Short Term Mission to New Orleans, May 2-9, 2009
A group of 5 men and 2 women from Pine Grove went to New Orleans to work on Hurricane Katrina relief work under the direction of the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). Who or what is MDS? Mennonite Disaster Service is a volunteer network through which various constituencies of the Anabaptist church can respond to those affected by disasters in Canada and the United States. While their main focus is on clean up, repair and rebuilding homes, this activity becomes a means of touching lives and helping people regain faith and wholeness.
New Orleans was damaged not so much by the wind and rain of Hurricane Katrina, but by the failure of the levees surrounding the city to keep out the waters of adjacent Lake Pontchartrain. Much of the city was flooded and many homes still stand empty almost three years later. The people who are helped by MDS are the uninsured, under insured, or those who bilked out their insurance money by bad contractors.
We left on Saturday, May 2 for a long drive to Fort Payne, AL where we spent the night. After attending services at Wills Valley Community Church, we continued on to New Orleans through some severe weather in Mississippi and narrowly avoiding what would have been a serious auto accident too. (Praise the Lord for His safe provision).
We were part of a diverse group of eighteen volunteers including Amish men and women from Indiana and a young lady from Germany. We worked on two Little Woods Blitz project houses. This was under the direction of Church World Services which coordinated efforts of 13 relief organizations including MDS. We all attended an orientation on Monday before work and also joined volunteers from several other churches and organizations for fellowship and a Jambalaya dinner on Tuesday. At one house, the combined crew finished mudding and sanding the house, textured the ceilings, and primed and started painting the interior. At the other house, the crew did some touch-up mudding on Monday and by the end of the week had completed interior trim and started working on countertops.
Work was continued on a house in another part of the city where the last of the insulation was put in on Monday. The rest of the week was spent drywalling. At yet another home, the insulation was also completed, and an attic access ladder installed. Then we primed and painted the exterior of the house and started installing drywall near the end of the week. We also had the opportunity to work on Mr. C's house and got a good start on the siding and stair railings there. Eight out of ten window openings at Mr. C's house were filled with windows and the attic access ladder and front and rear doors were installed. We were very blessed to have Mr. C join us for supper on Wednesday, where he reminded us that “God is able,” whatever our circumstances may be. Thank you, Mr. C, for your good company and encouragement!
On Thursday night, we had the opportunity to see the "Brad Pitt" houses being built in the lower 9th ward. These are very contemporary looking houses and also "green" houses. Then we drove over to the French Quarter and did a little sightseeing. We were able to leave a little early on Friday so that we could pick up three vehicles in Meridan, MS and ferry them to Gray, TN. These vehicles were owned by MDS and being sold to MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) so that they could be used for work in Appalachia. All in all this was a great week of work and fun.