After many weeks of preparation and discussion it was beautiful to finally be in New Orleans with the team. It’s hard to believe that last year I went with two friends and myself. At that time I was still searching for a church, I had just moved to a new city, many of my relationships were changing or experiencing a great deal of stress and/or conflict. I was excited to go to New Orleans because I truly wanted to help in some concrete way. We went and promised to come back.
What was New Orleans like the second time around? Different!
I arrived on Saturday. I went picked up our mini-van and visited with a long term volunteer that I met on my trip last year. After dinner and a movie, I spent the night at her trailer.
The next day I drove to the airport to pick up the first four guys to arrive. We went to Camp Hope to check in and then headed out for lunch. After wandering around the French Quarters for about 30 minutes, we finally found a place to eat. We all sampled the local cuisine and tried things like Jambalaya, Red Beans and Rice, and Gumbo. Then we got ready to head back to the car and go home. On the way to the car we tried beignets. These are pastries which are very similar to donuts and topped with powdered sugar. It was really good, but I was so full from lunch I could only eat one bite.
We drove back to Camp Hope and ate our first meal. Camp Hope is a middle school that was converted into lodging for volunteers. It is staffed by Americorps volunteers. They have built showers, bunk beds, a lounge area, and so on. It’s almost like a dorm, except the rooms are huge and usually have about 20 or 30 bunk beds. The volunteers prepare the meals, run a internet center, clean the center, run registration. It’s really amazing to see a facility that big staffed by volunteers.
After dinner we had our first team devotional. We decided to go through the Beautitudes as a team. It was really wonderful to do that study with the team in New Orleans. We were all really trying to understand the difference between God’s system and the world’s system. Also struggling to figure out, what exactly is the kingdom of Heaven?
Second day we woke up enjoyed breakfast and then listened to a short presentation about Habitat in New Orleans and in St. Bernards. We were living and working in St. Bernard’s Parish. This was the only parish that was 100% underwater. Habitat showed a video of volunteers right after the storm, rowing down the major intersection in boats, and ducking to avoid the street lights. It was crazy to see the businesses on the major intersection that we had driven by earlier. Many of those businesses still haven’t reopened although it’s been two years since the hurricane. Here’s a partial list of businesses on the intersection that are still boarded up or have been demolished and only signs remain: McDonald’s, Rite Aid, Firestone, Taco Bell, two shopping complexes and more.
Because it was going to be a really rainy day, we were assigned a painting job. We helped paint rooms for the Women’s Shelter. When it opens, it will provide a place for women and their families who need emergency or transitional housing.
No comments:
Post a Comment