Day 4

We are excited because we know we are going to be leading the worship time at the morning devotion and we are going to have an opportunity to gut a house. We really wanted to do work on houses, but we weren’t sure if we’d have the chance to because we arrived at a strange time.

I really did not want to help lead worship because I don’t have a great voice, and I hate being up in front of people. Despite my misgivings, it went really well. It was just an awesome time before God, thanking and praising for his goodness and the joy that he’s given us. Most of the songs(Nigerian style) were new to the audience, but they really got into the Spirit of things. After the morning devotion, the pastor asked us if we wanted to lead worship again in the evening. Some pastors from Florida were going to be doing some preaching/ outreach at the church, and he thought it would be a good idea if we led worship. After agreeing to that engagement, we set out to go work at a house. Of course we got lost and ended up at the University of New Orleans. However, this time, it wasn’t our fault that we got lost. The street we were looking for had no sign. Anyways, we finally make it to house. There is another team already working. We join them and spend a few hours taking everything out of the house. After all the furniture, clothes, shoes and appliances have been tossed out in the front yard, we start tearing down the sheetrock. Tearing down the sheetrock is a lot of fun. But in the midst of all, there is such a sense of sadness. All the things this family has are sitting outside in the front yard, trash. Even things that are still in the box (LCD screen, shoes), are now useless. What a reminder, that we can not put our confidence in things. Another thing that is strange, is that a truck drives down the street to pick up the trash. Apparently every day, this huge trash collecting truck drives up and down the streets collecting stuff. You don’t even have to call them, because it is a daily event.

We learn more about the process of rebuilding and part of the reason it is taking so long. Each homeowner has to apply to the city, before their house can be gutted. Before your house is gutted, you have to be approved to rebuild. Before your house is approved for rebuilding you have to provide paperwork showing ownership and the year the house was built. Houses built for the mid 1980s are usually not approved for rebuilding. It is a long process, that is even more difficult for those still living in other cities.

When we return to the church we learn a little bit more of the challenges facing the relief effort. It is pretty hard to find sheetrock in New Orleans. The relief center continually runs out of water. Now that it is over a year, not as many volunteers are coming so the work is going slower. But the good news is that the church in general has been very helpful in the reconstruction effort. Many of the residents lives have seen the church in action. Hopefully this will motivate many to find out more about this Jesus that causes people to leave their homes and come serve the New Orleans community.