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
No comments:
Post a Comment