January 8, 2011 by MarkH.

In the beginning, G-d created the Heavens and the Earth,  He created the plants and animals, and then He created humans.  In these humans He instilled special characteristics that set them apart from all of His other creations.  He called it all good.  But the world was unable to remain in that state of initial created perfection, and man fell from Grace, bringing with him the hurt and confusion that seems to so rampantly inhabit the world today.  It is to this separation from G-d that we must respond with either a hardened heart or one of broken contrition.

The world is a place in which the most exciting of dreams is attainable, but also the most heinous of nightmares can plague us.  Throughout this week, we have come to find that Hurricane Katrina happened to be both.

As a member of this week’s YOAM trip said,  “I firmly believe that all things happen for a reason.”  Yes, this hurricane and the losses it brought was a travesty.  But without it, families like YOAM would not exist.

We have learned to see the people around us as our brothers and sisters through Christ.

We have learned to laugh in spite of disaster.

We have learned to work and work hard.

We have learned to be broken.

We have learned to love.

YOAM is a special organization and has inadvertently changed the lives of its participants in its quest to sort through the chaos of Hurricane Katrina.  That was never the intention, but it seems that the will of G-d cannot be stopped even by our human stubbornness.  So we would like to invite you to join us as we continue to pray for New Orleans and all the victims of this disaster, as we once again return to our homes and reality.  Pray that we will not forget and that our hearts will remain sensitive to the movings of the Spirit around us.

Love,

Crew C

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January 7, 2011 by MarkH.

Today is…FRIDAY?  can’t be!  we just got here, despite cooking for 30 for a week, it seems to me we have just gotten started, yet we are almost done.  Work crews are out for  the last half day of work…this is the hardest day because so many see goals that are not met, expectations that will be left unfulfilled, and LOTS more work yet to be done.  We naturally come to the conclusion we can fix what has happened down here, if only we can finish that extra room, the last mudding that needs to be done, the last taping of  corners and gaps, if we can just…!  And now its personal - we know the people whose home we are working on, they have fed us Jambalaya, Turkey neck soup and cornbread (YES HOMEMADE!), worked along side us…slept and worshiped with us (we love you Jim!)…and hugged and shared the worksite and stories with us.

So its personal that we cannot meet their entire need or even what we thought we should meet.  But God has told us there will always be need, there will always be more in need, and so we will be good servants and do what we can and praise God that we can be servants, we can be His hands and His feet, and His drywallers, His spacklers, His chefs, His comforters, and His witnessers… so it is on this Friday that it is we who are thankful, it is we who are grateful, it is we who are humbled by Him!

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January 7, 2011 by MarkH.

Epiphany - we like sleep too much.

Epiphany - we enter into mud fights when we work when we’re tired.

Epiphany - lipstick does not wipe off only with water.

Epiphany - it’s okay to work even when you’re cold.

Epiphany - the words to Disney songs are harder to remember than we thought.

Epiphany - it’s hard to finish a house when the plumber doesn’t show up for inspections.

Epiphany - Ryan’s Steakhouse has excellent fruit and desserts.

Epiphany - Today is January 6… Epiphany.  Go figure.

Epiphany - Newsletters are more coherent earlier in the week.

Epiphany - Jesus loves us anyway.

Love,

Crew C

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January 6, 2011 by MarkH.

ALDERSGATE UMC, Slidell, Louisiana, 1-5-11

The day started out as a bummer when we awoke to the sound of thunder and downpour rain. As a group, we decided that our trip to the French Quarter should be rescheduled for Friday. But this rainy day turned out to be a blessing in disguise for every single crew.

All four crews ended up having some sort of bonding experience during their work day. Crews A and C had a chance to bond with their homeowner and each other as they realized that they truly were a 15 member team. Crew B got to enjoy bonding with their homeowner as well; the homeowner even did a little dance to show her excitement and appreciation. Crew D had the opportunity to work with a crew from Arkansas, who is staying at Aldersgate Church with us. As seen through the difference in our Thanksgiving circle this evening, what started as a bummer of a day ended up being a wonderful bonding experience for every one.

