Both yesterday and today we went to a different area of New Orleans to work on the house you see above. The new owner is a member of the worship team at a Vineyard down here, which was cool to find out. It was night and day difference between this place and the place we worked at for the first two days. Here it felt much more like a nice blue collar suburban neighborhood where many homes were a long way towards being rebuilt and the neighborhood had banded together in a flurry of activity to help one another in the rebuilding; the first neighborhood looked much poorer and still seemed totally devastated with much work left to be done and no one around to do it. In the first home we started from scratch gutting the home and taking it a long way towards being livable. In this house (above) we did all the final prep work so that it could then be sheetrocked and rebuilt. Both experiences were amazing because through both you left feeling like you're that much closer to helping someone get their life back together.

As a team we talked about what we've experienced so far and how it has impacted us. One team member shared the verse Galatians 6:9-10 where it says, "Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." As we talked about this verse and our experiences, we were physically tired and some of us felt like it was just becoming a "job". But as we shared stories of the people we interacted with, suddenly we realized how good God is and how amazing these people's stories were.

One person shared with me today that as they watched the water flow down the street they put towels under the door. Then, water came up through the floor boards. In 15 minutes it had reached his shins, in 30 mintues it was at his waist and by 45 minutes after the water first began to flow, it was up to his armpits and he had to swim out of his home. He swam next door to his father in-law's place (who was an invalid) and they climbed up to the attic where they waited for rescuers to come in a boat and cut a hole in the side of the house to get them out. Another person shared how when his family called to check in on him, he lied and said he made it out safely and was on the road; in reality, he was stuck on top of a lift bridge with water covering the houses and street below; he stayed there two days before being rescued. All this becomes so much more real when you see it with your own eyes and hear people's stories with your own ears. How I wish I had paid more attention to the news stories.

Today as a group we watched a video on the Mercy Response website (www.mercyresponse.com) that displayed how the water poured into the city as the levy's broke. We identified where we have worked on houses and how deep the water had gotten in that area. The second photo above is of Lake Pontchartrain. This was the lake that swelled as the hurricane filled it with water and contributed to the failing of numerous levys. To stand and look out at it is amazing; it's like looking out at Lake Superior where all you see is water...there's no land in sight, it's that big.

As a team, I think the gravity of the destruction dawns on us in waves and it only encourages us to pray for the many people whose lives are no where near back to normal. Many that we have talked to are just moving back into the city after nearly a year and half. May God continue to provide for everyone's needs and use me in any way He sees fit do do so.