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It has been my pleasure once again to journal our 2010 VIM trip to New Orleans. I hope I have given you a sense of what it's like to go on a Mission Trip. What I have written about is the tip of iceberg, so to speak. I always tell our "Newbies" that they will be changed from this experience, and it's so true. I encourage each of you to get involved with volunteering whether near or far. God needs all of us to be helpers to each other. He gave each of us special talents and skills. We just have to show up, as Jeff always tells us. God will do the rest. Thanks for taking the time and the interest to be with us. And thanks for all of your prayer support while we were gone. God bless each of you--barb

Some of our Prayer Partners

These are photos of some of our Prayer Partners, although we realize that our church family was Prayer Partners for all of us. For that, we are so very grateful. Thank you! Melinda & David

Cathy McCranie & Marcia

Colette & David Lambert

Barb & Scarlett McMonigle

Seth & Julie Grace

Jim & Catherine Delamater

Frank & Julia Bradt

Joy Reed & Fred

David & Jeff Nettnin

And just a reminder...

Still scattered among the "new homes" in the Lower 9th are stark reminders of what happened there 5 and 1/2 years ago. There are many foundations sitting, empty. There are many houses sitting, abandoned. While driving through these "remains" it is so difficult to imagine what life must have been like before Katrina. Where is everybody who lived there? Have they returned, or will they never return.

In spite of the "remains" it is very hopeful and promising to see the New Life that is taking place in the Lower 9th through Making It Right and others.

One of the homes...

Although a bit hard to see, the workers in this
photo are actually planting bushes, etc on the
backside of this lot. When these homes are
completed, they truly are a finished project for
the new homeowners.

The process of "Making It Right"

Not being a builder, I'm just guessing that due to all of the scaffolding around the house, it appears that pre-built walls, are "dropped" onto the foundation of these homes. There is such a variety of these when they are finished in both style and color. We didn't see any two alike.

Visiting the lower 9th Ward

On Saturday, we drove down to the lower 9th to see if any progress had been made since last year. And, yes, there has been!!! Brad Pitt has donated funds to build "green" homes in the lower 9th and they are amazing! The are safe, built high off the ground and energy efficient. This project is called Making It Right and through his efforts, he truly is making it right.

Those "Left Behind"...

A lot of the "road crew" decided to get an early start on their trip home, and left Friday afternoon. So, by Friday evening, these were all of our team that was left (Bob, Linda, Barb, Rich and Marcia). Pat Prewitt from Parkway Presbyterian not only recommended, but also joined us for dinner at Nacho Mama's for dinner. She does so much for us while we are at Parkway that we decided to give her an official title:

Concierge of Parkway Presbyterian and she truly is. What a blessing she has been (again!) to our team and our mission.

Saying good bye...

Our teams became a bit mixed on Friday and so these folks were the last to work at Karen & Larry's: Colette, Rich, Fred, Bob, Barb, Frank, (Karen), Guy, Melinda and Linda and Tim were also a part of this.

Gift cards

Fred presents Home Depot and Target gift cards to Karen on behalf of our congregation and friends, and Karen (tearfully, very tearfully) takes them. Emotions are very deep at these presentations. One, because the gifts we share are so very special and we are giving them on behalf of friends back at HUMC. And two, because it means our "work" with our families has ended. It's very hard to leave these families whose homes they have unconditionably trusted to us this past week.

Time for another Prayer Shawl...

Barb (tearfully) presents Karen with another beautiful Prayer Shawl created by our Prayer Shawl Ministry. Karen was really touched. And then...

And now for the rest of the story...

Remember the fleur de leis corners of the window frame??? Well, unbeknownst to us, Larry and Karen had gone to Home Depot and bought a boxful of these so that each member of our team could have one as a momento! What a wonderful and special gift this was for us. They also gave us little wallet sized cards saying "Smile God loves you". What an incredible gesture on their part.

