Tuesday Update #1

Hello Everyone!

Sorry for the delay in updates - we will have some pictures later today, but we are about to clean up from breakfast (kitchen duty is our assignment at the church today), then head to our worksite.

Sunday we worshipped here at Lagniappe Church with the other teams and some community people. There are about 140 people here this week, including four people from Alberta, Canada and a group of 40 (mostly high school youth) from the Boston area. After worship Sunday we toured through the Slidell area, where we worked two years ago, then went into New Orleans. The aftermath of Katrina is still evident, especially in New Orleans, although things are coming back slowly. After seeing some of the devestated areas of the Lower Ninth Ward we went to the French Quarter area of New Orleans. The city was full of people, as the NBA All-Star game was played in New Orleans that night. After eating at a cafe in the city we drove back to Lagniappe for our orientation. Sunday night we had bathroom cleaning duty, which everyone really pulled together to do well!

Yesterday (Monday) we started a job insulating and installing drywall in a home that Lagniappe is finishing for a retired woman in nearby Waveland. Her name is "Miss Delta," and her home was totally destroyed by Katrina and the tornadoes that spawned off the storm. About a year ago she lost her husband, then seven weeks later her son also died. Needless to say, she has endured a lot of pain in her life these past 2 or 3 years. We had some good conversation together, mostly listening to Delta's story of how they got out from Katrina, and how people have helped her. A group from Intercourse PA (not affiliated w Lagniappe Church) started to build her home, but they could not finish it, so Lagniappe Church is taking over the project.

Some prayer concerns for today: Pray for several of our people who have colds and coughs, and who are not feeling well. Pray that they would have strength, and that the whole team would minister to those not feeling well. Please pray for opportunities to continue to talk with Miss Delta and her family. Her grandson who is living with her (about 16 or 18) is eager to help w the house, but he is severely allergic to insulation, so he cannot help until we finish that part of the job.

Thank you for your prayers, and for bearing with us as we have been behind posting new updates and pictures. Lord willing, we will have a fresh update and new pictures tonight, probably after 9:00 PM Eastern time.