NOLA 3 Monday

Sorry I missed a day.  I spent a lot of time last night with Kim trying to figure out how to best handle all the data from the video she is shooting.  Some of it got emailed to her son, who will start to configure it and maybe even post it soon so I can include video on here.

So to catch up-  I got a chance to talk to the Senior Pastor at La Croix UMC where we stayed on Saturday night.  I asked him the obvious question, "How did you do it?"  and "I'm guessing you are an empowering pastor that says 'let's try it.'"  He said it's easier to have a baby than to raise the dead, meaning it's easier to start a new church than to try to resurrect one that is already dead or dying.

We left a little later than we were going to.  (This is becoming a theme!)  We drove through Memphis, Jackson, etc., and arrived at the place we are being housed around 6:30pm.  JoAnn, who is the coordinator of this site we are staying at, gave us a tour and told us about the facility we are at.  The facility is at the edge of the French Quarter.   We do have to be careful about what we leave outside in the vans, just in case someone wants what's in there in the middle of the night.  We are parking right on the street outside the door to the building.  There is a sleeping room for the men, and another for the women.  They are pretty comfortable-  lot's of space.  There is a kitchen facility that Donna is enjoying, and all the meeting room anyone needs.  It is an old building with some charm.  I don't think anyone has taken any pictures of it yet, but when they do, I'll post them.

Today we got our work assignments.  Howard's team (Ali, Lewis, Ginger, Corrine) are working on a house in a nice neighborhood.  The house is owned by Janice, and is split into a duplex, where she and her mom lived until just before Katrina.  They have some pretty unique challenges in this house, including a "jigsaw puzzle drywall challenge," a bathroom vanity that doesn't fit the space, kind of, and termites.

Howard's team is working on this house, and for this homeowner, Janice.

Before

After

Janice was the victim of contractor fraud.  She paid someone to come and work on her house.  They took the money and didn't do the work.

Bob's team (Rod St., Matt, and Pete) are working in a not-so-nice part of town, about 5 miles or so west of Howard's house.  I don't know anything about this homeowner yet.  The task so far is to put up some drywall and install cabinets.  The team or contractor (?) that put up the drywall in this house, closed in some plumbing before it could be inspected.  So some had to be ripped out before it could be inspected.  Our job was to re-rock the wall and then install cabinets for the kitchen.  While Rod St. and Bob and Matt worked on that, Pete and Rod Sc., and Kim cleaned up the back yard a little, preparing for putting in a deck.  This house used to be a duplex, but they are making it one house.  The back deck connects the two parts.

This is the house Bob is working on.

The wall before

the wall after

Now remember I said this was not so good a neighborhood?  We had to attach the cabinets to the wall so that looters couldn't come in and steal them overnight.  We didn't have time to do it right, so we had to just attach and run.

Now you may notice I left out Donna and Kim and Rod Sc.-  Donna is along to help support the team with meals.  She had ham dinner ready for us when we got back today.  She spent the day at our housing site (North Rampart Community Center), cleaning the kitchen and throwing out old, expired stuff, and getting dinner ready for us.  She arranged the dining area to facilitate a family like dinner, with everyone sitting at the same table (kind of).  She just kept bringing out more food.  It was amazing.  On past trips, Barbara and Ginger worked hard to do dinner right for us, but they just didn't have the time to put into it like someone that comes that is committed to serving the team like this.  It was amazing.  I would even go so far as to say it was better than Ms. Cynthia's cooking from the last two Biloxi trips we were on.  (see old posts about how we raved about Ms. Cynthia's cooking).

This isn't cooking at the center, but Donna is in charge of all the meals- the ones on the road, too.  And we are mighty blessed because of it!

Kim is shooting video for this trip, so we can make some promotional, and "thank you" videos to show when we get back.  We have sent some of this video to her son, who is going to edit these for us.  It is possible you will see some video of this trip before it's even done.

Thanks to everyone that has sent us encouraging notes.  I have shared them with the team here.  You can go to my Picasa website and see more pictures from this trip by clicking Here (Photos).  

Feel free to shoot us a comment. -  Oh and become a follower by clicking "Follow Blog."  I think people have to have a gmail account to "Follow" us, but I'm not sure.   

Oh-  Kim and Ali have access to this blog and may post.  I'll have to remind us all to tell who it is that is posting.  Erin C. from past trips also has access to post, but as she is traveling around singing with Youth Encounter this year, I don't expect to see her posting.  (Erin- it's up to you!)

Ok, that's enough for now.  

It sure is good to be back.  

R

NOLA 3 on the road!

Well, we are off and running!  We left a snowy and icy St. Paul, MN this morning.  The final count is 12.  Jeff, Jim, and Pastor Carolyn were unable to come because of health issues.  We are praying for their quick recovery.  

Usually, we stop and eat lunch someplace outside on the way down.  Today, it was just too cold when it was lunch time.  We got out of the car for gas I think just south of Cedar Rapids, around 2:00pm.  Finally, when we got to St. Louis, and got gas again, it was time to take off the jackets and sweatshirts.  

We left a little earlier and drove a little farther than usual.  Right now, I am in La Croix United Methodist Church, in Cape Girardeau, MO.  And I am in awe.  Absolutely astounded.  This church is HUGE!  And what a set up.  I'm not kidding when I say it is the most exciting United Methodist Church I have ever seen.  Their education wing is done like a jungle, complete with fabricated trees and vines etc.  Their areas are clean and well done and they have spent some money.  Their sanctuary/worship center could host concerts or plays, and they probably do!  Jake S.-  their media booth probably launches rockets.  You would be amazed.  I will try to take some pictures in the morning.  

