My responsibilities have expanded to overseeing the construction equipment and supplies for the ministry, as well leading teams of volunteers at jobsites. Emily has recently taken on the role of debriefing teams at the end of the week, interviewing them about their experience here. The kids are getting less and less enthusiastic about hanging out with dad at the construction sites and would rather go with mommy to the library or the neighborhood pool.
Teams typically all here and accounted for on Sunday afternoons, having flown or drove in from all over the country. The groups are fed and then given an orientation on what the area was like before and just after Hurricane Katrina, with emphasis given on the scale of the devastation and the continuing need for volunteers to participate in the long term rebuilding efforts.
Monday mornings are a flurry, as volunteers are briefed on their specific job assignments and tools and supplies are checked out to teams by yours truly. Teams roll up to the job site around 10am a bit frustrated that they are “late” and had spend a good chunk of the morning in safety meetings and getting tools, and want to hit the ground running having spent months planning the trip and having traveled from far away. The team then meets the homeowner and we take the time to pray together as a group and connect relationally. Soon after is the time we staffers/jobsite supervisors show the teams the ropes (or are being shown depending on relative skill level) for the task at hand. By the time lunch rolls around the team is just getting their feet at the jobsite and feel a bit overwhelmed that they haven’t got a lot done. We give them some reassurance and show them the work other teams may have done at that home and try to encourage them that they will get an earlier start the rest of the week and that it isn’t all about the work but more importantly connecting with the homeowner. In the evening there is a presentation by the Urban Impact Ministries Pastor, John Gerhardt, about his church’s vision for the rebuilding and long term ministry to the inner city of New Orleans.
Tuesdays teams get an earlier start (leaving between 7:30 and 8am) and are just beginning to get in the groove of a typical workday by that afternoon. We long term volunteers venture back to the church for our weekly staff meeting, which involves sharing our lives together through praise and prayer time as well as looking ahead to the needs of the coming week and beyond. In the evening, Pastor Michael Sprague gives a presentation on how God had shepherded the congregation of Trinity Church through the trauma of Katrina and His incredible provision of dedicated volunteers over the nearly three years now after the storm.
By Wednesday teams are beginning to see the fruit of their labor not only with the home rebuilding but hopefully in connecting more with homeowner. Volunteers are not only learning new skills, they are encouraged to go outside of their comfort zone and talk with the folks in the community, mostly listening but also sharing the good news of Jesus when the opportunity arises.
I have personally noticed more recently that folks are becoming less inclined to reflect on what happened during the storm, wanting more and more to put that experience behind them. Residents would rather talk about the future and would like to see their New Orleans progressing ahead, despite the recent cost of living increases making staying in the city a challenge.
Thursday, teams are going full steam trying to finish up their work assignments. The construction supervisors, about 6 to 8 of us, meet in the morning for our construction look ahead for next week. Later in the day, my family and I commandeer a truck and haul the ministry’s trash trailer on a tour around the city, stopping at nearly each jobsite so the teams can unload their construction debris.
In the evening we have a “Thursday Night Block Party” at one or more of the jobsites with volunteers cooking up hotdogs on the front porch to hand out to passers by and folks in the neighborhood with a cold drink and chips, for the chance to talk with them about how they’re doing and connect. The summer brings a lot of youth groups to volunteer, and often a bustling football or Frisbee game usually ensues in the middle of the street during the block party.
Friday, teams are putting the finishing touches on their projects, cleaning up the jobsite, and returning tools checked out to the church. In the afternoon, teams are free to explore, have dinner on their own, or pack for the journey back home. On Saturday, teams are leaving (we just got to know them) and next week’s teams are arriving for a new adventure / spirit-lead time.
We (the Sherwood family) are getting a bit homesick and are looking forward to making our own journey back home, with the plan of leaving Louisiana for California on Monday, August 23rd, and taking our time stopping again at my dad’s in Texas and one of my best buddy Jason’s in Arizona before crossing back into California. Again, keep us in your prayers for continued safety and provision and know that we feel truly blessed to be here and are really enjoying this time as a family growing in Christ.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Two months down... four to go
Wow, too much blog about... every day could fill up at least a couple of pages, but here goes I'll keep it brief.
This last week our daughter Mary turned 4 and I (Bob) turned 38. Mary's really enjoyed her presents from the grandparents, thx! Our first family newsletter went out last week as well (a bit of an effort and cheesy excuse for not keeping up on the blog).
