Day 2
We began the day with a 5:30 old fashion wake up call, the ole pots and pans. This wasn’t because they are mean but mainly because our sleeping quarters are right next to the kitchen. The majority of us headed out side to the showers, trailers parked directly behind the church. The water was hot and awesome. Breakfast was great; biscuit and grave, sausage, cereal, fruit, OJ, and of course coffee. Before you leave you pack your own lunch full of as many sandwiches you want. The also have chips, crackers, snacks, etc.
After breakfast we headed straight to the main where house to pick up any supplies we would need for the job. This two is an old church that has been turned into a supply center for the relief effort. The workers and team leaders at the where house are awesome. There just a bunch of skilled workers giving there time to help the people of New Orleans, our leader, Kenneth, had moved down from Southern Utah just to serve.
After picking up some paint brushes, rollers, mud, tape, etc. We headed out to our work areas. Luckily we were only about 10 min from each other, although it took us about 45 min to find the two places. New Orleans streets are very confusing; tones of one ways and canals in between, make for a great time. The high light was following MAP QUEST direction to the tee and going down a one way street the wrong way. Thanks Map Quest.
Now comes the difficult part. I really can’t explain to you what we saw. Honestly pictures will not even do it justice. It is literally the most destructive sight I have ever been apart. Even driving through the slums in Africa did not compare to what we saw today. The entire community that we were working in had been destroyed. I'm not talking about a few streets but the entire community. Tones of abandon house, destroyed houses, fallen houses. White trailers parked out front of houses are the norm. These trailers were provided by fema for temporary housing. Many of them have become permanent. All of the house have X’s marked on them. They represent several things; if the house is fixable, the date it was checked, the number of people in the residence, and any dead bodies found. A very sobering thought (again marked on every house).
Our first team was given a dry wall detail. We pulled up to a small house with a trailer parked in front and was greeted by a very friendly man, Dave. Dave is about 40 years old and has been live here most of his life. We walked into the house and all you could see is studs and dry wall. The house has been completely gutted and we were there to help start it over. I would say about 99 percent of the house have to be completely gutted and rebuilt. We left Justin, James, Ryan, Travis, Sam, Jill, Christina, and Jacey at this location to work on the drywall.
Jerry Wayne, Zach, Nathan, Ton-loc, Hannah, Rachael, Devin, Heather, Ashley, and I went over to a house on Flood St. How Ironic. We were greeted by Mr. Chris, a 50 year old man with a wonderful spirit. He was wearing a Harley-Davidson bandana and had a sweet moon earring. He was awesome. We had paint detail on the two story house. I had to pause for a second before I started because the sight was over whelming. It seemed like every house around us had been destroyed. We started working on the right side of the house and worked are way around. At one point Mr. Chris came over to the side and started telingl us about his neighbor. She had escaped the flood waters on her kayak, floated over to a bridge and hid underneath. He said if anyone came close she would Patel out to the middle so nobody would steal hear float or harm her. The worked together for many years and were really close friends. She told him she would never move back to that house again.
Its really hard to describe Mr. Chris’s personality, all I can say it that he is the type of guy you could sit with and talk to for hours. You can tell that he is a very hard working man, and knows how to hold his own, but as friendly as they come. He sat down with us at lunch and started sharing about his experience with Katrina. Honestly it was like a move, you just couldn’t believe what he was saying if he wasn’t right there sharing it with you. He said when they first heard reports of the storm there was really no worry. I mean they heard reports like that all the time he said so why would this one be any different. Him and his wife decided to wait out the storm because they could not fit there three dogs and themselves into there small car. He said the flood happen so fast, faster than anyone could react. You looked out side and you could literally see the water rising as you watched. He and his wife move to the up stairs of the house and Mr. Chris positioned a latter for the roof just in case. The water rose 7 feet in a very short period of time. There was really no escaping. After the water rose, Him and his wife placed there 3 dogs on a plastic covered mattress (that floated) and started swimming out, both holding on to the sides while swimming. The realized that there was no where to swim to so the simply returned home. One of the main bridges for safety was not an option to cross because there were several people on the other side with guns shooting at any persons trying to cross over. While at home he realized that he had a hibachi grill and some charcoal in his storage unity that was partially above water. Luckily the grill and charcoal were in the rafters so he was able to get them to cook food. He dove off his second story and swam over to get the grill. He grabbed all the meat he had from his now floating refrigerator and cook several meals on his roof. He said for the first night him and his wife simply sat across the bed from each other reciting prayers to each other. He kept pausing during the story to mention how thankful he was for life, for us, for all the people helping and then he would continue. He told us how he would grab an arrow he had in the house and a tin plate and make a banging sound when looters would try to come in. He said there were looters and thief’s everywhere. At one point a helicopter came down and shined its light right in his window to see if anyone was alive. Luckily there was. This was not the case for some of his neighbors. He did not mention this but the numbers on some of the houses around his did. Towards the end of his story you could tell that it was very difficult for him to share. He said it was kinda like a solider who goes to war. They see some pretty horrible things that they just really don’t want to remember. He finished quickly, thanks us several times again, while moving towards his house. You could tell that this was difficult. I thought to myself this is but one persons story, there are tons just like his.
