Day 3: Workin', Playin', Lovin'

Workdays with Urban Impact and EFCA are long ones. They typically look something like this:






6:30 am- Breakfast
7:30 am- Orientation
8 or 9:00 am- Report to worksite
12 pm- Lunch @ worksite
4:30 pm- End workday
5:30(ish) pm- Dinner
7:00 pm- Seminar
8:30 pm- Group debriefing
9:30 pm- Free time...by which we mean shower, journal, and flop into bed exhausted.

This has been our day. It's been long. It's been utterly exhausting, and already eye-opening. But, as Chris put it in our story log: "We having Fun!"

We will be spending our days volunteering at the school and working on the house of Mr. Willie Brown. So far we've done some painting, dry wall work, mudding, and sanding. As we left the house today, two rooms (of 6) were finished with their first coat of ceiling and wall paint, with the third only needing some ladder work done. We've had a great time, and we really want to work hard and do as much work for Mr. Willie as possible. He's been living in an apartment adjacent to his home since Katrina and has been burned in the past by people who promised to help him fix up his house, so we want to do the best work for him that we possibly can.

After our workday finished, some of us went for a bit of a run down St. Charles street. The residents of New Orleans are so encouraging; several people cheered us on and encouraged us to keep the pace and keep going as we ran about. Of course, it may have helped that we were still wearing our issued I (heart) N.O. t-shirts. As you'll read in a moment, those t-shirts and Urban Impact's work are very well respected in this area and serve as a gateway for conversation and storytelling. We look forward to hearing and sharing as much as we can with people over the next several days.

Showers followed the down time, and so did a great dinner: Jambalaya, corn bread, sausage, and some fantastic chocolate-minty-cake confection from Julia, the Yellow House cook. After stuffing ourselves, a few of us played a little impromptu volleyball and then headed to Israelite Baptist church for worship and a message from Pastor John. The service was great, and the message was challenging. John filled us in on some of the stories of Urban Impact and encouraged us to "Love God with all we got and love people till we drop." That's pretty much the attitude around here...and it's totally contagious.

After the service, the team drove to Starbucks for a little coffe and chai action, as well as a debriefing meeting. As we discussed and processed the day, two locals, Chita and John, joined us in our conversation and thanked us for what we were doing. Chita had been a resident in the upper 9th ward when Katrina hit and had to evacuate to Arkansas for 2 years. She just moved back about a year ago and has, like most N.O. residents, a lot of disappointment with how things have been handled. John, on the other hand, was just a really fun guy who appreciated our service and seemed to really want us to kick back and have some fun in his home town.

But that's just the basic jist of things. Here are some snapshots of our day from various team members. We've got narrations, quotes, funny stories, and serious reflections.

From Lindsey:
We're painting three rooms while playing 20 questions in replacement of a boom box!

From Katie:
Being here in New Orleans actually working on houses is such a surreal experience and it puts everything into a new perspective. It is amazing how even the people who don't know us come up to thank us just because we are wearing our I (Heart) N.O. shirts. WOW!

From Kerry:
This morning we had a speaker talk to us about when things don't go right, we say "that's how we like it." It took us a little bit of time to finally reach our site this morning because we didn't know what house it was, but that's how we like it! =). We actually passed a house 3 times that Hannah & Chris had worked on 2 years ago. We've been getting arm muscles by painting & sanding...and that's the way we like it!

Some quotes:
Chris- Don't worry, Evan. I will just snuggle with you.
Evan- Just don't squish me!

Wendy- If I have to pee any more tonight, I am going to freak out!



From Laura:
It hit me today that I am a terrible relator...at least in this context--in New Orleans. I have not gone through the agony of losing my house, my community, my family, my security, and in many ways, my hope. And if that is not enough, to live with that reality for 4+ years, seeing little progress, and little future. As I was thinking this, I was hit by the words of Pastor John tonight: "Do you expect God to do great things? or are you just chillin'?" I realized that lately (and many times in my life) I haven't been expecting God to do much in my life & in the world...maybe because of my complacency on the terrible things that happen, or the pain I see others go through on a daily basis. I think hope is on the horizon. It is here; it is now. And we are his vessels, no matter how small or insignificant we may feel.

For several of us, this week has already proved transformational. The guys in our group have had some great opportunities to share our food with a woman who was hungry and courageous enough to ask. She, like many others in the neighborhood, recognized the t-shirts and was emboldened to seek help. Another man, Jeremy, sat with the boys over dinner and recited beautiful poetry while they ate.

We have seen clearly today that our hunger is deep and profound, and although we may have food and shelter, we still hunger and thirst for community, for righteousness, for purpose to our work and hope for our future. So as we continue our work in New Orleans, we find that we are being fed--through insight, love from our neighbors in the inner city, and hope from (it seems) everyone we meet. But the damage and poverty are troubling. The discrepancies are visible. And right now, most of us are just trying to get our heads and hearts around this place which we find ourselves in. We've reflected on the following quote:

"A knowledge that springs from love may require us to change, even sacrifice, for the sake of what we know." - Parker Palmer, author

As a group, we now possess a knowledge which springs from love; of the city of New Orleans, its people, our own team members, and the love of God. And it is beginning to strike us that we may need to change or sacrifice or become more aware of our lifestyles for the sake of what we now know of our own poverty and the poverty of others. But we are not left with no course of action. We aspire as a group to live out the words of 1st Peter 4:8 "Show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins."

Love can cover the tracks of Katrina, of poverty, of inconsistency and unfairness. And love is what we aspire to show. Because, as our t-shirts boldly confess,

We Love N.O.

Peace,

March '09 team