We are driving up to see Emily's brother Robbie and his family in South Bend, IN from May 17 thru May 25 with Em's folks Tom and Marilyn flying in from San Diego and other brother Jeff driving in from Boston. We are all looking forward to seeing family again, the kids excited to play with cousins Annabeth and baby Sammy, and Em and I excited to hear Robbie and Lindsey preaching at their new church where they are co-pastors. I am looking forward to hanging out with the boys ontop of Robbie's house for a few days weather permitting while we reroof his house.
Mary has been taking ballet dance lessons and James is in soccertots, and both just finished there first experience with Awana at Trinity Church. Both still go with dad once a week to the job sites (a bit less than before) and the homeowners, staff and volunteers always enjoy seeing them. Emily hosted a great barbeque this last Saturday, with most of the staff and families of crisis response coming over to our place for some grillin' and chillin'... we learned how to do some real Louisiana style ribs.
It has been amazing to see how God has sent teams of volunteer from all around the country (to date 11,853 volunteers from 41 states through this ministry) with enthusiasm to jump right in and help out the people of New Orleans. The individual teams I have seen, be it mostly college kids, middle schoolers with parents in tow, families or retirees, have been extremely well suited not only to do the tasks at hand but also touch the lives of those they are serving. I am constantly in awe. The teams have lately been landscaping, drywalling / texturing / painting, tiling, plumbing, roofing, framing, hanging windows / doors, etc. Personally, I have not only picked up a few skills from the volunteers, but also been priveledged to see them share the gospel and Christ's love to others. It has also been an incredible blessing for me and my family to meet some really cool folks from all over our great country, get to know them and get a flavor for what life is like for them back home.
During the time the middle schoolers were painting Miss Johnson's house, one of her nephews (about my age) stopped by and really gave an inspirational talk to the kids explaining how he had gone off to college out of state but came back to New Orleans because that was where his family was at and that growing up in that neighborhood there was a real sense of community. He spoke of how it takes a "village to raise a child" and how he wanted his own kids to experience that. He also spoke of the accountability and responsbilities of being a part of a community and how extended families were knit throughout the neighborhood and looked out for one another (especially during the storm) and how family get togethers would be huge memorable affairs. It was quite an experience, and really lifted up the volunteers and made me feel proud to be a part of the effort to bring back New Orleans.
On Fridays, the sister church down in the inner city (Castlerock Church) puts on an event called "Super Friday" where the volunteers, after working on individuals houses from Mon-Thurs, shift gears and go out into the community and block by block pick up debris off the streets while interacting with folks they meet. As a family, we ran one of the hot dog trucks a few weeks back, driving around New Orleans with a bbq in the back of the pickup, cooking up and handing out hot dogs and drinks to the volunteer crews and people in the city we'd run in to (lot's of fun).
Well it's getting late and I can probably think of about twenty more things to write about (the incredible volunteer teams, staffers, homeowners, folks at Trinity and Castlerock Church, our great accordion teacher in Slidell, going out on the town and seeing a local band, replacing a homeless guy's bike we ran over with the hot dog truck, going to Barataria Bay National Park and seeing a really cool swamp, etc.) but my brain is now shutting down... good night y'all.
This last week our daughter Mary turned 4 and I (Bob) turned 38. Mary's really enjoyed her presents from the grandparents, thx! Our first family newsletter went out last week as well (a bit of an effort and cheesy excuse for not keeping up on the blog).
We are driving up to see Emily's brother Robbie and his family in South Bend, IN from May 17 thru May 25 with Em's folks Tom and Marilyn flying in from San Diego and other brother Jeff driving in from Boston. We are all looking forward to seeing family again, the kids excited to play with cousins Annabeth and baby Sammy, and Em and I excited to hear Robbie and Lindsey preaching at their new church where they are co-pastors. I am looking forward to hanging out with the boys ontop of Robbie's house for a few days weather permitting while we reroof his house.
Mary has been taking ballet dance lessons and James is in soccertots, and both just finished there first experience with Awana at Trinity Church. Both still go with dad once a week to the job sites (a bit less than before) and the homeowners, staff and volunteers always enjoy seeing them. Emily hosted a great barbeque this last Saturday, with most of the staff and families of crisis response coming over to our place for some grillin' and chillin'... we learned how to do some real Louisiana style ribs.
It has been amazing to see how God has sent teams of volunteer from all around the country (to date 11,853 volunteers from 41 states through this ministry) with enthusiasm to jump right in and help out the people of New Orleans. The individual teams I have seen, be it mostly college kids, middle schoolers with parents in tow, families or retirees, have been extremely well suited not only to do the tasks at hand but also touch the lives of those they are serving. I am constantly in awe. The teams have lately been landscaping, drywalling / texturing / painting, tiling, plumbing, roofing, framing, hanging windows / doors, etc. Personally, I have not only picked up a few skills from the volunteers, but also been priveledged to see them share the gospel and Christ's love to others. It has also been an incredible blessing for me and my family to meet some really cool folks from all over our great country, get to know them and get a flavor for what life is like for them back home.
