Serving

During our trip down there we stayed at an Econo Lodge in Grenada, Mississippi. The next morning we packed up and got in the car - we were on our way to church in Jackson, Mississippi. The church was called Galloway United Methodist. After the worship service they always have lunch and since we were their honorary guests, we got free lunch. We decided to make up a meal for a homeless person that we saw in the park. After we made him the meal we took it to him. The look on his face was great - our day was made, and so was his.

Brad, Christy, and Cassie

Stories...

Our mission trip has about ended but I feel so blessed for having been here.

God has richly blessed me; I especially realize that after all that I saw in the lower and upper 9th Ward in New Orleans.

Folks, we have done so much here, but we have just scratched the surface. There is much, much more that needs to be done.

On Thursday I had the opportunity to work in the UMCOR office answering the phones and setting up appointments for interviews next week. Trish, who works in the office, was a nurse at the hospital where the doctors are being sued for the deaths of their patients.

Trish told me that doctors carried patients up several flights of stars to the roof to get them to safety. She cradled babies for several hours because mothers had been discharged and babies had to remain behind. Trish also mentioned all those who had died long before the hurricane, whose bodies remained at the hospital through the storm because the funeral homes took a long time to pick up the bodies.

I learned so much, please pray for these people and don't believe everything you read in the papers or hear on the TV and radio news. It may not all be true.

What an awesome experience this has been for me. I hope to come again and encourage others to help in whatever way is possible.

Linda from RUMC

Trip to New Orleans

Our trip to New Orleans was enlightening. I was there in March, and I am glad to say that there has been a tremendous amount of debris removed. There are no longer mountains of soggy personal possessions, dry wall and insulation spilling into the road everywhere. Mnay houses have been gutted; however there are some that seem untouched. The city of New Orleans has started tagging the untouched houses for demolition. In the upper 9th Ward most of the houses were brick, and so the shell of the house remains. These were nice homes, the type you would see back home. I wondered what has become of the families that lived in these houses, and what has happened that would cause them to walk away from their homes without trying to salvage any of the value.

There were a few FEMA trailers around. To have a FEMA trailer in your driveway you have to have a building permit, so these home owners are starting the long process of rebuilding. In the areas of Slidell where we are working there are trailers in almost every driveway. While it is hard to imagine living in a camper for a year, at least those folk are making progress. In the 9th Ward there are still whole blocks with no progress being made, and then some with a single FEMA trailer. There are no streetlights and in many areas, no police patrol. I try to imagine the courage and hope it must take to be the first home owner to make the commitment to stay and rebuild.

The Lower 9th Ward has also had a lot of debris removed, and the grass is taller. Other than that, nothing has changed. The silence is deafening.

We've heard over and over that folks like us are critical to the recovery of this area. I pray that we will continue to be able to be a blessing to our sisters and brothers in this devastated area.

Kathy from TRCP

laworktripumc

We are into day 3 of our mission in Slidell and it has already been an awesome experience.

Sunday evening several ladies and I drove route 11 and saw all of the damage still evident. We drove back on route 10 and saw even more destruction. I realize how blessed we are when I see the devastation from more than a year ago.

My hair turned white from all the sanding that had to be done, but thank God for running water and hot showers. We are about to see the fruits of our labors and I am so thankful that I am here.

Linda from Riverside

Hope amidst devastation

This is my first UMCOR trip and my first trip to Louisiana. There are so many sights to take in--sights of hope as well as sights of devastation--even a year-plus after the hurricane. Our crew's been working in a "mixed" neighborhood--mixed because some homes are being rebuilt while others appear to be all but abandoned. You can tell the ones that are being rebuilt because the front yards are taken up with FEMA trailers. At the abandoned ones--no utilities, no trailers, no sign of life. Nothing but a "For Sale" sign in the front yard.

Thankfully, we've been able to work on the side of hope, working in homes owned by people who are generally elderly and who had no flood insurance. If UMCOR had not come to their aid--and if the volunteers had not come in along with UMCOR--these people would have been left with nothing--absolutely nothing.

I'm thankful that at the last minute I decided to pack my power drill. I've used it often here to hang drywall. And I had the joy of teaching a couple of teen girls how to hang drywall and "mud" it. Tommorrow we'll texturize it and bring it one step closer to completion--a most gratifying feeling.

I'm amazed by the scope of UMCOR's recovery efforts here in Slidel--including the staggering generosity of Aldersgate UMC which is hosting both us and this UMCOR station. The church is basically giving up half its facilities to UMCOR for three or four years--that's how long the relief effort will no doubt last. As a pastor, I wonder how would I respond--and how would our church respond--if UMCOR ever called on us for a relief project. Hopefully, that will never happen. But after this experience I know we would rise to the occasion.