What do we do in the van all day?  -  well, one person drives, (hopefully!), sometimes we play games, some people sleep, some read, some do homework, some do Sudoku puzzles, some eat chocolate chip cookies or chex mix or other stuff.  Some just sit.  Some do all of the above.  It's really one of my favorite parts.  

Kim has been shooting a lot of video that we intend to use to make some DVD's.  I haven't seen anyone take any pictures yet, so I can't give you any here.  

Shoot us a note, or make a comment on our blog (www.rodscof.blogspot.com).  Or give us a call while we're on the road.  

Tomorrow, we get up and leave for New Orleans around 7:30am.  

Prayer requests:  the sick folks that aren't with us, Erin C.- former team member traveling with the Youth Encounter ministry, Pete D's knee.  Apparently, he twisted it getting into the van today, and continued safe travels.  

Peace and thanks for coming with us!

R

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

Prayers and happy thoughts

Friends, supporters, lurkers (Hi DG!), and others-

Three people on our team are possibly going to have to be benched.  

Jim P.  is sick and has been since Wed.  His Doctor advises him not to come if his cough is not better by Friday.  

Jeff S.-  His wife and two daughters are both sick.  He suspects he'll start to show symptoms on the way down....

Pastor Carolyn-  Has bronchitis.  I haven't heard from her since Sunday, so I'm not sure how she's doing.  I know she didn't go to committee meetings on Monday night at church.  

You prayed for Kim O's family and son, Conor.  He's well.  Doing fine.  No H1N1.  

Otherwise, we are just about ready to go.  We got some great info on the place we are staying at from a friend that went on a New Orleans trip last year and stayed at the same place.  Thanks to Barb in St. Louis for the info!  

I think that's all the news for now.

If you are in the Twin Cities, we have our commissioning service on Friday night at 7:00pm at Salem United Methodist Church in InverGrove Hts.  We invite everyone to come and pray for us and send us out.  

Thanks everyone!

R

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

NOLA 3! Getting ready to go!

Hello everyone!  We are gearing up for our next trip to New Orleans to help restore people into their homes.  We leave on October 10th and return on October 18th.  There will be 15 people on our team, mostly repeaters, but 3 new faces to the mix.  

The Go'ers:

Rod Sc.-  7th trip

Howard N.- 7th grip

Lewis W.-  6th trip

Corrine M.- 6th trip

Bob N.- 5th trip

Rod St.- 4th trip

Ginger St- 4th trip

Ali St- 3rd trip

Jeff S.- 3rd trip

Matt S.- 3rd trip

Carolyn W.-  3rd trip

Jim P.- 2nd trip 

Kim O.- 1st trip

Donna G- 1st trip

Pete D-  1st trip.  

We will be staying on the edge of the French Quarter at North Rampart Community Center.  One of the challenges for this trip involving where we are staying will be parking.  There is no off-street parking for this facility.  I think I have found a place to park our van and trailer, but I am still waiting for approval (from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation).  

Six months ago, they told us that the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain was 85% "done," and that the greater New Orleans was only 10% "done."  We are looking forward to going and serving in this area that still is a long way from being restored.  

We had our mega-fundraiser at the Outback Steakhouse in InverGrove Hts.  Numbers are not in, but I would guess we made about $1500.  Thank you to everyone that came out and had a steak.  

Some things to pray about for us as we continue to get ready for going:

1.  Notice that Barbara S, Erin, C., and Darold S. are not coming on this trip.  Darold is in Korea working for the next two years, Erin is traveling around the US with a music ministry, and Barbara had some things come up that she just couldn't get out of.  We will miss them and their energy on this team.  

2.  Pete and Kim and Donna are our new members.  Pray that God uses them in ways that surprise everyone.  

3.  Pray for our parking and transportation situation in New Orleans.

4.  Pray for us to be able to see what God would want us to see, and respond in a way that glorifies Him. For those of us that have been on these trips since the beginning or close to the beginning, for us to be able to have the same awe and wonder at seeing God at work.  

5.  Pray for Kim's family's heath.  Her seventeen year old son has been exposed to H1N1 and is now starting to show symptoms.  

6.  Personally-  I will be taking a week unpaid from work.  Others are also leaving obligations and financial responsibility and loved ones behind.  Pray that God fills in the blanks.  He is God.  He will provide.  

If you are getting this email and would rather not, please shoot me an email and I'll take you off the list.  I'll probably send out one more of these before we go, and then each day (or close to each day) while we're gone I'll send updates.  You can always keep up with us on our blog:  www.rodscof.blogspot.com  I would encourage people to "follow" our blog (when you visit the site, look for a small box near the top left that says "follow" and click on it.).  I honestly don't know if that means you get a note in your email box when someone posts or not.  

Ok- I think that's it.  

As my friend Carol says, 

Til He comes or I go...

R

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

A great video I found

I found this video hanging out on Youtube.  It appeals to me on a number of levels.  It has always been a favorite song of mine.  And I think what they are doing is great.  Working together through music to promote peace and community.  Christian attributes, not a Christian band.  I'm ok with that.

NOLA 3

Hey all-  We should start thinking about getting together for our NOLA meetings to start getting ready for the fall.  How does July 19th work for everyone?  (Erin, I know you'll be out of town that weekend, but I believe you will be gone with YE when it comes time to go, anyway.  ---  )

If I don't hear a bunch of people screaming, "NO!" Then I will schedule us to meet and start recruiting for JULY 19th.  -  Someplace with air conditioning...  

