Please keep us in your prayers if safe travels, and good rest when we get back to St. Pete.

God’s blessings!!

After that, Jim and Mary A got lost… But don’t worry, we found them. We made it back to Camp Restore to pick up Barb who was thankfully finally released from the hospital.

And we had dinner at Jack Dempsey’s Restaurant in the Lower Ninth Ward. We all ate more than enough to fill us up. The potato salad was delicious, but it comes in second behind my dad’s. Everything else was delicious as well.

And now it’s time to start packing and cleaning up… We’ll be on the road back to St. Pete at six am.

God’s blessings!!

He said that many times volunteers go home thinking that they didn’t do enough, and there was so much more that needed to get done. And we may go home thinking that as well. But he wants us to remember that we were exactly where God put us.

He compared it to the puzzles that are out in the lounge. The big picture is the healing of the city of New Orleans. But each of us are a piece. And whatever we did–construction on a house, weeding, talking to an individual, etc–we were used by God to help bring healing. And without that piece, the big picture would not be complete.

The other part of our group went to the Sebastopol Plantation in St Bernard. We looked around (I took lots of pictures!), swept the porch and walkways, painted a piece of slate from the original building, and Debbie helped empty the water out from a kettle from when the plantation farmed sugar cane.

It was a quick work day, but it went well.

God’s blessings!

Today Debbie stayed back and helped with housekeeping again at the camp. Which means cooking as well as cleaning. She helped cut 100 pounds of potatos that became French Fries for dinner, mopped the dining room floor, and other cleaning duties.

At the constrction site, they continued to put in insulation, put up dry wall, and mudding (aka dry wall compound or putty). It sounds like they have done a lot for that house this week.

Mary P, Hazel, Doris, and I spent today at the New Orleans Mission in the donation room. Hazel and Doris felt right at home since they work in Grace’s thrift store. We spent most of the day sorting through all the shoe donations. We sorted out the ones that were too worn or missing a mate to be donated to Goodwill (who pay the mission 25 cents per pound). We tied or rubber banded the pairs together. We also went through boxes of brand new shoes that were donated, all but one pair was men’s size nine. They provided us with lunch, which was Chinese food with a Cajun twist… spinish dumplings and egg rolls. One of the men working with us was doing community service rather than being a volunteer like the other guys. He is homeless like the people who the Mission serve. He had an interesting story.

Tomorrow we’ll be working a half day and then spending the rest of the day touring and enjoying our last bit of time in New Orleans.

God’s blessings!

The constrction part of the group continued insulating and dry walling. Yesterday they started “mudding” the dry wall. They’re beginning to get curious as to who will finish the work they started in later weeks.

We went to the Lenten service at Prince of Peace which is the building Camp Restore is using. We sang accapella, which was beautiful.

God’s blessings!

Please keep her in your prayers.

God’s blessings!

The construction group got a chance to meet the house owner’s daughter and pray with her. More insulation and drywalling was done. They think the project will take the rest of the week.

The group at the Lower Ninth Ward Village did a lot more sifting of the dirt today. We were joined by a group of fourteen college students from Wisconsin.

Debbie stayed back at Camp and volunteered on housekeeping. She cleaned all of the toilets, and helped with the showers and sinks.

The Wisconsin group of volunteers at Camp Restore brought down brats which they grilled for us for dinner. It was delicious!!!

We also had the oppportunity to hear from a lady who works at an organization who told us the history of New Orleans and especially in relation to the river and lake.

God’s blessings!

A group of eight went to a construction site. The house is owned by a woman in a wheelchair and her brother will be living in the other half of the duplex. The daughter and son-in-law are overseeing the renovation. Wilma, Judy, Mary A, & Eleanor insulated the outside walls. Jim, Carl, and Chris did the sheet rocking afterward. And Sid caulked the windows inside and out.

The other six of us spent the day at the Lower Ninth Ward Village Community Center. Mack, the founder, shared with us the history of the lower ninth ward, his personal story of Katrina, and the plan behind the Village. 75% of the people who lived in the Lower Ninth Ward before Katrina have not moved back. What we did for the day was help start get the ground ready for a garden to be planted. Mary P, Doris, Barbara, Hazel, Deborah, and I worked between weeding and sifting the dirt. The soil will need to be tested before the garden is planted to see if it is toxic from when the area was flooded. We were blessed to work with a group from Camp Restore from Wisconscin, volunteers through Historic Green, and others who work or volunteer there specifically. And also to have the Lower Ninth Ward’s only school, Dr Martin Luther King Jr Charter School, have their marching band come play for us.

Mary A has remained in contact with a woman who she worked with onthe mission trip here two years ago. She is hoping to get a chance to get together wtb her this week.

God’s blessings!!