Across the corner from South Derbingny in

New Orleans

Okay, It's been four days and now I'm home from Nawlins. But it has left a mark on my life. I can't get certain conversations out of my head.

One was my conversation with a man named Keith, pictured above and you guessed it, I am having a conversation with him on the porch posted in the picture above. In fact, I think most of my conversations were with people sitting on porches.

So here I am at the end of the day sitting with Keith, and he was telling me about the house that we were gutting. He told me that he attended a wake for his grandmother in the house. It was kind of a weird way to start a conversation, but I found myself beginning to ask him questions. Like how old was he when that happened. Then amazingly it began, I asked him the question, I've been asking everyone I bumped into. Were you here during the huricane? Were you scared? What now, since then.

For Keith it has been a long struggle trying to deal with the train wreck on his life, but he told me about being in his house during the huricane and the roof and house shaking so badly that he didn't know if he would see the next day. I don't think I have ever been that scared. He told me for the last couple of years it's been about rebuilding and living. But I can only imagine what it would be like to be in his predicament.

By the end of the conversation we exchanged names, I gave him a water and went to hop in my car and go across the causeway with a bunch of Teens. Once again slightly taken back from the pain that Huricane Katrina caused. Not numb at all but incredibly feeling everything he said to me and remembering.

It's late Thursday night in New Orleans, and it's warmer outside than it is at noon on a sunny Connecticut spring day. I, Corinne Hirotsu, am really enjoying this weather, along with my new rolled-up-t-shirt-sleeve tan. Today we did some demolition, put up some drywall, and worked a block party; however, the most significant work I did today included playing with a little African American boy named Paul.

All week, I have been hearing various leaders say things like "It's not about the work, it's about the people," and I have even been telling myself the same thing. But I didn't really know how true this statement was until today. I spent half of the work day (about three hours-ish) with Paul and a few others, playing in the lot across the street, and the other half shoveling insulation and carrying drywall. While spending the first half of the day playing with Paul, I felt guilty about not doing any physical labor, and asked if I should help upstairs in the apartments we were in the process of demolishing. Contrary to my expectations, Mr. Maudsley told me that it wasn't necessary, and that in playing with Paul, I was doing even more important work than any manual labor I could otherwise be doing. I realized that I could use the time with Paul to show him God's love, and further understand his family's current situation. Afterwards, I felt so content and accomplished, and I felt like I had really given him a good idea of what God's love is.

After lunch, I decided to do some heavy lifting upstairs. After over two and a half hours of my work goggles fogging up and large pieces of drywall crashing down on my head, (*ahem* Chip Larsen,) I was sweaty and exhausted, but I felt nowhere near as accomplished as I did after I spent that time with Paul.

In short, today I learned from experience that the most fulfilling work comes not from exerting yourself, but from touching people's lives. I know that we will always remember Paul's abundant joy and happiness, and I pray that he will lead a full life, taking every one of his steps with God by his side.

Hello and greetings from Nawlins! This is Kori Dean speaking, in case you couldn't tell by the picture, and I'm here to tell you how our trip is going so far. Today was another day of hard work at the site, though it was obvious that we worked more dilligently. Not to mention the fact that we seemed to become experts at demolishing houses overnight. I mean Vicky and I took down a celing in the time span of half and hour. Talk about impressive. I'd also like to say that the block party was a huge success. We all took the time to reach out to the people of New Orleans and hear their stories. I was very proud of everyone and the courage they showed. It was, all around, a really great day.

A few of us experienced something that I would like to share with you all. While Eddie, Vicky, Max, Chip, Chris, and myself (forgive me if I forgot someone) were at Rally's for lunch, waiting for our food, we began talking to this man. He didn't seem to have a very fortunate life. He had an injured leg and was forced to travel around on some sort of automatic wheelchair (for lack of a better term...it's midnight here, cut me some slack). Max then brought up the topic of the hurricane and he told us his story. He had escaped the storm before he could experience the worst of it, but he left his mother, sister, and cousin behind. They were all killed during Katrina.

But here this man was, smiling, completely content. He didn't even ask us for anything. He told us Jesus was all he needed. He then promised us he would be at the block party and rolled away.

This had a huge impact on me, and I'm sure it had a great impact on the others who were there with me. The fact that someone can be so happy after so much sadness is truly an act of God. I truly hope to see more of this before I leave the city. But that's all I have for now. I got to turn the computer over to Corinne. Night!

