Redemptive Purpose

Thursday and Friday
(Our trip Blog was written by Jackie Dorsey)

We said goodbye to our host Dr. Simmons Thursday morning as he returned to Kansas City. That left us somewhat on our own to get around town from the hotel to the worksite and to the university for meals. Thankfully Jody had her Blackberry with her so, you guessed it, the Blackberry started talking to Alan, and got us everywhere we needed to go. Shakespeare said there are sermons in stones; we all got a Blessing from the Blackberry.


We were glad to find that the electrical contractor had finished most of the new wiring in the house by Thursday morning, so we were able to make a lot of progress in our last two days. Our team installed insulation throughout Deborah’s three bedroom, two bath home, and put up dry wall in all three bedrooms. Although the team was tired, we were also determined to finish these rooms for her, so she could really see and have a sense of progress and moving closer to her goal of finally being able to be back home in New Orleans.
Thursday evening while some of us were seeing more of the city, we were shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of our brother Jason Bradley. He was a close friend to several on our team and a member of our Career Class. Our hearts and prayers were with Jason’s family and our KCBT family even as we were fulfilling our mission. Jason had experienced the ultimate home going and while we will miss him we are comforted in knowing we will see him again soon.

New Orleans was an experience I’m sure our team will not forget. I for one went with the intention to give—time, strength, encouragement and hope. I truly believe I received far more than I gave. The people we met and the spirit of faith and hope we felt ministered to us even as we ministered and served.Our team returned Saturday morning exhausted but blessed. Everyone on the team did their unique part with a spirit of unity and oneness of purpose. Redemptive Purpose.

Roots Run Deep

Wednesday

Today we visited the home of Herbert Gettridge who will turn 85 years old on August 31st. This spry man and his bride of 68 years greeted us warmly in their restored home. Mr. Gettridge, a natural story-teller told us of his Katrina experience AND his experience of Hurricane Betsey in 1965 in the same home. This was the house he built for himself and his wife from 1949 to 1952.

During Hurricane Betsey he was able to provide shelter to 31 of his family and neighbors in his attic. They had 6 feet of water during that flood and the house stood. Katrina was a different story. He and his wife left New Orleans for Madison, WI while the flood waters rose to 19 feet, at least a foot above the roof of his house. He told us that one day he saw his house on a TV news broadcast while in Madison, and told his wife, “that’s our house” and decided then to return to rebuild. Three years later they have their home back, redeemed.

The first person that showed up to help him was Dr. Simmons. Mr. Gettridge is a man of deep roots, a sign outside his home proclaims that to the world. This is a man of wisdom, who choose to build his home against conventional methods and use 4×4’s instead of 2×4’s like most. That is why his house, unlike many others, withstood Katrina’s flood. Like the wise man in Luke 6:48 he digged deep and laid the foundation on a rock. This is a man of faith and meeting him and hearing his story had a major impact on our team.

We worked today at Deborah’s house, pulling more electrical wiring, pulling old floor tiles, salvaging more bricks and prepping for tomorrow’s work on insulation and dry wall. Some sightseeing in the French Quarter, dinner and the last night of the revival rounded out the evening.

Enriched Tradition Engaged Community

Tuesday

This morning we had our first of several meals at Xavier University and then our first real chance to see the damage of Hurricane Katrina. We drove through the 9th Ward area hardest hit by the flood waters and saw abandoned house after abandoned house. Our hosts, Dr. Simmons, Reggie Jackson (from Omaha) and Cornelius Dumas (a local resident and officer in the Louisiana Laymen's Movement) explained what they saw and found when they first began the now three-year ongoing process of rebuilding their homes.

We saw markers on each house, an X with each of four quadrants representing key information for those who would enter: the date the home was searched, the name of the crew doing the search, and in the lower quadrant the number of people found dead inside, if any. Just seeing house after house with this marker gave us a sense of the magnitude of the devastion here and the daunting task of restoration.

Our worksite for the week would be the home of Deborah Cola. She, like so many others, has been working for three years to rebuild. She is persevering to provide a home not just for herself but for her 80+ year old father and aunt living with her. She spoke to us about her experience since Katrina, of the mental anguish that she and everyone in New Orleans continues to experience as they go about the process of rebuilding their homes while going on with the daily burdens of normal life. She urged us to tell people back home that Katrina is not over, the suffering continues. No longer the physical struggle as much as the mental and emotional struggle. Deborah is a woman of faith, hope and strength and is endeavouring to redeem this home for her family. We are blessed to be a small part of the process, part of our redemptive purpose.

We spent the day pulling electrical wires, salvaging bricks, moving dry wall and insulation into the prep area of the home and other tasks to get ready for major work the rest of the week. Dinner and the second night of the revival capped our evening.

Keeping the Faith in NOLA

Monday
(Our trip Blog was witten by Jackie Dorsey)

After eating at New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood we started our week with flavor!

We headed to Zion Traveler’s Missionary Baptist Church for a three-night revival meeting sponsored by the National Baptist’s Layman’s Movement. Dr. Harold Simmons of Kansas City is the President of the Movement and the key speaker. He kicked off the series by asking “What is your Redemptive Purpose?”

As we left the church and went back to our hotel to get rested for our first full day of work we were about to find out.

New Orleans 2008

The mission to help New Orleans reconstruction stretched our faith, showed us new ways to utilize our gifts, and gave us a fresh perspective of our country by moving us out of our community comfort zone. The trip was a work week with evening revival meetings, and some time for sightseeing.

During the trip we

• Met pastors and believers in and around hard-hit areas and discovered the joys and challenges of ministry there

• Visited sites teeming with inspiration, and discovered that "the soul is waterproof"

• Served believers and the lost community in a construction project and praying over their home, church and city

About a dozen people departed Monday, June 9th and returned Saturday, June 14th. We partnered with the Laymen's Movement of the National Baptist Convention to assist with improvements, repairs, and reconstruction to areas of the lower Ninth Ward devastated by hurricane Katrina.