Today was a really emotional day from start to finish. I was up early...so I attended the 8:45 worship service. Like Harvard-Epworth, Rayne's early service is smaller and includes Holy Communion. It is held in their chapel...a smaller worship space with beautiful stained glass windows and, hanging above the altar, a red stained glass cross with a dogwood blossom in the middle. Callie preached a wonderful sermon from the Gospel text--the paralyzed man lowered through the roof in a home where Jesus is teaching. She made a wonderful tie-in with the hole that is now in Rayne's sanctuary roof...talking about all of the miracles that have come to Rayne as a result of the hole in their roof. Harvard-Epworth and all of the volunteer teams that have come to New Orleans to help were raised up as one of the miracles.
The 11 a.m. service was also a wonderful experience. Cameron played the Prelude...and did a terrific job. Kathy and I sang with the choir...and that was a lot of fun. At the beginning of the service, Callie introduced the H-E group and a group from West Virginia that was here as well this weekend. She also asked the groups to come up front during the singing of the last hymn, so that the congregation could greet and thank us after the Postlude.
Immediately following the service we had lunch that a parishoner had brought in for us--jambalya and salad and garlic bread. There were also jars of pepper jelly for each of us to bring home. We all ate and then headed out for the two Mardi Gras parades that were going down St. Charles--right in front of the church.
After the parades we had time for a quick trip to the grocery store, and a chance to catch our breath before heading out for a tour of some of the hardest hit areas of the city.
Even those of us who had seen the pictures from the tour by the first team were unprepared for the extent of the devestation. Several of us had seen the pictures, and heard the team talk about block after block of utter devestation and destruction in the Lower 9th Ward. But it in no way compared to the experience of standing on the street in the midst of what used to be a vibrant neighborhood, and is now a ghost town. It is hard to imagine that many of the homes in this area of the city will be able to be repaired to a livable condition...this if and when the city deems it a "viable" neighborhood. But, at the same time, it is more obvious when you view it in person that these were people's homes...their property...their neighborhoods...and something must replace what they've lost, or what might be taken from them.
There are hard questions...and perhaps even harder answers that are going to have to be addressed, and which will determine the future of this city.
We came "home" to Rayne in a very somber and sober mood. We invited the group from West Virginia to join us for dinner...and cheered up a bit cooking and sharing a meal together. Later, several members from each of our groups headed into the French Quarter to walk around a bit and to have beignets (New Orleans French doughnuts) at Cafe du Monde. We walked over to the Mississippi River levee and stood looking out over the river for a few minutes. One of the folks from West Virginia commented that it was restorative in some way to see the calmness of the river after the destruction we'd witnessed this afternoon...I think he was right. Perhaps it's a bit ironic that a powerful and large river could give a sense of calm after seeing what rushing water had wrought--but it did have a calming, peaceful effect to stand there beside it.
I've babbled on for long enough...I'm probably more tired than I should be when "blogging."
More tomorrow...we report to the Uptown UMCOR station at 8:30 a.m. for our site assignment and the beginning of our 4 days of work.
G'night...Lisa
The 11 a.m. service was also a wonderful experience. Cameron played the Prelude...and did a terrific job. Kathy and I sang with the choir...and that was a lot of fun. At the beginning of the service, Callie introduced the H-E group and a group from West Virginia that was here as well this weekend. She also asked the groups to come up front during the singing of the last hymn, so that the congregation could greet and thank us after the Postlude.
Immediately following the service we had lunch that a parishoner had brought in for us--jambalya and salad and garlic bread. There were also jars of pepper jelly for each of us to bring home. We all ate and then headed out for the two Mardi Gras parades that were going down St. Charles--right in front of the church.
After the parades we had time for a quick trip to the grocery store, and a chance to catch our breath before heading out for a tour of some of the hardest hit areas of the city.
Even those of us who had seen the pictures from the tour by the first team were unprepared for the extent of the devestation. Several of us had seen the pictures, and heard the team talk about block after block of utter devestation and destruction in the Lower 9th Ward. But it in no way compared to the experience of standing on the street in the midst of what used to be a vibrant neighborhood, and is now a ghost town. It is hard to imagine that many of the homes in this area of the city will be able to be repaired to a livable condition...this if and when the city deems it a "viable" neighborhood. But, at the same time, it is more obvious when you view it in person that these were people's homes...their property...their neighborhoods...and something must replace what they've lost, or what might be taken from them.
There are hard questions...and perhaps even harder answers that are going to have to be addressed, and which will determine the future of this city.
We came "home" to Rayne in a very somber and sober mood. We invited the group from West Virginia to join us for dinner...and cheered up a bit cooking and sharing a meal together. Later, several members from each of our groups headed into the French Quarter to walk around a bit and to have beignets (New Orleans French doughnuts) at Cafe du Monde. We walked over to the Mississippi River levee and stood looking out over the river for a few minutes. One of the folks from West Virginia commented that it was restorative in some way to see the calmness of the river after the destruction we'd witnessed this afternoon...I think he was right. Perhaps it's a bit ironic that a powerful and large river could give a sense of calm after seeing what rushing water had wrought--but it did have a calming, peaceful effect to stand there beside it.
I've babbled on for long enough...I'm probably more tired than I should be when "blogging."
More tomorrow...we report to the Uptown UMCOR station at 8:30 a.m. for our site assignment and the beginning of our 4 days of work.
G'night...Lisa
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