Today we pranked the California kids. Last night we went to Wal-Mart and bought rubber animals and zip ties, and after they left this morning we put the animals in their sleeping bags and ziptied their shoes and luggage together. They thought it was hilarious, and everyone got a good laugh out of it.

When we got to the work site we did demolition again, on an identical unit from yesterday. We had a better idea of what we were doing, and it seemed a lot easier than yesterday’s work. Yesterday Mr. Maudsley and I must have spent three hours taking down three ceiling fans. Today it only took fifteen or twenty minutes, which was a blessing as we were able to get a lot of other things done. We almost completely gutted the house, and will be able to start putting up fresh drywall by the end of the week. We got back to the church and had a nice dinner, before having a joint worship service with the other group. A lot of people shared their stories about how God has been working through their groups this week and it was very powerful. All in all, it was a great day and hopefully we will have another successful day tomorrow.
BY CHIP LARSEN

In the last few days God has changed the lives of many through hard work and new relationships.

Two big life changing events happened today.

The first of these events was beginning to occur before lunch. My upper back was hurting and I prayed that we would go to lunch and that in that time my back could heal. The lifting of sheetrock in small pieces was awkward and somewhat heavy, and after lunch, when I went to lift the sheetrock my back had a hint of pain, remembering that God has said ask and you will receive I asked for my back to stop hurting, and within the next load there was no pain.

Another of the many small life changing events that have happened recently was that I have been allowed to "lead" the night time devo. I have planned to expand on the NLT translation of Proverbs 17:5. The meaning of this verse is to show people that making fun of people is a sin.

It has been so amazing to do the work in houses that normally very skilled people do. The opportunity to help others is in abundance, and I have enjoyed the "prayer walks" where we talk to the people who we meet. This missions trip is truly amazing.
- Stephen Jarrett

This week has been so much fun so far! Certain places in the city look a lot different than they did two years ago. My favorite thing to do during my first trip to New Orleans was to listen to the stories of the people who survived Katrina. We got to hear one of those stories yesterday and I wanted to share it with all of you. We met this guy called Dingo . (Wearing red in the picture above) He works with the youth in a section of the city as a part of Castle Rock church's ministry to the people of New Orleans. Dingo became a Christian because he was influenced by the other Christians that he played basketball with at Castle Rock. He was seventeen when the storm hit the city. As usual when hurricanes hit this area, he and his family bunkered down in their house, lit candles, and told stories of years past. he was in high school at the time and after the initial storm hit he went back to school. He heard out on the streets that the levy had broken. Being seventeen years old, he didn't really understand the implications of this. He went home and told his mom what he had heard. Dingo's mom said that they needed to go to his aunt's house a couple blocks away. Dingo told us that the water didn't break the levy dramatically like you see on tv and in movies all the time. He said that only pieces of the levy broke and that the water rose very gradually. His mom got drunk at her sister's during that time and told him that she wanted to go home. He walked her home through water that was five feet high at the time. He couldn't stay there with her and he couldn't get her to leave the house so he and his aunt and sister went to the Superdome. He described some of the conditions of that to us but if I go into that now this will end up being too long. They then were shipped off to Texas where they expected to be housed in an apartment or something. Instead they were put into conditions even worse and more cramped than the Superdome was. Fortunately, they had enough money with them that they were able to stay in a hotel until they could get out of the state. To make things short (sorry!) all three of them returned home and he was reunited with his mom. He was not able to graduate from high school due to circumstances that I can't go into now. However, he applied to a Bible college in California and was able to go because his pastor, because of God's help, found the money for him to go.
There is a lot more to Dingo's story so I will try to get someone else to write about it at some point. We all really appreciate all of your support and prayers and are looking forward to coming home and sharing our abundance of stories of this trip with you. Thanks!!
- Erin Porter

Picture this: It's a rainy day in your hometown. You've got nothing going on, but since it's raining, you can't go outside. All of a sudden you hear large wind gusts, unexpected cries for help, and water flooding the streets. You think to your self, what is going on? Am I going to survive? This was the case for the people of New Orleans on that tragic day in 2005, it was called Hurricane Katrina. I have realized taking that this is my second year on this trip that there is something that the people of New Orleans have that many people lack. That is friendliness and the ability to stay strong. God has showed me throughout this week that even though Hurricane Katrina brought terrible roads ahead for many, these people never complain. I tend to complain if I don't get the TV clicker at 7:30 for my show. These people lost their belongings, pets, family members, and almost everything they have, and they stay strong and only focus on the future. God purposely planned Hurricane Katrina, he sent those whirling winds down on this city for a reason, to unite the world and bring peace to the nations. I am very thankful I have been given the opportunity to serve God and others this week in New Orleans.

