Christ the King Goes to New Orleans

Reflections on the trip

It took me a while to come back to the blog - read what had been posted and post my entry. I spent this evening looking at all the pictures that Mary and Pat sent out to us on discs. - and knew that it was time. I had a hard time leaving the trip behind. For more than a week after we got back - every night I would go to sleep and be back in New Orleans desperately trying to help the homeowners. I know that we made a difference and am very grateful that God helped us all to find our way down to New Orleans to help - but the magnitude of the need was just overwhelming and my brain couldn't let go.

I just got back from a week of AmeriCorps training in Chicago. The trip kept coming up over and over. I met Michelle, who went down over Spring Break with the United Methodist group and we had a wonderful discussion about our time there. She thought the idea of a return trip over Christmas Break was great & wondered if it would be possible to get members from both groups together for the trip. She also thinks Father Marty and Melissa are very special people - which I agreed with wholeheartedly.
I also met Jeff, who was part of the the Red Cross's diaster assessment team right after the hurricane. His stories were amazing to listen to. He has been deployed to every hurricane that has hit in the last 2 years. We all kept talking to people about how great the need is and encouraging people to consider making a trip.

Thank all of you so much for making our trip possible. We could not have done it without all the support from the parish. And I am so glad that I got to know each and everyone of you on the trip. You made it such a wonderful experience. I try to let God guide me in the direction that he intends me to go - but I get nervous and start second guessing sometimes. I had no doubt that I wanted to make this trip - but many doubts on how to make it work with family responsibilities. With God's help - it all worked out. May we all remember to accept his guidance in our lives on a daily basis.

Christ the King Goes to New Orleans

Monday June 26th

Morning wakeup at 5:45 came much too early after a late program, group meeting, and getting organized for the first day.

We headed to St. Raymonds to get supplies before going to the worksite. Katrina hit St. Raymond's school hard. The inside has been gutted and is now being used as a distribution center for Catholic Charities deconstruction/reconstruction efforts. Right as we got to St. Raymonds - Mel got a call from somebody at a local radio/TV station. Father Marty had arranged for an interview with a few members of the group. He had met someone who worked at the station at a conference a month or so back and talked to him about doing an interview when we were down there. He didn't say anything to us - he wanted it to be a surprise. While we were trying to work out the details of getting Mel and Pat to the station for the interview - Mel noticed that I had a bubble in one of my rear tires. So after the interview, Mel and Pat took the van for a new tire. Hopefully that will be the last tire incident of the trip!

The house we worked on today was in the upper 9th ward. It was a few houses away from a City of New Orleans housing development that was encircled by barbed wire fencing. It does not appear that any restoration work has begun in the housing project. There were not many signs of life in the neighborhood. It was so deserted and desolate.

The door had "TFW" spray-painted on it. It stands for "toxic flood waters". All the houses were marked as they were searched with information such as date, group doing the search, the number of people found alive in the house, number of people found dead, and any pets found.

I was expecting more mold and nastier smells. The house had about 3 feet of water in it after Katrina. All the furniture was out of the house, but the closets were full. Taking all the stuff out of the closets - I couldn't help but think about my closets at home. You can see so much about the progress of life in a house by excavating the closets. You always intend to get rid of all the old stuff in the closets - but it just keeps hanging out. it was strang to find and haul out the remnants of someone's life - suitcases, kid's toys, assorted balls, a kite, clothes etc.

We started with the living room and its closet. I began by hauling stuff out of the closet (after cleaning up lots of broken glass out front). It was a small house. The downstairs consisted of a living room, several closets off the living room and short hallway, and a kitchen with a pantry and laundry closet. While some of us worked on hauling out debris - others began tearing out the walls. Lauren discovered that attacking drywall was a great way to release aggression. Kevin discovered that he really likes ripping out drywall. Lauren also really enjoyed it. She was working on one of the closets and thought this was a great way to get out aggression. Andrea fell in love with pulling out nails. Our Crew leader, Mark, is an AmeriCorps member working with Catholic charities. He and some of the crew worked on getting the appliances out of the kitchen (except the stubborn refridgerator) The flood had knocked the refrigerator over on its side. We were able to get it upright - but couldn't get it out the door.

The owner stopped by while we were working. Her father said they had been living there for 39 years. We had found a few pictures, family papers, and a collection of trophies in the house. We had them outside for the family to go through. The father said the trophies belonged to his daughter who had played basketball all through school.

It was a well built house - nothing gave up and came out easily. I tried to pull out a board with hooks from the kitchen wall. I had managed to get similar boards out in the living room - but this one would not budge. It gave Mark a really hard time too.

All of the dishes in the kithen cupboards were caked with dirt. In the pan cupboard - there were some pans that were still full of water from the flood - 9 months later. The house had 3 layers of tile on the floors. Dia really went to town with the tile scrapper. I suspect she will be very sore tomorrow.

The inside of the 1st floor was completely demolished - but still the refrigerator would not leave the kitchen. The back door was too narrow and it wouldn't quite go out the kitchen doorway. It had to have gone it with the door off. That was not an option at this time. Our tour guide from Catholic Charities told us a story about a group she took out to work on a house. Right after she finished saying "Do not open the refrigerator" - someone did. They had to evacuate the house because the smell was so bad. There was no way this refrigerator was coming out with the handles on - but they were not made to unscrew. Mark finally got them off with a crowbar. We were somewhat nervous while he was working on it. The refrigerator had been taped shut - but the doors kept threatening to open while he was working on it. He did manage to get the handles off and with a great deal of effort - the refrigerator finally went through the doorway and out of the house.

As we were cleaning up for the day - one of the former neighbors drove by. She stopped to ask us what house we were working on. She was very upset by our presence. Apparently they are trying to have the neighborhood declared a toxic waste dump and have the whole area razed.

The showers were better than expected (they were private - at least for the girls) - but after we had been in the showers on one side for a few minutes - we discovered a few issues. The showers on one side apparently only had hot water - scalding hot water. There was a mass exodus of people dripping soap and shampoo. We were extremely grateful for the generous people who let us jump ahead of them in line so we could get rinsed off! Somehow Rachel managed to finish her shower in the scalding water - I have no idea how!

Catholic Heart Work Camps have programs each night. They really seem to be geared towards a high school age group. But then - that is the age they are used to dealing with.
This is the 1st adult only work camp they have done. The musicians they have on staff are extremely talented - but the program was on the long side considering what time we have to get up in the morning.

Entry for Thursday, June 29, 2006

Another work day began as usual. 5:45am wakeup call, breakfast, mass and off to the worksite by 9:30am. Typically, this would be like the middle of the night for me; I’m a nocturnal creature. However, after waking up at around 6am for the past five days my body cycle had adapted itself to the radical shift. I was still tired, though. My eyes were heavy and I took a nap in the van. Suddenly, I was awoken by clicking noises from behind me. Someone was snapping pictures of me. I turned around and caught Rachel and Princess Dia with cameras. I sprayed Rachel with the spray bottle and vowed to get back at Dia. Melissa then swiped the spray bottle and soaked Rachel and other people in the car. It got kind of silly, as things did more and more as the week progressed. When a group spends days at a time together like we did, inevitably people are going to start ragging on each other. That’s when you know you’ve gotten pretty close.

