton, Arkansas. Jeannie was diagnosed with cancer and underwent several operations. During her ordeal, they decided they wanted to dedicate their life to mission work. Shortly after that, Vance accepted the call to Westside Christian Church.

What he has helped build here is a long-term mission center. In the 15 months since its been open, they’ve had over 1300 volunteers come through here. Vance has used the volunteer work to rebuild the church (it now has a sanctuary, offices, and a parsonage) and help out in the community. We are honored to add our names to the list.

For the week, we’ll be working here at the church and in the community. The church needs some lighter work done (fixing leaks, landscaping, etc.). When we get that done, we’ll move out to a couple houses in the community that need drywall and painting work. The key is going to be flexibility; with a total of 46 people here, we’ll need to be patient and ready to go. But Brother Vance has promised us there will be plenty of work for all of us.

The guiding question for the week is going to be “Where did you see God today?” Our hope is that as we open our eyes to and put on our God goggles, we’ll see God at work in amazing ways here in new Orleans this week.

We’re going to settle in for the evening. Wakeup is at 6:30 a.m. and breakfast is at 7 a.m. If we’re not up by 6:55 a.m., Vance has a very annoying bell he can ring. We’re really hoping not to hear the bell this week.

You can find the pictures here, or to the right under Blogroll.

We’re here!

Sunday, June 24
6:40 p.m.

We made it! Our time at the airport was uneventful (you get preferential treatment when traveling with 15 teenagers!) and our flight was nice and smooth. We arrived a few minutes early, hooked up with our other five drivers, and made the trip to the church.

Last year, our church was about 2 miles from the airport. This time, it was about a 20-minute trip from the airport to the church that took us through downtown New Orleans, past the Superdome, and then up and over the Mississippi. A few wrong turns later, and we arrived!

The mission building where we are staying is basically two big rooms. One room is full of bunk beds and the the other room serves as the kitchen/dining room/recreation area. The rumor is that there is at least one more group coming, which means we’ll be packing fifty people into this building. It’s definitely going to be cozy!

We’ve all picked our beds, put on our sheets, and settled in. Dinner is in about 20 minutes, and looks like BBQ sandwiches and potato chips. The rest of the evening will be spent getting to know each other and hopefully learning about the work that lies ahead.

We still don’t have a clear sense of the kind of work we’ll be doing. Apparently there is a holdup on the houses because they are waiting for the electrical work to be done. You have to have state license to do the work, which means that no out-of-town electricians can work down here. I can understand the motivation to employ local workers, but when there’s a backlog of work, it seems restrictive. Currently, there are six houses waiting for the electrical work to be done.

On the picture page, you’ll see us frollicking through the airport and our luxurious accommodations. We’ll report in again soon when we have a better sense of what kind of work we’ll be doing. Keep praying for us – we miss you all already!

You can find the pictures here.

On your mark, get set…

Sunday, Jun e24th

7:40 a.m.

Well, today is the day! We are ready to hop on a plane and go to New Orleans to do whatever work God has prepared for us to do. There will be 21 of us flying; the other five  (Sean, Chris T., Chris L., Pip, and Katie) left on Saturday morning to drive down in a 15-passenger van.

We loaded the van with all the luggage so that we wouldn’t have to check it at the airport. Can you imagine how long it would take to check and then claim baggage for 21 people? We’d probably finish just in time to re-board our plane and come home. So we thought having our luggage driven down would work more smoothly.

The van is absolutely packed to the hilt with suitcases, sleeping bags, hair products, stuffed animals, and midnight snacks. And that was just my stuff! I was skeptical about fitting everything in there (even with the backseat removed), but somehow we did it, and I don’t think anyone had to ride with a person on their lap. Of course, when they open the back door for the first time, the thing is going to explode like a can of snakes. Surprise!

Yesterday I text-messaged Katie, the only youth riding down, to see how the trip was going. “Boring!” was the reponse I got. She said they were almost through Illinois (state motto: “It’s Not the Longest State in the Country; It Only Feels Like It”). Their plan was to stop in Memphis overnight (with barbecue for dinner) and then hit the road early this morning. They’ll drop all our stuff off at Westside Christian Church, then come pick us up at the airport when we arrive (4:33 p.m.).

I’ll report more tonight, and hopefully will have some “before” pictures, assuming the Internet connection at the church is a good one. Please keep us in your prayers!

By the way, the sermon this morning was about building your house on sand versus building it on rock. I thought that was fitting as we prepare to help folks in New Orleans rebuild. My prayer is that we also help rebuild their hope as well as their houses. You can read the sermon here.

Getting ready to go…

Our 2007 mission trip is about ready to roll! We have 26 youth and adults who will be making the trip down to New Orleans to do hurrican relief work. We fly down this coming Sunday afternoon, and will return the following Saturday. We’ll be staying at Westside Christian Church in St. Bernard’s Parish, one of the hardest hit areas of New Orleans. We’ll be helping to rebuild the church and some of the surrounding area. Click here to visit their website and get an update on the progress there.

 Last year’s trip to NO was absolutely amazing, and we’re looking forward to seeing God at work once again. Please be in prayer for us as we go. Pray for safe travel, safe work, and lots of fun. We’ll be updating you regularly on how things are going. We are ready to get to work!

Until we hit the road, here are some pictures from our trip last year to keep you entertained. We spent most of the week gutting two separate houses, which basically involved a lot of hauling trash and tearing down walls. This group is very good at demolition!