----Max Maudsley

As Max said these people went through terror and hardship a few years ago. The hurricane which hit them still has left their beautiful city of New Orleans in critical condition. Even thow their city isnt as nice as other cities and the people themselves arent doing as well as before, they stay happy. With the power of the lord these people are able to put the bad behind and keep going forward. It is truelly great to walk down a sidewalk and be able to say high to someone or have a conversation with someone without being ignored. Today Max and I had a great time pretty much knocking the walls off of the inside of a ladies house. We got messy and dirty but it was by far one of the coolest experiences ever. After all of the work we did, we were able to come back to the church and hang with the California kids. There is a group of 80 from California here and only 20 of us but they arent to bad to us. We bonded with them and even beat them in a frisby game. Every day so far makes you wanna just fast forward to the next day because it is so great. This trip isnt just about the fun though it also has been changing me to be a better Christian. I am very blessed to be here and it is very obvious the people of New Orleans are happy to have us here too. It is a blessing from God that I am here and I know it was not a mistake that God put me here to serve Him.

----Eduardo White

Hey, from Molly Fox and Jessica Petty! April 14th, 2009...what a day. There was much work to be done as we approached the work cite. Little did we know, our lives were about to be drastically changed. When we first got there we met Dingo. He shared a very emotional testimony about his experiences and trials because of the outcome of Katrina. He also let us know how these hardships led him to lean and depend on God as his savior. Everyone was listening intently and our hearts longed to please God through our day of demolition. However fun demolition sounds, it is so hard. Dripping with sweat, we were able to gut more than half of an apartment. Laughing and joking, we made sure the job was done pleasurably. What many people don't know is, not all the fun occurs at the work cite. Today, we had intense soccer and frisbee games, Hope against the other church from California. It was a real icebreaker and gave us all time to bond and have a good time, after an exhausting day. Quite possibly the most moving part of the day was tonight at devos. It was as if God had intervened and brought us into great discussion and testimony. The worship was led by Paul Karus and the message by Kayla Maudsley. Both were quite moving and gave us a further appreciation for eachother and the amazing oppertunity to come to New Orleans and grow in our faith. Tears were shed and hearts were changed today and we got to know eachother through God's grace in ways none of us could have ever imagined. Though weve done alot already, it's only the second day and we have much more to accomplish. We are so excited to see what comes our way! GOD BLESS!!

Hello from New Orleans!! Kayla Maudsley speaking :)
Today was our first day of work, and I couldn't believe how quickly 6 AM came. Surprisingly, I was so excited to start working that I jumped out of bed cheerfully and excitedly (my parents would never believe it). After breakfast and devotions, we were all ready to start working by around 8. Our first job was actually in the church we are staying at - unloading cases of candy, shampoo, and bottles of juice and placing them in their proper places in the church.
Okay, skip ahead about an hour and a half and our group has already crossed the 24-mile causeway bridge and driven into the central city. Our next task was at the "Alamo", which is basically a building without walls, where the EFCA keeps some of their tools. The next two hours were filled with lots of lifting and moving items, such as large peices of wood, wires, tables, and other various items. Even though i was whipped with a piece of wire, scratched by splinters from wood, tearing from dirt blown into my eyes, and bruised unknowingly, I had an amazing time working. I love the way serving brings inexpressible and glorious joy. After our job at the Alamo winded down, a few of us decided to take a prayer-walk and meet some new people. We mostly talked with children. Two kids we met were named Heaven and Jamal, who are cousins. We all had a fun time pushing them around in a shopping cart form Wal-mart, passing a ball, and giving new hairstyles to each other. Jamal was very quiet, and he told us he was held back a year in school because he moved a lot. Although we didnt ask him why specifically he moved, we could assume it might have had something to do with Katrina. Heaven and Jamal showed me that you dont need an xbox, a tv, an ipod, or a cell phone to have a good time. They relied on each other to entertain themselves, and they had a fun time on their own. Another woman we talked to later on couldn't keep from thanking us, she spotted us walking down the street and yelled 'thank you' to us, and kept encouraging us in our work. Now everyone is telling me to go to bed, so hopefully you got a good depiction of what a small portion of my day looked like! Thanks for all your prayers! I can feel them all the time :)

