YOUTH MISSION TRIP 2008
June 6-15 - New Orleans, Louisiana

Welcome to WEMO Youth Ministry's "Mission Trip" web page. Check here each day, June 6-15, for photos and updates.

Friday, June 6

We left The Underground and Indianapolis around 9:30 am. We drove and drove and drove. Ten hours later we safely stopped for the evening in Meridian, Mississippi. Traveling in the church van were ten hearty souls: Travis Stevens, Hannah Drummond, Ronnie Payne, Molly Hay, Michelle Leak, Jordan Bowles, Sam Hay and chaperones/guides Youth Pastor Georgia O'Connor, Gale O'Connor and John Hay, Jr.

The van pulled a U-Haul trailer with our bags, bedding and tools for a week of work in the ongoing post-Katrina hurricane reconstruction effort. We will meet up with another youth group in New Orleans on Sunday. Tomorrow, however, our destination is the French Quarter in the Big Easy for some sightseeing around the city.

Our travel today took us south on Interstate 65 to Louisville (pictured below), Nashville, and Birmingham. At Birmingham, we picked up Interstate 59 and drove over into Mississippi. The bulk of the driving behind us, we'll have just a few more hours on Saturday to reach New Orleans.

Saturday, June 7

The drive into the New Orleans area didn't take too long. It was fascinating to see evidence of the near complete devastation inland areas suffered in Hurricane Katrina and the flooding after levy breaks nearly three years ago. Roofs tarped or caved in, windows blown out, siding ripped away, flora stripped bare. Even though much of the region is rebuilt and on the rebound, a lot remains as it was the day after the hurricane. Renewal and devastation stand side by side.

We checked into our hotel around noon and walked into the heart of old New Orleans and the French Quarter. We strolled to historic Jackson Square, spent time on the Mississippi riverfront, visited the great cathedral and the Cabildo--the site where the Louisiana Purchase was signed. We ate a lunch of po boys and jumbalaya in the French Market area. Almost everyone at least sampled the crayfish. Some of us returned to the French Market in the evening to get some "beignets" and Cafe au Latt. Beignets (pronounced "ben-yays") are a French pastry akin to donuts...very tasty!

New Orleans seems to be interested in spiritual things, though it would be a stretch to say that its interest is primarily in Christian spirituality. We passed by many voodoo shops, and, just outside the great cathedral, astrologists, tarot card and palm readers set up tables offering to tell people their fortunes. But they didn't have the fortune to make money on us!

We hear weather has been bad in Indy, with considerable flooding. Our prayers are with all who may be anxious there. All our team is safe and well. We are anticipating our week of service work that begins in earnest tomorrow.

Sunday, June 8

We attended St. Mark's United Methodist Church on Sunday morning, a very diverse congregation (including homeless neighbors) in the French Quarter. We enjoyed the service and the message from Pastor Anita. Ronnie pointed out to John that it was just one hour from start to finish: "Let's see you top that!" he joked.

After lunch we left the French Quarter and made our way to the church where we will be staying during the week. A number of churches in the New Orleans area have become "mission stations" of hospitality and mobilization for volunteers who come to help rebuild after Katrina. First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Metairie section of New Orleans has been receiving work/service groups since right after the storm--nearly three years! So, we are their guests.

Our Mission Coordinator for the week is Cristina Sullivan-Davis, an Earlham College intern from Tipton, Indiana (Cristina's in the blue shirt in the picture at right). She will guide us to our work sites and stay with our group 24/7. She gave the WEMO youth mission team an orientation after we arrived at the Metarie Church.

The church (seen at right, below) has designated its gymnasium and adjacent rooms as the "Mission Station." This our "home away from home" for the week. We've taken advantage of the facility, playing basketball and kicking around a soccer ball. Some in our group made a run to the store to get food supplies for the week and we prepared and ate our first "team-cooked" meal of spaghetti together.

In the morning, our service work begins in earnest. We're told we will be painting and that the temperatures will be in the 90's. We've been told to wear sunscreen and drink plenty of water. We'll see how we do!

Monday, June 9

After another orientation in disaster relief efforts by church groups in the New Orleans area, we headed to our worksite in a neighborhood damaged by Katrina. It is a 100-year old two-story house that volunteer groups have been working on for some time. Our task is to finish scraping and priming it and then to paint it.

So, the ten of us busied ourselves on the first day, setting up scaffolding and sorting through equipment and tools and began to scrape and then prime. Each took several turns on ladders. We made a dent in the old house and hope to continue the work tomorrow.

Every one is doing well. The weather is hot and muggy. Our work ended today with a thunderstorm that blew through and soaked us. But it quickly passed.

We begin each morning with devotions together led by one of the students and we meet each evening to talk and pray about the day's activities.

Tuesday, June 10

We worked in the sun and heat today, completing prep work necessary before we start painting. We finished scraping paint, bleaching the wood, caulking cracks and corners, repairing wood, and applying a primer/sealer on the 100-year old two-story house. Jordan has been the one at the top of the 28-foot ladder most of the time, though just about everyone has spent significant time on ladders at varying heights. We've done just about all the prep work we can do. We hope to start painting tomorrow.