Day two of work on Janella’s house began. It was remarkable how our assembly-line work style snapped into action – Janis scraping up the tile, Kelly and Carissa taking out the garbage (maybe a good career ladies ), Matt owning the kitchen as only an Italian can, Pat ripping out door frames (and cooling everyone off with the spray bottle), yours truly tearing out more dry wall and so on. Everybody seemed to find their niche and naturally gravitate toward where the work was needed, always offering relief and encouragement. We were a team.

Despite my aggressive style I developed, I learned to exercise more finesse with the axe (sort of like the one Jack Nicholson used in "The Shining"). Instead of primitively bashing, I cut large square sections of dry wall and tore them out in big sheets. A much more effective and less physically draining method. It was particularly fun when Bryan and I gave Dia a boost up and she ripped down sections of the ceiling in the backroom. It was kind of dangerous, but she really enjoyed it. During the group meeting that night, she said it was one of the highlights of her day. Too bad we couldn’t do the same with the other rooms. Our brave leader Mark turned into some kind of crazed chimp and kicked out the rest of the ceiling from the rafters.

I can’t forget to mention that I did exact revenge on Dia. I’m such a good Catholic, I know. During a break, she was out on the porch and I soaked her with water from the window. She didn’t know who she was dealing with.

As work finished up on the first section, Bryan, Dia and I began to tear out dry wall in the second section of the house. It was the same as the first section: living room, kitchen, bathroom, etc. Cheryl soon joined us. I showed her my technique with the dry wall and it seemed to work for her. She cleared through a wall and the bedroom closet area pretty quickly. I don’t mean to take any credit, though, because it was really her persistence that got the job done.
Within a couple hours, more and more people trickled over to the second section. Andrea (alternatively taking some pictures. she’s a photojournalist, you know, so they’re going to look great) and Melissa ripped out nails. Mary and the Banger sisters, Kelly & Carissa, helped clear out the debri, and so on.

I tore out more sheets of dry wall in the front room. Dia made out holes in the ceiling break and I tore out clean strips of dry wall. In the kitchen, I was surprised at how easy I was able to rip out the cabinets and other appliances, especially the dishwasher. Of course, the mold helped, but still…I would never look at my kitchen the same way again.

When our work day was over, Mark said we only had about a few more hours of work left on the house. As we would find out the next day, he was right. Pat commented later that it was probably the group’s most productive work day because all fourteen of us were there for the entire duration. I agree. I also think we had refined our work ethic, especially with the adults. Sometimes they can undermine their endurance, lamenting the bygone days of their youth, but I don’t think they had any problem keeping up with the students. As far as I saw it, everybody was at the same level. No one was used to this kind of physical rigor and yet each person carried their load, which, I think, reflected the group’s clear sense of purpose.

For dinner they served a combination of all the delicious New Orleans food from the previous three days: red bean rice, chicken gumbo and jambalaya! I went back up for seconds and thirds. I loved it. Funny thing is I happened to catch the one priest, coined ‘Father Newman’, by Jerry, after Newman from “Seinfeld”, walking toward the kitchen with a big bowl. Mmmn, what could he be up to? Ironically enough, in the infamous Soup Nazi episode of “Seinfeld”, when Elaine drives the Soup Nazi out of business, Newman goes to the Soup Nazi’s restaurant with a big bowl to retrieve some of the last soup before it’s gone. Jerry laughed. The parallels were staggering. Throughout the week, I traded favorite “Seinfeld” moments with Jerry and especially Bryan – both huge “Seinfeld” fans. We laughed like hell. In the van, Bryan and I shot “Seinfeld” references back and forth at lighting speed. Often it was spurred by things related to our experiences on the trip, like low-flow showers, bad female drivers, vans, spicy food, jambalaya, demented clowns and, when things got tense, “serenity now!” The references were unending, which brought us to conclude that the show was like a lexicon of the human experience. “You can relate “Seinfeld” to everything in life,” said Bryan.

strength

I've felt a lot like others have. I loved every minute of the trip, including the daily 5:45am wake-up calls to bashing out green, yellow, black, & white mold up to my chest. Why? It was all for God. This trip strengthened my spiritual life in so many ways. It was my faith in God & His faith in me that kept me going. The other members of the group helped me out too, but mainly it was Him. He called me to do this trip & He called me to want to go back. Even though I'm currently unemployed (I was promised that I would get my Subway job back before I went to New Orleans) & need to work to pay for school, going on this trip was definitely worth it. If I knew I wouldn't have a job when I got back, I still would've gone; no doubt in my mind. I've definitely earned my spiritual wages & even though when it seems like my monetary wages should matter, right now they honestly don't. God is my rock & He will provide what I need.

Family & friends asked me about what I experienced & I can't even begin to describe it. Not only was it a life-changing experience, but it was a faith-changing experience. I'm still Catholic, but I'm stronger & more proud to be one. I love my faith & although a lot of my close friends don't share my beliefs & often Catholic bash, I'm definitely not ashamed of who I am. Thursday night we had Eucharistic Adoration & Reconciliation, & I went to confession for the first time in about 5 years because God worked through me. He made me believe that I am the hands & feet of Christ & He will be behind me every step of the way. When everything else in my life goes wrong, I know that He will be there right beside me, & that is what He spoke to me throughout this experience.

Reflection

On the drive back from New Orleans, Pat mentioned that he felt like was already in a kind of state of withdrawal because the trip would soon be over and he would miss everybody so much. I can't help but to feel the same way now. When I came home to Cleveland on Sunday night, I sat in the darkness of my living room and did nothing. I couldn't do or say anything. The mission trip experience was so surreal and beautiful - I couldn't move on, at least not yet.

I just feel so blessed and humbled to have had the chance to do God's work with such a special group of people. And that's really what being Catholic is all about - it's that communal aspect, like the disciples. We are all sinners, susceptible to the trappings of human nature and we can't go it alone. We need each other, like crops need sunlight and water, to replinish and enrich the spiritual life of the soul. And after going on the trip, I really feel renewed in the Holy Spirit. So thank you all. I miss you lots.

thoughts...

So many people have come up to me in the past two days asking me if I can believe that the trip is over. And to that, I say that it’s not over. It will never be over until we stop taking the things that we have learned from this trip and putting them into action. And, I honestly believe that that will not happen. This trip was life-changing for me and for many others. It makes a person realize how much that he or she takes for granted each and every day. This trip truly made me reevaluate my life and truly be thankful for people and things that I have in my life. This trip was an eye-opening experience that allowed us to truly help in a concrete way several families that were affected by Hurricane Katrina. I mean, you think you understand what they are going through, but it is truly impossible until you actually go down to New Orleans and see all of the devastation and destruction that goes on for miles and miles and miles. It’s unreal! I really wish that the pictures could show even a tenth of the destruction. The entire city is gone; however, there is faith that the city with come back…it may take a while, but many people believe that it will be back.

