Have Lord - Will Travel: New Orleans, LA

Before I could start my NOMADS projects in early 2011, I was postured to lead a mission to New Orleans, LA, - calling it NOLA for short – during the first week of January 2011. This mission was done through my church to follow an earlier mission to Mexico. NOLA was intended to add more spark to the slight interest that my church had in mission work. The timing of the NOLA mission was to engage young folks who might be in college. As it turned out, the only ‘youth’ was my college-aged daughter. So, with her sleep interrupted early on New Year’s Day, I picked her up and we headed south.

Our project was to help in the final stages of rebuilding a home in the area around New Orleans that was flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The mission was in support of the St. Bernard Project. We had six members of our team: two couples from my church, my daughter, and me.

The adventure started early – January 1, 2011. My daughter and I decided to drive south to Louisiana so we could use our truck for transportation in and around New Orleans. Two other members of our team – man and wife - drove separately. The Lord blessed my daughter and me with a good trip with no problems. That was not so for the other couple. They planned to fly into New Orleans. Due to mechanical problems with the plane, their trip took a little longer than anticipated. The flyers left their home for the airport close to the time that I left home to pick up my daughter. The mechanical problems caused them to spend the day at the airport before catching a later flight to a mid-point. There, they remained overnight. The next day brought more adventure. They could find no seats on a direct flight to New Orleans so they flew into Mississippi, rented a car, and drove the rest of the way. My daughter and I got a hotel room along the way.

Early the next morning we headed out on our second leg of the trip. We figured our friends would meet up with us later in the afternoon. As we arrived in the NOLA area, we received a text message by cell telephone – our friends were right behind us! Goes to show you – the miraculous transportation methods in our world today may be diverse and highly efficient, and amazingly manage to get people to the same place at the same time. My daughter and I stopped by the road and waited a few minutes for our friends to catch up. Surprisingly, four of us arrived simultaneously, having left our respective homes around the same time the previous morning.

The remaining third of our team was another couple driving their way south. Within minutes of our arrival at our temporary residence in NOLA, the couple arrived, in spite of being turned around on a side-road for a bit. Now that is what I call good travel coordination!

A local independent church provided our lodging and the folks took great care of us. The pastor had carved out a few rooms in a large donated warehouse. He had a sanctuary, kitchen, bunking rooms for males and females, bathroom facilities, dining room, and several other rooms. The church provided our lodging and meals but not the work projects. Noteworthy, the church was located beside a great earth levee that separated us from the mighty Mississippi River. We could stand on the levee and see huge freighters stretching higher than where we stood. We learned that during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the floodwaters measured over our heads while we stood on top of the levee.

Saint Bernard Project, located a few miles from our lodging, coordinated the work we were to perform. On Monday morning we headed to the Project office and met with Sister Judy, our contact for the week-long mission. We found her to be a true blessing from God. Small in stature and polite to the extreme, she gave us an overview of the flooding and origin of Saint Bernard Project. We learned how the area became flooded after the hurricane and the plight of survivors.

As we prepared to leave her office for our house project, my daughter expressed an interest in working for Americorp, a group of young people who work around the country for good projects. Our team suggested she go back into the office to find out how to join Americorp. Somewhat reluctantly, she went back in and ten minutes or so later she returned with the biggest smile on her face. Her new mission in life was to work with Americorp.

Our task for the week was to work on final stages of remodeling a home owned by a grandmother who lived alone. Twelve feet or so of water had flooded the woman’s home. As I understand the story, she attempted to repair her home using her life savings. The contractor took her money and ran. Using what money she had left, she started again. The contractor did the work but used tainted drywall from another country. She was able to move back into her home but after a couple months, chemicals from the drywall made her home unfit for human habitation. Now, unable to live in her house and no money to fix it, she applied for help from Saint Bernard Project. With the help of volunteers, through the Grace of our Lord and Savior, her home was being remodeled.

The photographs appended to this posting tell the story of our work. They also show how much we enjoyed this mission project. The Lord brought us together to experience New Orleans and results of the Katrina flood.

At the end of our mission, we returned to our respective homes. My daughter headed to Richmond, VA, where she attended Virginia Commonwealth University. She applied to Americorp and was accepted. Unfortunately, the Federal Government, which funds most of Americorp’s operations, failed to provide funding to the organization. Consequently, my daughter is searching for an alternative opportunity to serve the Lord and help others in need.

I returned to my cabin in West Virginia to await my trip to Florida and my first NOMADS project.

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