Dave Schultz, Orion, Illinois

Day Three

As you can tell from the time stamp, it’s Wednesday morning and people are moving slower and slower and getting up later and later. I think some are just tired and others have finally become acclimated to the sleeping accommodations. Yesterday was a good day as we moved around and reassigned some people to different locations. I have stayed on the door hanging and trimming and will be hanging exterior and French doors today in Charmane’s house. It finally hit me yesterday that 1 week is not enough. So little time, so much left to do.
We took a drive yesterday along the lake that sits toward the south side of town that inflicted the majority of the water damage. It was a good thing to do because it help us to realize the magnitude of what was left to do. Tomorrow we go to New Orleans to visit areas that have yet to be touched. The UMCOR workers do that so we don’t forget that this project in the South is years away from being completed.
Just a short before I close to say what a joy it has been to have the teens with us. They are fantastic workers and have added a bit of youthful vitality to the effort. I know that they have been working as hard as the adults and still spend the afternoon running and chasing after each other.

Pastor Jim

Eleanor's House

A group from East Moline Christ UMC worked on fixing a house for a lady named Eleanor. After Katrina, the house was flooded up to the eaves. Eleanor evacuated to Baton Rouge where she had family. The EM crew on Tuesday - Kathy & Dave, Judy & Jerry, Kent, Diana and project leader Dennis have the awesome task to work on finishing the drywall, repair mistakes, tape, mud, and sand. Eleanor was very thankful and let us take her picture posing in front of her house.

Later Tuesday night after our great lasagne dinner, we were entertained by a New Orleans jazz band called Bohemian Royalty. It was a real treat to hear their music and hear how they lost their homes and music jobs after Katrina.

Long Distance Thanks

While we were hanging upper cabinets, we had a young man stop by; he asked to take some pictures of the house we were working on. He is a Karate instructor in New Orleans, and is a friend of the homeowner. She is in Texas, where she has been since the hurricane. While he was there he called her (she's a single mom with a 14 year old), and told her about the progress. He put her on the speaker phone so that all of us could hear her shouting "thank you".

Our work crew is mudding, patching dry wall, plumbing, wiring, yard clean-up and more. There's a lot to do, but we are blessed to be doing it!

Erwin from Hampton

A New Day

It’s a new day and believe it or not, 5:30 am in Louisiana looks just like 5:30 am in Illinois. The camp of workers are slowing waking up but I figured I would drop another line because tonight we have a jazz band from New Orleans coming in to entertain us. Today I will have a new group of teens helping me hang doors and shooting nail guns (and they actually are a big help). We are working two houses, side by side, owned by two widowed sisters. One lost her husband when the hurricane hit, the other post-hurricane. At 80+ years old, he could not handle the stress and passed away shortly after the hurricane hit. One of many stories of tragedy followed very soon after by visions of hope. Even though hanging doors requires some carpentry skills, there is still plenty of time for the mind to wander (not too far though because the teenager next to you has a nail gun). As my mind wanders, I ponder the capacity for hope that these people here in Slidell have for the day when life returns to normal. I also ponder how grateful I am for those things that God has blessed me with, including the fact that working with me is my wife and three of my four children. More thoughts to come later.

Pastor Jim

Welcome to WalMart

While shopping for a basketball hoop at Wal Mart (there's one of them in every town) we were met at the door by the ubiqitous Wal Mart greeter. When we said hello, she immediately realized that we were not from around here. Maybe it's because we didn't call her honey! She asked us where we were from, and then said, "We are so grateful for y'all's help. God Bless You!"

Kathy C., Andrea, and Corbyn

Basketball dreams

We worked on a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. Mostly, we mudded, the men put in a toilet and the door on the bathroom. We met the daughter of the owner of the house, Amanda. She is 13 and in 7th grade. Her brother came home after her - he is 8, and his name is Tyler. Amanda told us about how her house was 5 feet under water. All of her belongings were destroyed. Her mom had the anticipation to leave before Katrina hit so they still have many of their photos. Amanda explained to us that she liked playing basketball, but her hoop just broke. We are planning to surprise her with a new hoop so she can practice for making the team this year. They were very thankful we were there to help.

Andrea Dykman & Crew

Come see us!

Dear Friends,

The weather is great!
The food is great!
The fellowship is great!

Lots of work to do!
Lots of fun to enjoy!

God is great - come see us!

Jerry & Judy - Christ UMC

Hard Work and Sleep...

I feel I'm one of the lucky ones to sleep in big bunks, but when my grandson heard that he said, "Don't sleep in the top, Grandma, I fell out of a bunk once!" Learning to tape and mud drywall was a new experience - hate those corners!