We were able to complete most of the painting. Our team did a great job and worked really hard. We wrapped up our site around 5:30, started to clean up, and got ready to head over to the other sit. I was able to sit wit Mr. Chris and talk a little bit more about everything. We shared with each other and I asked if I could pray with him. He shared about how a team made a prayer circle the other day and it was so emotional for him he just started crying. We prayed. Mr. Chris wife Margaret came out just to thank us and we headed over to meet the other team.
On site two they had hung the entire back room with drywall and corrected a bunch of mistakes left by the team prior. Simply made because they didn’t drywall before not because of lack of effort. It looks like the entire house will be complete before we leave this week. Dave, the homeowner, had a big smile on his face as I walked up. He kept talking about the great job the team did and how the never even took a break. Jacey corrected him and told him that they took turns resting. J Justin the crew leader did an amazing job. Justin does construction for a live but seriously was incredible along with James they were two very skilled machines. Praise God. We quickly clean up and got ready to head back to the church. I stopped and told Dave that we pray as a team each night and asked if we could pray with him about anything. He smiled and said that he was doing ok today. He said it comes in waves. He mentioned his parents, Phillip and Madelyn, and said that they were still pretty down. He said that he was feeling the same way for a while, kinda like they were forgotten and there was little hope. Then with all the spring breakers and now the high school students came and it really brought hope back into the community. He mentioned how he had over heard in the grocery store all the people talking about all the young people coming down to help and how that pick up everybody’s spirit. Praise God.
We left the project and arrived back at the church about 6:30. Just in time for some awesome spaghetti and garlic bread, the crispy delicious kind. We had dessert and as many seconds and you would like. You could tell that everybody was pretty drained by the look on there faces after dinner it was priceless. Most took shower right after and then had about an hour to chill. I snuck off and grab a Starbucks coffee (thank you Jesus).
About 9 we gathered in a small back room for a time of worship. I don’t think we realized how much we need that time until we were finished. Hannah lead us worship and you could immediately feel Gods presence. The Lord was filling us up and blessing us. We had a time to simply share what you wanted and Devin mentioned something that was simply from God. We are going through Phil 2 this week and today’s verses were 1-3. Verse three say to do nothing out of selfishness or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves. She talk about how God laid on her heart when Mr. Chris was tell his story that we are not here to just come and tell the about what we think but to serve and minister to the people even if it is just listening. So true. The wounds are so fresh. It kinda like when something really bad happens to you, you don’t really want anybody to tell you how to fix it, you just want somebody to be there sitting next to you while you hurt. Just your presence is enough. Praise God that His presence is here and the He Loves these people.
My heart will never look at these people or this city the same. Continue to pray with us that we can simply be a blessing to these people even if that means just our being here. Also please pray for Justin and Jill they both are feeling a little under the weather. Continue to pray for our safety as we work with tools and latter’s, etc. Pray for Chris and his wife Margery, Dave and his parents. Pray that God will use us in a mighty way. Love you.