This week, we have also learned the powerful experiences of witnessing. On several instances, crew members have had opportunities to share the word of God with local citizens. One member of our group was able to reach out to a set of neighbors who had an argument and was able to counsel them by sharing the word of God. In another group, as they packed up and prepared to pray, a neighbor came up to ask for bus fare and ended up joining them in prayer. As the group drove away, they saw him talking to his friends at the bus stop about the experience he had just had with that group. But before he left the prayer circle, he mentioned that “this wasn’t a mistake.” Several adults have mentioned interactions with people of the Slidell community stating that they recognized us as people repairing their town.

Throughout this fruitful day of gifts presented by God, we have grown together not just in our crews, but as an entire mission group. As one member stated during devotion, we have come together as one, sharing and spreading God’s word throughout the Slidell and New Orleans community.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against these things there is no law.” Galatians 5: 22-23 …CREW A

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January 5, 2011 by MarkH.

My kids constantly kid me because my northern NJ accent leads me to pronounce Wednesday as Windesday…well that is just part of the fun, everyone a little different from one another, yet all God’s servants.

Last night’s blog has been pre-empted by…a very early morning rip-roaring Thunderstorm…that dumped lots of rain on us, and a prediction of rain off and on all day, as well. So a quick deision and some recalculating and some, CAN YOU SAY THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD ON A MISSION TRIP, flexibility and we are working a full day today and will be putting off the New Orleans visit until Friday (that day I say apparently correctly..whatever correctly is…) and so we, the dinner crew, will be shopping for Jambalaya  ingredients and planing a dinner for tonight instead of taking a break while we go into New Orleans to eat dinner..such is the mission experience…gotta love it! Everyone is starting to feel the pressure of the amount of work to be done, as well as beginning to revel in the experience.  This is truly God’s work, and we are all changed and re-made anew though it!  We are thankful for so many back home that have given of their time and finances so that we can be the hands and feet of God.  We pray for continued safe passage and work here, and for the presence of God to continue to be made known to us through our relationships within and outside our group.

Even as the Food crew, we experience these relationships - every time we go to a store, people ask about what we are doing (wearing past trips t-shirts helps!) and we have an opportunity to Monday as we were shopping for food we were approached by “Brother James” at the McDonalds, who gave us his hand drawn scripture crossword puzzles he uses as discussion starters. He explained that his pastor and he were selling Satsumi oranges ( a local species…), rutabagas, firewood and home made panut brittle (made by Sunday School kids) on the road lading up to the WalMart, and we should stop by.  We did and Pastor Russel Crowe III (yep..for real)  was a very open friendly man who told us about his ministry in Picayune Mississppi only 20 minutes away…

How God chose this spot and this message for us (me) I don’t know…but we were in His presence and enjoyed the brief fellowship it brought.  Well, it is morning, the crews are off to their work sites for a FULL day of work and we need to get groceries and plan dinner…Praise God through whom all blessings flow…Amen!

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January 5, 2011 by MarkH.

After a not-so-mosey Monday, day two on the job sites was highly productive. Crews put up numerous sheets of drywall as well as worked on many other daunting tasks. Being able to see the transformation from bare room to covered walls makes a huge difference to the homeowner and means that they are one step closer to moving in. Crew B’s homeowner, Chanel, has been displaced from her home for the past five years taking up temporary residence in both Georgia and Alabama.

This year, all crews are split between three sites in New Orleans as opposed to our home-base in Slidell. This area of Louisiana was directly affected by Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath can still be seen. In our homeowner’s house, there are two water lines on her sliding glass doors; one from Hurricane Katrina and one from Hurricane Rita. The water line from Katrina is chest deep and would be like swimming in a pool.

Tonight at our thanksgiving circle, everyone wrote down what they were most thankful for and then passed it on to the next person who drew a picture of what was written. It turned out to be almost like Pictionary. While it was a fun game, we missed being able to share in front of our whole group what we were thankful for.