Things to figure out quick:

1.  For sure dates:  Right now we are gunning for October 10th-18th

        

2.  Do we like leaving on Friday?  

3.  Fund-raising and the cost of the trip per participant

4.  Recruiting

5.  Schedule of meetings

Email or call (651-248-xxxx) with questions or concerns or "Rod, I want to go on the trip, but I can't make that first meeting."  etc.  

R

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

This Time Around...

Is there anything later than a epilogue? The life of a college student is not conducive to prompt follow up.

So we've been back a little over one week now, but I had some closing thoughts about the trip. AND, since I am so late in doing so, you will get the best of my thoughts over the past 7 days (Atleast that is my spin on being too busy). Oh, this is Ali by the way, I just assume everyone knows (yes, my head may be growing so large I will have to give my hats away).

Now I realize that two trip to New Orleans does not an expert make, but I still use these experiences to get on my soap box every once in awhile (What? A social worker dismantling people and "telling them like it is", that's weird). I feel like these trips and experiences have taught me a lot, and this trip specifically about being grateful. If my family fell into that stereotypical tradition of going around the table at Thanksgiving and saying one thing we are grateful/thankful for, I would have this locked up for the next two decades. I could start with Buffalo Wild Wings, Vera Bradley handbags, a loving family both in my home and in my church, a roof over my head and on and on and on. But, at the top of the list would be God's indescribable gift that is outlined in 2 Chorinthians. The gift of eternal life and forgiveness. For me personally, I always feel like I need to reciprocate any kind of nice gesture or action. I have to stop myself before I start sending out thank you cards for thank you cards I receive. I have this strong desire to "be square" with people. But really, I can never repay God's gifts, but lucky for me He doesn't expect me to.

BUT, (isn't there always a but?), we ARE called to give our money, time and talents (YES, we all have them. Mine is as simple as fitting into small spaces) to accomplish God's purpose. We are to feed, clothe, and house the poor (Or, what NDRI, the organization we worked for, referred to as the least, the last, the lost.. And yes, I am going to steal that and use it in my practice). I think we are to paint, mud (400 lbs worth!), lay flooring, wash houses, learn and grow in each other and the community and show God's love by our actions and tell people about our hope in Jesus Christ.

Knowing God changes our thinking... I know Rod has talked about how it is not all about us, but rather it is about God working through us. When we open every aspect of our lives to God's guidance, we become more effective disciples. We can then bless others as we share what God has given us. I guess I feel like that is a lot of fancy talk (That's what you get after 5 years of college and 2 degrees) for saying that God calls us to show His love to the people who feel forgotten and really need to see His gifts and purpose at work. These trips are an excellent outlet for this.

Soo.. We are back and back at our everyday life and the challenge of keeping the passion and purpose is threatening to creep in as we descend the mountain top experience into the valley and what my Dad calls the "nitty gritty." BUT, I trust that God will provide everything we need and we won't forget why we went and why He called us there.

NOLA 2 Epilogue

Obviously, we are back.  Thanks to everyone who prayed for us and wrote notes during the trip.  

We left Slidell, LA just after 8:00am on Saturday.  We drove to St. Louis, where we saw the Arch for a few minutes.  When we got to the church we stay at, I couldn't find anyone from the church, but the code to get in worked and the rooms we stay in were unlocked.  It felt a little odd, but we've been to this church eleven times now, so our routine is pretty set.  We unloaded and made a dinner plan.  Usually, we have gone to a pizza joint around the corner a few blocks away.  We found a new pizza place to eat dinner that was a lot better pizza and a lot better service.  

The next morning, we left Kirkwood (St. Louis) shortly after 8:00am.  We arrived at our church parking lot pretty close to 6:30pm.  This is pretty good considering a stop at McD's for lunch and a stop for our last devotions.  Sue L. and several others were there to help clean out the vans and welcome us back.  They made signs that were taped to the windows of the church.  (IF anyone from the team got a picture, post it on the blog if you can or email it to me?).  

The next day, I took the rental equipment back to Midway Party Rental and the van back to Boyer Ford.  Jeff took the trailer back to the rental place we got it from.  (notice I am not mentioning their name.  They gave us a deal on the trailer, but gave us one with no working jack-  we had to have people hang on the back of it to get it on and off the hitch.  Funny for memories, not funny for paying, although if I spent $5.00 on empty cups, why WOULDN't I spend $275 on a defective trailer?--  If anyone knows where we can rent one from next fall, let me know.)

So for this trip, there is just some paperwork to bang together, and the Show and Tell dinner (May 17th 5;30 at Faith UMC in West St. Paul) before this trip is "over."

And people are asking, "How was it?"  -  It was good.  

Obviously, every trip is different.  There are different dynamics based off the projects we work on, where we are, the people that go, etc.  The other dynamic is the time elapsed after the storm.  The relationships we developed with our homeowners is different than it was right after the storm.  The relationship with the neighbors, with the community, with everyone is different.  We don't do what we do for thanks or praise, but you notice now, that you don't get it as much.  And again, it's not what we are there for.  It was a dynamic that surprised us at the beginning.   People seemed to want to talk about the storm and where they were and etc.  This isn't the case anymore.  My team didn't even meet Herbert (our homeowner) until Thursday.  So we are not developing the relationships that we did before.  In previous trips, we made it a point to try to get out into the community at night to talk with and listen to the people.  This time, we stayed at the church compound most nights.  -  Made a few connections on the basketball court, and with the Indiana team that was staying with us, but generally, we hung out mostly with ourselves.  So the "benefits" are more pure.  We are helping people get back into their homes because it is the right thing to do.  Not for praise.  Not for recognition.  Just because Jesus loves them and us, and gave us the resources and ability and the desire to help.  

