This has become a Vine Street tradition. Every year after Christmas, a group of children, youth, and adults travel to New Orleans to get dirty for Jesus. The tradition started in 2006, when we came to NOLA to help with putting the finishing touches on West Side Mission Center. Since then, we have come to help rebuild homes, and every time we stay at the West Side Mission Center with our good friend, Brother Vance.
This year, there are about twenty of us (more are coming during the course of the week), and we are working on Mrs. Banks's house. Her home was flooded after Katrina, but she never had the resources to rebuild. The first floor of the house was gutted, and she and her family continued to live on the scecond floor. Now, thanks to churches paying attention and pooling resources, we are able to gut the remainder of the building, do some necessary repairs, and get it ready for new insulation and sheet rock, fresh paint, new floors, new windows and doors.
While it is sad to think that so many years after Katrina people are still living in these circumstances, it is a joy to be part of making a difference in a very significant way.
We created a web album with some of our pictures. Come and see!
While we were in NOLA, the New York Times published this article (December 29) about issues in helping the most vulnerable.