post mission reflections

the team left slidell, louisiana at 5:30 a.m. friday morning. we had scheduled to leave at 5 but gale pence snoozed through his alarm :))) back to ginghamsburg in our two vans + trailer, we experienced great weather and many more laughs and God-connections. when we pulled into ginghamsburg's parking lot i thanked God for the beautiful green landscape, the great blue sky and the luxury of living in a clean, dry, mold-free home. we take so much for granted.

the team will gather again tonight to worship at ginghamsburg's 5 o'clock celebration. meanwhile i'm reflecting on my God moments over the last week. here's a few things that inspired me:

*we prepared as best we could for this trip, but God orchestrated the right church/building, the right servant team and the right skills and gifts for the mission. God specializes in what we can't do.

*while i've spent a lot of time looking for people i can love, true community is waking up and realizing you've begun to love those God's found. i wouldn't trade away anyone who went on this trip. everyone was there for a unique purpose and calling.

*most people look for work that gives them joy. these servants found joy in whatever work came their way.

*people who are painfully shy and reluctant to open up somehow can't quit talking once they have a scraper or a shovel in their hands. side by side is how we got things done and how God came near.

*when we are loved and accepted, we become our true selves. when we're our true selves, we are a heck of a lot of fun. that's community.

Day 6: Mission Accomplished

as mission trips go, today was bittersweet. after quick stops to the rental shop and lowe's we got right to work at mt. zion. the team was anxious to get as much done as possible and leave a cleanly gutted building- prepared for the [re]building to begin.

we wanted to cover the round window opening where once a lovely stained glass design had been in order to protect the building from further water damage. jim t. had a middle-of-the-night idea to make it a nice design - like a faux stained glass window. i looked up some verses on my blackberry and found psalm 102:16, "for the LORD will rebuild mt. zion." it was exciting for me to work a design project. lori and i did the painting - jim and clark did the hanging, and wha-la -the temporary window covering is now a word of hope for the mt. zion church family and surrounding community.

lunch was a barbeque with the seniors (we love them!) and dinner was a spread put on by some of the church family. we got to see photos of one family's hurricane experience and worshipped with ira wray. the day ended with a combined tour of the demo-ed church building, songs, prayers, hugs and farewells. these people will be in our hearts and we feel invested in their future. please keep their rebuilding in your prayers.

Day 5: demo demo demo

(lori meyer writing)
on day 1 it was almost impossible to imagine that we would finish any, if all, of the projects listed on clark's team checklist. yet, after three days of scraping paint, destroying walls, taking down ceiling tiles and packing 2 dumpsters full of debris we are finally seeing progress! accomplishing these tasks has given the group momentum and will carry us through tomorrow, our last day of work.

as we enter and leave the church building we can see an expansive, vacant lot in the area across the street, and in the distance the superdome. each time i glance that way, i cannot forget the images i saw on tv during the hurricane and aftermath. i can only imagine the heartache so many suffered. we were told this area will soon be full of new public housing. how exciting it is to think that mt. zion will be in the midst of this new community and in the perfect position to help those in need in their own neighborhood. it's also humbling to know that we are a little part of this reconstruction and rebirth.

**please pray for mt. zion's pastor, connie thomas, who was admitted to the hospital today with a blog clot in her lung. we hold these people in our hearts.

Day 4: a double dumpster day

today was a quick stop at the rental store for scaffolding, then on to mt. zion for a very full day of scraping floors and walls, removal of large damaged ceiling tile @ a height of 40'(and a temp of 98 degrees) and complete gutting of three second floor classrooms. the work is grueling (two-30 c.yd. dumpster fulls) but nary a whiner among us. i don't mind putting in a hard day of work but these people put me to shame. they do love to serve.

before leaving ohio we'd notified bruce nolan, reporter for the new orleans times-picayne of our 50th trip. bruce stopped by mt. zion to say hello today and we caught him on video - hoping to post it here. more to come tomorrow.