During the time the middle schoolers were painting Miss Johnson's house, one of her nephews (about my age) stopped by and really gave an inspirational talk to the kids explaining how he had gone off to college out of state but came back to New Orleans because that was where his family was at and that growing up in that neighborhood there was a real sense of community. He spoke of how it takes a "village to raise a child" and how he wanted his own kids to experience that. He also spoke of the accountability and responsbilities of being a part of a community and how extended families were knit throughout the neighborhood and looked out for one another (especially during the storm) and how family get togethers would be huge memorable affairs. It was quite an experience, and really lifted up the volunteers and made me feel proud to be a part of the effort to bring back New Orleans.
On Fridays, the sister church down in the inner city (Castlerock Church) puts on an event called "Super Friday" where the volunteers, after working on individuals houses from Mon-Thurs, shift gears and go out into the community and block by block pick up debris off the streets while interacting with folks they meet. As a family, we ran one of the hot dog trucks a few weeks back, driving around New Orleans with a bbq in the back of the pickup, cooking up and handing out hot dogs and drinks to the volunteer crews and people in the city we'd run in to (lot's of fun).
Well it's getting late and I can probably think of about twenty more things to write about (the incredible volunteer teams, staffers, homeowners, folks at Trinity and Castlerock Church, our great accordion teacher in Slidell, going out on the town and seeing a local band, replacing a homeless guy's bike we ran over with the hot dog truck, going to Barataria Bay National Park and seeing a really cool swamp, etc.) but my brain is now shutting down... good night y'all.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Our first few weeks serving...
What an incredible time we've been having here in Louisiana! At all levels these first few weeks have been an exciting time of seeing the church go out into the community and really connect with folks in need, sharing the love of Christ. Praise God we've been priveledged with serving Him here as a family.
We're all settled in at our rental house in Abita Springs, across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans. The place is great, a new house with two acres of wooded land in the back (a real change from our life in the city back in California), and close to Trinity Church, the response center we are working out of. Our landlords, an extremely nice Jewish man and his wife living in New Orleans, recently bought the place as a future retirement home and christened it Zoar (from Genesis 19 where Lot fled to with his daughters during the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah) giving you an idea of how he feels about the situation in New Orleans.
Everyone has adjusted well... James (5 1/2) is having a great time with his new friends (Caleb, Adam, Ethan, and Conner). They love riding bikes in the church parking lot, exploring the woods and playing pirates together. James has been to the job sites with me several times helping out, and I am really hoping he will glean an appreciation for volunteering, working with others/adults as a team, and learning patience as he hangs out with his dad a few hours every other day. He has also joined AWANA as a skipper, and is memorizing scripture faster than I am (incentive for dad to get caught up and learn with him). I love having him with me and he really has opened up many ministry opportunities by innocently (and directly) asking folks such things as where they go to church, etc. The other day he asked me why there were only black people in one of the neighborhoods we were serving in (back in Long Beach CA our neighborhood is quite mixed)... he made me really think about it! He is truly a blessing, even though he can get grumpy and impatient once in a while.
Emily and Mary have come with me a few times to the city as well to work with teams. Em has been connecting with Chris, Denise and Mandy (all wives of other long term volunteers), and has enjoyed participating in some of the homeschooling activities happening locally and with other volunteer's kids. She got to go yard sailing yesterday at the annual Abita community yard sale with some of the other volunteers, and has been enjoying the rich culture and people here. Mary we are hoping to enroll in a kid's ballet class and maybe have a 4 year old ballerina birthday for her the end of next month.
Myself, I am finally getting the rhythm down of a week in the life of a volunteer with Crisis Response Ministries, with my week starting Sunday nights as teams come in from around the country to serve, and ending Thursday night or Friday around noon. Each of the last three weeks I have been assigned to accompany an incredible team of people with a heart of compassion for serving others and ability not only to do a great job but truly connect with the people whose homes we are working on and hear their story and let them know that we are here because Christ loves them.
This last week it was a team from Liberty Bible Church in Indiana working on Lacher's home in East New Orleans (or Gentilly if I have it right). Joe one of the team members is a contractor with his own custom home building business and Tom, another team member, is an architect who used to design residential homes. They drafted up a layout for Lacher's house, which was gutted and only bare studs when they started, and gave her a great layout for the rebuilding of her home (they came at just the right time in the project - praise God) and they and the rest of the team (about a dozen folks men and women) jumped right on moving walls, scraping and painting the exterior of the house, clearing the yard, and plumbing the house... all in the four days they had, whata team!