Throughout the week, we accomplished tasks that we never thought were possible. However, with our inner strength and the strength of our community we were able to do the impossible. We were able to completely gut four houses in five days…simply incredible (and these houses were not small)!! Our other group from CTK was able to almost able to completely drywall an entire house. We need to remember that these accomplishments came from God. Everything that we have done has been a reflection of us working as His hands and feet. We truly have been Christ-like in our daily words and actions this week.

I have gotten so much more than I would have ever expected to get out of this trip…spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Our group from CTK helped support one another the entire time and I am so proud of each and every group member. Each person added a different dynamic to the team and helped the group mesh in a way that would be absolutely impossible without each member that was present. In the short nine day period, I know that we have formed lifelong friendships.

I would just like to say thank you to so many people who made this trip possible. Thanks so much to all those who came on this trip. I’m so glad that each and every one of you joined us because without you the trip would have been completely different…and I wouldn’t have wanted that at all. This group is absolutely amazing and I love you all! Thank you so much to the CTK parishioners. We could not have done this trip without your support and prayers. I am so glad to know that we had the entire parish supporting us in everything that we have done…that means so much to all of us! And finally, thank you so much Fr. Marty. You have done so much for this trip and I could never thank you enough. I am so grateful that you took time out our your extremely busy schedule to help me with all of the planning and getting ready for this trip. It truly means more than you think.

Even though our trip may be over, the lessons that we have learned will never end. The memories, the friendships, the bonds, the values, the good times, the rough times, the support, the emotions, the stories, the water fights, the houses, the destruction, the families, the people, the love, the respect, the slap happiness, the everything.

sunday june 24

We woke in Mississippi at daybreak, to the beautiful day that figured to follow Saturday’s downpours. When we went to sleep in the meeting room at St. Patrick’s church, we had the gym and meeting rooms to ourselves – we woke up to a gym half filled with fully deployed sleeping bags. We met a couple fellow travelers, Paul and Joan, soon to be seen again in New Orleans. We also got to enjoy the carousel horses that seemed to scattered around St. Patrick’s property…!
Mary and Dia took over the driving on the big rigs – Jerry finally got some relief after 16 hours at the wheel, blazing the trail for us. Dia took over in the leading Ohio U. van, and she took us through to New Orleans with Noah navigating us with Janice’s maps to Our Lady of Perpetual Help school…. We spotted the first Katrina damage about 41 miles from New Orleans, in the form of big blue tarps. When we finally reached Lake Ponchetrain, it then seemed that we’d never get across – the Lake is VAST, and obviously a permanent threat to New Orleans. We also spotted some Louisiana road kill – an alligator by the side of the road…
We kept Rachel cooling her heels for a few minutes at New Orleans airport, where she also waited on the tarmac for a while, so that a medical emergency could be handled. But, she was quickly back with the group, just in time for unloading…!
We had our one lunch out on our own, and a few of us tried an Italian joint a couple miles from our school – some kind of generous proportions, especially for lunch…! We literally needed to devote a cooler to the leftovers.
The Catholic Heart workcamp staff then took us for a 3 hour tour of Katrina’s damage to N.O. .. It was absolutely overwhelming. We were told that over 300,000 homes had been flooded – we had to see it ourselves to begin to understand, that we could drive for miles and see every block devastated. We also saw the state of the levees on the canals coming out of Lake Ponchetrain – the levees looked so insubstantial compared to the size of the Lake. We took many pictures from the windows of the bus, and quite a few more when the staff let us out for a half hour to tour a neighborhood that was right next to the lake levee. We saw nothing but a canted slab in the closest house… The owner had a home made sign up, asking 13K for his property…. The water damage on the houses still standing extended to the 2nd floor.
The staff fed us at 6PM, but not before Mary and Cheryl hauled 128lbs of ice to the second floor. Mel saved them some dinner, and it was great! They could probably open a resort, based on the dining alone…!
We met again in the gym for an inspirational talk given by a Steubenville, OH priest. He was an advanced diabetic, sitting most of the time because his right foot had been amputated and he was on his way to losing the other. He was still out there for us and for New Orleans…We learned that there had been quite a few campers that were returnees – one young woman from North Carolina was on her 7th Catholic Heart camp… We also got a sober safety speech from one of the staff.
Our team had already been jelling over the previous couple months, with a few team meetings and dinners, but the staff made sure all the teams had an icebreaker. They had us do some amusing self analysis, and solve a puzzle or two – great fun…!
As a climax to the day, we attended Mass at 10:00 PM, with 2 priests concelebrating…


written by Pat

Christ the King Goes to New Orleans

Sunday, July 2, 2006
Well it is Sunday July 2 and we are finally back in town from New Orleans!! What an incredible week we all had. I would have never imagined that I would have gotten so much out of this trip, spiritually, emotionally, and especially physically. We all worked so hard throughout the week, knocking down drywall, smashing down cabinets, taking down molded walls, taking out refrigerators, pulling nails, taking up carpet, pulling up tile, sweeping, taking out all the trash, and bonding together as we worked on all these tasks. We did a lot of praying for each other and ourselves and it was all worth every minute we spent on the trip. Every person on the trip pulled their weight in many different ways. There were times we were each up and down whether from tired muscles or exhilaration from completing part of our job. We enjoyed the company of the homeowners for two of the three houses we worked on; so that was an added plus for all of us.

Thanks go to ALL the Christ the King parish members for their thoughts and prayers before, during, and now after the trip. Your many donations of money, supplies, and tools were so greatly appreciated. The drivers on the trip (Pat, Mary, Cheryl, Jerry, Dia, and me) appreciated the prayers to get us there and back safely. Thank you Melissa for being the person who started this whole trip rolling and successfully implemented all the planning, and being a great inspiration to all of us. To everyone who I shared nine days with; what a pleasure it has been to get to know all of you.

Well, we are back in town and going our separate ways with family for the Fourth of July. Our hearts will still remember Mrs. White and her husband and Janella and Frank as they and other families like them rebuild their lives in flood ravaged New Orleans. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this entire process.

Janis

An added appreciation

Earlier today, I posted an entry thanking the 16 other members of the team that traveled to New Orleans. I forgot about our CTK Parish support! We needed $12,000 in support from our fellow parishioners, plus lots of tools and supplies, to allow us to make this trip. We needed prayers throughout the time leading up to the trip, and while we were gone. We needed Father Marty to make this a priority for the Parish, and to keep in touch throughout with his prayer and support. He even found us a church in Nashville for Saturday 5:00 Mass when we were running late coming back...! We needed the support and love and prayers of our whole CTK community, and I am so grateful for them all.

