Sunday January 28, 2007

Today was a day wherein our eyes were certainly opened wide regarding a way of life right under our nose so to speak. All of the LFC members were asked to visit various Lutheran Churches in the metro New Orleans area and address the congregations either before or after the normal service. We were prepared to inform all congregations locally just what Laborers For Christ was all about and especially how our project here CAMP RESTORE could be of benefit to them both for their congregation and their personal dwelling problems as well.

My assigned church named "Monte de Los Olivos" is the only Latino Lutheran Church up and running today. The pastor is a super gentlemen and has two sons that are also Lutheran ministers, one in the Arnold MO area near where I first taught in the late 50's.

We went there not knowing what we were going to find, who needed assistance, what shape the church facility was, etc. This was when we had our eyes opened! The physical building suffered only wind damage to some of the roof and of course gutters. No water inside the building. However because the pastor lost his home, he has a FEMA trailer behind the building for he and his wife. Inside the building lives on average up to twenty homeless individuals including a young mother and her beautiful 4 month old girl. Outside in the yard is a large tent provided by someone that serves as a SHOWER facility. the young lady takes her showers inside the pastor's trailer right now, BUT since good old FEMA has decreed that all trailers they distributed are to be picked up soon (despite the fact that their homes are still not livable), they have a logistics (Shower) problem. We will send some folks over there soon to install some inside showers. With the pastors assistance in my limited Spanish, I was able to address the congregation and give them our message. Karen & I enjoyed participating in a Spanish Lutheran Service, and we will go back to see the progress after I schedule crews to go there as well as fill the needs of some members that will send us requests for their homes.

We also witnessed Pastor Jesus Gonzalez opening an outdoor shed and issuing underwear and sox to a young man in need, a 3-pack of each. He went immediately to the shower tent to clean up before he attended the service.

Why are we here, what are we doing ? The answer to both questions is to bring HOPE to folks of all races that need just that, HOPE. After dinner tonight I will add some photos that we have tried to find time to send out. Now that the kids have taught us how to "Blog" we will cease sending e-mails containing our thoughts and photos.

The 1st week we were here I got involved in 4 separate projects. They are not finished, far from it, but with each day's progress we can see more smiles on their face and a lessening of frustration as their lives commence the slow return to being somewhat normal.

I was given a task last week, to develop a "Project Schedule Office". My days are long, my nights are short but guess for the time being that is my new calling. I will train my replacement before we return to St. Louis in April and might return to the position when we return next winter after our next church project. Presently we have an average of 25 projects working every day. In late FEB and the month of MAR we are fully booked with volunteers and that will double +.

Karen is very busy in the office, handing all the monies collected from various sources, answering the phones, preparing mapquests for each PM when they go out to a new task, and effective tonight she will be meeting and greeting the new volunteers giving them their quick tour of the facility and the dorm assignments. This will be as a subsitute assignment until the other lady returns from a vacation with her husband our camp pastor and director. We see each other for 5 minutes before I leave for work at 6AM, for lunch most days for 30 minutes, and for dinner at 6PM. I usually go back to the office for double checking my planning efforts and we normally are sound asleep by 9PM. Time for dinner.