Have Lord - Will Travel: Baldwin, LA

After my third NOMADS project in Missouri, I decided to take the summer off, from NOMADS projects, that is. My ‘second family’ in Ruston, LA, invited me to join them on a mission to Baldwin, Louisiana. The mission was to help at the Sager Brown disaster relief facility. The facility is the Methodist Church’s central distribution point for disaster relief supplies and is under the auspices of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, or UMCOR.

I had just acquired a newer trailer and was anxious to try it out. So, on June 18, 2001, I was again on my way south to the coast of Louisiana – Cajun country.

I very much enjoyed seeing the folks from the Antioch United Methodist Church. They were familiar faces. I was looking for a great week with them. Their decision to include me in their mission meant a lot to me. I appreciated this opportunity. At least one couple in the group had been coming to Sager Brown for the past fifteen years. That was great encouragement for me in pursuing my passion of serving the Lord by helping others.

In late spring, the middle section of our country experienced temperatures much higher than usual and much earlier in the year. Southern Louisiana was no exception. I worked in a warehouse during the week. As most warehouses, it was not air-conditioned. Fans moved the hot air around. Cold drinks were plentiful and appreciated. My task was to pack health kits for shipment. Methodist churches across the country contribute contents of health kits, including such items as toothbrushes, toothpaste, nail clippers, small towels, washcloths, and similar personal things. The kits end up at the Sager Brown facility where volunteers unpack them, screen for any in appropriate items (such as cash), and repack the kit. My job was to collect the finished kits from other volunteers and pack 24 kits to a box. The boxes were sealed and stacked on a pallet. Later in the week, I heard someone estimate that we packed well over 3000 kits.

UMCOR distributes the kits within the United States and to areas throughout the world. I recall during a recent mission trip to Haiti seeing boxes from UMCOR. It was nice to see more of the process of helping others. I was packing health kits that would end up with a child, a mother, or father somewhere in a remote area of the world. Cool.

The UMCOR staff was very nice. They were a mix of paid staff and long-term volunteers. I liked the idea of working at the disaster relief facility and asked how to become a long-term volunteer. I need to take a course offered through the United Methodist Church but after checking the dates and places, I was already committed to NOMADS projects. Perhaps another time, I told myself.

The 1-week mission trip was much shorter than the 3-week NOMADS projects and it went by quickly. Aside from the work and meals I shared with my friends from Ruston, I enjoyed a wonderful tour of the bayou by boat. One of the guys from Ruston brought his boat and offered a ride with others along the waters in the area surrounding Sager Brown. I saw miles of river lined with fine homes and some not so fine. One particular sight was what looked like a drilling barge on its side in the middle of the river. Our pilot said his depth finder read the depth at 40 feet. The barge towered at least another 40 feet in the air. It apparently turned over during one of the recent hurricanes and was now a gigantic monument of rusting metal.

Another highlight was two occasions where our group enjoyed dinner at a local casino. I am not one to play the machines but the food was great. I felt right at home with my wonderful friends from Antioch United Methodist Church. We laughed and talked as if I had known them my entire life.

I look forward to finding a reason to venture back to Louisiana. I found great friends and fine food in that area of our world. I pray the Lord will lead me back down that way soon.