For Wednesday, June 28

Hey, it's Matt here. I'm back at home. First thing my dad asks me to do this morning is help him move an extremely heavy piece of antique furniture. But that's not bad, because I feel vigorous (Kevin, I really hope you are reading this).
But now to business: the following entry was originally meant for Wednesday of our week in N.O.:

Our group of 14 was reunited with our site leader from Monday, Mark, and sent to a new site in New Orleans East. The home, a single-story duplex, is in a neighborhood situated around a bayou. The couple who own it had been living there for 39 years. The neighborhood includes a large, tight-knit Vietnamese community, and many residents are in the process of returning to their homes. Everyone in our group seemed to agree that this neighborhood (of the areas in which we had worked) seemed to be most hopeful for a large-scale recovery.
Still, things weren’t pretty. Sure, the wildlife from the bayou – including geckoes, birds, snakes, and flora – reminded us of nature’s grandeur, but the 18 inches of floodwater from the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet created a much uglier ecosystem within the house: mold crept up the walls like an infectious disease while the carpet had probably not been dry for the past 10 months. Moreover, enormous cockroaches (by some, lovingly called “palmetto bugs”) were more numerous than seats in the Superdome. The couple had a FEMA trailer in the front yard to stay in during the day, but it still had no electricity. Luckily, the plumbing and sewerage worked in the house and one bathroom was preserved until the end of gutting (Friday).
The moldy carpeting in the back portion of the duplex was, thankfully, the first to go. Meanwhile, leftover possessions were taken out to the yard for Jeanella (sp?), the homeowner, to sort through. We then started tearing out the walls. Kevin went to work with the sledgehammer a la Mario from the old arcade game, Donkey Kong. Brian and others joined in the demolition as some of us, like Pat and Kelly, took on the job of cleanup. Others still accepted the responsibility of removing every last @#$% nail from the exposed studs. I took to the kitchen, which, according to Kevin, is the domain of every Italian.
At the day’s end, we once more drove to the showers at Destrehan High (about 50 min. from the site), dropping Mark off at St. Raymond’s on the way.
Back at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, we ate and went to CHWC’s “program” which on this night consisted of Adoration and Reconciliation, which several of our group members took full advantage of.

It is frightening to think of what could happen to New Orleans as this hurricane season approaches; all of our work could be undone and worse. However, we must remember that all of the physical fruits of our labor are destined to fall. We can only justify our works by the spiritual fruits that they bear. A home is often more than a shelter or a store of accumulated wealth. It provides a sense of place, of belonging within a community and within the world. Those who have asked us to help rebuild their homes have made a strong statement that they belong there. It is not within our power to relocate people; nor could we be so bold as to fabricate a new community with all of the social and spiritual complexities of the old. Our mission was to directly serve the wishes of those who had been driven from there homes and had no other means of returning. Thus, our manual labor is more than a physical gift: it is the vessel for lasting spiritual gifts of respect, dignity, love, and hope.

Back from New Orleans

I just finished looking at the small subset of pictures on my camera, and relived the last week. Our week proceeded in such a Christlike order...
We shared a meal in Athens on Friday night; we were sent forth by the CTK community on Saturday morning; we got to know each other better on the 20 hour drive on Saturday and Sunday, which had its own little bumps that we could ride out together; we drove through mile after mile of flooded houses on Sunday night, that looked as if they had just emerged from the waters, then we received a profound and continuing Catholic orientation from the camp staff, and finally we went to our work...; we wrapped up the work week on Friday and toured downtown New Orleans; then, we reeled in the 1000 miles on Saturday and Sunday back to Athens.
We received a powerful message right away, on Sunday afternoon after arriving, about how badly we were needed - our Sunday tour guide, who broke down in tears telling us about the loss of her community of family and friends, also told us that over 300,000 homes had been flooded. Most of them will need the work that we were about to do.... We then got to meet the Catholic Heart Work Camp staff and react to the program that they had set up. The staff at Catholic Heart Work Camp had designed a program for teenagers that still worked pretty well on the 18-and-over crowd of 150 volunteers that we were sharing the work with. Every night and day, starting Sunday night and right through Friday morning, before and after our work on the houses, was filled with rollicking skits, rousing (read, LOUD) music, and then spiritually encouring and uplifting short skits and film clips, a least one inspirational talk, and a Mass. The staff kept us moving until we dropped into bed exhausted.... When we actually went to work Monday morning, right through Friday, we fell into a relentless but doable routine of rising at 5:45, breakfast at 6, gathering at 6:30, Mass, pick up lunch bags, and head for the staging area about 10 miles away to pick up tools/water/ice, and then head for the work site. We worked from about 9:00AM to 4:00PM each day, with a short lunch break and a couple 'formal' water breaks. We probably averaged 7 bottles of water per day for each of us - Mary drank as many as 10, but she is a pro that does outdoor work as part of her job. We needed the water, giving that we were all wearing 10 lb work boots, jeans, and long sleeve shirts, work gloves, hard hats, and (especially) face masks to keep out the mold but also cut off our breath...! We did 4 houses in 5 days.... we calculated that we ripped out and carted out about 4,000 lbs of drywall from each house, plus any latheing and all the window trim and baseboard molding. We had 14 workers on our crew, but for one reason or another we would average about 13 on site at any given time - we even had to drive 10 minutes to get to a bathroom...! So, we did about 100 person-hours on each house. We heard that a team of professionals were charging about $16 a sheet to install new drywall, and each house needs about 100 sheets. We saw other professionals charging as much as $65 a sheet for the same work, but no matter how you calculate it, the work of gutting a house and putting in new drywall can be done for a lot less than $10,000 a house. The problems are, they need many more workers such as us, to do this for 200,000-300,000 houses. They need volunteers! Also, they need a critical mass of people from each neighborhood to come back, since no one wants to be the only homeowners on a whole block. We saw block after block after block of thousands of homes, with no one returned, and probably no way to get in touch to see how to bring back a whole block. A great method of support might also be to track down all the homeowners in a block to keep them in touch with each other, to bring back the city block by block... But I digress from my summary. When we finished up by 3:30 or 4, we drove 50 minutes to a high school which had volunteered its showers, and then 10 miles back to the school that was hosting us and the Catholic Heart staff. Promptly at 6 we had dinner, but by 7:30 we were back into inspirational programs that kept us busy until 9:30 or so, leaving us time for a short meeting each night before heading thankfully to bed. Personally, I think that the Catholic Heart staff designed this schedule to keep teenagers with boundless energy out of mischief.... We found that an air mattress or cot is a MUST - we were sleeping on tile floors, at least until 2:30 AM when a freight train with a long, piercing whistle, rolled by each night. It was hard to get to sleep after that without an air mattress (I gave up after a few days and went to Wal Mart to get one...)
I gave this summary to make my main points - First main point - the work was hard, particularly for an older person who hadn't kept up high level conditioning. I think all of us 'parental age' volunteers were the type who walk 10 or 12 miles a week at a good clip, watch what we eat, and are still in good health. That still wasn't nearly enough - we were wearing a lot of clothing, especially for days that averaged 95 degrees with swamp like humidity, and the work was relentless. It's very daunting to walk into a mold covered house in the first place, in dripping wet humidity in the early morning, and then envision stripping all of it out. I know I couldn't have got through it without the continual Catholic orientation that we were given by the staff, and by Melissa and Rachel and then each of us as we got inspired. I have never seen 17 people work together in such harmony over 9 days, and I've been on a lot of out-of-town projects with small teams of this size. I have more to be grateful for, to each of the team members on this trip, then I have ever needed to feel grateful for in my life. I literally felt like each team member was saving my life each day, and I went to bed each night praying to live through the next day. The team got each of us through...
Second main point - we became such a team over our 9 days together, that it feels really bad that the team is now disbanded, and I may never see some of these people again. I deeply feel this after being a team for only 9 days... we needed each other so badly during this trip, that the bonding becomes extra close. Now, I imagine neighborhoods of people getting by on minimal resources who have become tight knit after decades and even generations... that's what the poor neighborhoods of New Orleans have lost. Many middle class neighborhoods that I have lived in aren't at all knit together - people are oriented towards work friends or family that live elsewhere, or other social circles they have formed. However, we were repeatedly told here that the New Orleans neighbors were very closely bonded; our experience here as a wonderful team gives me a glimpse of what they have lost when they were scattered to the winds by Katrina. They don't have the resources to hop on a plane and go visit their friends - they need their neighborhoods back, and all of their neighbors.
To All - thanks for the unceasing work on the sites....
Melissa - thanks for the tremendous organization and leadership that made the trip possible, and a success.
Rachel - thanks for the spiritual orientation that gave us the power of an army.
Mary, Janis, Cheryl - thanks for showing me that the parental age volunteers could do this work...You were all so organized and professional. Mary, thanks for handling all the driving, and giving us professional advice on survival. Cheryl, thanks for shlepping ice and coolers to be sure we always had enough cold water - literally a lifesaver, and your 'tilework'. Janis, thanks for giving an interview, sure to show up on Brian Williams NBC report one of these days...!
Carissa and Kelly - thanks for taking my load off my hands so many times when I needed a break, and for your music.
Kevin - thanks for your humor and ax...!
Bryan - thanks for your strength and stamina, and lively humor.
Andrea - thanks for your photo chronicling - I hope it will live as an inspiration to thousands of others, and may have been our most important work.
Dia - thanks for making every day a party, and every job an adventure.
Matt - thanks for your dry humor, and your dogged steadiness in tearing down the kitchen/bathrooms..
Lauren - thanks for your explosions of humor just when we needed them the most
George - thanks for being Mr. Responsible in getting all the meals paid for back and forth.
Noah - thanks for your lively presence in lifting every conversation you entered, and for your musical contributions.
Jerry - thanks for bringing your trailer, and dragging it 2000 miles for us. We sure wouldn't have wanted to balance all that stuff on our laps for 4 days... And, thanks for doing all that you did, to keep the trailer rolling, and to speed us on our way.
Once again, thanks to all for the tremendous and inspiring work. Each of you did so much; all of us are grateful that we had each other to lean on.

