Day 2 - New Orleans continued...



The houses in red on this map are no longer there after Katrina!

Many people abandoned their homes and never came back!

Dozens of Marked Houses

Only thing left on many of these lots is the front porch.

Marked House

This afternoon we took a tour of the 9th Ward in the lower part of New Orleans.  As many of you know, Hurricane Katrina devastated much of New Orleans almost 6 years ago. The 9th Ward was one of the hardest hit areas once the levee broke and a path of destruction ensued.  Driving through this area, we saw where houses once stood, now only the front steps remain.  On other homes, there is an X spray painted on the front of houses.  The top number in the X represented the date the house was checked, the right side represented animals found deceased, the bottom number represents deceased individuals found and the letters on the left is the organization that inspected the house.  There is some progress in rebuilding the area, but still very far from what any of us would consider normal.  There was a quiet reverence as we walked the area as we encountered remaining residents sitting on porches, visiting with each other, working in their yards and just living life as normal as they can. No pictures or news footage could ever compare to actually seeing this devastation first hand!  We are all very blessed!

Day 2 - New Orleans

Day 2 Mission Project

Ms. Sharon getting it done!

Painting  Project

Yellow to White Paint

This school was built in the late 1800's

Auditorium wall  time line

Wow! What an amazing day and it's only 1:30pm.  We started out our morning at the John Mc Donogh Senior High School for a painting project.  This is no ordinary high school.  The bottom floor is being converted in to a charter school and will host 150 students.  These students are two are more years behind in their education and this program is designed for students from junior high to age 21.  They are offering GED programs, but are encouraging these kids to follow through and get their high school diploma and take classes beyond.  The staff are excited about this vision to offer a better life for the future of New Orleans.  There are 3000 kids eligible for this program that will initially start with this  class of 150.  This charter program is one of three in the nation and we were blessed to help get this school ready for students to start next Monday!!! We will be back tomorrow to finish the project.  We are back at the house now preparing for our next adventure.  More blog this evening.

Day 1 - New Orleans

We made it to New Orleans!  We had a great time this evening getting to know Rawd and Justin who are leading our trip.  They have already started challenging our hearts and minds. We took a walk around Algiers and learned about some of the rich history of this diverse culture.  The people here are so humble, very outgoing and welcoming!  We are excited and ready to serve this great city.

Journaling 101

Elev8 - Mission Trip 2011

Mission Leaders

Sunset in New Orleans

Rawd speaking to our group about some of the history of New Orleans

New Orleans Here We Come!

There are two white vans sitting in the front of our church this evening, quiet and empty, waiting for our Elev8 group to fill them tomorrow with suitcases, snacks, games, laughter and love!

To be continued...

2 days till - New Orleans

Sunday morning at 7:30 am, two fifteen passenger vans full of people ready to serve, will be headed out on the highway making their way to New Orleans for an experience that will change all of us!  It is going to be a long drive and we intend to make lasting memories.  Lots of fun to be had by all, but also, lots of work to be done while we are there. 

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains.  Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. -Ephesians 6:19-20

3 days till - New Orleans

Hard to believe that after all these months of preparing, our mission trip is finally on the horizon!  We will be leaving behind our friends, families, jobs, cell phones, and countless other comfortable amenities, for an adventure that is bigger than ourselves.  We are believing that God is going to use this group of 16 students and 4 adults known as Elev8 to do some pretty amazing things in New Orleans. 

4 days till - New Orleans

Looks like we will have decent weather during our stay in the Big Easy!


10 Day Weather Forecast for New Orleans - weather.com