So as I sit here in the airport around 3PM in the airport waiting for the plane, running on less than two hours of sleep, trying to think of something to write for this newsletter, the only thought on my mind is about how incredible of a trip this has been for every single one of us here.

Friday started off with some fun. In retaliation of Crew B’s silly string prank on Thursday, Crew A saran wrapped their car. But not just the outside of the car, the inside too. Imagine walking up to your car getting ready to leave for the work-site and realizing that your car is covered in saran wrap. As soon as everything is cleaned off the outside of the car, you open the door and there’s about another roll and a half worth of stuff to clean up. The look on their face was well worth staying up late and the 13 dollars worth of saran wrap.

There are two sides to Fridays. On the one hand, it is our final workday and each crew wants to make sure that their job is completed, and completed well, but it comes at a cost because we only have a half-day of work. Everybody wants to finish their jobs, however it doesn’t always really work out as perfectly as we would like. We might not finish everything we wanted to accomplish. The thing that we have to remember is that there is always going to be more work to be done. The work is never going to be finished. And we will come back.

But on the other hand, we take a half-day in order to spend time in the city that we are here to rebuild. New Orleans has such a vibrant culture that having a few hours to walk around and enjoy the area is truly something to appreciate. Whether it is shopping for a few souvenirs to bring back home, eating beignets and drinking coffee at Cafe du Monde, seeing the bright neon lights coming from Bourbon Street, or randomly bumping into each other just in time for dinner at the Market Cafe, the city is an experience to say the least.

We ended up not even leaving the city until 9 o’clock.

By the time that we got back to the church and everyone got ready, we started the Thanksgiving circle a little after 10. I think we finished up around 12:30AM. That is the latest that the Thanksgiving circle has ever gone, but it is well worth every minute of it. Each and every person on the trip shares what he or she was thankful for during the week. There was quite a lot to be thankful for; rekindled friendships, along with new faces, new experiences, pranks (well maybe not thankful for the prank itself, but the people involved), inside jokes, crew leaders, one liners having everybody laughing hysterically, and of course the occasional sentimental tear. These are the kind of things that really make the trip special and connect everyone. No matter how long it takes, it is well worth it listening to how the trip has impacted everyone’s life.

As per tradition after the thanksgiving circle everyone is allowed to stay up, as late at they want. Some people go to bed, mostly adults, but a majority of the youth stay up…until 5AM…when we have to be up at 7.

Around lunch time we left to tour the Ninth Ward, the area impacted the most by the storm, in New Orleans. I can’t even begin to describe how powerful of a sight it is to see all of the devastation that was still there after 5 and half years. Seeing how much of the city has already been rebuilt is a true testament to how much progress has been made. But the most shocking thing was seeing a house completely redone, rebuilt, and lived in when right next door there was a house that had yet to be touched since the storm. It’s a very sobering sight.

In conclusion to our Ninth Ward tour, we visit the levy that was damaged. Some of the area around the levy has been rebuilt, a lot of them Brad Pitt houses (he teamed up with the architecture and engineering program at LSU to design and create eco-friendly homes). A lot of the area was just overgrown with weeds and trees, covering up the old foundations that were once homes. Walking around looking at the scenery everyone has their own reaction, but one thing is common, it is a reminder of exactly why we go down to New Orleans, to help serve the community after such a devastating storm.

YOAM was an amazing trip. What happened on the trip has impacted every single person that went down there. On the worksite or off, in the French Quarter or the Ninth Ward, with the homeowner or with crewmembers, YOAM was quite a memorable experience

Speaking for everyone I say that I can’t wait until I get to go on YOAM again.

Ephesians 2:8-10
For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith- and this if not from yourself, but a gift from God- not by works, so that no one may boast. For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepares in advance

The whole YOAM group went out to dinner at Ryan’s. Several home owners including Sharron and her mother enjoyed a wonderful dinner with the group.  We are looking forward to a great day in New Orleans tomorrow.  We will work a half day then gather tools to return to the Epworth Project and then enjoy an afternoon in the French Quarter!

The YOAM Winter trips last work day for the 2012 trip is also Epiphany!  We had the appropriate King Cake (two actually) this morning and a reading of hte King Cake tradition, as well as prayer and morning devotion.  John Ernest got one of the pieces of cake with the baby in it!  Have A GREAT year John!

The “tradition” of getting each other between the crews continues (sans Paul Behrens) Crew C attacked Crew D during their lunch time yesterday and this morning Crew D found their Van gift wrapped!

This is not the first year for these shenanigans, and since the only loss has been a box of saran wrap…we love it!

Please continue to pray for the work we are doing and for our continued safety as we are here being the hands and feet of our God!

Mark

Before lunchtime arrives, we have visitors! Our first connection to our homeowner who is currently living in Oklahoma is with the five young neighbors from down the street come to the work site, curiosity taking the best of them. They meet all of us and find out what teams are doing what. the nail guns seemed to be a sensitive sound to their ears but that did not impede them from asking to help us out. They were such a blessing to have! Lunchtime comes around and we decide to help out the small businesses and get some good home cookin’.

We went to Tony’s Poboy’s and eat more than we can handle and still came out with leftovers. After we returned from our delicious meal, we got crackin! The first thing we learned, is how they talk in Indiana. We learned that a bag is actually pronounced “beg”, and that after freshman year, we do not become sophomores, we become “southmores”!

Then after that, Ken came by and gave us his blessing, stating that we we doing a “very GREAT job,” which is the ultimate praise one could receive from him. We worked for a few more hours, then finally returned home to be welcomed by hot, steamy, and very tasty Jambalaya prepared by our wonderful kitchen crew!

Crew D (Joy, India, Laura, Marty, Tamela-Pamela, Brad, and John)

Before heading off to our jobsite, we went to check out the Mississippi river. It was a great experience. Once we arrived at our jobsite we worked with another crew putting up windows and doors. We were super productive and had a great time continuing building our friendships with each other. Unfortunately we haven’t met our homeowner because she lives in Oklahoma, but we hope that we still make a difference in her life.

It was a great Tuesday!

God blesseth,

Crew Cizzle.

Today was what many of us familiar with mission trip lingo call “Mosey Monday”. On Mosey Monday we are expected to only get situated with our worksites and do a lot of standing around; Mosey Monday is about orientation and getting set up. Some crews were lucky enough to get work done on their sites today, declaring today the least Mosey of all the Mondays.

Today, our crew, crew B, is working on a site that requires a lot of spackle sanding, puttying on dry wall, placing of drywall and perhaps in the future, texture painting. We experienced a particularly Mosey Monday when another crew took off with our tools in the morning and we did not realize it until the other crew was already on their way into the city of New Orleans. However, we were particularly productive for the rest of the day to make up for all the MOSEY MOSEY MOSEY.

All crews agreed they were bonding with their crews and that they couldn’t wait to see what was to come for the rest of the week.

Katie and Randy work hard on sanding

Sara Works hard puttying drywall

Randy “falls” off a ladder!

Justin works hard on taking down drywall in the bathroom.

Amy works hard putting up drywall in a pantry!

Randy lets the girls paint his face with spackle!

God Bless,

Crew B

(Katie Hippen, Sara Grove, Justin Curley, Randy Hippen, Amy Hanlin, Hannah Hardin)

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!

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.

 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

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