FINALLY!

I finally found out how to post a new entry! We are finally home, and it has never felt so good! This week was challenging in more ways than one, but the prayers and support from all really kept me waking up at 5 45 every morning. I have learned so much about myself and service to God this week, and I will take it with me forever. Thank you to everyone who was on the trip and who supported us throughout this journey!

Home

Well, I've been home since late Friday night, but I've been kind of busy. I had a wedding yesterday, and when I wasn't there, I was sleeping, and I'm still exhausted! The rest of the group spent last night in Galatin Tennessee, I think. Melissa said the Bishop of the diocese himself was going to be there to let them in.
They'll be back in Athens this afternoon.
Hooray!

wednesday june 28

Today began with an early wake up call once again. We ate breakfast, celebrated mass, and loaded up the vans. After a long battle with traffic and quick naps in the car, we were able to start working. We were reunited with our former group leader, Mark. Since we started working a little later than expected, some extra effort was required to catch up. This particular house seemed to be just the right size for our group. We divided ourselves into separate rooms and began hacking away the dry wall and pulling up carets. Early morning efforts from everyone allowed us to make some serious headway in the house. After lubch we were reunited with two other members of our group and got back to work. The workday ended with everyone pitching in with removing debris in the house. Luckily, we were able to meet the owner of the home today, who was more than grateful for the helping hands. The evening program consisted of a few sing alongs and reconciliation. Everyone headed to bed exhausted and ready to take on the next day. Another successful day in New Orleans.
Written by Bryan

teamwork

Wow! This has been such an incredible week so far. I am proud of everyone in our group. Everyone has done a fabulous job of working together as a team. I took a while off from working today and just observed the group for a while. It was great to see everyone doing anything and everything to help one another out. It.was really neat to see how people would just come up to one another to see if they could lend a hand. People are even looking out for one another to make.sure that people are taking breaks, getting enough water, changing masks frequently, and even making sure that they have the proper equiptment on that was needed.
Before coming down, I would never have imagined how extensive the damage truly was. I mean, yes you hear abd see everything on tv, but it's really hard to understand until you are actually down here and can see how widespread the damage actually is. It's devastating! The entire city is torn apart... It's not just one little part. Almost everything is destroyed!
Okay time for bed! We have to be up in like five hours!
Written by melissa

Tuesday

The motto for the order of St. Benedict, I learned in college is "ora et labora"- work and pray. And that we continued to do today. The main CTK group helped gut half of a duplex. Three of us continued work on putting back together a home on Dorgenois Street in Gentilly. These are Noah Lauderman, Gerry Patton
(Carissa's dad, North Canton, OH_ and myself. We continued putting in rolls of insulation; we started putting in new drywall. This will be the work of tomorrow as well. Right now our crew has seven people. The house we're working on has some boards made of barge boards. I close by saying how grateful I am for the support given by fellow parishioners at Christ the King Church.
Written by George Bain

Thinking of you from Athens

You have not been forgotten while away. So many times we think about you and pray that all thing will be going well for you. We have been praying for you often. In fact, I am including one photo--hope it won't take up all the space for the blog--to show the little place we set up for you in the seasonal space near the baptismal font. I read the "mission news" each day.

Blessings, Fr. Marty

the days Saturday/Sunday

Saturday

We had a great sendoff in a cerimony developed by Melissa, with a blessing by Fr. Marty. We sang "Here I am Lord", had a reading from Mathew 61; we felt blessed and lifted up. We got special crosses and realized the gravity of being sent forth by the entire CTK community. We heard our theme song "Go Make A differance". All this was done by 6:30 am with special T-shirts and bandanas, we are ready to go and make a difference!!.

We named the White van which Pat got from OU, Albino Van, or Al for short; guess what shade of white it was? Cheryl's gold van was christened Albatros.

Pat and I took turns driving the white OU van. We packed in quite a crowd with 2 to a row of seats we had 8 in our van (Brian, Lauren, Dia, and Andrea, Melissa,and Kevin).

