Off and Running!

We have arrived and are safe down in the Big Easy! Flying into New Orleans was very interesting and eye opening...from the hundreds of blue tarps on the rooftops to only a handful of planes and people in the airport. Immediatley upon arrival our group was split up-the younger guys and gals (Nck, John, Kelly, Ryan, Corey, Lisa, Jennifer) headed across Lake Pontrachaine to relieve some day care workers at the YMCA Child Development Center in Covington, while the old, wise men and women (Wendy, George, Jeff, Steve, Richard, Lawrie) stayed back at the East Jefferson Y to help clean and scrub all the equipment in the facility that was damaged by some flooding.

At the Child Development Center, AKA Kamp Katrina, we get to serve kids ages infant-5th grade whose parents either work in hospitals, fire/police department, or they are parrish workers and are helping with clean up in the city. Upon arrival, we could see how tired and worn down the YMCA staff were. It was such an amazing feeling to be greeted with big hugs and be referred to as "a Godsend." The campers were also very excited to see new fresh, smiling faces. They too greeted us with big hugs! Although it was an adjustment getting used to the system down here, there is no doubt in our mind that God has put us in the right place to serve!

Over on the other side of the lake at the East Jefferson Y, they were without power for most of they day. There's nothing like cleaning and scrubbing in the dark baby! It was a great time for our team to connect with David Parsons, the Executive Director at East Jefferson. He had many stories to share, telling us the good, the bad, and the ugly from the aftermath of Katrina.

For Dinner, David invited our group over to his house for a cookout. We also dined with 2 nice men from South Dakota, who drove down an RV to leave for one of the East Jefferson staff members who lost thier house. Servant hearts are everywhere!!! For the night, the two teams split up-the "cleaners and scrubbers" team stayed at East Jefferson, and the Kamp Katrina group headed back across the lake and stayed at the St. Tammany Y due to the Kamp Katrina's team work hours-7:30am-7:30pm (and we thought 13 weeks of summer was long!) This morning, we are sending the van back to East Jefferson to grab 3 from our team to help out at Kamp Katrina-we really just want to see George Allen and Richard Hamilton changing diapers! Tonight, ALL of the team will stay at the St. Tammany Y together...then we'll see what the Lord has in store for us! Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers...we need em, and we can feel them all day long!