Scott, Isaac, Sara, and I arrived in New Orleans at around 5 on Wednesday the 4th, a little later than we had hoped due to heavy rains between Dallas and Lafayette. We picked up Karyn at the airport and the five of us (in my little car) went directly to St. John #5 Faith Church in the 7th Ward. Pastor Bruce Davenport greeted us very warmly and immediately started to show us around the church, the building where programs for children and adults are held, and the neighborhood, including a visit to the home of a church member (soon to celebrate her 90th birthday) and her family living in a small trailer while waiting for her house (gutted) to be made right. Just after that we were part of a short (testimony) service at church, and then Pastor Bruce and Deborah Davenport took us out in the church van to show everyone around parts of the city, places where levees had broken, and many details of the hurricane and the aftermath of it. Many thousands of people made their way to the I610 overpass down the road from here and waited- Deborah waiting for about 15 hours, some for days.
Yesterday Pastor Bruce, Deborah, Isaac, Sara, Scott, and Karyn (and eventually I) went to the home of two church members in the lower ninth Ward – Walt and Gussie – and worked on various things- sanding drywall, prying up floor board and removing nails, and other things. I had to return to church to get my car, and I met Dave and Stacey, was able to show them around the church neighborhood and then to go over with them to Walt and Gussie’s home in the ninth ward to meet everyone. We had a wonderful lunch of red beans, sausage and rice and enjoyed a really loud thunderstorm which brought very heavy rain and seemed to break up some of the humidity. We will return tomorrow morning earlier- Walt indicated that he has some work to do in the attic, and Scott is ready to be a Gulf Coast attic specialist once again. Bill is here now also, and will head to work in the morning. We are staying in a house up the street from the church- a house which the church uses for drop in daycare during the day. We were prepared to sleep in the church if necessary- this house is very comfortable, and we have had a wonderful welcome here. I include a picture of two family members- Lexi (4) and Al (almost 2 yrs old) who have been part of that welcome – very sweet kids.
We plan to work here on Saturday also before heading to Biloxi to join the rest of the team. It is good to be back here and really good to work with the Davenports and Walt and Gussie. The storm stories and the damage are overwhelming. Connecting with people, one-on-one, and doing our piece of meeting and listening and seeing and working, is wonderful and difficult all at once. I think I knew that that would be true, but back home I work with an approximation of what all of this situation is- something like a two-dimensional picture. Here, we get stories and views in 3-D, and signs of the flooding and the hurting are everywhere in these two areas of the city. It will leave us with much to ‘unpack’ and talk about. –Pastor Glen
Yesterday Pastor Bruce, Deborah, Isaac, Sara, Scott, and Karyn (and eventually I) went to the home of two church members in the lower ninth Ward – Walt and Gussie – and worked on various things- sanding drywall, prying up floor board and removing nails, and other things. I had to return to church to get my car, and I met Dave and Stacey, was able to show them around the church neighborhood and then to go over with them to Walt and Gussie’s home in the ninth ward to meet everyone. We had a wonderful lunch of red beans, sausage and rice and enjoyed a really loud thunderstorm which brought very heavy rain and seemed to break up some of the humidity. We will return tomorrow morning earlier- Walt indicated that he has some work to do in the attic, and Scott is ready to be a Gulf Coast attic specialist once again. Bill is here now also, and will head to work in the morning. We are staying in a house up the street from the church- a house which the church uses for drop in daycare during the day. We were prepared to sleep in the church if necessary- this house is very comfortable, and we have had a wonderful welcome here. I include a picture of two family members- Lexi (4) and Al (almost 2 yrs old) who have been part of that welcome – very sweet kids.
We plan to work here on Saturday also before heading to Biloxi to join the rest of the team. It is good to be back here and really good to work with the Davenports and Walt and Gussie. The storm stories and the damage are overwhelming. Connecting with people, one-on-one, and doing our piece of meeting and listening and seeing and working, is wonderful and difficult all at once. I think I knew that that would be true, but back home I work with an approximation of what all of this situation is- something like a two-dimensional picture. Here, we get stories and views in 3-D, and signs of the flooding and the hurting are everywhere in these two areas of the city. It will leave us with much to ‘unpack’ and talk about. –Pastor Glen
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