There is still a LOT to be done.  There aren't as many people going to help as before, either because of today's economy or because people are tired of it or because they don't know the magnitude of people still waiting to get back into their homes.  I can hear some saying that it should be cleaned up and done by now.  They haven't gotten back into their homes because they're lazy or welchers or whatever.  This just isn't the case.  Northshore Disaster Recovery Inc., says that the main demographic they service is single women over 70.  Its' not that they don't want to do anything, it's that they just don't have the resources.  Disaster "specialists" say the recovery period for a disaster is usually 18 months.  Based off their own model and the magnitude of the damage caused by Katrina, the recovery time here should be about 11 years.  It's only been 4.  It's not time to get tired or bored with it.  It's not sensational anymore.  And  house after house gets tedious, I think, but it is still the right thing to do.  God has given us the resources, the abilities, and the desire.  NOLA 3 this fall.  Who's in?

The pic is our team photo-  You could be in the next one!  

Front row, Rod Sc., Ali S, Jill H., Bob N., Darold S.,  

2nd row:  Paul A., Mari F., Corrine M., Kathy B. Erin C. 

3rd row:  Pastor Carolyn, Barbara S., Matt S., Ginger S., 

Back row:  Jeff S., Howard N., Jake S., Lewis W., Rod St., Roma B.  

Last things:  The Blog-  www.rodscof.blogspot.com   There is a link to our pictures.  (I think you could also see my family's Christmas pictures if you tried...)  Erin and Ali and Jake can also post on there, and they might put in some closing thoughts or more pictures.  We will also put in some other tidbits, like the date that Dale Kimball from NDRI will be speaking in St. Paul, and some of the notes/etc. from some of the devotions that different team members gave.  

Ending with this:  

Isaiah 61:1-2

The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me.

He sent me to preach good news to the poor, 
   heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives, 
   pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace— 
   a celebration of God's destruction of our enemies— 
   and to comfort all who mourn

Amen

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

NOLA 2 Friday

Last work day-

Howard's house finished the first coat of mud on their drywall.  Bob N. said they used 400 lbs. of mud....  they also finished the porch roof and started putting soffit on it.  

Darold's house finished the laminate flooring in both bedrooms, washed the house, finished painting the inside, and did a lot of cleaning up of Herbert's stuff (Herbert is the home owner--  I have posted some of this info on the Picasa pictures site, and some on previous blogs, can't remember what's repeat and what's not)

The people at NDRI (Northshore Disaster Recovery, Inc.) wanted their tools back by 3:00pm, so we had to stop early.  I think if hadn't had to cut out early, Roma and I could have gotten a good part of the laminate flooring done in the living room.  -  And Bob could have had the folks there get a couple more rooms 2nd coated with drywall mud.  

But that's not the only reason we are here.  It's not all about trying to get all the work done.  It's about interacting with people, serving where needed, growing in faith with each other, and learning more about the area.  For some, the value of getting as much done as possible, verses the value of positive relationships with the people are we are working for and with is a difficult conflict to reconcile.  The best thing to remember, I think is "It's not about you/us."  If we have a huge desire to get something done, or see one more site, or whatever it is, I think we need to check the motivation and ask if what we are trying to do glorifies God or assuages our earthy wants.  Much easier said than done.  

So we knocked off a couple hours early.  We ran a few errands around Slidell and went to dinner at a new restaurant called "Crayfish Paradise."  It just opened around Easter.  

So have you ever had Crayfish?  They are boiled in something spicy.  And they look like mini-lobsters.  They look EXACTLY like something I dissected in High School!  -  So anyway, you break off the tail, peel it, eat the meat on that's on the inside.  Then you take the other part you broke away from (The head) and you suck the juice out of it.  Ask Jake S. how that is.  He was a trooper and tried it and liked it and at a lot of it.  

Howard flew out today. 

We are kicking off early (8:00am....) and going as far as St. Louis tomorrow.  I usually have a tough time finding a wifi signal at the church we stay at, so don't look for an email from me tomorrow night.  

Roma and Jill fly out tomorrow p.m.  It was great working with Roma on the flooring project.  And it was great to have Roma and Jill from my hometown in MIchigan along with us.  It was good to catch up and hear the latest news.  

Ok- that's all for now.-  Go to the blog and click on the link for the pictures.  There are over 100 pics there and they almost all have captions.  Some are out of order but you'll get the ideal.  

Pray for:

Safe travel.  

Continued unity

Low gas prices?

Thanks all!

R
--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

NOLA 2 Wed. and Thursday

Thanks for your patience yesterday.  We worked a half day, and then went to New Orleans.  We walked around a bit and had dinner at a Gumbo restaurant in the French Quarter.  We drove back across the long bridge that spans Lake Pontchartrain and got home kinda late.   Jake S. needed to try to experience every single cultural thing about the South and New Orleans.  So whirlwinded a bit.  On our way in, we did a tour they gave us around areas mostly affected by

Katrina.  We went through St. Bernard's Parish and the Lower 9th Ward to name a couple areas.  There is more life in the Lower 9th and in St. Bernard's Parish than the last time we came through.  But there are still many many many homes that are not being lived in or even worked on.  The next picture is of the Lower 9th from a hill near the levy.  

