April 23, 2011 by MarkH.

This week has truly been an AMAZING week. Our lives were changed every day as we were in and among the community. Today, after having to wake up at an extremely early hour to pack up the truck, we shipped off our drivers for their long journey home. However, our journey has not reached its final stretch; we still have the tour of New Orleans, specifically the Ninth Ward and the levee.Coming home is a bittersweet feeling; we are excited to see our families and friends and share our experiences and our growth, but we have developed a closeness as a team and all of YOAM has become a new family. At the start of the week, we had quite a handful of new YOAM goers, and a handful of experienced veterans. We had to adapt to each other’s skill level and fears,  but we succeeded with learning and utilizing our niches. God had a plan in store for us, and we know for a fact that we only accomplished what we did on the house because of Him.

One of the best things shared in the thanksgiving circle last night was everyone LOVED and ADORED this trip and they wish to return next year, whether it be the Winter YOAM or the Spring Break YOAM. And this is what New Orleans needs; it needs volunteers to return because the recovery is based solely on the willingness and man hours of the volunteers from around the country.

BUCKET LIST UPDATE:

Our whole team can cross off eating a cricket.

Crew D: Domination

See you next year!

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April 22, 2011 by MarkH.

To begin, we, E Crew, need to set the record straight on the water balloon battle of Wednesday.  Crew E totally annihilated Crew F, leaving them soaked and whimpering that they wished they had landed a better crew addition than Jay Nowaskey.

Having made considerable progress in the double shotgun house (see Thursday’s post by the other part of our team, Crew C), we were sent to a wilderness outpost.  We used shovels and sledge hammers to fend off all varieties of native New Orleans swamp monsters: cockroaches, gecko lizards, and the occasional stray crocodile.  In between the battles, we helped clear a site for a landowner so that the family can begin to think what will be next in their lives.  We filled a large construction dumpster half full, then headed back for showers and preps for our tourist time in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Following showers and lunch, we all headed down to New Orleans to partake of the local culture, food, shopping, and beignets.  Street performers captivated the team, specifically the magician show at Jackson Square.  After dinner, we all met at Cafe du Monde for coffee and beignets, before heading back to our home at the church.  Our Thanksgiving Circle, though lengthy, was quite moving as we all expressed our joy in having been able to participate in such a wonderful experience.  God’s grace has been so apparent this week, as we have moved from a team of 53 individuals to a family with many members but one body in Christ.  We look forward to our reunion during the summer and the January 2012 YOAM trip, tentatively scheduled for January 1-8, 2012.

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April 22, 2011 by MarkH.

Can’t believe it’s Thursday already!! This past couple of days, crew C (Alex, Allie, John Z, Kate, Kelsey, Eric, Willa) has been teaming up with crew E (Greg, Nathan, Robin, Sydney, Papa John, Valerie). We’ve been working in half of a duplex located in downtown New Orleans and putting up sheet rock. Although most of us arrived with hardly any construction experience, we learned many new skills in a short amount of time. For example, putting sheet rock on walls and ceilings, using screw guns, sawing, and installing insulation. 

 While working in the hot stuffy house, we needed to drink lots of water. However what goes in, must come out. With no plumbing on site, we were welcomed to use the  facilities at the local Episcopal Church. In our travels through the New Orleans neighborhood, we found a good carry-out restaurant for Wednesday’s lunch. We also spent some time driving to other crew’s houses to ambush them with water balloons. Unfortunately, yesterday we went to join crew E in the fight against the Falcons yet we were on the wrong street and missed the drive-by ballooning. No matter what the Falcons said, crew E annihilated them.

Busy with our jobs, we had a nice surprise. Another renovation crew stopped by the duplex. This crew was the Mennonites who are had previously framed our house. Many of the girls found the young men easy on the eyes.

Yesterday, we had an awesome visit by our homeowner, Jocelyn Green, and her daughter, Jasmine. They are very nice people and we are very glad to help them.

Addendum dateline 4-22-11 FRIDAY!  Wow - how can it be the last day of work already! It seems like it was just Tuesday!  We have been immersed in God’s work here and as is often the case we are filled up because of it.  So many in this community embrace us and welcome us in so many ways it is impossible to put it into words. Over this last week we have tiled, sided, sanded, drywalled, counseled, cried, laughed, taped, mudded, baked, fried, driven, demolished, taught, learned, prayed, and worshiped together as servants.  As we have gone about these activities we have grown in our faith, and in the community of believers.  In this world such experiences are rare and precious.  I thank God for all those here who volunteered to be in service, and for all those back home who have supported us and who have been praying for us on this jouirney…mark

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April 21, 2011 by MarkH.

Dearest Family and Friends, this newsletter update is coming directly from the Falcon Nest.