By Grace,
Jon
We began the day with a 5:30 old fashion wake up call, the ole pots and pans. This wasn’t because they are mean but mainly because our sleeping quarters are right next to the kitchen. The majority of us headed out side to the showers, trailers parked directly behind the church. The water was hot and awesome. Breakfast was great; biscuit and grave, sausage, cereal, fruit, OJ, and of course coffee. Before you leave you pack your own lunch full of as many sandwiches you want. The also have chips, crackers, snacks, etc.
After breakfast we headed straight to the main where house to pick up any supplies we would need for the job. This two is an old church that has been turned into a supply center for the relief effort. The workers and team leaders at the where house are awesome. There just a bunch of skilled workers giving there time to help the people of New Orleans, our leader, Kenneth, had moved down from Southern Utah just to serve.
After picking up some paint brushes, rollers, mud, tape, etc. We headed out to our work areas. Luckily we were only about 10 min from each other, although it took us about 45 min to find the two places. New Orleans streets are very confusing; tones of one ways and canals in between, make for a great time. The high light was following MAP QUEST direction to the tee and going down a one way street the wrong way. Thanks Map Quest.
Now comes the difficult part. I really can’t explain to you what we saw. Honestly pictures will not even do it justice. It is literally the most destructive sight I have ever been apart. Even driving through the slums in Africa did not compare to what we saw today. The entire community that we were working in had been destroyed. I'm not talking about a few streets but the entire community. Tones of abandon house, destroyed houses, fallen houses. White trailers parked out front of houses are the norm. These trailers were provided by fema for temporary housing. Many of them have become permanent. All of the house have X’s marked on them. They represent several things; if the house is fixable, the date it was checked, the number of people in the residence, and any dead bodies found. A very sobering thought (again marked on every house).
Our first team was given a dry wall detail. We pulled up to a small house with a trailer parked in front and was greeted by a very friendly man, Dave. Dave is about 40 years old and has been live here most of his life. We walked into the house and all you could see is studs and dry wall. The house has been completely gutted and we were there to help start it over. I would say about 99 percent of the house have to be completely gutted and rebuilt. We left Justin, James, Ryan, Travis, Sam, Jill, Christina, and Jacey at this location to work on the drywall.
Jerry Wayne, Zach, Nathan, Ton-loc, Hannah, Rachael, Devin, Heather, Ashley, and I went over to a house on Flood St. How Ironic. We were greeted by Mr. Chris, a 50 year old man with a wonderful spirit. He was wearing a Harley-Davidson bandana and had a sweet moon earring. He was awesome. We had paint detail on the two story house. I had to pause for a second before I started because the sight was over whelming. It seemed like every house around us had been destroyed. We started working on the right side of the house and worked are way around. At one point Mr. Chris came over to the side and started telingl us about his neighbor. She had escaped the flood waters on her kayak, floated over to a bridge and hid underneath. He said if anyone came close she would Patel out to the middle so nobody would steal hear float or harm her. The worked together for many years and were really close friends. She told him she would never move back to that house again.
Its really hard to describe Mr. Chris’s personality, all I can say it that he is the type of guy you could sit with and talk to for hours. You can tell that he is a very hard working man, and knows how to hold his own, but as friendly as they come. He sat down with us at lunch and started sharing about his experience with Katrina. Honestly it was like a move, you just couldn’t believe what he was saying if he wasn’t right there sharing it with you. He said when they first heard reports of the storm there was really no worry. I mean they heard reports like that all the time he said so why would this one be any different. Him and his wife decided to wait out the storm because they could not fit there three dogs and themselves into there small car. He said the flood happen so fast, faster than anyone could react. You looked out side and you could literally see the water rising as you watched. He and his wife move to the up stairs of the house and Mr. Chris positioned a latter for the roof just in case. The water rose 7 feet in a very short period of time. There was really no escaping. After the water rose, Him and his wife placed there 3 dogs on a plastic covered mattress (that floated) and started swimming out, both holding on to the sides while swimming. The realized that there was no where to swim to so the simply returned home. One of the main bridges for safety was not an option to cross because there were several people on the other side with guns shooting at any persons trying to cross over. While at home he realized that he had a hibachi grill and some charcoal in his storage unity that was partially above water. Luckily the grill and charcoal were in the rafters so he was able to get them to cook food. He dove off his second story and swam over to get the grill. He grabbed all the meat he had from his now floating refrigerator and cook several meals on his roof. He said for the first night him and his wife simply sat across the bed from each other reciting prayers to each other. He kept pausing during the story to mention how thankful he was for life, for us, for all the people helping and then he would continue. He told us how he would grab an arrow he had in the house and a tin plate and make a banging sound when looters would try to come in. He said there were looters and thief’s everywhere. At one point a helicopter came down and shined its light right in his window to see if anyone was alive. Luckily there was. This was not the case for some of his neighbors. He did not mention this but the numbers on some of the houses around his did. Towards the end of his story you could tell that it was very difficult for him to share. He said it was kinda like a solider who goes to war. They see some pretty horrible things that they just really don’t want to remember. He finished quickly, thanks us several times again, while moving towards his house. You could tell that this was difficult. I thought to myself this is but one persons story, there are tons just like his.