Sunday
A great day - driving in to New Orleans. I switched into a different car. I moved into the car with Jerry, clarissa, Kelly and Matt. Getting a chance to talk with Jerry was fun; I also talked a bit w/ Clarissa, Kelly & Mattew it was a good 3 hours drive. We started with a prayer and getting on the road by 8am. We would have breakfast at Mcdonalds about half way there I an hour and a half. As we drove into New Orleans, many trees were damaged, we could see them bent overn cracked and damaged. There was not as much Kudzu (an aggressive invasive weed very prevelant in the South) as I expected.

We picked up Rachel from the airport, NOW we had the full group! After we arrived at the Catholic Heart work Camp and unpacked, we had a tour of the most damaged areas. The ninth ward (upper & lower) and an upscale community beside the Levy. We could see the devistation everywhere. As Jerry said, it did look like an bomb had gone off and we were looking at the aftermath.

We could hear the pain in the voice of our guide. Her family has been rocked to its foundation. Her life and the lives of many have been forever changed! We could see it and feel it, we could reach out and touch it. Everyone took many pictures of what we saw on Sunday.

We had a nice dinner, fun safety messages and into from Father. The best part was getting to know our small team (2B) and a ROCKIN' Mass! The music was excellant.

Written by Mary

Quick Sleepy Update

Well, Mel called me earlier, around 12:15 to say they'd blown a tire on the trailer. I was worried, but she said they got it taken care of, thanks to the generosity of the people at the tire shop who started on it right away even though they had a 3 hour wait, and gave us a good deal on the tire.
I have to be up in 4 hours to catch my plane.
I am going to sleep.
Good night all!
Keep Praying!

And... They're Off!!

Everyone began the journey today, except me. I'm the cheater. Since I live in Kansas City, I'm flying to New Orleans very very very early tomorrow. We're leaving my house at 4:30. Ugh! Yesterday I went to Six Flags in St. Louis with my home parish's youth group, and all throughout the day my phone kept ringing and it would be another person with something that they need me to bring, that I should have, etc. I heard they made a Wal-Mart run last night for a few essentials.

I found this very cool prayer to use this week. It's called the Breastplate of St. Patrick.

Breastplate of St. Patrick
I bind to myself today the virtue of obedience of the angels, in the hope of the resurrection unto reward; in the preachings of the apostles, in the faith of confessors, in the purity of holy virgins, in the deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today God's power to guide me, God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to teach me, God's eye to watch over me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to give me speech, God's hand to guide me, God's shield to shelter me against the seductions of sin.

I invoke today all these virtues against every hostile power which may assail my body and soul, against the cries of false prophets, against the black laws of heathenism, against the deceits of idolatry, against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today against an untimely death that I may receive abundant reward. Christ with me. Christ before me. Christ behind me. Christ within me. Christ with the soldier. Christ with the traveler. Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me. Christ in every eye that sees me. Christ in every ear that hears me. Praise to the Lord of my salvation! Salvation in Christ the Lord.

St. Patrick

We'll be using it to make sure we have Christ with us all week as we do his work! Please, Please, Please keep us in your prayers, we are going to be needing them!

I Love You Mel!!!

Mel, ditto as to what everyone's been saying. don't worry; we're all in this together. i was praying some more about the trip & i realized that i'm sick of being in a group of friends at home who don't share my religious beliefs. i love my best friends to death, but i'm so excited to be around people who share the same faith as i do & reaffirm me about it. i want to experience things and discuss things relating to God and our Catholic faith & i can't wait to do that. so thanx again Mel. i love you & thanx for being our leader of the pack!! vrooooom vrooooom ;P

Mel is freaking out (Part Two)

Mel is REALLY freaking out. She needs a double dose, or triple or quadruple dose of prayer. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her SO much for all she has done. Without her endless (and I mean ENDLESS!) work, none of us would have this amazing opportunity. Her example of true devotion to God's work is such an inspiration to us.


Thank You Mel!!
We love you!

Prayer

I can't believe that in less than 3 days we're going to be embarking on this amazing spiritual journey. I know it's going to be a lot of hardwork, but I know that God wants me there to help these people. He knows that my spiritual life needs some strengthening, so I'm all set. I was one of the last 5 people to decide to go on this mission trip.

From the moment I heard about it, I instantly wanted to go, but knew it wouldn't be possible due to financial reasons. I talked about it with my parents & while they thought it would be a good experience for me, they kept telling me how hot it is down there & with the expenses & all of that stuff, so that discouraged me. The more I prayed about it, the more I realized God was calling me to this experience. My parents aren't going; I am going & God wants me to, not them.

God called me to 2 other mission trips in 2000 & 2002--North Carolina to clean up after a hurricane & North Dakota to do some work on an Indian reservation. God knows I have the strength & faith to do His work for His people that desperately need our help. I've heard so much negativity regarding this such as: 'The New Orleans people deserve the hurricane because the stupid city's built below sea level." That's a load of bullhonkey & they know it.

I know with constant prayer & guidance from God the Father all 17 of us can make a difference spiritually & physically & grow in all of the ways that God wants us to grow. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone in this mission trip family & making the best of the experience. Who cares if it's going to be 110 degrees? I don't because I know God wants me to go on this mission trip for a purpose, to make a difference because He has faith in me, which should give me strength to have faith in myself & our trip.

Christ the King Goes to New Orleans

So many things to do; think of the people; so many things to pack; think of the people; so many things to remember; think of the people; so little time left to do it all; PRAY for US!!
Janis

Christ the King Goes to New Orleans

Christ the King Goes to New Orleans

starfish

Okay, so like Kelly said, I am freaking out! It’s in less than a week and I just hope we are ready. I mean, I know everything will be fine and everything will work out how it is supposed to, but still. I guess it’s just me freaking out.
On the other hand, I am really starting to get excited about this trip. All of us have put so much time and effort into this and I know that it will be a success. Honestly, I wasn’t really sure when we first started talking about this trip that it was going to happen, but now it’s become a reality and I am so incredibly grateful for this. All of this has truly come from God and everything that we do while we are in New Orleans will be done to glorify his name.
I honestly cannot believe our trip is so soon. It seriously felt like just yesterday that we had 50 days until we were supposed to leave. I just hope that all of us are as prepared as we can be for the trip. However, I honestly feel as though none of us will ever be prepared for how we are going to feel while we are on this trip. I don’t think that I am ready to see all of the devastation that has occurred. I think that as soon as we enter Mississippi that we will begin to see how much damage has occurred and we will all be taken back by that. I cannot even imagine how I am going to feel. I know that seeing all of the destruction will truly have an impact on me and will empower me to want to make an even greater difference.
This leads me into how we chose to have a starfish theme. I know Noah talked a little bit about this, but I feel like it is going to be such an important aspect of the trip.

The Starfish Poem

Once upon a time there was a wise man
who used to go to the ocean to do his
writing. He had a habit of walking on the
beach before he began his work.

One day he was walking along the shore.
As he looked down the beach, he saw a
human figure moving like a dancer. He
smiled to himself to think of someone
who would dance to the day.

