The Mission Trip Team Returns

All 26 members of the New Orleans Mission Trip team are back, safe and sound, eager to sleep in our own beds, reconnect to our telephones and Internet, and walk out into the cool evening fog that blanketed the San Francisco Airport when we arrived late Saturday night. But while the weather will be cooler, the drywall will wash out of our clothes, and we will return to school and jobs and sports, there is a part of each of us that will never truly leave New Orleans.

Because this was the third trip for eight of us, and second trip for another four, much of our analysis of this trip has been done in comparisons. Our first year, we worked on one house, helping one family return to a normal life. Last year, we worked on two houses, helping two different families enjoy a feeling of home. This year, we worked on a total of 8 houses and a day care center, helping countless families and bringing not just a sense of home, but a sense of community. The first time we visited the Lower Ninth Ward at the place where a barge had crashed through a levee and flood waters had risen at the rate of one foot per minute, the only sound we heard was our own breathing. Last year, the chirps of birds and hums of bugs were audible. This year, a family now living in one of the nearby "Brad Pitt" houses was having a Fathers' Day barbecue, and the sounds of talking, laughter, and music rang in our ears as the veteran visitors shared this comparison with the newest participants. As one young person observed, "I hear happiness." It was so simple, yet something that had been missing from the Lower Ninth for far too long.

Our week was not without its challenges. Some of our work sites were without power, running water, or even bathroom facilities. Illnesses, injury, rain, lack of necessary tools, vague instructions, and one extremely incorrectly hung ceiling may have kept us from finishing our work on schedule, but everywhere we were asked to go, we were determined to complete the job at hand. We measured, sawed, nailed, framed, sanded, scraped, painted, caulked, sledge-hammered, demolished, scaffold-ed, dry-walled and re-dry-walled, patched, mudded, mowed, packed, cleaned, collected, and hauled until our muscles ached and sweat dripped from our brows. We also sat and talked with homeowners of all shapes and sizes and attitudes, upbeat and beaten down, helpful or critical, and heard stories no one told on TV -- about insurance companies, racial tensions, shady contractors, looters, and what the locals thought of the FEMA representatives.

At the end of each day we came home, shared stories, and decompressed. Whose team was pulled over for being white in a black neighborhood? Who had driven through the Vietnamese neighborhood no one knew was there? How many gas stations did you see on the way home that also sell fried chicken? Who made which hilarious comment or had a hidden talent for which job? We built card houses, played Balderdash and Catch Phrase, had "girl talks" and listened to our resident boy band "Tower of Shower" sing our favorite songs. We sprinkled our delicious meals with outrageously-named local seasonings, performed our best impressions, and danced in the kitchen as we made Cajun-inspired meals like crawfish pasta.

On our last day, we shared hugs and prayers for the people we met and helped, the people of the United Methodist Church disaster relief organization who helped and supported us all week, the people at home who supported and prayed for us, and for each other. As tears streamed down many of our faces, we knew that this was more than just a week of keeping busy over the summer. This was a week spent sharing our hearts and spirits with the people of New Orleans. We know that the love we have shared, and that the people of St. Raphael has helped us express to the people of New Orleans will never be forgotten, but will continue to be shared and grow through those whose lives we have touched. And we know that we will always be a part of that place, and that New Orleans will always be a part of each of our lives.

To learn more about our trip, visit the parish website or see our photos at http://www.flickr.com/groups/stfrancisstraphaelnola2010/