Woke up early, had breakfast in my room.
Left the Hotel at 7:00 AM to get to our bus for the service project.
We arrived at our bus with plenty of time to spare.
We found out once we are on the bus that we were going to St. Bernard Parish to Nunez Community College. It is one of 2 community colleges in the area. They were victims of Hurricane Katrina. All their ground level buildings were flooded up to 10 feet. The only Building that was somewhat preserved was the building you see before you.
This is the main student building housing the library. During the storm, the Chancellor stayed with the building to make sure people were safe and looters didn't ransack the place. They were there for 5 days before anyone came to rescue them. The first people to arrive were not the local authorities, not FEMA, not the National Guard, but Canadian Mounties from Canada. Once everyone was safe, the National Guard finally showed up. There is not a whole lot of respect for the National Government as a result.
On the way there, we saw many abandoned buildings waiting to be restored. It tugged deeply at my heart.
Our project was to continue to help them rebuild and restore. Our projects were moving Library shelves and furniture from the second floor back down to the newly restored first floor.
Half our group also worked on the grounds doing landscaping, bark chips, and cutting back overgrown vegetation on the next building to be restored.
These folks at the college thanked us a million times. They invited us into the Auditorium for photos of the devastation and Q&A. It was very helpful. They were so glad we came. Samaritan's Purse (Franklin Graham's Charity) spent much time there after the storm doing the same things we did.
In our debriefing, the Service project was a high for much of our group. The thankfulness of the people and their stories were a highlight for me.
In the evening, the Mass Gathering in the Dome was powerful. Viola Vaughn from Senegal, West Africa was our most beloved speaker. She started an organization called 10,000 Girls. It all started when a 3rd grade girl came to her house every day for 3 weeks telling her that she was about to fail school. Viola said we need to talk to your parents. The girl's parents felt like their daughter wasn't intelligent enough. Viola thought otherwise. Viola began to tutor the girl. Pretty soon, she brought three of her friends to school. Then they brought their friends. Viola couldn't afford the school supplies to run a good school. So some of the girls who had access to American Television said, "In America, the girls sell cookies. They asked if they could do that too. She taught them how to bake cookies and the sold them door to door. The made enough money for the school. Currently, the girls run the operation. 1,300 are in the school today. The only adult is Viola. The older kids are the teachers.
It's bed time. Everyone is in their rooms sleeping right now. I am falling asleep myself.
In Christ,
Pastor Jon
P.S. We were interviewed by www.neworleans.com. Check it out.
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