A great video I found

I found this video hanging out on Youtube.  It appeals to me on a number of levels.  It has always been a favorite song of mine.  And I think what they are doing is great.  Working together through music to promote peace and community.  Christian attributes, not a Christian band.  I'm ok with that.

NOLA 3

Hey all-  We should start thinking about getting together for our NOLA meetings to start getting ready for the fall.  How does July 19th work for everyone?  (Erin, I know you'll be out of town that weekend, but I believe you will be gone with YE when it comes time to go, anyway.  ---  )

If I don't hear a bunch of people screaming, "NO!" Then I will schedule us to meet and start recruiting for JULY 19th.  -  Someplace with air conditioning...  

Things to figure out quick:

1.  For sure dates:  Right now we are gunning for October 10th-18th

        

2.  Do we like leaving on Friday?  

3.  Fund-raising and the cost of the trip per participant

4.  Recruiting

5.  Schedule of meetings

Email or call (651-248-xxxx) with questions or concerns or "Rod, I want to go on the trip, but I can't make that first meeting."  etc.  

R

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

This Time Around...

Is there anything later than a epilogue? The life of a college student is not conducive to prompt follow up.

So we've been back a little over one week now, but I had some closing thoughts about the trip. AND, since I am so late in doing so, you will get the best of my thoughts over the past 7 days (Atleast that is my spin on being too busy). Oh, this is Ali by the way, I just assume everyone knows (yes, my head may be growing so large I will have to give my hats away).

Now I realize that two trip to New Orleans does not an expert make, but I still use these experiences to get on my soap box every once in awhile (What? A social worker dismantling people and "telling them like it is", that's weird). I feel like these trips and experiences have taught me a lot, and this trip specifically about being grateful. If my family fell into that stereotypical tradition of going around the table at Thanksgiving and saying one thing we are grateful/thankful for, I would have this locked up for the next two decades. I could start with Buffalo Wild Wings, Vera Bradley handbags, a loving family both in my home and in my church, a roof over my head and on and on and on. But, at the top of the list would be God's indescribable gift that is outlined in 2 Chorinthians. The gift of eternal life and forgiveness. For me personally, I always feel like I need to reciprocate any kind of nice gesture or action. I have to stop myself before I start sending out thank you cards for thank you cards I receive. I have this strong desire to "be square" with people. But really, I can never repay God's gifts, but lucky for me He doesn't expect me to.

BUT, (isn't there always a but?), we ARE called to give our money, time and talents (YES, we all have them. Mine is as simple as fitting into small spaces) to accomplish God's purpose. We are to feed, clothe, and house the poor (Or, what NDRI, the organization we worked for, referred to as the least, the last, the lost.. And yes, I am going to steal that and use it in my practice). I think we are to paint, mud (400 lbs worth!), lay flooring, wash houses, learn and grow in each other and the community and show God's love by our actions and tell people about our hope in Jesus Christ.

Knowing God changes our thinking... I know Rod has talked about how it is not all about us, but rather it is about God working through us. When we open every aspect of our lives to God's guidance, we become more effective disciples. We can then bless others as we share what God has given us. I guess I feel like that is a lot of fancy talk (That's what you get after 5 years of college and 2 degrees) for saying that God calls us to show His love to the people who feel forgotten and really need to see His gifts and purpose at work. These trips are an excellent outlet for this.

Soo.. We are back and back at our everyday life and the challenge of keeping the passion and purpose is threatening to creep in as we descend the mountain top experience into the valley and what my Dad calls the "nitty gritty." BUT, I trust that God will provide everything we need and we won't forget why we went and why He called us there.

NOLA 2 Epilogue

Obviously, we are back.  Thanks to everyone who prayed for us and wrote notes during the trip.  

We left Slidell, LA just after 8:00am on Saturday.  We drove to St. Louis, where we saw the Arch for a few minutes.  When we got to the church we stay at, I couldn't find anyone from the church, but the code to get in worked and the rooms we stay in were unlocked.  It felt a little odd, but we've been to this church eleven times now, so our routine is pretty set.  We unloaded and made a dinner plan.  Usually, we have gone to a pizza joint around the corner a few blocks away.  We found a new pizza place to eat dinner that was a lot better pizza and a lot better service.  

