Sunday, 24 February 2008

• I love mission teams

  Hello friends,

    I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update this, I get really busy and forget about my internet world.  There is so much that I could write on this since so much has happened since my last post.  Yet if I gave you an entire play by play it would get rather long and boring for you all so I will stick to a specific topic.  One of things I like best about my job is when mission teams come.  We get groups from all over the U.S. and they add spice to my time here, since usually I work with the same people doing the same things. Right before Christmas break a group from my old college, Northwestern, came down and I had a great time with them.  It was neat to see familiar faces and some new ones as well.  Yet it was also strange because it was like my two worlds were colliding.  It had seemed like forever that I had been at Northwestern but I found it easy to pick up where I left off, hearing people talk about familiar people and events.  And it was weird to have my Northwestern friends be in New Orleans, with the new people and events in my life.  But I had a great time hanging out with them and seeing how good of a mission team that they were. 

           Another great thing about mission teams is it is neat to see what creative ways they come up with to go above and beyond what we expect them to do to help the neighborhood.  Each team seems to add their own unique impact on Hollygrove (the hood I live in).  One group bought Christmas presents for all the people's who houses they worked on and went caroling to each house.  Another group bought a welcome home house mat for the family.  A really great thing one of the teams did was after they left they were so impacted by the homeowner that they set up a website to help raise money to help her fix up her house.  They then came back about a month later and gave the money to the homeowner AND stayed another week to help us work on houses. If you would like a way to donate financially to help New Orleans then their website is worth checking out at http://web.mac.com/mackenziebudd/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html (and tell your friends).  Another team met a family who didn't have enough money for the bare essentials that they needed so the team went out and bought them things like socks and personal hygiene items.  It gives me hope to see all these people who come with such willing and loving servant hearts.  We hear so much each day about the bad things that people do but there are people out there who do good things that make a powerful impact for good causes.  Please pray for the volunteer groups that come to TCC, pray that they would continue to come and do good works.  Pray that they would be so impacted by their time here that they would continue to find ways to help New Orleans, be it by spreading the word about their time here so that others may come or find ways to keep giving even after they are gone.  And pray that they would leave the neighborhood a better place. 

  "It's the beauty in the tales we tell , it's the pushing through and ending well and finding strength to give ourselves away.  Friend I know your heart is raw ,but love is still a worthy cause. Picking up and pressing on oh love is still a worthy cause. It's the touch that starts the thaw , love is still a worthy cause . Or the word that breaks the pause,
  Love." -Sara Groves, Love is Still a Worthy Cause
  

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