You may have heard some interesting stories from other crews about our adventures in Slidell, Louisiana.  However, we would like to tell you our story. We would like to take this opportunity to introduce the Falcon Nest:

Daniela – Mama Falcon

Adam – Commander Falcon

Parker – Little Eyas (aka Lil’ E), when he grows up, he’ll be “Stealth Falcon”

Joy – The Black Falcon            

Jenny –Blind Falcon

Van – Father Falcon

Jay – Limitless Falcon

D.C. – D.C. (still working to earn his wings)

The other crews have been jealous of Crew F (The Falcons) ever since our inception. Crews have attempted to reach our level of awesomeness, dubbing themselves “the bears” (crew B), “the gators” (crew G), and even “elegant elephants” (crew E). Crew E greeted us at our jobsite, as Papa John had been looking forward to catching up with Chanel (our homeowner) and Mama Lu, her grandmother. (PICTURE: John and Mama Lu). The Elegant Elephants, consumed by their Envy, decided to ambush our crew under this pretense (See picture link). The Falcons Fought Fiercely, but our Fearless Falcon, Jenny, was the victim of a vicious attack that left her wounded… we let the “elegant elephants” leave us to pray over our now “Blind” Falcon before we began our work alongside our Mennonite partners (Jenny had to suffer through the day with only one good eye with which to view her.. work! She was a BEAST working with the wet saw :) ). After a successful day of tiling, we returned back to Aldersgate Church for dinner, but before going in, we patched up Jenny’s eye (as the beginning of our Farcical Fun).  I believe our ruse instilled a proper level of guilt in the hearts of E Crew, and in fact Jenny took pity and reassured Nathan (the water balloon assailant) that she was not, in fact, hurt, since his remorse was more than evident.

In sum, Wednesday has been a wonderfully eventful and blessed day contributing to a great week. –Falcons Out–

DISCLAIMER: No one was injured in the writing of this blog…or the water battle so it seems…it was a rotten trick but a stealthy one by the “Falcons”…  We continue to have great fellowship and amazing growth as we move forward with the work we ahve come to do here in Lousiana.  The thing that struck me today was the people of thius area who I had the opportunity (Who God placed in my life today!)  to interact with.  There was Donna a homeless women who told us her Katrina story today and quite a story it was, Linda who works at Aldersgate and who we know from several past trips and who continues to need our prayers, and the clerks at the WalMart who ended our purchases with “Have a Blessed Day”, and Lucian who was a member of Aldersgate’s Choir and who was outside disussingt he retrieval of the honeybee swarm on the crepe Myrtle tree next to the sanctuary.  He and I (being hgte entomologist that I am) had quite the discussion first about bees, then about the amazing wonder that is being a servan tof GOd and how that is what we are called to be, and he thanked me and all of us for coming to SLidell and the region and gave me a heartfelt hug and once again I gained more than I could possibly give on the trip…God is good.  goodnight, mark  

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April 20, 2011 by MarkH.

With Day 1, Mosey Monday, down Day 2 started and finished strong. All of the crews left for the worksite ready to take tremendous strides in their projects with a long week of work ahead of them.  The Gator crew’s assignment is fairly simple, with floor molding, toilet installation, and finishing touches.  We started the day with an obtainable goal, having finally gotten the supplies needed.

Levi, Joey, Jay, Dan, Eloise, Zach, and the Sydneys (pictured) divided and conquered today.  After a tutoring session yesterday from Zach and Dan, Levi and Jay were able to jump right in today and take over the molding tasks, with all of their fingers still present.  Sydney and Sydney helped caulk and paint the molding, covering up all of the errors made by Jay and Levi.  Eloise spent a good portion of the day taking numerous pictures and doing odd jobs around the house, like sweeping up sawdust.  Joey helped out a little bit everywhere, painting, cutting and measured.

Dan the Man, and Zach spent the day on the john (installing the toilet…and uninstalling it).  The toilet was mounted and screwed to the bracket, but the bracket wasn’t attached to the floor, so when we tested it out it came right up. Dan also tried to hook up the faucet, without having the right part needed. Trying to solver the problem and discussing the solutions.  A trip to the hardware store was in order.

At the end of the day a lot was accomplished.  Molding was almost finished.  The closet doors are hanging up.  One room is completely done.  Two to go.  More importantly than that we got to interact with our homeowner for the whole day. Guy was offering a helping hand all day, watching everything we were doing, and sharing his story of life after Katrina.

After a long day of hard work we came home to a much needed and well deserved shower and a delicious home cooked meal of chicken, red beans and rice, corn, and collard greens. 

Thanksgiving circle is a great way for us to hear about what other groups are accomplishing throughout the day, sharing experiences from their worksite.   We find out that the work we are doing is completely different from everyone else, but it’s a part of a big picture where everyone’s work combined makes a difference.

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April 18, 2011 by MarkH.

We headed out from Howard High for the  7th time to Slidell, Lousiana. A day of meeting new people, and traveling brought a lot of new friendships and great memories. From people shoving 4 huge jawbreakers in their mouth (Zathy),

to yelling and bonding in the car, today was a great start to an awesome week. CREW D

We return to Slidell for the 5th year as YOAM and for the 6th trip.  This year we are as young as we were the first year ( although I am not…hmmm) and that means we have a lot of new servants arriving in Slidell to experience the Glory that God has prepared for us.  This group has a special place in so many people’s hearts…most of which have at one time or another been to Slidell.  If this sounds like an invitation to make the trek with us some time - IT IS.  It is always the one of the best weeks of the year for all who come down.

At the start of today many of us attended Glen Mar UMC for the commissioning of our YOAM group..being a softy I got teary eyed…but at the same time I heard a clear soft voice say “you are being filled up”…it took me a second but it was clear God was telling me I was filled witht he Holy Spirit to ready me for the  trip..I have never seen this weakness (of being emotional…at least that is what many would say about being emotional)  as being such a strength!  God is good!  mark

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