The next morning, we left Kirkwood (St. Louis) shortly after 8:00am.  We arrived at our church parking lot pretty close to 6:30pm.  This is pretty good considering a stop at McD's for lunch and a stop for our last devotions.  Sue L. and several others were there to help clean out the vans and welcome us back.  They made signs that were taped to the windows of the church.  (IF anyone from the team got a picture, post it on the blog if you can or email it to me?).  

The next day, I took the rental equipment back to Midway Party Rental and the van back to Boyer Ford.  Jeff took the trailer back to the rental place we got it from.  (notice I am not mentioning their name.  They gave us a deal on the trailer, but gave us one with no working jack-  we had to have people hang on the back of it to get it on and off the hitch.  Funny for memories, not funny for paying, although if I spent $5.00 on empty cups, why WOULDN't I spend $275 on a defective trailer?--  If anyone knows where we can rent one from next fall, let me know.)

So for this trip, there is just some paperwork to bang together, and the Show and Tell dinner (May 17th 5;30 at Faith UMC in West St. Paul) before this trip is "over."

And people are asking, "How was it?"  -  It was good.  

Obviously, every trip is different.  There are different dynamics based off the projects we work on, where we are, the people that go, etc.  The other dynamic is the time elapsed after the storm.  The relationships we developed with our homeowners is different than it was right after the storm.  The relationship with the neighbors, with the community, with everyone is different.  We don't do what we do for thanks or praise, but you notice now, that you don't get it as much.  And again, it's not what we are there for.  It was a dynamic that surprised us at the beginning.   People seemed to want to talk about the storm and where they were and etc.  This isn't the case anymore.  My team didn't even meet Herbert (our homeowner) until Thursday.  So we are not developing the relationships that we did before.  In previous trips, we made it a point to try to get out into the community at night to talk with and listen to the people.  This time, we stayed at the church compound most nights.  -  Made a few connections on the basketball court, and with the Indiana team that was staying with us, but generally, we hung out mostly with ourselves.  So the "benefits" are more pure.  We are helping people get back into their homes because it is the right thing to do.  Not for praise.  Not for recognition.  Just because Jesus loves them and us, and gave us the resources and ability and the desire to help.  

There is still a LOT to be done.  There aren't as many people going to help as before, either because of today's economy or because people are tired of it or because they don't know the magnitude of people still waiting to get back into their homes.  I can hear some saying that it should be cleaned up and done by now.  They haven't gotten back into their homes because they're lazy or welchers or whatever.  This just isn't the case.  Northshore Disaster Recovery Inc., says that the main demographic they service is single women over 70.  Its' not that they don't want to do anything, it's that they just don't have the resources.  Disaster "specialists" say the recovery period for a disaster is usually 18 months.  Based off their own model and the magnitude of the damage caused by Katrina, the recovery time here should be about 11 years.  It's only been 4.  It's not time to get tired or bored with it.  It's not sensational anymore.  And  house after house gets tedious, I think, but it is still the right thing to do.  God has given us the resources, the abilities, and the desire.  NOLA 3 this fall.  Who's in?

The pic is our team photo-  You could be in the next one!  

Front row, Rod Sc., Ali S, Jill H., Bob N., Darold S.,  

2nd row:  Paul A., Mari F., Corrine M., Kathy B. Erin C. 

3rd row:  Pastor Carolyn, Barbara S., Matt S., Ginger S., 

Back row:  Jeff S., Howard N., Jake S., Lewis W., Rod St., Roma B.  

Last things:  The Blog-  www.rodscof.blogspot.com   There is a link to our pictures.  (I think you could also see my family's Christmas pictures if you tried...)  Erin and Ali and Jake can also post on there, and they might put in some closing thoughts or more pictures.  We will also put in some other tidbits, like the date that Dale Kimball from NDRI will be speaking in St. Paul, and some of the notes/etc. from some of the devotions that different team members gave.  