Day 3: demolition begins

you can dress'm up and take'em out, but ginghamsburg servants are happiest when you set'em loose on a work project. this team of 20 is the most insanely hard-working group of people i've ever encountered. today we scraped, pulled,tore out and hauled a 30-yd.dumpster full of post-hurricane *&^%! it was incredible to watch these people work. we'll need medication in the morning i'm sure.

even thought this is a struggling church, mt. zion is also a mission-driven movement. every tuesday evening they turn their little meeting space into a free "luke's clinic," offering various medical tests and information by volunteer nurses, doctors and dieticians. every third saturday they hold a family fun fest, welcoming up to 50 neighborhood children into the church family for a morning of dancing, singing and play. God is good, all the time and in so many awesome places.

Day 2: exploring the city

(mickey langston writing today)
today was a day of many sights, sounds and emotions. we woke up early and headed into new orleans for worship at mt. zion church. the congregation welcomed us with open arms. they were so grateful to finally have a team of people give them the hope of rebuilding the sanctuary they loved and lost to katrina. the joy of worship and promise...

we walked through the once beautiful church after service with a few men from the congregation. we saw where the water level settled on the front doors of the church, walked into the sanctuary to find peeling paint, damaged plaster and mold. the sorrow of loss...

we left the church and spent the day touring the french quarter. we broke into two groups and set out for lunch. each group experienced the flavors and smells of cajun food, and pralines. one group feasted on beignets and cafe au lait at the world famous cafe du monde. we visited st. louis cathedral, watched talented street performers and heard music in the streets. the excitement of exploring new places...

after we left the city we decided to visit the lower the 9th ward where katrina ravaged the city after the levees were compromised. it's so hard to believe after five years that so many damaged homes sit empty and overgrown with grass and weeds, windows broken and roofs missing. words cannot explain what our eyes witnessed and our hearts felt. many houses were marked with an x and numbers of the dead once inside. the heaviness of lives lost and homes destroyed...

Day 1: the journey

we arrived in slidell around 8 p.m., moved our belongings into the dorm room and settled in a bit. half the group went to walmart for groceries and picked up pizza for dinner at papa johns. it's amazing how adaptable and easy going servants can be. we are going to worship at the church we'll be serving at this week, mt. zion umc on louisiana ave. in the heart of the city of new orleans. we'll grab some time exploring the area tomorrow before returning to slidell for the night. monday begins the demolition! posting lots of little videos here - still learning to work the FlipShare device.

twas the night before new orleans...

i'm watching the 11 o'clock news before going to sleep for the "night." our bags are packed, the trailer's parked outside and our dog Buddy is predictably depressed having watched us prepare to leave during the evening.

the alarm is set for 3 a.m. when clark and i'll rise to meet 20 other adults from ginghamsburg ready to set out for our 50th mission trip to the gulf areas hit hardest by hurricane katrina. we'll be concentrating our efforts by coming alongside the mt. zion umc - a community of brothers and sisters on lousiana ave. in new orleans - who are still displaced by the flood waters. we understand we'll be doing mostly demolition work to prepare for later rebuilding.

i'm looking forward to traveling with friends - some new and others i've worked alongside all year long. we'll be posting our journey and videos here on this site. welcome along!

repurposed

we were asked to create a ginghamsburg bookstore (aka "the vine") presence/location at our fort mckinley campus... a somewhat portable, lockable kiosk-type cart that would attraction attention and enable the fort to sell resources, message cds/dvds and mission tshirts. i researched carts and found them online beginning at around $1000 - a bit pricey. at the same time we'd been painting a large classroom at the fort and i hardly knew what to do with the large, random pieces of furniture in that space.

we ended up dry-brushing that plywood furniture with a coat of "india ink" (valspar, martha stewart colors) and in a blissful moment i realized that we could repurpose one of the classroom cupboards into a bookstore cabinet/cart! we installed new locks, moved the cupboard out into the worship lobby and set out to design and customize it's look. a little paint + some mud n'spit = a beautiful bookstore location.