Hurricane Relief Trip - Part 3 (scroll down for parts 1 & 2)

Day 5 – 10/9/05

This was written the morning after, but day five was a bit of fun and a bit of work. Since it was Sunday we all got up and went to church. It wasn’t like we had far to go, though, just right down the hall. It was a very nice facility with great sound, great worship, and a really good message on the omniscience of God. After church, we all went out to lunch at Jazz Steak and Seafood Restaurant.

It was really good New Orleans style food. Two other people and I had ‘Crawfish Etouffe’, it was really yummy. We then had the dilemma of deciding what to do with the afternoon. The pastor that was coordinating our work left it up to us, and said we could take it easy, or go to work. Half of our team wanted to go see the French Quarter, and the other half wanted to go find some more people that wanted help. So we split up and four of us went back to help an older lady whose house we had ‘demo’ed earlier, and removed the tree that had fallen across her back yard and her neighbor’s.

When we got done, we walked down the block and found an older couple that needed help removing the big furniture and appliances. We got it all moved except for the refrigerator, so we taped that up and went to move it. It did alright until we went over the doorstep, and then it started to leak liquid out the bottom. It was the most horrific stench I have ever experiences, bar none. We first scattered in every direction, but then we managed to get it out on the curb, and watched the flies descend. It was amazing how fast so many of them found it.

That was the end to a very satisfying day. I was really starting to feel guilty about being a tourist, even though I really did want to see the French Quarter. The other team ended up not going there, but went to Lakeview instead to see where the levee broke. There was just still so much need everywhere we went.

Lord, help me to still see the needs even after we return home.