Ending with this:  

Isaiah 61:1-2

The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me.

He sent me to preach good news to the poor, 
   heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives, 
   pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace— 
   a celebration of God's destruction of our enemies— 
   and to comfort all who mourn

Amen

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

NOLA 2 Friday

Last work day-

Howard's house finished the first coat of mud on their drywall.  Bob N. said they used 400 lbs. of mud....  they also finished the porch roof and started putting soffit on it.  

Darold's house finished the laminate flooring in both bedrooms, washed the house, finished painting the inside, and did a lot of cleaning up of Herbert's stuff (Herbert is the home owner--  I have posted some of this info on the Picasa pictures site, and some on previous blogs, can't remember what's repeat and what's not)

The people at NDRI (Northshore Disaster Recovery, Inc.) wanted their tools back by 3:00pm, so we had to stop early.  I think if hadn't had to cut out early, Roma and I could have gotten a good part of the laminate flooring done in the living room.  -  And Bob could have had the folks there get a couple more rooms 2nd coated with drywall mud.  

But that's not the only reason we are here.  It's not all about trying to get all the work done.  It's about interacting with people, serving where needed, growing in faith with each other, and learning more about the area.  For some, the value of getting as much done as possible, verses the value of positive relationships with the people are we are working for and with is a difficult conflict to reconcile.  The best thing to remember, I think is "It's not about you/us."  If we have a huge desire to get something done, or see one more site, or whatever it is, I think we need to check the motivation and ask if what we are trying to do glorifies God or assuages our earthy wants.  Much easier said than done.  

So we knocked off a couple hours early.  We ran a few errands around Slidell and went to dinner at a new restaurant called "Crayfish Paradise."  It just opened around Easter.  

So have you ever had Crayfish?  They are boiled in something spicy.  And they look like mini-lobsters.  They look EXACTLY like something I dissected in High School!  -  So anyway, you break off the tail, peel it, eat the meat on that's on the inside.  Then you take the other part you broke away from (The head) and you suck the juice out of it.  Ask Jake S. how that is.  He was a trooper and tried it and liked it and at a lot of it.  

Howard flew out today. 

We are kicking off early (8:00am....) and going as far as St. Louis tomorrow.  I usually have a tough time finding a wifi signal at the church we stay at, so don't look for an email from me tomorrow night.  

Roma and Jill fly out tomorrow p.m.  It was great working with Roma on the flooring project.  And it was great to have Roma and Jill from my hometown in MIchigan along with us.  It was good to catch up and hear the latest news.  

Ok- that's all for now.-  Go to the blog and click on the link for the pictures.  There are over 100 pics there and they almost all have captions.  Some are out of order but you'll get the ideal.  

Pray for:

Safe travel.  

Continued unity

Low gas prices?

Thanks all!

R
--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

NOLA 2 Wed. and Thursday

Thanks for your patience yesterday.  We worked a half day, and then went to New Orleans.  We walked around a bit and had dinner at a Gumbo restaurant in the French Quarter.  We drove back across the long bridge that spans Lake Pontchartrain and got home kinda late.   Jake S. needed to try to experience every single cultural thing about the South and New Orleans.  So whirlwinded a bit.  On our way in, we did a tour they gave us around areas mostly affected by

Katrina.  We went through St. Bernard's Parish and the Lower 9th Ward to name a couple areas.  There is more life in the Lower 9th and in St. Bernard's Parish than the last time we came through.  But there are still many many many homes that are not being lived in or even worked on.  The next picture is of the Lower 9th from a hill near the levy.  