So he began to walk faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he saw that it was a
young man and the young man wasn't
dancing, but instead he was reaching
down to the shore, picking up something
and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out, "Good
morning! What are you doing?"
The young man paused, looked up and replied,
"Throwing starfish in the ocean."

"I guess I should have asked, why are
you throwing starfish in the ocean?"
"The sun is up and the tide is going out
. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But, young man, don't you realize that
there are miles and miles of beach and
starfish all along it. You can't
possibly make a difference!"
The young man listened politely. Then bent
down, picked up another starfish and threw it
into the ocean, past the breaking waves and said
- "It made a difference for that one."

Several people have come up to me (and many others going on the trip) and have told us that we aren’t going to make a difference. We aren’t going to do anything while we are down there. There is so much to be done and one group cannot possibly do anything about the situation. I would like to show all those people who have given us any sort of negativity about the trip this poem. I feel as though it sums up part of our purpose as to why we are doing this. We will not be able to completely “fix” New Orleans in one week, but we certainly WILL make a difference. Try telling the families whose homes we will work on that we didn’t do anything. I guarantee you that they will be so happy with the help that we will have given them. There are no doubts in my mind about not making a difference. I have 100% faith in our group that we are going to help out to the best of our abilities.
I feel as though this is definitely going to be a life-changing experience for all of us and I am so excited that we have an awesome group of people that are coming with us. I’m really excited about the mix of students and parishioners. I think that it will give our group a totally different dynamic and will help unite the parish and the student community in a way that has never been done before. I think that both populations of people will offer so much to our group and will help our group grow even closer together.
Both prayer and faith will be the guiding strongholds of our trip. Everything that will be done will be done according to God’s Will. We will be focused on how God works through each and every one of us and how each of us will contribute something completely different to the overall effectiveness of this life-changing experience.
AHHHH!!! 5 days!!! See you all soon!!

components of the trip

Dear CTK Missionaries:

I would first like to tell you how excited I am that you have chosen to spend part of your summer helping to restore the lives of those devastated by Hurricane Katrina. By doing this, you will not only spend on week making a positive impact on total strangers, but you will most likely experience one of the best weeks of your entire life.

This mission will have many components, but there are a few things that stick out. They are:
Risk Taking: We will be an extension of God in New Orleans. We will be in unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar people. Whatever we accomplish in New Orleans will be for the purpose of glorifying God and sharing His love through our own hands and hearts.
Worship: Each day during our mission experience, we will have times set aside specifically for prayer, reflection, and praise. It is safe to say that there will also be unexpected and totally random opportunities to worship.
Hospitality: Our mission team will consist of 17 students and parishioners that come from totally different backgrounds. You will be reaching out to strangers, also of various backgrounds, that you do not know and most likely will never meet again. Be prepared to reach out to them as well.
Faith Nurturing Relationships: This mission experience is designed specifically as service learning. The service and reflection will be purposeful and designed to impact and foster your spiritual growth and friendship with the others present. There will be lots of unplanned and spontaneous things that will contribute just as much as the planned stuff too!

Again, it is so exciting that you have chosen to be a part of this team. Please enter this experience prayerfully and be ready to expect the unexpected. Also, be ready to have a blast! Please know that if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or fears, I really want to know because most likely someone else has the same feelings.

God Bless,
Melissa

Mel is Freaking out

Mel is a great leader, she is organized, and motivated. She has worked so hard for this trip to go smoothly, with prayers and support, I know that it will be more than fine, it will be a life changing experience. As we prepare to leave in less than a week. I encourage all of those going on the trip, and those reading this blog, to keep the true reason for this trip in mind during prayer. We are going to serve as disciples of God, and he never gives us more than we can handle. With that in mind, the challenges ahead will be faced head on with excitment and energy to use the tools and talents God has give me to make the world a better place in some small way. So, with 5 days until departure I leave you all with one of my favorite church songs. Here I am Lord, is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night, I will go Lord, if you lead me, I will hold your people in my heart.

Go Make a Difference

I think I must have thought that two weeks was a lot longer than this. I have accomplished very little of what I had planned to after getting home from school. As Noah mentioned briefly, I am home in Missouri (or Misery as some call it :) ) and will be flying to New Orleans and meeting the group there. I'm not even really thinking about the trip yet, which is probably bad, but I have too much to do between now and then that I have to focus on. Like... packing. and getting a job. My Fiancee is coming home next weekend, so I'll get one day with him before we leave, kind of a bummer, but its worth it!

I am the Worship director for the trip. That means that I picked prayers and readings and songs to use throughout the trip. Our theme song for the trip is Go Make a Difference by Steve Angrisano and Tom Tomaszek.
Refrain
Go make a diff'rence.
We can make a diff'rence.
Go make a diff'rence in the world.
Go make a diff'rence.
We can make a diff'rence.
Go make a diff'rence in the world.
1. We are the salt of the earth,
called to let the people see
the love of God in you and me.
We are the light of the world,
not to be hidden but be seen.
Go make a diff'rence in the world.
2. We are the hands of Christ
reaching out to those in need,
the face of God for all to see.
We are the spirit of hope;
we are the voice of peace.
Go make a diff'rence in the world.
3. So let your love shine on,
let it shine for all to see.
Go make a diff'rence in the world.
And the spirit of Christ
will be with us as we go.
Go make a diff'rence in the world.

I'm really excited for AFTER the trip. Because while I know there will be fun moments, I don't think we'll exactly be having the time of our lives. But when we get home, we will feel like we have made a difference, and done it all for the glory of God.
That's exciting.