It's a "door tradition"

On the inside of the door of our VIM trailer, you will find all of the names of Volunteers In Mission who have gone on stateside missions. Each year we all sign this door. Signing this year in this picture are: Rich, Guy, Frank, Debby, Fred, Tim and Colette. All 20 members will sign before our mission is over.

Yet another Prayer Shawl presentation...

We presented Julie with our 3rd prayer shawl. We also gave her some Target gift cards from our congregation and friends to help with the birth of her baby daughter in June. Our team also collected and presented her with gifts for her, for her 4 year old son, Joey, and for baby girl to be. Included in those was a beautifully pink

crocheted baby blanket. Her husband is currently stationed in Iraq and will not be able to be home for the birth of their daughter. Luckily, she has family that lives nearby. (The motorcycle in the background belongs to our team member Tim.)

Devotions

Each morning and evening, one of our team members shares a devotion which they have written. They are always different and written
from the heart. This is a picture of one of our devotions, led by Colette. She talked about "light" and how we can be the light to others. At the end, she gave us each a little flashlight and we sang, "This Little Light of Mine." This devotion took place in the Memorial Garden at Parkway. It is also the place where we had our Communion Service with Pastor Denise--just a beautiful, calm setting.

And in the kitchen...

Seth, Jay, and David have come over to help us out. They begin installing the "yellow" boards on the kitchen walls. They are moisture proof and also, very, very heavy.

Wall board going up!

Fred, our team leader, gets us organized and ready to begin installing wall board in the living room area. These sheets are 12 feet long (and very, very heavy), so we are installing them horizontally. Seen in this picture are Fred, Karen, Barb, Rexie, Frank and Debby is around there somewhere, along with Rich. It truly was a team effort to lift, hold and install these panels.

Frame installers...

This is the team (Melinda, Guy, Karen and Pastor Denise) who installed the beautiful trim work around their brand new sliding glass door. In the corners of the frames are carved out "fleur de leis". I thought it would be a great idea to get those to give to each team member as a momento of our trip this year---more on that later.

Meanwhile, back at Larry & Karen's...

Linda Dearing learned skills she never thought she'd use, but now has become a Master Caulker thanks to Guy's expert teaching. This is their hall bathroom on the second floor. The have two complete bathrooms--that is the sinks and toilets work, but because there is no tile around the tub area, they are unable to use those. Hopefully, next week, a team will arrive that can finish that project for them.

Another prayer shawl presentation

Marcia presents homeowners Mary and Alex with the prayer shawl and explains our prayer shawl ministry to them and how each stitch is prayed over by the person making the shawl. She also presented them with Home Depot and Target gift cards donated by our congregation and friends of our church. Alex has written and read a poem called "Gratitude" which he will rewrite and send later, but everyone was in tears by the end of his reading.

The team that worked on Goode St

Chip was the team leader for the Goode St. house. This is the team (minus Jimmy D who is taking the picture) near the front door to be installed. (Sorry this one is out of order.)

It is finished!!!

The door is in, the lock is installed, the handle works, and light shines brightly through the front door. I'm not sure if I've mentioned before, but this house had no electricity in it. A gasoline generator was used to power the tools this week.

Almost ready to open...

Jimmy D and Bob install the door knob.

Adjusting that new front door...

Marcia and Tim adjust the new front door. Can you imagine not having a front door on your home, but just a piece of 4X8 screwed to your house? What a blessing this is.

Prepping for the new front door...

Alex and Mary had their front door boarded up, so the team thought it would be nice to purchase a new door for them with some of the gift cards our congregation and friends so generously donated. How nice to soon have a front door to walk through. Chip starts getting the framing ready.

"Angels" on Goode St.

Tim and his teammates have been very, very busy this week, removing termite infested studs and replacing them with new ones. Their homeowners, Alex and Mary, have referred to our team as "angels", so our team wrote all 20 members names on new studs throughout their home. This way "our" angels will be with them after we're gone.

Another Prayer Shawl presentation...

