WUMC & MUMC Slidell Mission Trip Updates

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2008-07-29T12:35:00.005-04:00

As you all can probably guess (at least those that know where Lionville is), we made it home safely. Monday night we basically dumped everything out of the vans, locked them, and went home. It was an absolutely wonderful week, but it still made us very tired.

Anyone who went on the trip and has photos to add to the compilation, please get in touch with Andrew. His email address is:


        @     .
andguent gmail com

Every family that went on the trip will get a CD (or DVD) full of
photos. If multiple people from your family went on the trip, we ask that you share one disc amongst your family. If you were the only member of your family that went, you will get your own disc.

If you did not go on the trip and still would like a copy of the full collection of photos, the price will be $5 each.

Thanks so much for all of your prayers and gifts!!! The trip would not have been such a success if not for all of the support from our church families! Also keep an eye on this page as we will continue posting interesting photos as time allows.

Lionville Tollbooth - 8:27pm

2008-07-28T20:28:00.000-04:00

PA Turnpike

2008-07-28T19:18:00.001-04:00

We just got on the PA Turnpike at 7:10pm at the Carlile/Route 81
interchange.

Forewarning: 40 people in 4 vans for days = fading sanity. Incoming
crazy people!!!!!!!!

Left Knoxville TN

2008-07-28T08:48:00.002-04:00

We started our 625 mile trek at 8:00am EST. We may be home an hour early (8-8:30pm). Only one way to find out! One thing we CAN say though: We're coming home!!!

more pix from saturday

2008-07-27T01:05:00.001-04:00

Dinner at Cracker Barrel. Yum!

swimming at the Ramada

2008-07-27T00:10:00.001-04:00

Saturday in the French Quarter

2008-07-27T00:06:00.001-04:00

Our work in New Orleans is done and everyone had a great experience. Today we spent the day in the French Quarter and then drove to Meridian, Mississippi where everyone got to swim!

Thursday Evening Program

2008-07-25T01:45:00.001-04:00

Did a little praise and worship - lots of dancing. See Doug up on his feet! And then some sharing of our experiences. We can't believe we only have one more workday! All the work sites are going great. We are getting lots of compliments about how fast we're getting it done and the quality of our work. Plus, we're having a blast doing it! Have I mentioned that these kids are fantastic??!! (and the adults, too)!

Thursday night with Carl & Barbara

2008-07-25T01:41:00.001-04:00

more Thursday night with Carl & Barbara

2008-07-25T01:33:00.001-04:00

Carl, Barbara, Theresa and Mark and a few folks from their church made us a wonderful Louisiana dinner tonight including gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish chowder and coleslaw. Yummy!

More Thursday pix from the worksites

2008-07-25T00:48:00.000-04:00

Thursday in New Orleans

2008-07-25T00:41:00.000-04:00

Pix from various work sites. These kids are amazing!

Side Trip to Musicians Village in the 9th Ward

2008-07-23T17:51:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, the whole team will get to drive through this area that Brad Pitt is partnering with Habitat for Humanity to restore. I got a quick glimpse today.

The Surprise Worksite: Desire Street in the 9th Ward

2008-07-23T17:48:00.001-04:00

This is now an official worksite for our group. On Monday, it started as a half day job for 2-3 people (see previous pix on the blog). Looks like the work will go on through to Friday. The team is Pastor Scott, Alex S, and Lindsay, today adding Brenda. The "silly pic" is representative of how hard it has been to get the back door in (it's not close to square!)

Finally - Pictures from the Salcedo Street Worksite

2008-07-23T15:19:00.000-04:00

Harry, Diane, Andrew, Mike, Allie C, Aly Y, Laura are working at this site doing lots of flooring. Today they were working on installing ceramic tile.

Okay, a few more pictures!

2008-07-23T01:08:00.000-04:00

There are miracles all around us: an update from Jackie

2008-07-23T00:55:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone at Wayne and Marshallton churches:

As everyone shared a little tonight about their experiences so far down here, Pastor Scott hit the nail on the head (pun intended as we are working on houses!): when he shared that miracles are happening all around us! This team that you all have sent down here is amazing! I am watching all of them make a difference. There is an awesome energy running rampant through our team. I am witnessing young people and adults willing to take on any task. I am watching two churches becoming great friends. I am seeing the love of Jesus coming through everyone. I am seeing faith in action.

Please keep those prayers coming! They are definitely working!

More Tuesday night fun and Mardi Gras beads from Carl & Barbara

2008-07-23T00:51:00.001-04:00

Tuesday night fun at Vera's Restaurant

2008-07-23T00:47:00.000-04:00

Random Pix

2008-07-23T00:43:00.000-04:00

More Pix of the Wayne Group

2008-07-22T18:38:00.001-04:00

Tuesday :pictures of the Cumberland Ave site and the Wayne Team

2008-07-22T17:32:00.001-04:00

Matt, Scott, Pastor Joe, Laura, Tim, Annie, Brittany, Taylor, Caitlin, Queen Anne, Jenny & Katie have the largest site (in terms of work to do this week) as well as the site that is the furthest away from Slidell (about an hour - west of New Orleans in Kenner). They are working inside and out, putting up siding on the outside, framing and other things on the inside.

Important Facts we learned at Orientation on Monday morning

2008-07-22T09:45:00.001-04:00

Our orientation Monday morning was at Peoples United Methodist Church in New Orleans. We learned some amazing facts about recovery in New Orleans since Katrina. Northshore Disaster Relief (NDRI), whom we are supporting through UMCOR, has had 57,000 volunteers to date since the hurricane hit! They expect it will be at least two more years until the work is done. Joe Burke, the director, shared that there are many they are helping because of crooked contractors and agencies that didn't come through with money. One single mom gave a contractor $90,000 to repair her home. The contractor worked one day and left with her money.