 In the Lower 9th, there are a lot of houses that haven't been touched, a lot of cement slabs just sitting there, and some houses that are showing activity.  Most notable, I thought, were the houses that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are having built.  There were several of them in a few block radius.  The houses all looked really neat-  a non-traditional architecture.  I thought other people were getting pics of some of these houses, but not many did.  Even still, there is still sooooo much to be done.  The next two pictures are of Branjolina's homes.  The link for their website is :  www.makeitrightnola.org/

 Disaster Recovery says that Slidell and the northern area around Lake Ponchartrain is 85% restored.  The greater New Orleans area is about 15% restored.  This is due to several factors, some political, some geographic, some logistic.  Remember that at first, they weren't letting people into New Orleans.  Slidell was not closed off and took all the volunteers they could get as soon as they showed up.  This organization hopes to be "done" with St. Tammany Parish (North Shore of Lake Ponch.) by the end of 2009, and can then focus all their attention to the South Shore.  They say they have logged 2.6 million hours of work.  There are other statistics, but I invite you to pay attention to announcements in this blog about when Dale K. from Disaster Recovery will be in St. Paul.  If you're anywhere close by, we would love to have you stop in when he speaks.  He is compelling.  

Other things we have done:

Darold did devotions Wed. night

Paul did devotions Wed. am

Jill did devotions at night

The team working with Rod Sc. started laying laminate flooring.  See the picture below.

The team working with Howard continues to be a drywall machine.  They will get as much as they can done before it's time to go on Friday.  

Our team (Rod) met our home owner today.  His name is Herbert.  We are taking him out to lunch tomorrow.  He is really excited to be getting so close to getting back into his house.  

Chicago won by 1 point in triple OT.  I don't know who got voted off the island on Survivor yet.  (DON'T tell me!  I'll watch it when I can!)  

That's all the news I can think of.  

Prayer requests:

Team Unity

Safe travel for Howard (He has to fly back to St. Paul on Friday afternoon)

Herbert's health (our Homeowner- he didn't offer specifics and I didn't ask.)

Continued safety on our job sites 

Pastor Carolyn and Jeff S. left kids at home with their spouses.  

Pray for Jeff S.'s back

And that we get adequate sleep.  (I keep telling them that when I was on my trip in Cuba, we took a nap after lunch each day.  Nobody is getting the hint.  )

Ok-  thanks all!

Greetings from N'awlens!

We are still dragging. As Lewis put it, we just didn't have it today. We still got a lot of stuff done and had a lot of fun in the process, but we didn't quite have our usual pep and energy.

That being said, we wouldn't trade our experiences here for anything, not even extra sleep.

Though we weren't moving as fast as we have earlier in the week, we are seeing completion on some projects, and much progress in others.

In process...

At my site, Howard, Lewis, and Jake have finished the ceiling on the front and back porch, and have started the siding part of the job. (For more details, ask one of them, as I was inside taping and mudding drywall all day long.......)

After the craftmanship of Howard and his trusty assistants.

Ali really getting into her work...




I like to mud.



I like to mud.



I really do like to mud....



That has been my mantra today. I really do enjoy taking the sheets of drywall attatched to studs and making them into walls. I like to and am fairly good at smoothing the ridges out and filling the holes. But we are working on the whole 3 bedroom 2 bath house, and *all* of the walls and ceilings need to be done. We have each found our niche, though. Matthew takes a screw gun and makes sure the screws aren't sticking out. Corrine and I have been doing the inside corners and ceilings, working corner to corner and meeting in the middle. PC and Ali have been sharing the duties also, Ali doing the upper part while PC gets the lowers. Mari seems to always be hiding out in closets, Rod and Jeff are the go to guys for finding the studs to screw the drywall in more securely, while Bob is just a blur, a one man mudding machine!






Through this process of living and working together so closely, sharing meals and sleeping in close quarters, you really get more of a glimpse into the heart of each person. Bob is a perfectionist, but really cares about people and is very encouraging and empowering. Mari seems shy and quiet, but there is a passionate powerhouse somewhere deep in there. And Lewis was a bounty hunter! Who knew?


It is just past midnight, and I am a little sad, because we only have one more day here to do the work we are meant to do, to see and hear and experience and learn what we are meant to, and to make whatever difference we can. Please pray we can be effective, productive, and open to God' leadings, and that despite our sleep deficit, we can finish up strong.



Thank You for all your support and prayers!

NOLA 2 Wednesday

It has been a long day and we are all pretty wiped out.  We spent a half day in New Orleans (as opposed to Slidell where we are usually at) looking at damage in other areas and doing a little cultural enrichment.  (We saw Jackson park and ate dinner near the French Quarter.)  

It is pretty late and I am pretty tired and nobody gave me their cameras to download pics off from.  

Pray for energy for us for the next couple work days.  There is still a lot to do on each of our sites.  We will post again tomorrow.  

Check out previous posts on the blog:  www.rodscof.blogspot.com

Peace-

Rod

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

NOLA 2 Tuesday

Today I had a petty moment.  Very petty.  

