I'm Back

What a trip! The 17 pastors and lay people who went on the trip to New Orleans experienced some of the Katrina aftermath, the Arkansas Baptist Builders reconstruction work, and the famous New Orleans cuisine.

First, the Katrina aftermath. The areas we visited had been impacted differently by the hurricane. Here is a short list of the areas:
-The Gentilly Baptist Church was flooded for almost three weeks with 7 feet of water. The furnishing of every room on the bottom floor was ruined. Much of the things on the second and third floors were also ruined – not by flood waters but by mold that grew in the moisture that permeated the building.
-A man living across the street from Gentilly Baptist Church has just now returned to his home – after 16 months. His home had been flooded like the church but there has been not effort to stop the growth and spread of the mold and no other clean-up effort. Much of the framing of his home is damaged.
-Many blocks have only one or two houses whose owners have returned. Because of this, you can drive for blocks in what looks like a ghost town. You can tell which homeowners have returned by the FEMA trailers sitting in the yard next to the house. For as much as 16 months, these people have been living in the FEMA trailers which are only slightly larger than modest travel trailer. Some deer hunters live in larger quarters at camp.
-The 9^th Ward. You’ve heard about and even seen it. This was the neighborhood most dramatically affected when the levies broke. Home to very poor people, the 9^th Ward was the backdrop for many network news reports. This is where people were trapped in their attics or stranded on bridges.
-Every building was marked with an “X” and details about the authorities’ inspections of the properties in the days immediately following the flood. One quadrant of the “X” contains the date of the inspection, such as “9/10.” Another quadrant contains a reference to which authority inspected the property, such as “CA” for the California National Guard. Another quadrant contains the number of bodies found in the home, such as “0” but not always. These marks were left with spray paint scrawled like graffiti. “1 dog dead” caught our eye.
-The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has recovered quickly and is now at about 95% functionality. We toured the campus with a professor – who is also the pastor of Gentilly Baptist Church. The high corner of the campus had only a small circle of grass around an oak tree above water in the days following the hurricane. The low end was 8 feet under water. The Library did not flood but rainwater blew in through broken windows. This was enough moisture to create a huge mold problem with 400,000 books because the campus was without power for many days – and so, no HVAC to condition the air. A group of WMU volunteers wiped down every page of every book with a substance to kill the mold. Baptists are good people!

Second, the Arkansas Baptist Builders reconstruction work. We met with the leaders who are on the ground who manage the reconstruction. Tools and material are available for anyone who will come to work. Groups had left earlier in the week and a group from Jonesboro arrived the day before we did. We followed them to the job site Friday morning to see how the operation works. For volunteers, this works with little confusion or down time. It must be the Lord clearing the way! Dennis and his wife manage the housing and meals. The facilities are very good. It won’t compete with a Holiday Inn but we didn’t come on vacation. It’s comfortable and clean. And the food is good. Home cooked breakfast gets the workday started. They will pack sandwiches for you to take to the job. I’m not sure what the evening meals consist of because we ate out on the town Thursday night. More about that later. The housing facility had a game room stocked with plenty of games, magazines, and a television – more than you’ll want to do for entertainment after a long day’s work.

Third, the famous New Orleans cuisine. You can’t go to New Orleans – even on a mission project – without a little taste of the town. We went to Drago’s which is a seafood restaurant – a very good one. Eighteen of us (we had a guest from the Louisiana state convention joined us) piled into an upstairs dining room along with about 15 former (maybe some current) New Orleans Saints football players. The Saints are in the NFC championship game this weekend and there was some kind of party going on. This was the only chance we had to do anything resembling tourism but there are lots of choices. I can’t imagine the city returning anytime soon to its former economic activity but there are enough businesses open to accommodate the smaller population plus the thousands of volunteers inhabiting the city.

The highlight of the trip for most of us was visiting “Deacon.” He spoke at our 2006 state convention meeting thanking Arkansas Baptists for adopting New Orleans. His home is almost renovated and he is so thankful to God and to us. Before we left his home we joined hands, filling the small room, and Deacon led in prayer. We felt like we had stood in God’s presence in worship by the time he said, “Amen.”

Even though you and I have not done anything in person to help, we have contributed to the Cooperative Program so we have helped in this way. And we have prayed. Now it is time to go.

Impacting Eternity at the Cross Road of Life