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