Reflections on New Orleans

It has been almost 5 years since hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans...and there is still a lot of work to be done here. It has been an unusual experience to drive through neighborhoods with abandoned and condemned homes standing right next to beautiful, large homes. It is amazing to observe this throughout parts of the city. So many people never returned to their homes, or never had the money to rebuild their homes. We met a woman last week with a Crisis Response team working on her home. She and her husband have been living in a 14 x 22 FEMA trailer for almost five years. She told us she has been going stir crazy and was just waiting for the team to get the plumbing and electric set up in her home so she could move back in. Can you imagine living in a trailer on the front lawn of your actual home for five years waiting for your home to be safe enough to live in? I can't imagine the joy that family will experience when they are able to sleep in their own bedroom again.

On Saturday we drove down to the 9th ward to witness the remaining devastation. The 9th ward is a section of the city hit the hardest by Katrina. The neighborhoods are extremely overgrown and most homes are boarded up and abandoned. It is desolate and yet some people have rebuilt their homes.

The staircase is detatched from the rest of the house

A portion of the neighborhood has brand new homes that were funded by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Seeing these beautiful, unique homes standing in the midst of such devastation is unreal.

We are grateful to be experiencing this in New Orleans. It is easy to forget that this happened, but once you are here you are quickly reminded. These photos are a very small taste of what we have seen this past week. We have met wonderful people who are working hard to help others and we have had plenty of opportunities to meet people in great need and pray with them.

Please keep praying for us. Our days are busy and we are working hard...so we need energy.