First 2 Days of New Orleans Mission Trip

It's been a great couple of days.

Made it to New Orleans on schedule on Saturday morning. This is my third time here with a group since Katrina. We are 13 in number.

Our first stop was at Miriam Chaudoir's aunt's bakery in Metairie, LA, just outside the city. Marlene treated us like royalty and filled us with pound cake, almond croissants, blueberry muffins, and scones with lemon curd, with fresh coffee to wash it down.

We're staying at the North Rampart Community Center, a turn-of-the-century mission-style building at the edge of the French Quarter. Just across the street begins the Treme, New Orleans' and the country's oldest black neighborhood.

Saturday we did our food shopping for the week and half the group did a small clean up project here at the center. Several of us did a short walking tour of the French Quarter, checking out the old haunts of Tennessee Williams, Degas (the French painter who lived here for a time), and others. A big homemade meal Saturday night in the kitchen/dining room.

It's quite hot. 90s. But it sounds like it's the same in New York, so why complain?

Sunday morning was set aside for church. About 1/2 the group went to St. Mark's Methodist Church worship at 10 here at the community center, which houses a lovely little Methodist congregation and is owned and operated by the Methodist Church Women's Division. At noon, we walked a few blocks into the Treme, where we worshiped at the Holy Name Faith Temple Bapist Church, Rev. JC Dyson, pastor. Rev. Dyson knows Lesley Mazzotta from Marble well because his daughter was the star of the show that Lesley helped produce down here (Once on This Island). The church was wonderfully hospitable to us. Rev. Dyson let me preach, and I tried my best Baptist preacher imitation.

After lunch at the church, we were joined by Lauren Anderson, the Executive Director of Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans. Lauren and another staff member, Dan, took us on a driving tour of the city. They showed us different neighborhoods and talked us through both the extent of the flood damage, as well as the struggles of the recovery process. Some neighborhoods look outstanding, others look... awful.

Another family-style dinner last night and an evening of games together, and we're up early this morning to begin our week's work. We're expecting housing work... but we don't know what kind until we arrive.

The group we have here is outstanding. Everyone is getting along well and laughing a lot and sharing. We're taking time every evening for devotion and reflection, but there are lots of great conversations and observations taking place throughout the day.

More to come later.

Thanks for your prayers!