End of the week

This has been a very eventfull week. I had been uneasy about returning to New Orleans even though we had been gone for over 20 years and could not consider New Orleans as an immediate past. I knew intellectually that my old neighborhood has been hit hard. We arrived early on Sunday and I had a chance to tour my old neighborhood. It was even worst than I expected. My former house was within 4 blocks of one of the levie breaks and was "gone". There seemed to be only a handfull of houses that had any signs of activity (FEMA trailers or any efforts at rehab). My parish church was gone but there was some signs of rebuilding. The public school my children attended was closed with no sign of rehab. The neighborhood of my closest friends was even harder hit since it was within a block of another of the major levie breaks. All of our immediate section of town (Lakefront area near the University of New Orleans) was in terrible shape. And this was more than 2 years after Katrina. This was not a neighborhood of the poor and I know that most of my friends had "alternatives" so although the houses were in terrible shape the consequences were not as sever as for those in other neighborhoods. However, it was still a shock to see and it made the true plight of the poor that much more vivid.
The rehab work in which a spent a week on a stairwell and even at that did not finish what needed to be done demonstrated for me the enormity of the rebuilding task. On our drive into and out of the worksite I saw many families that were doing rehab work on a part time basis at the end of a full work day. So I know that for them a week in stairwell is but a small part of what they have to cope with. We heard stories of the additional problems heaped on the citizens in terms of civil regulations, contractor "rip offs" and outright theft. However, despite all of the "downside" at the end of week I knew that there was one stairwell in New Orleans that was on the road to recovery and I truly felt that the city is on a positive slope for recovery. I can't specify what this feeling is based on other than the fact that I saw no neighborhoods in which "something" was not being done. There were no totally abandoned neighborhoods that I saw. So, the week ended on a positive note for me.
One morning as we drove over the lake into town I saw a pelican. When I first went to Louisiana, pelicans were common. Nowever, a few years later the entire pelican population was killed off by DDT ingestion. The pelican means a lot to Louisana (it is on the state seal) so this could not be left unchallenged. Pelicans were reintroduced from Florida and the population was slowly rebuilt. So if this can happen for the pelican community it can and surely will for the human community.
So I pray for the people of New Orleans and for the conversion of the "systems of evil" that oppressed the community and the pelican gives me hope that these prayers and those prayers of the poor will be heard.

Here are some photos showing how much more work needs to be done:

On Wednesday, Curt and I met Robin- the homeowner for the house we are working on this week. Robin greeted us with hugs and thanked us and all the other volunteers that have helped to restore New Orleans.

Robin shared how her life was impacted by Katrina and the ensuing flood. The water had reached 9.5 feet in her home during the peak, and was at about 4 feet for an extended period of time. Robin has 4 children, the youngest of which is a 15-year old boy that was really shaken up by the hurricane & flood. Robin and her extended family (siblings, aunts, etc.) relocated to Houston and tried to get back on their feet.

Robin finally got a FEMA trailer this (2007) spring and has been splitting time between New Orleans and Houston. Her 15-year old son is still in Houston and is finally starting to recover. He does not want to move again. It was obvious that this is very difficult on her.

Please pray for Robin and her family. I gave her one of the Prayer Bears that we brought down and let her know that people are praying for her.

It felt good to meet Robin and hear her story. I think it will have a good ending. Her house is getting close to completion and many of her neighbors are back in their homes. Slowly but surely, things are getting better!

-Jason

Yesterday started a very difficult day that lead most of us to do some soul searching. A 46 year old man named Lance vonUhde stop at our construction site and said he wanted us to know that the house we were working on had been home to a drug distributor. He knew this because his house across the street (as he found out after Katrina) had a drug dealer who's wife was NO police women. He explained in great detail with much authority and knowledge the corruption within the political system in New Orleans and the problems most people are facing. Lance is a homeower of 10 rental home with 6 almost completed, he runs the family business, a florist shop but it is still not up and running yet. He is single taking care of his 80 year old mother, Alice, who is blind. This man is broken and disheartened even with the church. Two (2) of the prayer bears were given to him, one for him and one for his mother. He asked that we pray for him, his mother and his mother's dog who just suffer a stroke (the dog). They are still living in a FEMA trailer since he has been restoring his rental properties for income. After Lance left it was difficult to put muscle into our work. As Ed said, "It took the wind out of my sails."

Today we'll work to do the tasks at hand and look for God in our work.

Monday, Nov. 12

Being in New Orleans again brings back thoughts of past experiences. For LCR, this is the fifth trip. For me, it is my third trip. It reminds me again that out of disaster comes a spiritual connection. It is a chance to think about all we take for granted and how vulnerable we are.

As a group of 14, we split into four workgroups. Marty (LCR), Danny (Ascension), and I (LCR) worked on a small roofing project today. We tore off a really rotten roof and rafters, leaving the salvagable ceiling joists. We also removed the drywall on the ceiling. After cleaning up our mess, we were able to put up new rafters. Tomorrow we will put on plywood and start reroofing.