It turns out we actually we have a few work sites in the 9th ward. We also have a work site in Chalmette. We hear that in that area, only 12 houses were left unscathed!

Monday Night Program: Sharing by People who experienced Hurricane Katrina

2008-07-22T09:38:00.001-04:00

Monday night, Carl sent up a wonderful program for us. Connie & Clint, whose house had 6 feet of water in it shared their story, but also gave a great witness as to how important how friends are to us. They shared that their church pulled together and everyone pitched in. Mike Ford, a firefighter shared what it was like as he worked to save people in the floods. Mark Ford (Carl's son-in-law) who works for the Slidell township and is also a policeman also brought the reality home to us as to what it was really like during the storm and for the months following. He also told us he thinks of himself as not a Katrina survivor, but a Katrina winner. Theresa Ford (Carl's daughter) and Carl also chimed in to help give us the full picture. Mark's parents shared the horror of not knowing if their two sons were alive or not for the first few days. They all shared about the impossibility of making contact with anyone.

Slidell spent some time under the eye of the storm. Mark and Mike described that as an "interesting" time. We asked lots of questions and their stories touched all of us. Overall, Slidell did almost all of the rescue and rebuilding work themselves. By the time FEMA got to them 3 days after, they were already well ahead of the game. Their governor declined aid (!!!) and they were left to figure out how to feed and house those who didn't leave and the police and fire people who were working around the clock.

Today, I'll be visiting the worksites I couldn't get to yesterday and post more pictures tonight!

Andry Street worksite

2008-07-21T18:44:00.001-04:00

This team is doing flooring throughout the whole house. The team is Doug, Kathi, Jessica, Dana, Amanda, Gel, Alex W, and David.

4th Street Worksite

2008-07-21T18:40:00.001-04:00

This group is laying flooring throughout the whole house. This team is Bill , Jen, Matt, Julie, Emily, Elizabeth, Amy, and Joey

Desire Street Work site

2008-07-21T18:34:00.000-04:00

This was our surprise worksite! We formed a mini team of Pastor Scott, Lindsay, and Alex Shimpeno.

MONDAY in Louisiana: Worksites

2008-07-21T18:29:00.000-04:00

We actually have five work teams between the two churches. One big job for Wayne and 4 jobs for MUMC. I wasn't able to make it to all the sites today, but the sites I did make it to I will send some pix of.

MONDAY IN LOUISIANA

2008-07-21T18:24:00.001-04:00

Packing lunches and everything else to head out to our worksites.

Louisiana - 5:29PM CST

2008-07-20T18:30:00.000-04:00

Central Time Zone

2008-07-20T11:01:00.000-04:00

The trees in Alabama look very similar to those in PA. My thumb looks
the same in most states too.

Bagels, Bagels, and a few more Bagels

2008-07-20T07:34:00.000-04:00

Central Baptist takes wonderful care of their guests. Fran brought us
breakfast, and she didn't have to tells us twice that we could start
eating. Answered prayers abound, as we are just so well taken care of.

Arrived in Knoxville early

2008-07-19T22:04:00.000-04:00

Travel from PA to Knoxville TN went very well. We had possibly 10 minutes of bad traffic, and the rest was smooth sailing. We even took a 45+ min stop for lunch and got some frisbee in.

The Baptist church here in Knoxville is so nice we may have trouble getting people to leave in the morning. We had a Mexican buffet and everyone has been playing, basketball, ping pong, shuffleboard, racquetball (they have two courts!) and pool.

Thanks so much for all of the goodie bags provided. Everyone was so very grateful for the extra munchies. :) SUGAR!!!

They are wonderful here at Central Baptist and are even serving us breakfast in the morning! In case you haven't heard, all of our worksites are all in New Orleans and not in Slidell, so for all of you who donated extra for gas money...THANK YOU!!!

Keep those prayers coming! :)

There would be more pictures, but we're having technical difficulties. Maybe later, hopefully with a better connection and a better web browser.

Approximate work site locations

2008-07-18T12:06:00.000-04:00

This is a photo of approximately where our work sites will be. Keep in mind that anything could change. Also note that all sites are within New Orleans proper, not in Slidell as originally expected.

Work site information

2008-07-18T09:44:00.001-04:00

We just got some information on our work sites. They are ALL in New Orleans (and not in Slidell as we had thought) so our ride each day will be a little longer than we planned (ah - flexibility already!). It will also be a great experience to drive down to New Orleans each day and be in the city. The Marshallton group will split up into 3 work teams and Wayne will be one team. Three sites are flooring jobs and one is a siding job. We'll keep you posted!

Dedication Sunday

2008-07-13T12:51:00.000-04:00

The church as a whole sent us off to be their hands and hearts. Pastor
Scott reminded us that every member of the church is part of this
trip, and a portion of our congregation is physially going. The
support of our congregation has been and will continue to be immensely
important to us. Thanks for all of your prayers!!

Last Team Meeting

2008-07-02T19:44:00.000-04:00

Our combined teams met for the last time tonight. We finalized some details, played some team building games, and prepped to do Gods work.

Slidell Team

2008-06-23T21:03:00.000-04:00

Marshallton has nearly 30 people going to repair, fix, and clean as needed. Our sister church in Wayne has about a dozen coming as well. God has done more with less. We are so very glad for that.