We were able to complete most of the painting. Our team did a great job and worked really hard. We wrapped up our site around 5:30, started to clean up, and got ready to head over to the other sit. I was able to sit wit Mr. Chris and talk a little bit more about everything. We shared with each other and I asked if I could pray with him. He shared about how a team made a prayer circle the other day and it was so emotional for him he just started crying. We prayed. Mr. Chris wife Margaret came out just to thank us and we headed over to meet the other team.
On site two they had hung the entire back room with drywall and corrected a bunch of mistakes left by the team prior. Simply made because they didn’t drywall before not because of lack of effort. It looks like the entire house will be complete before we leave this week. Dave, the homeowner, had a big smile on his face as I walked up. He kept talking about the great job the team did and how the never even took a break. Jacey corrected him and told him that they took turns resting. J Justin the crew leader did an amazing job. Justin does construction for a live but seriously was incredible along with James they were two very skilled machines. Praise God. We quickly clean up and got ready to head back to the church. I stopped and told Dave that we pray as a team each night and asked if we could pray with him about anything. He smiled and said that he was doing ok today. He said it comes in waves. He mentioned his parents, Phillip and Madelyn, and said that they were still pretty down. He said that he was feeling the same way for a while, kinda like they were forgotten and there was little hope. Then with all the spring breakers and now the high school students came and it really brought hope back into the community. He mentioned how he had over heard in the grocery store all the people talking about all the young people coming down to help and how that pick up everybody’s spirit. Praise God.
We left the project and arrived back at the church about 6:30. Just in time for some awesome spaghetti and garlic bread, the crispy delicious kind. We had dessert and as many seconds and you would like. You could tell that everybody was pretty drained by the look on there faces after dinner it was priceless. Most took shower right after and then had about an hour to chill. I snuck off and grab a Starbucks coffee (thank you Jesus).
About 9 we gathered in a small back room for a time of worship. I don’t think we realized how much we need that time until we were finished. Hannah lead us worship and you could immediately feel Gods presence. The Lord was filling us up and blessing us. We had a time to simply share what you wanted and Devin mentioned something that was simply from God. We are going through Phil 2 this week and today’s verses were 1-3. Verse three say to do nothing out of selfishness or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves. She talk about how God laid on her heart when Mr. Chris was tell his story that we are not here to just come and tell the about what we think but to serve and minister to the people even if it is just listening. So true. The wounds are so fresh. It kinda like when something really bad happens to you, you don’t really want anybody to tell you how to fix it, you just want somebody to be there sitting next to you while you hurt. Just your presence is enough. Praise God that His presence is here and the He Loves these people.
My heart will never look at these people or this city the same. Continue to pray with us that we can simply be a blessing to these people even if that means just our being here. Also please pray for Justin and Jill they both are feeling a little under the weather. Continue to pray for our safety as we work with tools and latter’s, etc. Pray for Chris and his wife Margery, Dave and his parents. Pray that God will use us in a mighty way. Love you.
By Grace,
Jon
1 comment:
Wow..amazing! We absolutely LOVE hearing about your experiences there in New Orleans. You guys are blessing others and being blessed. We are praying for you all! Love to our kids..smile.. if they are reading this! Thanks for your heart Jon! Love from John & Denise
P.S. Keep it up..reading this was the highlight of our morning! :)
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