My team went out to a new site out in Mandeville.  Our team didn't have a bathroom onsite, so we went over to Wendy's so a couple ladies could engage in bathroom activities.  (No need to be specific, I suppose).  Jill and I were talking about painting, and said it would be nice to have some cups or something to use for paint for dipping the brush in for cutting.  I had the brilliant idea of using chili cups from Wendy's.  I ran in and explained to them that we were from Minnesota and helping rebuild their community (not exactly in those words, but I tried to convey that) and could I get three cups they us for chili?  They said that was "product" and they couldn't give it away.  I was surprised (Don't they want to help us?-  feel free to detect a little arrogance on my part) and asked how much it would cost to buy the cups.  They don't sell the cups.  OK Fine.  "Give me three orders of chili, but without the meat or sauce."  I'm not kidding.  I was going to make a point.  It was going to cost me almost $5.00.  But I got those cups.  She asked if I wanted the lids.  I said OF COURSE I did!  

That's not the worst part.  When we left town, I stopped back in and said I didn't get the spoons and could I have them please?  

I felt like I was entitled to those cups.  Who in their right mind wouldn't just fork them over?  I realize now, how absurd that sounds, but at the time, I was offended.  So once I got over myself, I thought about assumptions and what we think we deserve, and attitudes about serving, and motivations about serving.  Because I feel like we're not getting much done this time.  We're not meeting our home owners (for the most part), we're not getting out into the community much.  And I have to remind myself that this about following God where HE is leading, and serving God where HE calls us.  And maybe this trip isn't about all the interactions with the community, but with each other.  Lewis did a devotion last night about supporting each other as God's traveling workers.  And at devotions today, Ali and Mari talked about how we are like Social Workers, which can be a thankless job.  

I don't want to be thankless.  I want to be thankful.  Thank you, God for calling me/us.  I am grateful for the opportunity to be here at this time with these people, serving His people, without expectation or condition.  

The other stuff:

*Howard's team kept working on their house.

*Darold's team got a new house about a half hour out where they (we) are painting, cleaning, and will be laying laminate flooring.  I'm not going to say that the floor in this house isn't level, but playing marbles in this house would be a challenge, and someone sleeping could possibly roll off the bed...

*and AMAZING pot roast for dinner!  Thank you Ginger and Barbara!

* Ice Cream and Apples to Apples game for fun

* Devotions by Kathy tonight.  

* We are going to New Orleans tomorrow. 

Thanks to those that are supporting us and praying for us.  

Prayer requests:

Pastor Carolyn's son is having a hard time with her being gone.  (We think that's why he "doesn't feel good.")

Jeff did something to his knee.  Pray that it feels better

Team unity

The Homeowners we are working for.  

Ralph P. from Hale, Michigan.  -  struggling with cancer

Check out Erin's post on the blog, and click on the link to see more pictures on our Picasa site.  www.rodscof.blogspot.com  

Peace!

Rod

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

Here are some pictures, taken by Kathy, Corrine, and Erin.

This is the sign for our hosts, called the cadillac of volunteer housing (Are we blessed or what!)

Howard on a ladder, on the porch, by the cow.

Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil, the next generation.

Our very own Rosie the Riveter! (Corrine)

Some of us went for a walk and finally got to take some pictures of these beautiful trees!

Can you find the Pastor hidden in this picture?

Erin here ~


PC, Ali, Mari, Corrine and I played in the mud all day!

Mari having great ideas...

We are working at a house that has most of the drywall up, but the places where the drywall meets needs to be smoothed with tape and mud. Matt was taping for us while Rod St. and Jeff and Bob, among other things, were sinking the screws in deep enough for us to work and making sure the drywall stayed on the wall, very important stuff. While we were inside, Howard, Jake, and Lewis worked on the porch, out by the barnyard.

Yes, barnyard.

Though lacking an actual barn structure, there were chickens, turkeys, ducks, 2 huge dogs and a cow.

I think they might both be Bovine!

We met our homeowner, Will, and he is really funny! He was a Marine and told us of his travels to Okinawa, Greece, Thailand… He has some great stories of his cold weather training in Korea, of all places! Hopefully we can get a picture of him for you tomorrow.

After the workday, we came back to home base and made spaghetti dinner, then devotions by Lewis. Bed is sounding better and better by the moment…

But I had to get this pic out to you first...

Bedtime stories in Memphis...

NOLA 2 Monday

Rod here-  

This morning, we had orientation with Dale and it was very inspirational.  I would like to grow up and be like him.  His passion for serving people is evident and contagious.  He speaks well and enthusiastically about getting people back into their homes.  I talked to him about coming to Salem UMC on July 12th.  He will be in MN anyway.  

So we got our work assignments and headed out.  Erin and Ali are posting about their job site, but here are some pictures from there.

At my job site, we worked for Cheryl Z.  Cheryl showed up for a few minutes, but didn't stay long and didn't say much.  She is staying somewhere off site.  We washed the outside of her house- vinyl siding.  We had to scrub it with a big brush and spray it with chlorine (?)  Barbara and Ginger, etc. painted doors and a closet inside.  Roma started to mow the lawn, but ran out of gas.  (The mower, not Roma).  Besides the lawn we finished everything at our house.  Here is a picture of the house.

And I got my phone fixed.  

I got a bunch of other pictures from other people, so they aren't exactly in chronological order.  

Here's Bob N.  He is pretty amazing about what he knows how to do.  

And here is Ginger and Barbara and Kathy visiting Carol A., a homeowner we worked with last year.  

Click on the link for the picasa site that has the rest of the pictures. 

Back at it...

