Katrina Youth Mission Update - Day Five
Day 5 - Wednesday, February 27, 2008
The same busy routine began our morning - gathering our lunches, showering, and getting some breakfast in us. Then back to the job site for more of God’s work. The Michigan group left around noon for a tour of New Orleans. We were anxiously awaiting our tour, which was scheduled for the end of the workday. Leaving a little early from the job site, we had just enough time to come home (yes, God’s Camp has become “home” to us) and clean up before our tour guides, the Bolians, arrived.
Maggie wrote the update above, but the schedule and sickness has hit some of the crew, and I am taking over for her. Please keep us all in your prayers in our final days on mission.
Maggie and I had already discussed that each of us would share our perspectives on the tour through New Orleans because it was her first time and my second. She will give her views in another update soon. We’re also having trouble e-mailing the pictures and just don’t have the time to upload pictures, so we will do our best to get you some photos soon, but it might be after we return home. Maggie is doing a phenomenal job as our photojournalist, and there are hundreds of pictures from which to choose, but for now, back to New Orleans.
I spent a lot of time these last few days trying to prepare the youth for what they would see in New Orleans because I was worried about how they would handle the devastation. During our tour with the Bolians, I realized I should have been more worried about my own reaction. I knew there would be signs of progress, so I expected to feel better about what I saw, but instead I found myself just as shocked as if it were my first time. Yes, there was clearly more life in St. Bernards Parish and the Ninth Ward, but for me, it was easier to look at New Orleans as a ghost town than to see a little improvement scattered among houses with yards that have now been untended for 2-1/2 years, people living in houses that don’t appear to be “ready” and “For Rent” signs on many of the houses that have been rebuilt.
Thankfully when we pulled onto Alvar Street, the location of “Musicians Village”, I felt the hope I’d anticipated. I could sit there all day and stare at the neat row of colorful houses. I was also encouraged by the number of projects we saw in progress, including some other mission teams. More than anything, though, seeing children coming home from school was a very welcome sight.
There was a sign in the middle of one intersection that read “I will come home. I will rebuild. New Orleans”
That sign sums up the spirit of the people in this area, and it gives me the strength and desire to be here and to return home to share our story in hopes that more will come. Only then will New Orleans return to its full glory.
Following the tour, we had coffee/hot chocolote and beignets at Cafe du Monde, and then believe it or not, we went out for Po’ Boys at Captain Humbles, where the captain himself entertained us with stories including the history of the po’ boy. (I suspect there’s no money left in the food budget for next week’s trip with the way these teenagers can eat, but heck, there’s always PB&J!)
When we returned home, our devotion was mainly a discussion of our reactions to what we had seen and the responses varied tremendously. Some found it depressing, while others found encouragement in the spirit of the victims and response of the volunteers. Most agreed that the city looked better than they had expected after the pictures they had seen in the media. For me, the discussion pointed out positives I hadn’t noticed as I couldn’t stop thinking “but it’s been 2-1/2 years”. Perhaps this is why we do mission in teams.
Submitted knowing that God is love and in Him there is always hope,
Brenda Borchers