Didn't get to meet the owner as they are living in another state until the house is done. The cabinets are waiting to be hung as well as the doors. We're sure anxious to get as much done as possible so the owner can come home.

June - Hillsdale UMC

Mission to Slidell

We all arrived safely to Slidell Sunday afternoon after experiencing true Southern hospitality in Jackson, Mississippi at Galloway UMC. Some of us saw cotton fields for the first time on the way here. Our group today repaired dry wall, taped and mudded, and did general clean up. The Ramps learned how to tape for the first time!!! Maybe they will now do their own basement...:) Jerry, Dennis, and Kent kept us all focused on our tasks, or they at least tried to. All of the homes that we are working on have homeowners that are over 80. Many of them have lived in a FEMA trailer for the past year and some are looking at continuing to live there for a few more years. We are bunking out at Aldersgate UMC in Slidell who have donated much of their property over to Katrina Relief. It's nice to see UMCOR at work in our world. Some of us took a little tour to the shoreline and witnessed the devastation of the flood and the hurricane in many, many places. Whole shopping malls have been wiped out. Thursday, we head into New Orleans to be able to see firsthand the damage there. Thanks to all of you who are praying for us. Those of us who are here are privileged to share Christ in word and action and represent the United Methodist church of the Quad-City area.
Sheryl from Riverside UMC-Moline

Childhood Revisited

I still remember the first mission trip I ever took. I was in the 4th grade and we went just over the border into Mexico from San Diego. I still remember to this day driving over a hilly road to a scene of nothing but corrugated tin and cardboard shacks as far as the eye could see. Today, as I started our first project, I again realized (as I have for years since that mission trip to Mexico) that mission trips change your life forever. Mission trips change not just the lives of those you come to serve, but they also change the life of the servant. As ones who were created to serve, what better way to feel fully created than doing that which you were created to do.

Pastor Jim

New Friends

Brittany Stone- youth , Silvis UMC

I got the chance to meet a very nice girl here in Louisiana: her name was Claire. She was a junior in high school and very friendly. She came up to me Sunday night as we (some friends and I) were taking a walk around the church yard. She asked all of us if we would like to come to their youth group service tonight the rest of them said no, but I decided to go. I went by myself and got the chance to meet many of the youth from here. They act like the rest of us do and love to get visitors. She said thank you for coming and God bless us all. We mean a lot to the people of Slidell.

Messages from Home

Janet, my wife, has again organized a flood of messages from herself, family, and friends with a different envelope to be opened each day I’m gone. The messages include their show of love and support for me while we are assisting the people of Slidell to get back into their homes. It has been a huge boost to me this week.

God has truly blessed me as we Share the Love of Jesus Christ.

Dennis from CUMC

Builder's Club

A week before this mission trip, Angela Vyncke asked me how her Builders Club at Glenview Middle School could help with the mission trip. I really couldn't think of anything right then, but Angela's mother suggested that they could make some snacks for people traveling down to Slidell. I agreed that would be a great idea.

Angela has a great heart for mission, and came down to work with the youth at this summer's mission trip. Angela actually came up with the idea and the Builders Club agreed. Angela and her mother brought 5 LARGE bags of Chex Mix over to me last Wednesday, and I distributed them to different vehicles for them to enjoy as they traveled. Everyone commented that the Chex Mix was great and thought it was a wonderful way to support our mission.

Angela told me that she wished that she could have come this year (school is in session for Glenview), but she is planning to come back to Louisiana if we come back next year. I'm looking forward to the work ahead of us this year, and will look forward to working with Angela when she comes with us next year!

Dennis - CUMC

Southern Hospitality

Kathy and Jay - Twin Rivers Cooperative Parish and Riverside UMC

Well, we have all arrived....by planes, trains, and automobiles...ok, not trains...but we're here!

Many of us had the opportunity to worship in Jackson, Mississippi, this morning. We attended the 11:00 worship service at Galloway UMC, which is in downtown Jackson. You can check it out at www.gallowayumc.org.

They graciously welcomed us and even invited us to stay to lunch. We enjoyed the prophetic preaching and found ourselves challenged, and our hearts strangely warmed. The meal was a gift from the congregation, and was outstanding, as was the company at each table.

We are looking forward to getting our work assignments tomorrow morning. We appreciate your prayers for us as we serve the people in this community. We have already heard from many residents who saw our work trip t-shirts and shared their gratitude for our presence.

Travel Underway

Beginning today, approximately 45 students and adults, primarily from the Quad City region, will travel to Slidell, Louisiana, to aid in hurricane relief. Our diverse group will be traveling in many different ways, at different times, but for many, our travel begins today. As each of the workers travels, we appreciate your prayers for safety. We are grateful for the opportunity to be Christ's hands and feet this week to the people of Slidell.