This is the essence of PC and Erin


We decided to get creative with lunch bag art


Erin serenaded us with song and let it translate onto her lunch bag

Unicorn lunch bag

Jeff playing peek-a-boo at lunch

These are a few of the pictures from my camera. I am trying not to duplicate other pictures.

As I am writing this message, (This is Ali by the way) I am surrounded by team members on their laptops. We have taken to communicating through our computers rather than face to face. Joking, but we do spend a fair amount of the evening "nerding it out" on our computers.

We began our day with orientation from the organization we are working for and they really reiterated the fact that the work here is done when people stop coming. We are sharing the facility with a team from Indianapolis who has come so frequently that the staff knows them by name. It is really cool to be one of the "repeat offenders" and see people who have come back over and over again. I am fueled by people's heart and passion and coming here is like going to the gas station. I know that I will leave here again with a freshly topped off tank and a renewed passion for the purpose.

The team I am working on spent the day mudding and taping dry wall, tightening screws and doing something outside that I am unsure of (I remained indoors for the most part, sorry my view is somewhat skewed) but I know they were on ladders and cut things. PC, Erin, Jake and I described our job site as cozy, great natural views and smells, rustic, and having great farmland atmosphere. It is an interesting home with interesting challenges. I think the biggest challenge that I faced today was the massive influx of water with a minimal bathroom facility situation. It's a slippery slope. The ladies took a quick trip into a gas station to expel all the H2O we forced into our systems. Besides the trivial bathroom struggles, I think that this site has good potential for progress.

All in all, it is enough for me to know that God was working here before we came, He is working here now, and He will continue working here after we leave. Now THAT is a team I am blessed to be on.

I think I am going to shut it down for the night, I hope this maiden voyage blog was acceptable to all of our readers and supporters. We love you and thank you all for checking up on us and following our trip.

Hello from Kathy!

First thing this AM, we were updated on the status of the recovery in the Slidell – New Orleans area. There is still about 6-7 years work left to do. Slidell is about 85%recovered and New Orleans is about 15% recovered. The work is done when volunteers stop coming. There will be plenty of room for you next year. Let me know!

The entire crew set up chairs for 250 people registered to attend an event at Aldersgate and then we were off to respective work sites.

Our team painted doors and closets inside Cheryl Z’s home and power cleaned the outside of her home with chemicals to get rid of mold. Darold, Paul, Roma, and Rod were the washers; Ginger, Barbara, Roma, Jill and Kathy the painters.

Oh, Oh, look who’s on the roof.

Don’t fall Rod!

Hi! This is Erin writing to you from Slidell, LA!

Friday we arrived at the Lutheran Campus Ministry Center with only minor police involvement... (Fret not, we just asked directions!)

Saturday morning we got up about 7 and I did devotions. As we started south the trees started leafing out and the flowers started blooming in fast forward! So cool!

We lunched at a park near the Mississippi River in Hannibal, MO overlooking Illinois (another state for our rookie travelers!).

In the van, the activities ranged from watching movies together on laptops, munching, playing car twister, great conversations, listening to music, munching, challenging one another to sudoku, groups of 6 playing apples to apples, munching, complaining about the temperature or the bumpy roads (pretty much just to annoy Rod!), munching, trying to read, planning our devotions, munching … We liken it carbo-loading before a big race!

Lewis started our ministry on Saturday night – at Corkey’s, the rib restaurant we ate at, he struck up a conversation with a group of baseball players there to celebrate, just being his friendly encouraging self. What an example of doing God’s work anywhere at any time.

We stayed the night at a great church in Memphis, Covenant UMC, where we had our breakfast and Pastor Carolyn did devotions before heading out.

We got in to Slidell around 3:30ish and met Roma and Jill, who had arrived here this morning and scouted out the sleeping arrangements. We are staying at the volunteer housing at Aldersgate UMC. These are the best bathrooms we’ve had - 4 to 1 people to shower ratio! We unloaded and went our separate ways to go visit some of the families we served on the last trip.

Barb, Ginger, Kathy and I went to go visit Carol Avery. We worked for her all week last trip, and one of the days she made us homemade, authentic red beans and rice for lunch. Mmm mmm mm mm mm…. Excuse the drool…! We liked them so much we got the recipe. Ginger’s church, Faith UMC in West St. Paul, put out a cookbook and Carol’s recipe was in it – she is a author! She didn’t know, so we were able to surprise her with a copy of the recipe book with her recipe in it. She was happy to see us and is excited to tell her friends that she was published!

By the way, if you come hear our stories on May 17th at the Show and Tell dinner, you too can try some!

We stopped for some groceries for tomorrow’s dinner and Pizza for tonight before heading back to home base (Aldersgate) for the night. After Rod’s devotions and discussing the logistics for tomorrow, most headed off to bed… as I will shortly.

Tomorrow we learn what our tasks will be. Please pray for us as we get settled into our places and roles on the job site, and that we don’t limit our ministry to just fixing the tangible, but that we are open to all the needs around us, and that we step outside our comfort zones.

Thanks so much for your prayer and support!

NOLA 2 Day 2 and 3

First, notice that I have invited an empowered Ali S., Jake S., and Erin C., to post on this blog.  I think Jake already put some pics up.  This is a good thing.  - although from looking at his pics, you will think all we do is eat.  Come to think of it, that's all we do on the traveling days.  Kind of.  