We have engaged the homeowner Natasha, and her three sons, Justin (we helped celebrate his 13th birthday today), Tray (9), and Tyler (5), in good conversation today as they worked to assist us. This family was displaced by Hurricane Katrina. They lived for a while in Texas and then in Atlanta beforereturning to New Orleans to begin to rebuild their lives here. As with many families, it has been a long and complicated process. Stories of displacement and attempts to rebuild range from heroic to tragic. We're happy to be included in part of the story of this family's recovery and hope for the future.

Wednesday, June 11

We worked hard during the morning hours today, then were guided on a tour of some of the areas most dramatically impacted by the hurricane and the levy breaks that caused nearly the whole city of New Orleans to be flooded for weeks.

It's hard to describe the lower 9th Ward, the area closest to the Industrial Canal, where one of the largest levy breaks occurred, sending massive amounts of water into residential and commercial areas and flooding up to 12 feet high in some places. Nearly three years later, this area looks like a war zone. Street after street have homes completely washed away, leaving only foundations. Most houses that remain are beyond repair. We also saw a section of the newly-built levy that is less than a mile long that cost $1.3 billion!

For all that, some houses in the lower 9th Ward are being restored and new houses are being built. We visited a project by Habitat for Humanity called "Musicians' Village," a colorful neighborhood area in the 9th Ward that is becoming home to artisans and jazz musicians displaced by Katrina and the levy breaks. This is part of the heartfelt hope that is part of New Orleans.

Our group is having a good time together. Everyone is working hard on the house and painting has begun. This evening, we were fed gumbo and jumbalaya by the folks at the First Christian Church where we are staying. Gracious hosts! They also told us colorful stories of the hurricane and its aftermath.

Thursday, June 12

We had a full day of work today. We started by driving across the city to help unload a trailer full of donated 12-foot sheets of drywall to a home rehab site. A few hours later, we arrived back at the Roberts Street house we've been working on since Monday.

Today was especially rewarding because we worked very well together as a team. Everyone wanted to take turns on the 28-foot ladders (yes, the girls, too!) for the needed painting under the second-story eaves. We made a lot of progress with painting, glazing windows, and trimming. We may not finish painting the big old house by day's end tomorrow, but we will have made significant progress on which the next group can build.

Today was also rewarding because the friendliness of our youth with the children who live in the Roberts Street house grew into playfulness, good conversations, and shared work on the house. Sam and Jordan have been talking to and horsing around with Justin, Trey and Tyler. Today, they ran races, wrestled, and worked together painting the house. Gale, too, was able to help Wilsey, their dad, work on some air conditioning units.

I'm glad we brought three bicycles along in the U-Haul trailer. I've been able to take some long evening rides along the Mississippi River levy (in a photo above, Hannah, Molly and Michelle are standing on the levy). Most of the youth have ridden Gale and Georgia's bikes on the levy either early in the morning or in the evening after our work is done for the day. Georgia has gone running with the girls, too. We're staying in a gymnasium and its basketball goals have gotten lots of use this week. The block walls, too, have had a workout with Sam's soccer-ball drills.

It's hard for us to believe we've completed seven days since we started out from Indy. We're looking forward to completing our work tomorrow and getting home Saturday evening. We think/hope we'll be ready/able to share a lively mission trip report in Morning Worship on Sunday. But before that, one more day of work.

Friday, June 13

This was our last day to work on the Roberts Street house and to talk to the Jenkins family. We strove to finish as much of the painting as we could. We made great progress in a week, but there was just too much to do for one week. A 100-year old house like this has lots of surface repairs, difficult-to-reach eaves and a lot of square feet to cover with brushes and standing on ladders. But we feel good about what we were able to do. We got a bit attached to this family and it was hard to say "good-bye." We hope to see them all again someday.

We realize that lots of people have worked on this house before us. Many more will follow before work on it is completed. The family lives on the second floor, which has been restored, while the first floor, the level most badly damaged, has yet to be rehabilitated. Natasha's mother, who used to live there, will return once the first floor is restored.

We celebrated the completion of our week of work by spending Friday evening in downtown New Orleans. We walked the Riverwalk, visited the Audubon Aquarium and saw "Hurricane on the Bayou" at the IMAX Theatre. For the second time on our trip, we were entertained by the solo music of Leonard "the Human Jukebox," who says he's been singing along the Mississippi River front for 49 years. In addition to singing selected songs of jazz and blues artists, he sings his own gospel songs.

Our work and hospitality this week was coordinated by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Disaster Relief ministry in cooperation with the Disaster Relief office of the United Church of Christ. This is the second work group from West Morris Street Free Methodist Church to do Katrina rebuilding work in the Gulf area with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). We have found their efforts well-planned and coordinated. We worked well with their site supervisor, mission director, and team coordinator. We would recommend other groups working with them in the future--there is plenty of rebuilding work still needed in and around New Orleans for years to come!

We start for Indianapolis and home early on Saturday morning. It will be an all-day drive, but we're anxious to be with our families again. We're also looking forward to sharing about our experience of service and the "Mission Trip Top Ten" in Morning Worship on Sunday.

Thanks to all who supported us with prayer and financial support. God bless you as you stood with us in our mission of service.

Return to the top
Return to main page