Youth Ministry Blog

Today we volunteered with the United Methodist relief agency, doing home repairs.  We were split into two groups.  One group experimented with popcorning a ceiling.  It was really messy, and it was hard to get the right consistency of mix.  But we had a good time anyway.  Nathan H. caught a lizard that only had 3 feet.  He carried it around for much of the day.  It chilled with us while we made a bathroom run at the local Lutheran church.

The other group had a variety of projects: painting window trim, breaking, hanging, mudding, and sanding drywall, and tiling in the kitchen and bathroom.  





This group was excited when the ice cream truck came by.  We contributed greatly to the local economy via the ice cream man.  Both groups got to meet the homeowners of the places where were working.  One homeowner shared pictures of her house right after the flooding, which in her neighborhood was caused by the levees breaking rather than Hurricane Katrina itself.  The damage was incredible.  We were all amazed at how much work still needs to be done in New Orleans, four years later.

After getting cleaned up, we went to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant, Irene’s.  The food was very good but the prices were a little higher than we would have liked.  We were impressed by how many people (even at the restaurant) thanked us for the work we were doing here in New Orleans.  (The youth gathering got a lot of press here because it is the largest convention they’ve had in New Orleans since Katrina).  

We then got to experience some local music at Preservation Hall.  The jazz was incredible.  Michael really enjoyed the left-handed drummer.  It seems like the experience was a love-or-hate-it type thing: some people didn’t like it so much (particularly since it was hot and we had to stand), and for others the show was the highlight of their day.

Overall, the week was fun.  We laughed, we cried, we walked, we snored, we jumped, we complained, we screamed, and we ate and ate and ate.  Good times.