Today's Impressions (Our Mission Trip)

It's "Transformation Tuesday" for the website of the youth conference I volunteer for. Thanks to a terrific fellow worker, the new site looks great. Check it out: CYCOP.ORG.

Here in New Orleans, I am seeing signs of a different type of transformation. We toured the Lower Ninth Ward and saw many new homes, including several built by the Make It Right Foundation. They'll float if the waters rise again! Learn more here: http://www.archdaily.com/259629/make-it-right-house-morphosis-architects.

We visited the memorial, right next to the bridge that the residents could have left but were stopped from crossing the bridge. They went home and climbed on their roofs to wait. In the 1, 000 died in the lower ninth ward.


So much is going on here. It's wonderful and yet sad. So much was lost, so many people died.

One place we visited was Burrell's. Mr. Burrell has opened a barbershop and grocery store. He has plans to open a laundromat and an internet cafe. These are the only such services in his neighborhood. He told us that if he is the only one doing it, he'll build up the area on his own. We were overwhelmed by his story,


What examples of transformation have you seen lately?






CYC is an amazing experience of Christian community and discipleship training for high school youth. This year's theme is "Maximum Impact: Life Transformed by Christ." We meet two weeks in August on the southern coast of Maine. If you're 14-18 years old, join us!

Meme-ic Monday: Hurricane Katrina

New Orleans is recovering slowly from Hurricane Katrina. As of last year, the 10 year anniversary, only 34% of residents had returned to their homes in the Lower Ninth Ward, the area hardest hit when the levees broke. 

But that's pretty well known.

My family and I are in New Orleans for the first time, working with a mission team from our American Baptist region. Some members of our team have been coming for years. 

A team member, who started coming shortly after the storm, worked at school today. She said it was wonderful to see schools and children, because in the immediate aftermath there had been so few,

Two small groups worked at construction sites, helping to rebuild homes that were damaged in the storm. One homeowner is still in Texas. The other is living in part of her house, although a member of that team said it "wouldn't be livable by our standards."

Me? I encountered rats. Assigned to a food pantry, I thought I would be sorting, boxing and distributing food, and I did for part of the time. However, we arrived before the food and we were asked to clear out a room, sending some stuff to a thrift store and throwing out garbage. Rat droppings were everywhere. I found a dead rat. Other team members saw more rat bodies and a live one. They moved a huge box of popcorn kernels, the rats' main food source we think, out. 

While the room was swept, I moved over to organizing food boxes and dividing large bags of rice into small ziploc bags. 

But what really stands out about the day was the appreciation. I and another team member were introduced to the food pantry customers as people who had come down to help after Katrina. There was a wave of thanks on the people's faces. 

And then there was lunch. We had brown bag sandwiches, but Miss Brenda figured we would want New Orleans food and cooked fried chicken and jambalaya just for us. Delicious. (Alright we were a tad nervous, because of the rats. but we got over it. That stuff was cooked in boiling oil ,, and, boy, did it smell good!!)

So today's meme reminds us of the slow progress rebuilding the Lower Ninth Ward. Behind it there are stories, so many stories. You should visit. These people need to tell those stories. And they are very grateful for the chance to tell them to new ears. And appreciative of whatever work you can do. 

Song for Sunday: Blueberry Hill

My family and I are spending a week volunteering in New Orleans, helping to restore the Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina. Yesterday, we traveled here. My husband, an orchestral violinist, noted that our airline layovers read like a checklist of the best symphony orchestras in the country: Boston, Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago.

When we stopped at the Cleveland Airport yesterday, we were reminded that the city is where Rock & Roll got started. We even bought cute little guitar pick necklaces to support Cleveland Relay for Life. 

But New Orleans is the birthplace of Jazz. 

This spirited music grew out of the black cultures of this city, and is the named after the Creole word for African dance. It combines forms from blues, rock and other types of music. It started in the 1920s and united young people of different races and cultures in an artistic community. 

One of the many musicians to hail from New Orleans is Fats Domino. He stayed home during Hurricane Katrina and lost many possessions. His famous white piano was destroyed and its remains are now displayed in the Louisiana State Museum. 

Here's Mr. Domino singing "Blueberry Hill" by Larry Stock and Al Lewis with music by Vincent Rose. It's today's Song for Sunday.

What songs do you associate with places you've traveled?