 In the Lower 9th, there are a lot of houses that haven't been touched, a lot of cement slabs just sitting there, and some houses that are showing activity.  Most notable, I thought, were the houses that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are having built.  There were several of them in a few block radius.  The houses all looked really neat-  a non-traditional architecture.  I thought other people were getting pics of some of these houses, but not many did.  Even still, there is still sooooo much to be done.  The next two pictures are of Branjolina's homes.  The link for their website is :  www.makeitrightnola.org/

 Disaster Recovery says that Slidell and the northern area around Lake Ponchartrain is 85% restored.  The greater New Orleans area is about 15% restored.  This is due to several factors, some political, some geographic, some logistic.  Remember that at first, they weren't letting people into New Orleans.  Slidell was not closed off and took all the volunteers they could get as soon as they showed up.  This organization hopes to be "done" with St. Tammany Parish (North Shore of Lake Ponch.) by the end of 2009, and can then focus all their attention to the South Shore.  They say they have logged 2.6 million hours of work.  There are other statistics, but I invite you to pay attention to announcements in this blog about when Dale K. from Disaster Recovery will be in St. Paul.  If you're anywhere close by, we would love to have you stop in when he speaks.  He is compelling.  

Other things we have done:

Darold did devotions Wed. night

Paul did devotions Wed. am

Jill did devotions at night

The team working with Rod Sc. started laying laminate flooring.  See the picture below.

The team working with Howard continues to be a drywall machine.  They will get as much as they can done before it's time to go on Friday.  

Our team (Rod) met our home owner today.  His name is Herbert.  We are taking him out to lunch tomorrow.  He is really excited to be getting so close to getting back into his house.  

Chicago won by 1 point in triple OT.  I don't know who got voted off the island on Survivor yet.  (DON'T tell me!  I'll watch it when I can!)  

That's all the news I can think of.  

Prayer requests:

Team Unity

Safe travel for Howard (He has to fly back to St. Paul on Friday afternoon)

Herbert's health (our Homeowner- he didn't offer specifics and I didn't ask.)

Continued safety on our job sites 

Pastor Carolyn and Jeff S. left kids at home with their spouses.  

Pray for Jeff S.'s back

And that we get adequate sleep.  (I keep telling them that when I was on my trip in Cuba, we took a nap after lunch each day.  Nobody is getting the hint.  )

Ok-  thanks all!

Greetings from N'awlens!

We are still dragging. As Lewis put it, we just didn't have it today. We still got a lot of stuff done and had a lot of fun in the process, but we didn't quite have our usual pep and energy.

That being said, we wouldn't trade our experiences here for anything, not even extra sleep.

Though we weren't moving as fast as we have earlier in the week, we are seeing completion on some projects, and much progress in others.

In process...

At my site, Howard, Lewis, and Jake have finished the ceiling on the front and back porch, and have started the siding part of the job. (For more details, ask one of them, as I was inside taping and mudding drywall all day long.......)

After the craftmanship of Howard and his trusty assistants.

Ali really getting into her work...




I like to mud.



I like to mud.



I really do like to mud....



That has been my mantra today. I really do enjoy taking the sheets of drywall attatched to studs and making them into walls. I like to and am fairly good at smoothing the ridges out and filling the holes. But we are working on the whole 3 bedroom 2 bath house, and *all* of the walls and ceilings need to be done. We have each found our niche, though. Matthew takes a screw gun and makes sure the screws aren't sticking out. Corrine and I have been doing the inside corners and ceilings, working corner to corner and meeting in the middle. PC and Ali have been sharing the duties also, Ali doing the upper part while PC gets the lowers. Mari seems to always be hiding out in closets, Rod and Jeff are the go to guys for finding the studs to screw the drywall in more securely, while Bob is just a blur, a one man mudding machine!






Through this process of living and working together so closely, sharing meals and sleeping in close quarters, you really get more of a glimpse into the heart of each person. Bob is a perfectionist, but really cares about people and is very encouraging and empowering. Mari seems shy and quiet, but there is a passionate powerhouse somewhere deep in there. And Lewis was a bounty hunter! Who knew?


It is just past midnight, and I am a little sad, because we only have one more day here to do the work we are meant to do, to see and hear and experience and learn what we are meant to, and to make whatever difference we can. Please pray we can be effective, productive, and open to God' leadings, and that despite our sleep deficit, we can finish up strong.



Thank You for all your support and prayers!