Hello there to those reading this and greeting from Nawlins! My name is Roberto Sancho and this is my first time at New Orleans. Right now its Monday night and we just had a fun packed day. We woke up at 6 like the usual day and we had our breakfast and morning devos and set for our work. Our first job was on the Trinity Church grounds which was taking bottles and boxed toiletries to a different vacation and after that we set for our job at the Alamo. The Alamo was pretty much a beat down warehouse with various tools and supplies that needed some cleaning up and a little bit of demolition. During this time, various groups set for prayer walks where we met some of the great people of New Orleans. One person that our prayer group met was a young man and his mother on their front porch and they discussed with us their life in New Orleans before and after Katrina hit. To think that people who have been hit by such a tragedy looked happier than we do on a regular basis kept me in awe. After we finished our work, we set out for Castle Rock Community Church where we had dinner and then spent some time in silence. I read something in scripture that I have read in the past, but it struck me hard as an eye opener for this trip. Colossians 4:5 says 'Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity' and this hit me because I feel like I have been struggling with keeping a smile due to things happening back at home and I felt that the Lord was telling me to keep a smile because it shows to those around me. I spent the rest of the night in an utter bliss through this scripture and I felt like I was glorifying the Lord through this. This is my first mission trip ever and I must say that even so far, my life has been changed immensly and I know the Lord has much more in store for me and us down here.
God Is Good ALL THE TIME! All The Time GOD IS GOOD!

-Roberto

Helloooo!!!!! Greetings from Nowlyans!
Happy Easter! Jesus is risen!
To add to Tanner's post.....today was really awesome! Day one and we are already having a blast. This morning we attended the service at the church that we are calling home this week, Trinity Church. It was a great service, the pastor talked about Matthew 11: Jesus's yoke is light. Although something I have heard my whole life, it was really powerful and fresh. A lot of us were really impacted by the service. Later on we headed down to New Orleans (across the 20-something mile long bridge....) and spent sometime getting a feel for the city. Wow. What a cool city. We saw several musicians out on the streets playing. We watched some guys doing a pretty cool 'breakdance' show.....they were really good. Vicky and I got to bust-a-move with them in the beginging before they started.....a whole new side of me has come out ;). During the show, Corinne got flipped over. I am not sure if any of that makes sense but just wait till you see the videos :). We also got to try some typical New Orleans food- Crawfish (which I reluctantly tried and surprisingly really like...but only when Paul opens it for me, the face is too much for me) and Jumbalya, yum. We saw the Superdome and seeing it really struck me just thinking about how during Katrina it was packed with desperate and scared people. God held off the rain and we had a dry day :). I have already begun to see God working in my life and other people have told me they are already seeing God too (as if God wouldn't have big plans :) ). Continue to keep us up in your prayers! Tomorrow we begin our work! We love and miss you all!!!
Ingrid

Hello fellow Hope churchians (if that's a word), anyways, this is Tanner Petty giving you all a subtle update on our amazing trip down the BIG easy. If you are clueless to what the big easy is, it is the nickname for the great city of New Orleans. Basically, the trip so far as already began to touch the lives of all us. Today the group traveled to the heart of the city. We strolled the maze of streets, stopping at shops along the way to observe the true culture of New Orleans. Jazz music was everywhere giving a rythmic beat in which to walk to. I think the thing that struck us the most was the livliness of the people and the city. Even through terrible tragedies and heart breaking memories, the people are overwhelmingly welcoming. Several times we were surprised to hear a "happy easter" coming from a random person on the streets. The truth is these people are longing for people to talk to, people to connect with, anyone to listen. The city of New Orleans is in fact alive with God's presence continuoesly working through his disciples. I want to thank everyone for their prayers and their willingness to support us. We love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week. In God's name, good bye!!

Tanner Petty

2009

April 11th

The day has arrived out of no where. I am ready to go but still up. What will I see? What will I hear? I am going to New Orleans, a place of much sadness. Will I see Jesus in places of darkness or in places of light? Will I be able to grasp the magnitude of pain these people had during that one dark hour of their life. Huricane Katrina!

This is not a story about all I came to do. This is a story about what the Lord wants me to do.

And finally my verses for this weeks missions trip.

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 10:9,10

And what the Lord requires me to do this week is to seek Him with all my heart, my mind and my soul.

How about you, are you seeking HIM?