This year was a little more domestic; we traveled to New Orleans. This time we didn't lead a worship conference or do anything musical. Instead we helped rebuild homes that were damaged by Katrina. The trip was advertised as being for the worship ministry, but it turned out about half of the 80 people going were not associated with the worship ministry at all. This allowed members of the faith family who don't normally interact to get to know one another. Since we have more than 4,000 members, I cherish these opportunities.
We worked through an organization called Operation Noah. They took care of a lot of the details for us. For starters they gave us room and board. The rooms were in a church that was nearly destroyed by the hurricane. You can see where the rushing water dented the side of the church! There was a team of from a church in Mississippi that cooked both breakfast and lunch for us everyday we were there, as well as setting out the ingredients for a brown bag lunch. The meals were very good and included red beans and rice and pancakes that rivaled Liz's dad's.
Operation Noah also had a warehouse with equipment and supplies along with a list of projects that we were to work on. We divided everyone into teams of 5, each led by a skilled craftsmen from ages 18 to 50+. All told we worked on more than a dozen homes, each team working alone or with one other. This allowed the small teams to really bond with each other.
Liz and I were the runners for the week and didn't work on any particular job. This was both good and bad. We got to see all of the projects every day of the week. It was amazing to see them progress so far in such a short time. It also gave us the chance to get to know everyone a little bit, as the cost of getting to know a few people well. We also got to see a lot of the city. On the flip side, we did feel like we cheated a little by not getting as dirty as everyone else. We stayed extemely busy running around among the projects, the warehouse, and hardware stores, so we knew we were needed.
The project we wide ranging and included:
- installing siding, both vinyl and wood
- painting
- installing and finishing drywall
- replacing a subfloor
- finishing cabinets
I was impressed at our collective skill and hard work to get a lot of quality work done in just four days. We clearly made a physical impact on the home owners. But the impact was also spiritual. One home owner told us the storm made her lose faith in God, not because of the disaster itself, but the actions of people as a result of it. She said we were restoring her faith in people, and subsequently God. I'm overwhelmed we could have such a profound impact.
But all work and no play make Chris a dull boy. So I brought games. I didn't realize we'd have so much free time. On our past 2 trips, our entire day was planned out. This time, we worked really hard for 8 hours, but then were free to do what we wanted. So while some hit the town, many of us played games.
I was asked to bring some of my collection, but Liz encouraged me to bring more involved games than just Time's Up!, such as Settlers of Catan and Bohnanza. Boy, was that the right decision. A game of Settlers was played with 6 players every night. Bohnanza is still getting played almost daily as some of the gang borrowed my copy. Of course, Time's Up! did make it's usual big splash.
In addition to being plain fun, the games gave us a chance to get to know some of the high school and college kids a lot better. I was super-impressed by all of them. I know I didn't have my head on my shoulders that well when I was their age.
Liz and I stayed through the weeked to celebrate our 3rd anniversary a little early. This included dinner at the Palace Cafe and August, a ride on a swamp boat, lunch at Mother's, and a day in the French Quarter. Oh yeah, and lots of sleep.
What a great trip. Every year I think I'm going to really sacrifice for God's glory and the hearts of those we're ministering to, but we always seem to be the ones most impacted.
Be sure to check out our pictures on Picasa. I wonder where we'll go next year...