NOLA 2 Wednesday

It has been a long day and we are all pretty wiped out.  We spent a half day in New Orleans (as opposed to Slidell where we are usually at) looking at damage in other areas and doing a little cultural enrichment.  (We saw Jackson park and ate dinner near the French Quarter.)  

It is pretty late and I am pretty tired and nobody gave me their cameras to download pics off from.  

Pray for energy for us for the next couple work days.  There is still a lot to do on each of our sites.  We will post again tomorrow.  

Check out previous posts on the blog:  www.rodscof.blogspot.com

Peace-

Rod

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

NOLA 2 Tuesday

Today I had a petty moment.  Very petty.  

My team went out to a new site out in Mandeville.  Our team didn't have a bathroom onsite, so we went over to Wendy's so a couple ladies could engage in bathroom activities.  (No need to be specific, I suppose).  Jill and I were talking about painting, and said it would be nice to have some cups or something to use for paint for dipping the brush in for cutting.  I had the brilliant idea of using chili cups from Wendy's.  I ran in and explained to them that we were from Minnesota and helping rebuild their community (not exactly in those words, but I tried to convey that) and could I get three cups they us for chili?  They said that was "product" and they couldn't give it away.  I was surprised (Don't they want to help us?-  feel free to detect a little arrogance on my part) and asked how much it would cost to buy the cups.  They don't sell the cups.  OK Fine.  "Give me three orders of chili, but without the meat or sauce."  I'm not kidding.  I was going to make a point.  It was going to cost me almost $5.00.  But I got those cups.  She asked if I wanted the lids.  I said OF COURSE I did!  

That's not the worst part.  When we left town, I stopped back in and said I didn't get the spoons and could I have them please?  

I felt like I was entitled to those cups.  Who in their right mind wouldn't just fork them over?  I realize now, how absurd that sounds, but at the time, I was offended.  So once I got over myself, I thought about assumptions and what we think we deserve, and attitudes about serving, and motivations about serving.  Because I feel like we're not getting much done this time.  We're not meeting our home owners (for the most part), we're not getting out into the community much.  And I have to remind myself that this about following God where HE is leading, and serving God where HE calls us.  And maybe this trip isn't about all the interactions with the community, but with each other.  Lewis did a devotion last night about supporting each other as God's traveling workers.  And at devotions today, Ali and Mari talked about how we are like Social Workers, which can be a thankless job.  

I don't want to be thankless.  I want to be thankful.  Thank you, God for calling me/us.  I am grateful for the opportunity to be here at this time with these people, serving His people, without expectation or condition.  

The other stuff:

*Howard's team kept working on their house.

*Darold's team got a new house about a half hour out where they (we) are painting, cleaning, and will be laying laminate flooring.  I'm not going to say that the floor in this house isn't level, but playing marbles in this house would be a challenge, and someone sleeping could possibly roll off the bed...

*and AMAZING pot roast for dinner!  Thank you Ginger and Barbara!

* Ice Cream and Apples to Apples game for fun

* Devotions by Kathy tonight.  

* We are going to New Orleans tomorrow. 

Thanks to those that are supporting us and praying for us.  

Prayer requests:

Pastor Carolyn's son is having a hard time with her being gone.  (We think that's why he "doesn't feel good.")

Jeff did something to his knee.  Pray that it feels better

Team unity

The Homeowners we are working for.  

Ralph P. from Hale, Michigan.  -  struggling with cancer

Check out Erin's post on the blog, and click on the link to see more pictures on our Picasa site.  www.rodscof.blogspot.com  

Peace!

Rod

--
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban.  It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.
--  Howard Macey

Here are some pictures, taken by Kathy, Corrine, and Erin.

This is the sign for our hosts, called the cadillac of volunteer housing (Are we blessed or what!)

Howard on a ladder, on the porch, by the cow.

Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil, the next generation.

Our very own Rosie the Riveter! (Corrine)

Some of us went for a walk and finally got to take some pictures of these beautiful trees!

Can you find the Pastor hidden in this picture?