We arrived without a hitch in Memphis.  Howard was able to swing over to Kirkwood, (MO) and pick up his brother, Bob at the rendezvous point.  Bob was waiting when Howard got there, so they didn't get very far behind.  (In fact, Howard beat the other two vehicles to Memphis.) Covenant United Methodist Church in Cordova is an amazing church with amazing people.  They welcomed us warmly.  We ran out and got the obligatory ribs in Memphis, did devotions, logistics, and went to sleep.  There was no wifi there that we could log into, so I had to wait until today to get pics and responses, etc.  

We left Memphis this morning around 8:00am and arrived in Slidell, LA around 4:00pm.  Roma and Jill had arrived in the morning via airplane and rented car.  It is nice to have someone here from my hometown of Hale, Michigan!  I am somewhat humbled that of all the trips they could have done, they chose to come with us.  

After we arrived, we split up and went to visit some of the homeowners we have worked for previously.  Ali, Pastor Carolyn, Lewis, Jake, Mari, Matt and I went to see Deryl and Betty B.  It was such a joy to sit in their living room with them and catch up and listen to them interact.  We got to know Betty more and I can tell you she keeps Deryl on his toes!  Deryl reiterated to us the continuing need for help here.  This is one of the things I worry about.  People think it's done and everything is back to normal.  That just isn't true.  After almost 4 years, there are still many people not back into their homes.   

Howard and Darold went out to find the house they were helping at.  (Howard still had the address saved in his GPS unit....)  They said the homeowner was nowhere to be found, but the house is standing and looks almost ready to live in.  

Ginger, Barbara, Kathy and Erin went out to find Carol.  She was delighted to see them again and was doing well.  

I just talked to Erin, who is sitting at a table next to the one I am at, and she is summing things up also.  We are going to race to see who posts first.  I am more concerned about repeating things.  

After everyone got back from visiting, etc., we had pizza and devotions and then bed time.  The people we are sharing this facility with are from Indiana, mostly, and seem to be pretty flexible and easy going.  -  

It is good to be back.  It feels like the right thing to be doing.  

If anyone knows about formatting things in Blogger, maybe give me a shout.  Feedback on layout and format would be appreciated.  ALSO-  anyone trying to call me-  My phone is on the fritz and only seems to work sporadically.  

Bob and Rod St. went to see kids from a house they worked on last year.

Pastor Gregg Swope at commissioning:  "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon you."  

Darold S.  

Exactly WHAT does Pastor Carolyn have in her hand????

Pics from Jake's Lappy

Banana Pudding anyone.
Here the part of the team at Corky's for dinner.
Ali (Aslan) and Mari at Corky's for dinner.
Here we are for lunch in Hannibal, MO

NOLA 2- We depart

I know I usually send an email a week or so ahead of time saying we are getting ready to go to the Gulf to work on rebuilding from the damage from Hurricane Katrina.  This time, it snuck up on me and here we are.  

So tonight, we are in Cedar Falls, Iowa, at the Lutheran Campus Ministry Center.  For those of you who haven following our trips since the beginning, you may be saying, "wait, it's only Friday.  They shouldn't be leaving until morning."  (For those of you brand new to these emails, welcome and you don't know we are doing anything different anyway, except that now I just told you.)  We had our Commissioning service tonight at Salem UMC.  Pastor Gregg Swope gave a great, inspiring message.  "The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me."  (See Isaiah 61)  Then we had communion and we got in the vans and left.  We went as far as Cedar Falls, IA.  Tomorrow, we go to Memphis, and that should put us into New Orleans (Slidell) earlier in the day on Sunday.  

There are 20 of us on this team.  

Rod Sc. (me)

Barbara S. (her 6th trip)

Howard N. (6th)

Erin C. (5th)

Lewis W. (5th)

Corrine M. (5th)

Bob N. (4th)  Bob will be hooking up with us in St. Louis.  He is from Indianapolis. 

Rod St. (3rd)

Ginger St. (3rd.)

Darold S. (3rd)

Ali St. (2nd)

Carolyn W. (2nd)

Kathy B. (2nd)

Matt S. (2nd)

Roma B. (2nd) -- Roma will be flying to meet us in New Orleans.  She is from Michigan.  

Jeff S. (2nd)

Jake S. (1st)

Mari F. (1st)

Paul A. (1st)

Jill H. (1st)-  Jill will be coming with Roma from Michigan.  

Susan L. and Darlene L. are our home base team mates in Minnesota and Michigan respectively.  

I have been told that our first projects will be vinyl siding and soffit, some drywall, and some plywood on some porches.  Louisiana Disaster Recovery is very organized.  They seem to be doing everything they can to make this as easy as possible for us.  

It is good to be on the road again, serving people.  We are going to be coming at this with eyes wide open, empowered by the Spirit of the sovereign God, to offer hope, relief, and love.  

We are grateful for the people that have supported us.  We are grateful to be called to be involved in this ministry.  

I think after today, I will just post on the blog, and send a link to the blog.  I have blind copied everyone so that you don't have to look at all the names.  (There are 197 of you, plus the team!)  After today, I will try to get pictures up every day.  

Things to remember today:

Gregg Swope:  The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon you!  Be Crazy for God!  

Being ON THE ROAD!

The HUGE bucket of chocolate chip cookies Ali brought.

The hospitality of the Lutheran Campus Ministry Center for housing us.  

Prayer requests:  

Safety in travel

Our hearts being prepared to see the things God would have us see

And to understand what we are seeing.  

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

An Amazing Video!

 

I found this video while checking out my ex-wife's sister's blog.  I thought it was amazing.  

Merry Christmas!

R