We spent some time with our church working in New Orleans. We had a good time serving and working on people's houses. There is so much damage still left. There are many abandoned buildings, people are living in buildings that are not safe because they have no where else to go.
We worked on a few different projects while we were there. The first place we worked was Ms. Barbara's house. We put up ins insulation and dry wall on the back side of her home. It was unbelievably hot and humid. Over 100 degrees with humidity!! And the place where we were staying didn't have air conditioning. Surprisingly, you get used to it after a while. On Ms. Barbara's street three people had been murdered the week before we got there. We got to talk with a guy next door one day and he told us about the neighborhood.
I worked at a house where a family had rebuilt it completely themselves and they were currently living in a FMA trailer in their front yard. We helped them finish the kitchen, grout the bathroom, install wood floors, paint, and anything else we could do. They showed us their pictures from Hurricane Katrina. They had a house that floated from two blocks away in their backyard. They said that when they came back to their house there were vehicles on tops of roofs, they actually watched one roll off their neighbors garage. It is crazy to think that this happened in our country.
We also worked at the Big house, which was purchased for $12,000. I got to use a nail gun, which was quite an experience! We also passed out fliers for a free barbecue we were having in the part to the neighborhood around the Big House. It was a pretty eye opening experience when some of the neighbors said they wouldn't go to the park "because people get shot at that park." Also has we were walking around the neighborhood cars would come rolling up behind us and the windows were so black that you couldn't see anything inside the car. Drive by shootings crossed my mind.
The outreach was successful. We played with the kids with footballs, water balloons, and face paint. They loved playing with us and having our full attention. We gave out drinks, chips, hot dogs and chili. People who came were very thankful. As we were leaving (before it got dark) there were more and more people showing up. It made us trust the Lord a lot!
While we were in New Orleans, we got to see a lot of great things, we took a walking tour of the French Quarter and learned a ton from our guide. We were there the week before July 4th, so there were lots of people in town.
We learned so much! We can't wait to go back next year.
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