I was on Mission but I'm back!

I was away on my mission trip to New Orleans and I am back now. I took some pictures but most of them were from our half day that we had to wander around the French Quarter. Some others had their cameras with them at the job sites and I'm going to get a CD and I can share some pictures once I get them of the work that we did.

I went with a group called Gospel Road out of St. Brigid Kildare Catholic Church in Dublin. Not everyone was from St. Brigid; there were several others from surrounding parishes who heard about the trip through church bulletins just like me. We traveled from Dublin to New Orleans to work with Crossroads Missions. Crossroads currently rents space from Desire Street Ministries and will move into their new building later this year. I took a picture of my bunk to prove that I hadn't sneaked down to one of the ritzy hotels in the French Quarter.

Since we got into New Orleans late in the day on Monday the 24th, we did not get to go out and work. We had some free time to walk around and enjoy the sunshine until our leaders arrived to discuss the mission with us. I took some pictures of rubble across the street from where were staying. The rocks you see in the picture will be made into gravel and used to help with the rebuilding process as homes and businesses are rebuilt.

We spent most of our work time in Central City which is inner-city New Orleans. Crossroads just finished one home last week and three more are in progress. I was considered a "skilled" adult because I have some familiarity with home remodeling but all of my experience was indoors. In Central City, we were working outdoors so we learned how to put up hearty board siding. I learned how to use a circular saw and got to do some straight cuts of the hearty board and used a heavy duty air stapler to install the hearty board. We had a great crew. Our crew did get split up so that another crew could be trained to start siding another house. Other people on the team collected trash around the area, mowed lawns, ran weed eaters, and installed porch ceilings. There was a local woman named Regina who is working to rebuild her place which I found out was not a house but 8 apartments. The building is barely bigger if not smaller than the ranch house Jon and I bought when we first were married and that was only 990 square feet. Some boys had helped Regina demolish some walls on Tuesday. On Friday, I took the crew of boys back over to Regina's to help pick up the debris from the other day. The boys also helped Regina move 4 half-size water heaters into the building and put them into place. The boys were most excited demolishing a toilet that could no longer be used. I guess I see what I have to look forward to when Jonnie is a teenage. Regina and a couple of family members are working very hard to try and rebuild but it's taking a long time which is why Crossroads is happy to send over help when it's available.

On Wednesday, all of the work crews had a half day off to explore New Orleans. We went to the French Quarter. I tried Benoigts (French donuts) from Cafe Dumond which were good but I did agree with one young man who said they tasted a lot like funnel cakes. We walked along Charles Street which is where I took a picture of the Cathedral.

There were museums on each side of the Cathedral. We also saw numerous street entertainers playing instruments, pantomiming, doing puppet shows, telling fortunes, reading palms or tarot cards. I bought a couple of t-shirts and post cards plus a couple of the most delicious dark chocolate covered pretzels I think I've ever eaten. Mostly, we walked and took in the sites and I snapped pictures of scenery. That evening, we went to a pizza party hosted by a local church which just reopened after rebuilding their parish. Our group leader Pam had met their youth minister Ansel at the Catholic Youth conference that was in Columbus last year and he told her that he wanted to have our group over. The food was great and the fellowship was even better.

It's very hard to describe the devastation that still exists in New Orleans. You see some areas that were barely touched, some areas that were leveled. You see areas with abandoned homes and businesses. You see areas that are trying to rebuild with either new homes being constructed or existing homes being renovated. One day, I went to a house that was being renovated for a family from Delaware, Ohio that is moving to New Orleans to do mission work. I learned how to install baseboard trim at that house and used a jig saw for the first time and learned how to use a coping saw (looks like a really large cheese slicer). The businesses that have been abandoned are not just "mom and pop" shops but you see vacant Taco Bells, Burger Kings, Sears stores, K-Mart, etc. In some areas being rebuilt, we saw where locals bought an old Taco Bell and opened a Po-Boy shop. This trip has helped me to appreciate the abundance that I have in my life. I looked down at my dinner plate last night, something I've always taken for granted, and remembered pieces of broken dishes that we saw and picked up at our work sites. I made a centerpiece for our kitchen table using sea shells that I brought home from New Orleans. I did not get these sea shells at the beach or at a store. I found these sea shells at our work sites within the inner-city. The raging waters from the hurricane carried shells in from the gulf coast. I look at the center piece and it reminds me of my trip.

I've only been back just over 24 hours with fresh bruises, sunburn that has not healed, and a strained muscle in my left quad but I'm already planning something else. Members of the Plain City community are trying to raise money to rebuild a home that a local family lost in a fire from a kerosene heater several months ago. The family had no insurance and they lost everything. I'd heard about the project before I left and mentioned it to a couple of people. When I saw it again in our church bulletin, I came home and emailed the skilled adults that I worked with on this trip to see if any of them would volunteer to help and I included the St. Brigid youth minister to possible get some youth that excelled during our trip. I already have commitments from 4 people that they'll help. One of them owns some properties and wanted the phone number of the man coordinating efforts so he could talk about getting donations of building supplies and materials. I can't wait until we can start building!

As I said earlier, I hope to do another post with some pictures of the actual work we did after I get a CD from one of the guys that took pictures at the work sites.