This trip is missing something though. Her name is Cindy Zorn. I think this would have been her fifth trip. That says alot about who she is. We heard some good news today, and our thoughts are with you Cindy.

Thanks to all the families of the people who are here volunteering. Your support allows us to be here. There has been a tremendous amount of recovery in a little over two years. It is encouraging. But, there are still hundreds of empty houses. Hopefully, people will continue to remember the needs of the people here and come down to help out.

Peace, Justin Long

Well, everyone made it down here safely and we had our first day of work today. Our group was assigned to work on 4 different houses this week, so we split up into 4 separate small groups. Curt and I were assigned to work on the home of a woman named Robin. We did not meet her today, but she is supposed to be coming tomorrow.

Today, Curt put 2 coats of paint on the laundry room and I put 2 coats of paint on the hall bathroom. In between coats of paint, we also filled several holes in the walls & ceiling and installed 3 new exterior light fixtures. Here is Curt working on one of the lights.

Tomorrow we will be doing some shelving, plumbing, and trim work.

Peace,

Jason

Two Missed Trips, Prayers, Hope and Two Successful Outcomes (we hope!)

In June of this year, I was scheduled and excited to be involved with the Mission trip to Slidell. In late May and early June, my father, then my mother was hospitalized. While up in Chicago, we received word that my mother was diagnosed with lymphoma. Unfortunately, I had to call Cindy Zorn to tell her I could not join the trip and needed to support my parents. With prayer, family and friends support and numerous rounds of chemo, she has joined the ranks of a cancer survivor. I later found out the June trip was very successful in helping and supporting our neighbors to the south.
Again, I am scheduled and excited to join the November trip to Slidell. However, now we are informed that Cindy Zorn can not make the trip due to her medical situation. Pastor Zorn will not be making the trip either and will be in the role of family support. Again, with prayer, family and friends support and her planned treatment, we hope she will join the ranks of a survivor. Join us in prayer for Cindy and for her successful outcome and that of our November Mission trip.
Marty Kochevar

New Orleans, the one and only place.

I have many memories of New Orleans. I spent 5 years in Lafayette La as a teenager and visited New Orleans on many occasions. Later, as a young adult, I moved to New Orleans and lived there for 10 years. Two of my three daughters were born in New Orleans. I have experienced hurricanes while there (Carmen, Camille, and Betsy are names that immediately come to mind). My family has been gone from the city for some time before Katrina so we did not did not experience that terrible blow. One thing we learned early on is that New Orleans culture is truly unique. People born and raised there did not posses the same "geographic mobility mind set" that marks much of the rest of the country. For them, there was only one place and that was New Orleans. So, I know that there will be very heavy hearts while the rebuilding and return goes on. I also know that the work that LCR and ELCA have done much to heal this hurt and I am happy to be able to join in these efforts through the 2007 trip.
Jack Newfield

Trip Planned for Nov 11-17!

Please call the church at (513) 474-4938 if you are interested in joining us!


Some Members of the upcoming Relief Team:
Back Row: Mark Meyer, Marty Kochevar
Front Row: Kathy Meyer, Curt Martel, Jason Leupen, Justin Long

Last day here

Today was our last day here and we went to the house where Cindy, Xan, Sarah, and Vasati had been working at. It was a cute little house. I started to do some sanding and it was ok but not the best in the world then I started to do some mudding and that was a blast. I really like rebuilding houses and doing things for other people in need. We had a great day out there today. It was our last day and its very sad to go home but we will return and have more fun soon. I know that other people call it work that we have been doing but in my mind it has all been a little game of fun. I have told people that and they say thats fine, but they say that it is work. This kind of fun is more for us adults with the drywall and mudding and insulation and it was really fun to do. See you sometime in the future Slidell, Louisiana. We will return!!! I know that I will return since it was such fun. So bye for now. Loved it here but now we have to return to our old lives. Gods prayer and love, Kristina.

Kristina Durtsche

Today was the last day that we worked at the site across from the soup kitchen. Maggie and I were finishing putting insulation in the roof where the sun was showing through. It was fun doing that. We all finished up and we went with Jay one of the guys there to this girls and boys club and checked out what they had done to this place. It had been rebuilt all the way and it looked really nice and it was nice with the air on in there. Then we went to the rainbow child care center to drop off some books that we had brought with us for the kids at the daycare. Then we went back to Peace Church so we could get ready to go to New Orleans. When we got there we went and ate. It was nice. After we ate we went down to the gift shop and bought some stuff. Then we walked a little more and then Cindy said we could split up. So Carol, Barb, Xan, Sarah, Vesti, and I went down the street away from the others. We had so much fun in New Orleans we saw a parade and it was fun. I got a picture with this guy that was spray painted with silver pretending that he was a statue. Then we turned around and walked the other way and when it was almost 9 pm when we were suppose to meet everyone at one spot we were there. We stood by this cafe that was called 544 with music playing and they started playing "Respect" and I started to dance to it. I really like that song. And when the others came we were dancing to "Shout" it was so awesome. After a hard days work you can go and enjoy yourself sometimes when you are in another state and city. Thats all I have to say for now but this trip has been great for me. I love it down here in Louisiana. I will probably come back in November or something. Its fun down here in Louisiana. Next time more people should come. Your missing out on all the fun even if you do have to sweat a little. By for now see you soon Ohio. God bless everyone that came with and helped out. It is so nice just to do something for someone when they have lost everything in the world. Love being down here, Kristina.

