A Field Report from the Jimmy Ro Crew

We just received this report from the KatrinaGrace Team that was in New Orleans this past week:

I set on the plane heading home, glad to go home but my heart is still in New Orleans and Slidell. As you know, there is still much loving to do there. I hope we never forget those folks still need hope and a bunch of lovin'.

Our group was the best! We worked well together. We worked hard, stayed flexible and had fun.

Monday thru Wednesday, we worked on new construction in Slidell. The homeowners became friends to us. The wife/mother, Jessica worked everyday we did, Anthony, the husband/father, worked with us on Monday but had to go back to work building Armored Service Vehicles M117s (ASVs). The very vehicle my son fought out of in Iraq. Nathan, my son, was extremely happy to know that I was working on a house for a fellow who built the ASV that saved his life more than once while he was at war in Iraq. Sort of a payback he says. Small world isn't it or does God just work that way?

When we arrived at the job site on Monday morning, we found a slab and a pile of wood. When we left on Wednesday, all exterior walls were up and dead straight, interior walls were framed, dead straight, top caps were on and 3/4s of the exterior sheeting was on. We were "cooking" on that house but disappointed the rain hindered us from getting the house dried-in. Another group will have the joy to finish the house we started so well.

Wednesday night a storm rolled in with a small tornado that touched down not far from us but Trinity Church was spared. Thursday saw mud and more rain so HH called off our work. Not to be deterred, we connected with a group being housed at the CastleRock yellow house, and joined them in the reconstruction or a small church in the ninth ward. We put up trim, laid laminate flooring, sprayed texture on walls (with telephone directions from my youngest son, Evan, back in Baltimore) and prayed for the men there selling drugs right in front of the church. We served well there.

Friday morning, we connected with Jessica, the homeowner of the house we were building on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We gifted her and her husband a rocking chair for their new front porch, a bike for the little girl, baseball cards, folder and notebook to hold baseball cards for the son crazy about baseball, a small ball and stuffed toy for the baby. We all cried and loved. We had prayer for the family and cried some more. I cried much there this time.

After the gift giving, we had lunch at KCs Bike Shop in Slidell, a place to visit and eat good po-boys. We met a crisis response person at a home in Slidell to do some "weed eating" for an elderly family who had just bought this abandoned home. Weed eating is a loose term in Louisiana. Weeds were more small trees and the blackberry vines were impossible to traverse. All of us worked in the light rain, high humidity, briars, and critters cleaning the 40' by 276' (almost a football field) sized back yard. When we saw it, we thought maybe we could clear only a few feet in the short time we were there. When we left - the backyard was cleared fence line to fence line. The Lord always multiplies effort. We were really disgusting by the end of the day, gumbo mud does stain blue jeans.

Again I say, the Jimmy Ro crew you commissioned was tremendous. When we left Baltimore, some had limited building skills, some had less, some had none. By the end of the week, we all acquired very guilty knowledge of framing, trimming and laying laminate flooring. Each of us came with a skill set and gift; no one failed to fully utilize their skill and gift; what a team! Each of us tried to love everyone we met. We practiced consensus decision making, understood each others' strengths and weaknesses building on the strengths and compensating for the weaknesses. We moved up the latter (forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning) of team building faster than any team I have been a part of. Dr. Steve and I, both familiar with HR principles, feel we actually moved to the performing rung on Thursday and Friday. If you are interested, we can tell you more at the de-brief.

Our days started with an examination of scripture from the joy of Paul to the Philippines to the utilization of gifts in Ephesians, and thoughtful prayer. The Lord worked through us and within us. We saw His face in what we did and honor Him with the glory of our efforts. To the person, we come back different. You know what I mean.

I could go on, we are still an hour away from Baltimore but I will spare you. We will have a debrief soon with a picture show.

Thanks for allowing me to be a part of this crew and to love on the folks in New Orleans and Slidell.

2008 KatrinaGrace Trips

KatrinaGrace is planning two trips in 2008:

One is leaving on Sun 5/11 and returning on Sat 5/17. Team members will be working with Trinity Church and Habitat for Humanity on what’s being called Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project 2008.

If you are interested in participating in this project, please email Beth at beth.shields@gmail.com. She is the Pre-Flight Logistics Coordinator for this trip.

Our second scheduled trip this year is leaving on Sunday 11/23 and returning on Sat 11/29 (Thanksgiving Week). This will be a standard Work Team Trip. We have a number of spaces avail for this trip.

If you are interested in the Nov trip, contact Sandra Clabough, Pre-Flight Logistics Coordinator for this trip, at scclabough@yahoo.com

In 2008, all KatrinaGrace participants will need to either pay their own way or raise their own money. The cost is approximately $650 per person and needs to be raised or paid before the trip. Beth or Sandra can give you more details if you’re interested.

Grace’s Short Term Mission Ministry – with the able help of Patti Hewat and others – are also working with us this year and providing a tremendous amount of help to KatrinaGrace. If you are interested in these trips, we can give you more information about upcoming training dates that they offer, though these are not required. Nevertheless, they are very helpful and highly recommended.

Please don’t hesitate to email me, Sandra, or Beth if you’ve any questions.

Trinity Church's Michael Sprague in Maryland!

from our friend CJ Hart of Forcey:

"Please join us for an evening of sharing by Pastor Michael Sprague on the Katrina relief ministry of Trinity Church in Covington, LA. Many members of our Forcey family have served the New Orleans’ community through this ministry. Michael will be at Forcey on Tuesday, September 18^th at 7:00 PM in the sanctuary to give an update of God’s amazing work in Louisiana. For questions, contact Chris Hart at (301)332-6994 or cjhart@aol.com."

2 Years Ago Today

It's been two long years and there's still so much to be done. This picture was taken last month by one of our KatrinaGrace Teams. You can see more pics of their trip here.

There's a lot of great coverage of what's going on in the affected areas that you can find at
Yahoo's Katrina News Portal. And, of course, check out the coverage of New Orleans' own Times-Picayune.

If you'd like to go down on an upcoming trip to help build houses with Habitat for Humanity, then send an email to beth.shields@gmail.com. If you'd like to work with Trinity Church, reach out to Sandra Clabough at scclabough@yahoo.com.

And please keep praying.

KatrinaGrace Team XIII

KatrinaGrace Team XIII is traveling to the New Orleans area on Sunday 17 June and returning to us on Saturday 23 June! They will be staying in Covington, LA at Trinity Church and will be working with Habitat for Humanity in Slidell, LA.

The Team is

• Tim Hardman - Team Leader (Tim also led KatrinaGrace Team III in October 2005)
  
  
• Bill Williams
  
  
• Gerry Walsh
  
  
• David Lange
  
  
• Kelly Wolslayer

Please pray for them!

New Orleans Almost 2 Years Later

"Nearly everywhere local freelance journalist Sara Shipley Hiles turned during her springtime visit, devastation loomed.

The end of August marks the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, yet a large section of New Orleans still stands empty. The Lower Ninth Ward is without electricity. Families still live in Federal Emergency Management Association trailers, afraid to rebuild because the OK to do so hasn't yet been handed down.

It was a heartbreaking sight for the former New Orleans resident, but even more heartbreaking because hardly anything had changed since she traveled there a year earlier...." [links added]

- an article on author and journalist Sara Shipley Hiles recent visit to New Orleans.

Why are we in New Orleans?

Someone just asked us what was spiritual about our work in New Orleans. Some months ago I posted these thoughts on my personal blog that address this question.