less than a week to go

• A week from now, our group will be heading south of the Mason-Dixon line to one of the most ravaged and torn areas in recent American history. The excitement is building, but I must also confess a growing sense of apprehension and anxiety. Personally, I'm not extremely worried about the physical conditions (which might have a bit less to do with preparation as I'd like to believe). The last time that I was in New Orleans, I was with a traveling music group, and we had to wear 100% wool uniforms in the heat of July. Don't get me wrong, I know that this will be a very trying time for everyone, physically and emotionally, but I am more worried about the emotional side of the issue. New Orleans itself was also much different when I was there last, and even with the news coverage, it is difficult to imagine that amount of destruction in an area that was, at one time, so beautiful. We have all seen the news reports, we've all heard the testimonies of people that lived through, and continue to live in, the devastation that is the Gulf Coast region. Seeing the devastation on a news broadcast while reclining in the living room La-Z-Boy of our Ohio (and Missouri) homes is one thing. Seeing, with our own eyes, the houses...people's homes...laying in complete and utter ruin...seeing the trash piling ever higher on the side of the road...smelling decay and rot everywhere we go...and somehow turning that around and showing God's love through our actions is one of the most daunting tasks that one can undertake in this situation. Upon looking at all the destruction and devastation, one might wonder how anyone will ever be able to rebuild an area that is that far gone...and whether or not it even should be rebuilt. People can look at the devastation of the Gulf Coast and say that it was man's audacity that caused this calamity in the first place. "We built a city below sea level", people can say, "and it was only a matter of time before God 'put us in our place'. There is no point in rebuilding a city that will one day again be destroyed". Some might say that. Many in our group have heard people expressing opinions almost exactly like that. The group going on this trip is comprised of 17 individuals, and therefore I can not speak for the entirety of the group. I can only speak for myself, and to the people that feel that this will be a fruitless endeavor, I say this. I do not go to rebuild a city. I do not go to the Gulf Coast to build buildings that will one day be torn down again. I go to rebuild lives. I go to, in any way that I can, help give hope to a group of people that need it more than I can ever imagine. I don't go to build the buildings, I go to help the people that will be living in those buildings. People might look at this trip and say, "There's so much to do, you aren't going to be able to make a dent in the devastation. The destruction is too great". That may be so...by most estimates, it will take the better part of a decade to get the Gulf Coast region back to pre-Katrina standards. To the people that say "Your trip will not make a difference", to them I say, "Tell that to the people we help". Tell that to the people who, in their time of need, had no one else to turn to and no one else who cared. If enough people work together for a long enough time, dents can be made in the most stubborn of materials. I do not go to rebuild the region, or the city, or anything of the like. I go to help fight against the feelings of dispair and hopelessness that have plagued so many during this time. I go to try my best to give hope to people that otherwise might never have gotten that hope, and to remind them that they are not forgotten. The media might feel that the American population is experiencing "Katrina overload", and therefore slow down their coverage of the rebuilding process, but I go to let those living in that area know that they are not forgotten, and that those of us that can help will do anything in our power to help them in their time of need. One of the biggest lessons that I have learned in my life is that, when life feels the most dark and depressing, when all hope seems to be lost, THAT is when God's love shines through the brightest. My one hope in this trip is to, through all the pain and devastation, find a way to show God's love through my actions on this trip. Looking at the massive amounts of destruction, one can worry about how one group will be able to positively effect much of anything in such a torn area, but as I said before, God's hope and love shines the brightest when there seems to be no hope left. None of us, on our own, can do anything. Any one of us, with God's help, can do anything. Hopefully, we will all leave this trip knowing that we accomplished what we set out to do, and that, even if only for a small number of families in a small area, we did make a difference.

Christ the King Goes to New Orleans

Christ the King Goes to New Orleans

June 15, 2006
Well, we have only about 9 days until we head to New Orleans!! I don't know about the others, but I have so many emotions: excitement, fear, anxiety, anticipation, joy, and others. Lots of friends that I talk to are excited that I am going at this stage in my life. I just hope I keep up with the others!! I'm sure we will all be overwhelmed when we get closer to the south. I'm so glad we have so much support from family, friends, and members of our parish.
Janis

parent letter

Hello,

My name is Melissa Giese and I am both a student at Ohio University and a parishioner of Christ the King University Parish. I am the coordinator of Christ the King’s mission trip to New Orleans, Louisiana from June 24-July 2, 2006. I am writing to you because your son or daughter is joining us on our trip and we are very excited share our experiences with you. We have put a lot of hard work and effort into this trip and have been planning for this experience since January.

I would like to take this time to give you the basics of the trip. We will be leaving Athens on Saturday, June 24th at 6 am and will be arriving back in Athens on July 2nd sometime in the afternoon. We will be staying overnight at St. Patrick’s in Meridian, Mississippi on June 24th and will be continuing our journey down to New Orleans the next morning. Once we have arrived in Louisiana, we will be staying at Our Lady of Perpetual Help High School in Kenner, LA, which is located about 20 minutes away from the city of New Orleans. After a long and intense work week, we will be leaving New Orleans on Saturday, July 1st. We will stay overnight at St. John Vianney in Gallatin, TN and will continue back to Athens the next morning. We should arrive sometime in the afternoon.

We will be working with two organizations known as Catholic HEART Work Camp and Catholic Charities (www.heartworkcamp.com). These organizations have been hosting mission trips for several years and we are happy to be working with them. During this intense work week, we will be doing general cleanup of the area, general cleanup inside homes, light carpentry and roof repairs, as well as restoration work. During the mornings and evenings, we will be participating in various group activities, prayer, reflection sessions and programs to help enhance our experience.

The organizations have assured us that we will be safe the entire time that we are down there. They have taken all of the necessary precautions in case of an emergency. They have been very complete in communicating the things that are necessary to know before we leave for this trip. I am very confident that everything will run very smoothly while we are on this trip.

We have 17 people joining us on this mission. Eleven of these are students and six of them are adult parishioners. Our team has really started to come together and we are very excited to spend an entire week serving together.

While we are gone, we will be posting daily reflections and pictures on the Christ the King website (www.ctkathens.org). I encourage all of you to look at these frequently in order to better understand what we will be doing while we are on this mission trip.

Lastly, I would just like to ask all of you to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue planning and while we are on this trip. I am enclosing one of our New Orleans prayer cards and would like to encourage you to pray this prayer frequently. This is going to be a wonderful, life-changing experience for both the team and the recipients. We would like to enter this experience prayerfully.

We have already received many blessings in preparation for this trip and we are very excited about completing our mission to serve.

Feel free to contact me if you have any further questions, concerns, or comments.

God Bless,


Melissa Giese
Christ the King University Parish
Athens, OH
(cell) 513-295-4880

Our Lady of Perpetual Help (homebase)
504-464-0531

Details of the trip :)

Yay! We leave for our mission trip in 15 days! I can't believe it's so soon!
Here are some of the basic details of the trip. We will be leaving Athens, OH on June 24, 2006 at 6 a.m. After a long day of travel, we should arrive at St. Patrick's in Meridian, Mississippi around 9 p.m. We will be waking up pretty early on Sunday and will be traveling the rest of the way down to New Orleans.
After a long and intense work week, we will be leaving New Orleans on July 1st around 9 a.m. and will be staying overnight somewhere in Nashville, TN. The next morning, we will get up pretty early, go to mass, and then get on the road. We anticipate being back in Athens late afternoon on July 2nd.

A Mission to Serve

Hurricane Katrina was a national disaster that destroyed the lifestyle of thousands of Americans. It is said that it will take ten years to restore New Orleans to be a livable location, and most likely will never be the same. As a community we decided that we could not sit around and talk about how terrible the disaster was, we had to use our talents and skills to take a small part in rebuilding the city.

The Newman Community is the Catholic student organization at Ohio University. We hold weekly meetings that explore different areas of our faith within four contexts, service, social, worship, and education.

From June 24 through July 2, seventeen members of the Newman Community and Christ the King University Parish (11 students and 6 parishioners) will be traveling southbound to help with the restoration of New Orleans due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. We found this opportunity through Catholic Heart Work Camp, and are very excited to take this journey of faith. We will be driving to New Orleans and once we arrive, we will start doing restorative work such as clearing houses, dry walling, painting, and other various cleaning tasks.




"There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone."
1 Corinthians 12:4-6