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Three days have now passed since we completed the 700 mile trip home from New Orleans. There are still a few details to take care of, but for the most part, everything is done. With that said, I would like to spend a little time reflecting on lessons I learned and thoughts I have concerning the trip.

1. First, I want to thank each person who gave up a week of their time to go and help the Legaux family. I was honored to work beside each of you.

2. Friendships are one of God’s blessings for which I am very grateful. This was evident in two areas. First, for those of us who traveled, we share experiences that no one else will have, and that will give us a bond. You really get to know one another traveling together over the period of a week, and I am thankful for the opportunity. Second, we were able to further develop our relationship with the Legaux family as well as the elderly lady who lives across the street from Robin and Karen. We may not see them again, but we are forever connected because of the two weeks over the last two years we spent with them.

3. When everyone works together, you can accomplish a lot. We were able to help this family in the process of being able to get back into their home. It is an amazing site to see so much damage two years after the hurricane, and I am thankful we were able to make a difference.

4. Doing something ‘little’ is significant. In the total picture of the damage left by Katrina, one house may not seem like lot, but in God’s eyes, and for the one neighborhood, our work was significant.

5. God does provide for our needs. Taking 26 people 700 miles away for seven days is costly. I never fully relax until everyone is home and the bills are all paid. As always, God provided enough and more to meet our needs and to see us home safely.

6. Needing some help is something everyone can relate to. Whether it be Katrina, an ice storm, a fire, or something else, we all need one another. Let us never underestimate the blessing of helping our ‘neighbor’, or receiving help from our ‘neighbor.’ It could be the start of a long friendship.

7. Doing something like going to New Orleans, 700 miles from home, to help a family with their home, opens our eyes to the needs in our our neighborhood. What we did for the Legauxs we can do for many in our are community. I am thankful we continually seek ways to reach our own neighborhood.

Well, I need to close this out, even though there is much more I could say. I close by thanking Autumn for writing most of the daily entries. She is better at making sense late at night. I also thank the church for your support. Without it we would not have been able to go.

Thanks again to all who went and may God bless each of you.

Mitch

Day Six

Hello Everybody!! This is my last update for the week. It’s been so awesome to be down here and see what God is doing in the lives of the people we are ministering to and the people in our group.

Today was a day to finish up everything. We touched up paint where it was needed, cleaned up some of the lumber and scaffolding, and cleaned up in the house. Also, some of the ladies went to Lowe’s and got flowers, porch furniture, and numbers so we could put the address on the front of the house. When we were finished, it looked so much more like a home!! Seeing Karen’s face when she saw the front of the house made my day!!

For lunch today, we had a traditional Low Country Boil and fish fry. Robin and Karen were once again generous enough to provide us with an AMAZING seafood buffet. We had boiled shrimp, crab, sausage, potatoes, and corn. And this year, Robin and Karen fried up some catfish for us, too. And for the people who didn’t like seafood, there was some fried chicken, and things like that. Also, we had our regular afternoon snack of Sno-balls. I’m so thankful for Robin and Karen’s generosity, and for the love that they’ve shown our group both years that we’ve been working on their home.

After we got done at the house, we took a tour of the storm damage. We saw some of the same areas we went to last year, as well as some different ones. In the Lower 9th Ward, where last year there were houses thrown around everywhere, there are now just foundations and some porch steps. We saw a few houses here and there and a few trailers, but for the most part, that area is abandoned. We also saw some areas that didn’t get hit as hard as the lower 9th. The houses were still standing, for the most part, but most of them were abandoned, or people were still working on them. Then, we went to the area around the lake, where last year boats were thrown everywhere. This year, the boats are gone. They took them to the same place that they took the flooded cars and smashed them. A side note, the cars that were under almost every overpass last year are completely gone. Some of the docks and houses on the lake don’t look any different, but some have been rebuilt. Overall, there is some improvment, but the damage is still there. There is still so much work to be done.

For all concerned parties: everyone is safe and healthy. Also, my dad has made it through the trip with no cellulitus!!!!!! Let’s hear a big AMEN!!!!

