Words cannot describe how I found New Orleans this summer.
My son Teague, and I left Tennessee on May 31st to head to New Orleans for summer projects. I was not quite sure just what it would be like and I tried to not be influenced by the media. As hard as it is to explain, I found it to be a patchwork of sorts. Some areas were pristine and looked as though nothing had infiltrated it. Then other areas showed spots of damage, nothing drastic, but definately affected. Then you would come to the areas where there was complete and utter devastation!! As a 48 yr. old woman, I realized that I looked at things differently than a teen. I was completely in amazement of the amount of garbage! It was astounding and abounding. Authorities stated that there was 37 years worth of garbage! Everywhere I looked I would see piles and piles of garbage. What are they/we going to do about it, where is it going to be taken? I was totally obcessed and concerned about this problem. To look around and see the stores boarded up, places where people worked and families depended on....what is the economic and social ramifications of this? People out of work, garbage everywhere...Then I stop to assess the spiritual ramification. In the midst of this destruction, there is life. There are people who, out of this darkness, have found a light. The light of Jesus Christ, that perhaps was carried by someone bringing food, water, shelter. Yes, in the midst of all this, life and light has been brought to New Orleans.
Adventures in Missions, promptly answered the call to set up a site in New Orleans shortly after Katrina/Rita bullied their way through this area. During the course of the summer of '06' we brought thousands of youth/college and adults to minister alongside churches and Christian organizations. Through our devoted set up crews we were able to partner with these folks and increase the ability to minister to the people of this area. Through gutting homes ( I did not realize til I got there, that many people could not move forward until this task was done. Insurance companies were waiting to make claims until this act was completed and many of the homeowners were not physically able to do this very physical job), assisting in feeding programs, prayerwalking, cleaning up garbage in parks and neighborhoods, gong door to door to minister to the needs of people and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with those we would meet along the way . This is some of the ways we were able to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
I would like to share my personal stories from the time I was there with my son Teague.
We were able to hook up with a church that I had worked with to bring to New Orleans. They were from Colorado, and had made the long, hot drive from the Denver area to Louisana. David Reyes was the youth pastor and he brought with him another adult, Cathy, and 8 youth. What a group!! They lovingly adopted Teague and myself. I spent some time doing some of my staff duties, and joined them during other times. Teague accompanied them the entire week and truly bonded!
We visited and prayerwalked through the 9th ward...words cannot even begin to express what we saw. I will forever have 2 images in my mind - one is a blue teddybear dangling on an electric line outside a home, the other was a computer monitor sitting on top of a home. It was as though we were walking inside the 'Twilight Zone', yet this was real.
We gutted 2 homes as a team. The first was a brick home and the owners were elderly and staying with family in another part of Louisana. We never got to meet them, yet we felt as though we knew the most intimate parts of their lives, as we took wheelbarrows full of their belongings and contributed yet another huge pile of garbage to the roadside. We came across water stained pictures, family pictures. Something I know I hold so dear, yet I was reminded so profoundly of the fraility of life and possessions. We took sledge hammers and knocked down their walls, crashed through the porcelin in their bathrooms, opened the door to the pantry that had been sitting closed for ~9 mts. (yes, the roaches we not happy, nor were the rodents), the smell we will never forgot. The one bathroom looked as though time just forgot it. Hand towels still nicely poised on the towel rack, molded, stiff, though somehow pretty. The toilet paper, black and hard on the roll. Dirt, silt, mold, stench, heat. Oh the heat. We wore N95 respirator masks to help protect from the mold spores, but you could still smell the heavy odor of mold and decayed food. No we did not meet these owners, but we felt we were as intimate as a family member, somehow sneaking and prodding into their most private areas. We prayed for them and thanked God that we were able to minister to them in this way. I think the Father was pleased.
The second house we gutted, we were able meet the owner. We prayed with him and listened as he told his story. His story of rescue and faith. Yes, faith! He allowed me to set up in his FEMA trailer with water and first aid. This was a particularly hot day and I needed to be diligent in making sure the youth and leaders got breaks, water and first aid as needed. Yep, there was always a first aid requirement! Nails , bits of flying porcelin, wood splinters, heat exhaustion and the like.
The team prayerwalked through a very heavily hit area - stopping to pray with folks that we saw along the way. However, it was mostly a ghost town. We picked up garbage in the city park and assisted in the Good News Camp feeding program, and shared good news with the receipents as they ate.
On our last day we gathered to ask the Lord where we should go and what we should do. At Adventures in Missions, we call this ATL (Ask the Lord). It was quite amazing. My son said that the Lord kept bringing to his mind the names Jones, or Johnson, another girl said that she felt the Lord was prompting us to go back to the area we had prayerwalked in as there was a church that had been destroyed in that area, and I kept thinking of a blue house. After prayer, we decided to go to that area. As we descended upon it, we saw an elderly couple sitting in their carport area - their FEMA trailer next to them.
We walked over and introduced ourselves as from Adventures in Missions and asked if we could pray for them. Well, this began a 2 hour praise and worship service!!
Their names were, Rev. Charles and Beverly Johnson (yes, you heard right), they lived in a slate blue house, and they were right across the street from the church that had been destroyed!!! They recounted their story of helicopter rescue, Superdome and finally being able to return home and receive a FEMA trailer. Their home had been totally destroyed, but had been gutted and now being rebuilt. They were 78 yrs. old and had unwavering faith. We prayed with them, and for them. Rev. Charles would break out into song and we would follow right along. We held hands, praised God and got a glimpse of what Heaven must be like. Beverly summed it up when she said, "I don't lean on God now, I lay on Him" We went to minister and we got ministered too! Yes, that is what missions is all about.
The group from Colorado, got to do and see what many other 13, 14, 15 year olds will not. They got to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We laughed, we cried, we worked, we sweated, we smelled,we had cold showers, got little sleep, & we ate too many ham and peanut butter sandwiches....We praised God!
That's Missions!
Pictures to come
