Holland and I spent the weekend in New Orleans, preparing to bring our team there in May/June. We did some fun things–such as the Crawfish Boil depicted above–but we also worked hard to nail down some details for our trip.

How to describe the weekend…

Exhausting…enlightening…encouraging…sobering…intense…

I am left with much to process. Seeing the effects of Hurricane Katrina in person is an absolutely __________ experience. How do you describe it? As we took a “driving tour” of the damage, we saw hundreds/thousands of houses with the doors and windows still boarded-up, the spray-painted x still on the house (indicating that it had been checked, etc.)…but what impacted me the most was a portion of the Ninth Ward where there is nothing left…NOTHING…no houses, no signs of life…absolutely incredible.

We saw the FEMA trailers (that were dispersed very late)…we saw the areas that were hit the hardest–but also those who look like the storm ignored them completely…we saw a city struggling to get back on its feet, a city attempting to redefine itself for the future…

The television coverage doesn’t do it justice…you have to go there, to see the destruction that still remains almost three years after Hurricane Katrina and the breaking of the levees. It’s absolutely incredible, and very humbling.

On a more positive note, it was absolutely amazing to see the number of college students and other volunteers who are spending their Spring Break serving the people of New Orleans. I believe that the fact that we are coming to be with the people of New Orleans means more than the work that might be accomplished.

This being said, I am anxious to get there with the team to serve…to love…to bring with us the hope that we have in Jesus…it’s going to be an awesome trip.

I’ll post a link to more pictures later, after my team has seen them 🙂