Tomorrow we will be working for half of the day and spending the rest in New Orleans’ famous French Quarter. We will be back together in our favorite city and first-timers anxiously await our arrival.

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January 4, 2011 by MarkH.

Today began early and cold with breakfast and orientation, during which the gravity of the task before us was introduced, and we met another group from Arkansas. Volunteers, according to Dale Kimball (director of Project Epworth, which has replaced the Northshore Disaster Recovery, Inc), are the driving force behind the long-term disaster recovery of New Orleans, an undertaking that the Federal government estimated would take at least eleven years. Over 90,000 volunteers have put in over 4.5 million man-hours to help 21,000 people return to their homes within the past five years, but an estimated 300,000 people are still displaced. The crews then dispersed to their job sites to begin “Mosey Monday.”

Unlike previous years when all crews worked in Slidell, all four crews are working in New Orleans proper this year. Crews B and D paired together while A and C joined forces to face the onslaught of much- needed dry-walling on two separate sites. A completed house requires 2,500 hours of work; between the seventy volunteers of YOAM and the Arkansas group, this week will produce 2,800 hours of work, which means that at least one homeowner will be able to return home at its end.

Crew C members hard at work dry-walling.

We (Crew C), along with Crew A, had the opportunity to meet Francis, the father of our homeowner. He was very particular about his dry-walling, not that we blame him in the slightest. Walking into the skeleton of the house, we promptly noticed the lack of warmth and the rickety-looking (and feeling) stairs with holes in them. The stairs became first priority, as most of us were working on the second floor. We eventually made it upstairs and the dry-walling ensued, quite productively. Francis worked with us, to our delight, allowing us to get to know him and hear his and his daughter’s stories. We came to think of him as another crew member, and we look forward to working with him the rest of this week.

Thank you for your prayers; we will be in touch through the rest of the week!

Love,

Crew C

Sunset over Aldersgate United Methodist Church, where we currently reside.

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January 3, 2011 by MarkH.

1-2-2011 John Wesley Center, Aldersgate UMC, Epworth Project, Slidell, Louisiana

Today our crews met at Glen Mar for a commissioning ceremony to wish
us well on the trip.  We were told to be steadfast in good and bad
times, to be in it for the long haul, to believe God has a plan and to
stick with Him! Pastor Matt then had us help welcome the New Year by
participating in a Wesleyan New Year’s traditional prayer.  We then met
at Howard High and were off to the airport!

After making our way to the airport, and munching on airport food, we
boarded our flight to New Orleans, LA. The time zone changed, and we
arrived in New Orleans after a three and a half hour flight. We
patiently waited to pick up our rental cars and head towards Slidell for
CiCi’s all you can eat pizza dinner.

We stuffed our faces and loaded our vehicles to get back to the
church just in time to settle in and begin the evening’s activities. We
learned our weekly chores and enjoyed a slideshow reminiscing on past
trips. We engaged in introductory activities including “if you could be
an appliance what would you be?” Then we did our daily devotion, and got
excited about doing God’s work. Right before we settled in we were
oriented by Hannah and Katie, then formed a thanksgiving circle where we
each shared something about today that we were grateful for.  After an
hour of relaxing and communing together  and FINALLY, after a long day
of travel, we went to our separate cots, sleeping bags, and rooms and
turned the lights out. We’re looking forward to our future week of work,
and even more excited for our early morning tomorrow!(not really).
CREW B

Our return to Slidell is a welcome visit with some old friends, some new
friends, some pros at missions, and some newbies, but all God’s servants
and all humbled by being chosen to be part of this experience…We are
thankful to be serving and to be called to this mission…as a 5 time YOAM
participant it is amazing to see the youth who have participated
throughout the years come back as young adults with the same enthusiasm
and drive that started this mission group.  Some have not been here
since the first year, some have only missed the last Spring trip, but
all who are returning were thankful for God to allow them  to return, I
am thankful for all those here and their willingness to serve!

Mark.

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