Well, I’ve been rather wordy tonight (surprise, surprise) so I probably better get off. We will be leaving the hotel at 6:00 tomorrow morning and coming home!!! Thanks again for all your support and prayers for our group while we’ve been here. All of our team has worked hard everyday, even though we were all tired and hot, and I know that without your prayers we wouldn’t have had the strength to keep going!!

Autumn and the New Orleans Mission Team

Day Five

Hello again!! Today was another busy day for our group here in New Orleans. We left the hotel at about 7:30, avioded some of the rush hour traffic, got to Robin and Karen’s, and got right to work. Our first task was to finish priming anything that we had missed the previous days so we could start painting. This went fairly quick, thanks to Tony and a paint sprayer. After Tony did the bulk of the painting, we touched up a few things. On the inside, they hung sheetrock, did some electrical work, and some more various carpentry. Also, Robin and Karen brought us some crawfish today and taught us how to eat it.

We stopped a little early today so we could do some sightseeing. At about 4:00 we headed out of the hotel to go to the French Quarter. We shopped for a little while and stopped at the Cafe’ Du Monde, which is a landmark streetside cafe’ right off of Jackson Square. After that, we drove through the garden district, which is the home of some BEAUTIFUL historic homes. For dinner, we went to the food court at the mall across the street, then did some shopping.

Right now everybody is winding down and just hanging out. We have another early morning tomorrow, so I better get off. Once again, I’m so proud of our group and how well they’re representing Christ. Everybody has worked really hard, and we’ve accomplished a lot!

For all concerned parties, everyone is safe and healthy.

Thanks again for all your prayers!!

Autumn and the New Orleans Mission Team

Day Four

Hello, everybody! It’s Autumn again, I think I’m going to be doing the rest of the updates, my dad says I’m better doing stuff late at night than he is.

Today was our second day of work on Robin and Karen’s house. On the outside of the house, we scraped paint, then scraped some more, and then after that, we scraped. We also put primer on. We are almost done with the primer. Tomorrow, we’ll finish priming and start painting. The group has decided that our painting experience has REALLY made us appreciate vinyl siding! On the inside, they opened the kitchen, put up a header, made a hallway, added two closets, built a platform for the water heater, and hung sheetrock. So our group has been very busy and everyone has worked really hard.

After we got done working, we came back to the hotel and swam a little, then got cleaned up for dinner. We left the hotel going to a “surprise” destination and ended up at a little diner called Lee’s New Orleans Styler Hamburgers. They had all sorts of sandwiches, fries, and onion rings. It was a fun dinner.

Well, I had better finish up, we have another early morning tomorrow! For all concerned parties, everybody is safe and healthy. Also, I’m so proud of everyone in our group. They are all working hard and representing Christ and Center Baptist very well. Please continue to pray!!

Autumn and the New Orleans Mission Team

P.S. Don’t forget to look at the pictures!!

Day Three: Mission Trip Update

Hello everyone, it’s Autumn in tonight for my dad. And no, it’s not because he’s injured, or sick, or anything else. He was just being nice!

Anyway, today was our first day of work. We left the hotel at 8:00, drove through rush hour traffic to Robin and Karen’s, and got right to work. Our first major project was scraping the paint off the outside of the house so we could prime and paint it. We finished scraping right around lunch time, then after we ate, we started priming. We are probably about halfway done. Also today, some of the guys got a start on hanging sheet rock. We also got a nice mid-afternoon treat, Robin had a guy with a snow cone trailer come to the house and he got us all snow cones. It was a nice, cool treat on a hot, sticky day!

An update on some of the people and sights from last year’s trip: The lady across the street is still living there. And she’s still as spunky as ever! Also, there are several more people living on Robin and Karen’s street. It is so nice to see people starting to come back to their homes!! Metarie (the town where we are staying) is also more lively this year. A lot more of the businesses are open and it seems like there is just more activity in the city in general.

Well, I think that about wraps it up for today! We’re all doing good, everybody is safe and healthy. Tomorrow, we should finish priming and will probably start painting. Please continue to pray for us!!

Autumn and the New Orleans Missionaries

Photos