Carol Bublitz

Hey All you Christians,

Having a wonderful time here in Slidell, this place ROCKS!
Today we finished the roof insulation (25 feet high), and it was plenty Hot. We almost completed the wall insulation also . Our two surprise volunteers, Tim and Will (12 & 14 yrs. old respectively), have been there this week to help us out and they are awesome workers, not to mention polite and cute. Our foreman Jay and Mike are so kind and patient with us. They just love having volunteers come down to work.

We eat at the soup kitchen across the street and the lovely ladies are cookin' us up some black-eyed peas tomorrow. They want us to experience the true Louisiana cookin' down here in the south. God Bless them they are awesome ladies and great cooks to boot.

We went to the beach tonight in Mississippi. Beautiful white sand and very warm soothing waves. We all loved it!
Love and Prayers, Carol Bublitz and the Insulation Team

June 5th 2007--Maggie and Justin

We survived day two!! The eight of us that are working on the soup kitchen set the ambitious goal to finish hanging the insulation in the ceiling. It was at least ten degrees warmer up there in the rafters, but we steamed on ahead with the sweat in our eyes and almost completed our goal. At the end of the day we ran short on insulation--by only 8 pieces--but we will finish tomorrow!! Our next task is to insulate the walls in hopes that the drywall that was delivered today can be put up as soon as possible.

The current soup kitchen has set up across the street from the building we are working on, and the staff there is sweet enough to cook us lunch every day. They are so grateful and warm-hearted--willing to share everything that they have. All are so excited to move into their new building and be fully operational once again.

Our group of four that is working to finish drywalling a house had a lovely experience today. They were blessed enough to meet the homeowner and share in her stories. It is truely amazing how strong, positive, and hopeful these survivors are!

The town of Slidell has really come a long way back to being "normal" again. There are still a lot of businesses not open and houses not finished, but, things are really looking up for these people compared to a year ago. Later this week we will take a tour of areas that have not yet begun to recover--places that were flooded with 7 or more feet of water and oil combined. It is hard to believe that after all this time, the work is not finished, but it is a reminder that we still need to support these people with our time, sweat, prayers, and thoughts.

We would like to thank all of the families from our group that have supported us and allowed us to come down here to make a difference in the lives those who really need it. We would not be down here without your help!! Our support will be needed for years to come in this area. Being here really makes you think. It has helped us realize that we must give thanks for all that we have been given. Peace, love, and many thanks! Justin and Maggie

Slidell- Day 1- June 3,2007

Our twelve member team arrived safely at Peace Lutheran Church, Slidell, LA Sunday evening. After a good night of sleep, we arose at 6:30 a.m. to begin our work here. As you wait to be assigned your work site there is a certain amount of excitement, nervousness and anticipation. Our group was sent to two sites, the first a food pantry where our team hung ceiling insulation inside a 20-30 foot ceiling. The second group went to a nearby home to finish drywall installation and taping and mudding. I'm happy to report the temperature this June is literally some 15-20 degrees cooler than last year. While it is warm while you work, the heat is not unbearable. Both groups made great progress on day one.
This evening we went to Gethsemane Lutheran in Chalmette for dinner. This is the church we worked at during our November trip. I was excited to see the progress the church has made. All the rooms we worked on are now functioning in some sort of capacity. They were able to host their first group of volunteers last week! We ate our dinner in the fellowhip hall, it sure looked a lot different than last fall when we arrived. We shared our DVD from the trip and the members were very appreciative of viewing it and thankful for our mission trips to Louisiana. It was very emotional to be there, but joyous to see Gethsemanes progress
Our dinner was authentic Chicken Andouille Gumbo, with bread pudding for dessert. Everything was delicious and our time of dinner and fellowship was awesome. One comment that was shared by all the Gethsemane people was thank you for coming here and please continue to tell the people back home thanks. Also, please don't forget about us- they call it Katrina Burnout! It's been 21 months since Katrina and alot of people have forgotten about the needs down here. While so much has improved on the north shore of Lake Ponchatrain, the south shore is still in much need.
Thanks to everyone who has supported this trip financially and especially with your prayers.
We were able to present Peace and Gethsemane with a check as well as help out some individuals because of your generousity. Please know your donations are aiding in some wonderful ministries. Its neat to see it unfold!
I'm thankful to be here. - Cindy