Each day the workers would leave their dorm (nicknamed Hilton Arabi because it was located in a converted church in the Parish of Arabi), we would leave our motorhome, and arrive for breakfast at 7:30am. The first day we drove in, the 2nd and 3rd we stayed next to the dorm. In these pictures we see Carley and Grace in the light blue shirts, of course you recognize Ethan and Isaiah, and Erika is in the green shirt. The camp director, Liz, is in the red shirt about ready to take a bite. In the other picture we have Caleb (white cap), Phillip (light blue shirt) and Hunter. Phillip is 6’ 4”. I got to know Hunter fairly well since he helped me the entire three days. All of these young adults treated me with great respect and the young men called me sir. Remember I told you that in South Carolina and Tennessee, they require terms of respect in the schools.
Here are some of the camp coordinators. Danny is in the red shirt, he is the “tool-man” and Liz is the director as I stated in the red shirt.
After breakfast (8:00am) we washed our own dishes
then we split up into our teams and had morning devotion until 8:30am. I believe all the groups shared the same Word. We missed Monday’s devotion but Tuesday devotion was from Exodus 4:4 and Math 9. In Exodus, Moses is called by the Lord to speak for Him. Moses indicates to the Lord, he is unqualified. Yet the Lord empowers Him. Mathew was a tax collector hardly a training ground for a disciple and the author of a gospel book, yet in both cases they become great servants of God. The importance of these scriptures is that God calls the unqualified then qualifies them to do His work. Wow! That really summed up what is going on here since we are NOT carpenters. It is so easy to neglect the work of the Lord because of our busy lives. I am glad our family answered the call.
On Wednesday, Charles shared from Isaiah 6:8-9. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?” Then I said “Here am I! Send me.” And He said, “Go and tell this people:”. Also he read from Math 7:13 which says “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many that go in by it…”. Boy did this hit home for us. We are in N.O. because of this scripture as well as Acts 1:8.
My wife told me a quick testimony that blessed my heart. While in devotions, there were questions asked. I gather that Ethan was raising his hand and answering all the questions. Erika stopped and told my wife “Ethan you put me to shame”. Thank you Living Word Church and Academy!
After devotions, we would make our lunches, for me it was ham and cheese, a pack of Fritos, an apple, a soda or water. For Isaiah and others PBJ, others had Turkey. We would put our food into the cooler then it was off to the work site. Hanging sheet rock in the intense heat for me. Isaiah put up mud the first day then screwed in sheet rock the other two. Ethan joined me on the last day and taped and mudded the walls! At 12 he was taping joints and mudding! Therese told me the last day she hung sheetrock (4 x 8) sheets over her head on ceilings. Alright Honey! Here is a picture of her team.
The day started at 9am, and shortly after, the young kids would rest a lot, me, I took frequent water breaks. There was a basket ball hoop at Amanda’s which kept us all entertained. It has been a while since I sot hoops but I managed to beat all the young men at HORSE. At Amandas, Ethan caught one of the most interesting insects for his collection. It will be on display at open house. One of the highlights of the day was going to the Sugar Shack.
The Sugar Shack offered one type of iced cold treat. A Snowball! A snowball is like shave ice or a snow cone. You can get it with ice cream. There are about 200 different flavors like Chocolate Covered Cherry, Strawberry Shortcake, Bubble Gum, Grasshopper, Wedding Cake, etc. By the time you finished the size my wife is holding, you were all jittery from the shock of sugar. They were cold, wet and sweet! And in the hot N.O. weather, they were highly desired.
Once we left the job site for the day, we went back to Arabi for showers then returned to St. Bernards for dinner by 6:30pm. After dinner there was free time. Most of us played Frisbee until evening devotion at 8:30pm. We only made one service since the first night we were not in Arabi and the second night, was a free evening since one group that was with us was the church choir and the sang somewhere in New Orleans.
Evening devotion was an hour. We worshipped, then Dave shared the Word and then worshipped some more. Dave preached about having a changed life in Christ as a young adult. He spoke from 2 Cor 5:17…do you remember what it says? It is one of the many scriptures I have memorized. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” Dave shared with us that the Lord can make us a new creation and that we should settle for nothing short of this. He emphasized that we need to give up drinking and worldly music. I say Amen. He shared with us about a friend that needs Christ. He came to him totally drunk. He used a practical example that we all could relate to. He asked us how many had been to the Sugar Shack. We all said Amen. He then referred to another “copy” sugar shack next door. His comparison hit home. Why settle for a copy that is not the real thing when you can have it all at the real Sugar Shack. After the Word we worshipped.
(Trying to add videos...network connection is not good...come back later to look at them)
After worship, we went to bed and then departed Thursday for San Antonio, TX. It was bitter-sweet. I really got to know these young adults fairly well in the limited time we were there. To Hunter, I say thank you for persevering with me and continue seeking His will for your life, to Phillip I say stay the course and be a good witness and example as the big man you are, to Caleb I say find out about your roots in Joshua, to Jackie I say keeping studying the Word, its your source of life, to Charles I say thank you for leading us in Christ and our mission, to Liz I say thank you for letting us work with the group and not sending us elsewhere. To Jeff and Tom, I am glad you brought your children on this wonderful mission in New Orleans. I believe you will see great things in them if they continue in Christ. To my family, I could not had done this work for Christ with out your support. I hope you gained as much from this effort as I did and remember you are not only building homes for people in New Orleans that are in desperate need of help, but also treasure and your reward is in heaven.