Jay and David presented Pastor Tom Paine with one of our Prayer Shawls. Pastor Tom was very touched and thanked us again for all we do to help rebuild in New Orleans. He also talked about the strong bond and friendship we have with Parkway so much so, that he decided they needed to add another name to the front of their church called "Herndon South" which brought on a lot of smiles and laughs.

Larry & Karen and their team

Before Larry & Karen left from Wednesday night dinner, we got a quick picture of our team. We have wonderful homeowners again this year.

Morning Glorys & Kate

We worked on Kate's home last year and she also joined us on Wednesday night for dinner. Our Morning Glory Circle sends Kate cards every month, along with many other previous homeowners.

Alex & Mary Lewis, homeowners

Chip was the team leader for Alex's and Mary's house. They joined us for Wednesday night dinner and brought King Cakes to share with everyone.

Prayer Shawl Presentation

We gave a prayer shawl to John Rogers who faithfully has made red beans and rice for us whenever we've been at Parkway. He is indeed a faithful servant to Parkway and us, as well.

Wednesday Night Red Beans & Rice

Joining us at the church dinner are homeowners Larry & Karen from this year, and Kate Cooms

from last year. It's always good to gather together with our homeowners.

More insulation & wall board...

The delivery of wall board & insulation arrives andit took them 2 hours to unload all of the dry

wall. That stuff is heavy!

Melinda becomes a pro-trimmer

Thanks to Guy, Melinda learned to measure, cut and install all kinds of trim work.

Getting ready to caulk and putty

We've done a lot of trim work at Larry & Karen's, so now comes the caulker and putty crew to give everything a finished look.

The carpet arrives...

At Larry & Karen's house, there are 10 of us on our team. So, as you can imagine, their house is already pretty busy. So, on top of us being there, the carpet guys arrive to install wall to wall carpet in the upstairs. It all worked out well and the new carpet is beautiful.

Heading off to work...

Aren't we a charming group??? We usually wear the t-shirts that Parkway provides for us and washes for us each day. They also provide clean towels daily, too. How lucky are we.

Photos later...

Good Morning! It's Thursday and breakfast is almost ready. I have lots of pictures to Post, but don't have time this a.m. We had an absolutely awesome time last night, as Parkway fixed their traditional dinner of red beans and rice--yummy! We also had several of our homeowners as our guests for dinner--Kate Coons whose home we worked on last year and all 3 homeowners whom we're working on this week. We had great fellowship and the homeowners totally enjoyed being able to spend time with everyone. Then, we went into the beautiful Memory Garden at Parkway and Bob Harbick led us in a wonderful devotion. Pastor Denise shared a beautiful and very special communion with us. We served communion to each other in a circle. It was very touching and one of the things that really bond us to each other and the Lord during this week. Ok, gotta go get sandwiches made for the day. More later....

Looks like shredded wheat...

This is a pile of the wood damaged by termites that Team A has removed so far. It looks like shredded wheat, doesn't it?

Replacing more studs...

Jimmy D and Bob Harbick continue removing damaged studs and replacing them with new ones.

Jim Bickel gets "framed"

Jim is busy reframing some of the damaged studs.

Chip and Alex Lewis, our 2nd homeowner

The "A" Team consists of Chip, Jimmy D, Jim Bickel, Tim, Marcia and Colette. Their homeowner, Alex Lewis, is thrilled to have them working on his house. Half of his house has termite damage. The team is riping out the damaged wood and replacing it with new studs. Our's is the first team he has had to help him.

Jessica & Joey

Jessica and Joey live in the house across the street in the house that Parkway owns. They are currently renting it. Jessica is pregnant with a little girl and due in June. We brought her a prayer shawl and her baby-to-be a baby blanket made by the Prayer Shawl Ministry at our church. Her little boy Joey is 4 years old. We brought gifts for the family, too. Jessica's husband is currently deployed overseas. A very sweet family.

Parkway has a new look!

Notice the new look on the front of the church. The tile replaced deteriorating wood. The new look is just beautiful!