New Orleans - January 2008

SUNDAY, JAN 27
After being commissioned at the 0830 service, we left FPC at 1000 hours. Our team members are: Doug Allen, John Bretch, John Brookes, George Buller, Bill Callaway, Jerry Silvers and Harrison Williams. After an easy trip to New Orleans (hereinafter written as NO) we arrived at FPCNO and unpacked. Since we were the only mission group there this week, we were able to bunk in three different rooms (we have level 1, 2 and 3 snorers). We had a nice meal at the New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood Place. We thanked God for a safe journey and asked for his blessing on our work this week. After dinner we met Leroy Harbauer, the construction coordinator at FPCNO. He filled us in on the work we would be doing at a house in Old Gentilly on N. Tonti St. The house is owned by Dora Peters. It was built in the 1920’s and is a classic ‘double shotgun’ house. The house is gutted, but is needing a lot of internal shoring to stabilize it prior to putting in new floor joists. Leroy will provide supplies and enough direction to get us started tomorrow.

MONDAY, JAN 28
We arrived at 2451 N. Tonti at 0830 and began assessing the work to be done. Leroy had previously shored up part of the roof rafters and installed a load bearing shear wall down the middle of the house. We began nesting new studs and headers in the outside walls, and started putting in new floor joist support beams. By day’s end we had the floor supports installed on one side, ready for floor joist installation. The house is in a very depressed and distressed part of old Gentilly, and not much work has been done on most of the houses in the area. There is no power or water, so we have to use a generator and provide our own necessities. We cannot lock up the house, so we have to remove all tools and equipment at the end of each day. We board up the doors and windows before we leave.

TUESDAY, JAN 29
John Bretch cooked pancakes for breakfast. We were all a bit sore and stiff, but after the devotional we were energized and on our way. We are fortunate to have enough skill sets to help us do our work as efficiently as possible. We have two pairs of carpenters and three jacks of all trades. We got the floor joists installed on one side of the front of the house, and built another nested stud wall on the opposite side. It was warm this morning, and the 3 jacks spent some time clearing away a pile of debris that had accumulated in front of the house. As we secured the site for the night, we all felt good about our progress. After dinner we reflected on our day, and thanked God for keeping us healthy and safe.

WEDNESDAY, JAN 30
Doug cooked Cajun grits for breakfast, with enough left over for the next 2 days. It had rained during the night, which settled some of the dust at the house. Work continued on installing support beams for more floor joists, and by days end we had installed floor joists across the entire front end of the house. There is strong comradere’ amongst the group as we help each other with varied tasks. We had jambalaya, salad, rolls and king cake for dinner, prepared by FPCNO members Henry Kleinfeldt and his wife and sister. Rev. Cliff Nunn and his wife also had dinner with us. Dora Peters, owner of the N. Tonti house, had planned to dine with us. Sadly, she was comforting her sister, whose son had been killed the previous day. We said a prayer for Dora and her family. After dinner, we presented Rev. Cliff Nunn with a check for $8,200.00 for the final installment of the 2007 Mission Benevolence for FPCNO Katrina Aid.
A total of $31,200.00 was given to FPCNO in 2007. Leroy noted that about one-third of the $8200 would be used on the N. Tonti house.

THURSDAY, JAN 31
The team got into high gear this morning, and finished stabilizing the roof trusses to allow further work on floor support beams. Although this stabilization work took some time, it allows follow-on groups to continue with floor joists and stud walls in a safe manner. At the end of the day, about 60% of the floor area had joists installed. The next group will be able to complete the floor joists and stud walls on the front and back of the house. After dinner, we reflected on the amount of work that had been done at the N. Tonti house, and once again thanked God for keeping us safe and healthy throughout the week.

FRIDAY, FEB 1
We got up early, loaded the vehicles, and went to Café’ du Monde for coffee and benets.
We arrived safely at FPC Marietta at about 2030 hours. We hope others who read this blog will consider joining a mission team to NO in the future. There are a lot of people in NO who are still grieving, still discouraged, still needing our help. We guarantee that if you do go, you will be changed and you will want to get others to go with you the next time.