Day 1

Greetings from Slidell and New Orleans!

To give you a quick update on our travels, the flying group made it to the airport in good time, but our plane did not! Mike Iseringhausen decided to catch some sleep before we boarded.


We were delayed about an hour, and yet the flight was uneventful, and we got to the center by 12 midnight central time. We then were up a little after 5 am, so we could get breakfast, pack our lunches and head out the door.

We drove about 30 minutes south toward New Orleans to the Bethlehem Volunteer Center. Cars from all over the country were in the parking lot, and some 150-200 volunteers were being sent out from there to work. People are being housed there as well. Some pictures here are of the murals different groups have painted over the past 2 plus years of working through this place.





Our orientation was led by the coordinator of the center, who warned us of the wildlife, the weather and the importance of staying hydrated. There are quite a few things to watch out for, as we "voluntourists" come to help out and see what is going on.

We were told to keep track of our hours, as the work that we do is credited toward the amount the government has paid for the clean-up work in the area. They figure the work being done at $17.50 per hour, and through the volunteer center we are working through with Lutheran Disaster Response, over $4 million has been earned.

Once our orientation was complete, we divided up into three groups - in the days to come, we will give more detail to our work on the blog. If you cannot wait, the key word is "drywall." Lots and lots of drywall.



The work we are doing is with families that are finally, two and a half years later, are getting work done on their homes. We are working closer to the city than our last two times down here.
We have all had good experiences meeting with the people we are working with, and it will be a good week.

We meet tonight in a few minutes, and I am anxious to hear others stories. I hope to share much of these stories with you as well.

On the weather front - no snow down here, but it is cold. BUT, tomorrow is supposed to be in the 60's.

To the RIGHT >>>>>>>
You will find slideshows of pictures from each day! We will update them with the many cameras capturing images down here. Take a few minutes and check them out.

God's blessings to you all!

Pastor Charlie