The team the week before was a group of college students from Blackhawk Church in Madison WI (cool name for a church eh?!). They helped secure the house after it had been gutted by installing windows and doors and did a real quality job. They really connected with Lacher as well, hearing her testimonies and partaking in 10 pounds of crawfish she brought for them.
We're all settled in at our rental house in Abita Springs, across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans. The place is great, a new house with two acres of wooded land in the back (a real change from our life in the city back in California), and close to Trinity Church, the response center we are working out of. Our landlords, an extremely nice Jewish man and his wife living in New Orleans, recently bought the place as a future retirement home and christened it Zoar (from Genesis 19 where Lot fled to with his daughters during the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah) giving you an idea of how he feels about the situation in New Orleans.
Everyone has adjusted well... James (5 1/2) is having a great time with his new friends (Caleb, Adam, Ethan, and Conner). They love riding bikes in the church parking lot, exploring the woods and playing pirates together. James has been to the job sites with me several times helping out, and I am really hoping he will glean an appreciation for volunteering, working with others/adults as a team, and learning patience as he hangs out with his dad a few hours every other day. He has also joined AWANA as a skipper, and is memorizing scripture faster than I am (incentive for dad to get caught up and learn with him). I love having him with me and he really has opened up many ministry opportunities by innocently (and directly) asking folks such things as where they go to church, etc. The other day he asked me why there were only black people in one of the neighborhoods we were serving in (back in Long Beach CA our neighborhood is quite mixed)... he made me really think about it! He is truly a blessing, even though he can get grumpy and impatient once in a while.Emily and Mary have come with me a few times to the city as well to work with teams. Em has been connecting with Chris, Denise and Mandy (all wives of other long term volunteers), and has enjoyed participating in some of the homeschooling activities happening locally and with other volunteer's kids. She got to go yard sailing yesterday at the annual Abita community yard sale with some of the other volunteers, and has been enjoying the rich culture and people here. Mary we are hoping to enroll in a kid's ballet class and maybe have a 4 year old ballerina birthday for her the end of next month.
Myself, I am finally getting the rhythm down of a week in the life of a volunteer with Crisis Response Ministries, with my week starting Sunday nights as teams come in from around the country to serve, and ending Thursday night or Friday around noon. Each of the last three weeks I have been assigned to accompany an incredible team of people with a heart of compassion for serving others and ability not only to do a great job but truly connect with the people whose homes we are working on and hear their story and let them know that we are here because Christ loves them.
This last week it was a team from Liberty Bible Church in Indiana working on Lacher's home in East New Orleans (or Gentilly if I have it right). Joe one of the team members is a contractor with his own custom home building business and Tom, another team member, is an architect who used to design residential homes. They drafted up a layout for Lacher's house, which was gutted and only bare studs when they started, and gave her a great layout for the rebuilding of her home (they came at just the right time in the project - praise God) and they and the rest of the team (about a dozen folks men and women) jumped right on moving walls, scraping and painting the exterior of the house, clearing the yard, and plumbing the house... all in the four days they had, whata team!
The team the week before was a group of college students from Blackhawk Church in Madison WI (cool name for a church eh?!). They helped secure the house after it had been gutted by installing windows and doors and did a real quality job. They really connected with Lacher as well, hearing her testimonies and partaking in 10 pounds of crawfish she brought for them.Emily and I are looking forward to getting out and traveling around southern LA a bit in the near future... we did just go to the Lake Ponchartrain Maritime Museum and had a great time there discovering some of the local history. We picked up a community calendar and are planning to attend some of the local music events and the airshow in Slidell with other volunteers and their kids.
We are also slowly/steadily getting connected at Trinity Church and have very much appreciated the messages and ABF discussions from pastors Michael Sprague and Stephen Lay.
Keep us in your prayers for continued safety and provision and know that we feel truly blessed to be here and are really enjoying this time as a family growing in Christ.
We are also slowly/steadily getting connected at Trinity Church and have very much appreciated the messages and ABF discussions from pastors Michael Sprague and Stephen Lay.
Keep us in your prayers for continued safety and provision and know that we feel truly blessed to be here and are really enjoying this time as a family growing in Christ.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
LA or bust roadtrip
Well we did it... we finally packed up and headed from Long Beach, CA to Louisiana after much planning, packing and praying. It seemed like that day would never come after our departure date had been moved back so many times, mainly since we had planned on selling our house prior to leaving (which was our own roadblock and ultimately didn't happen). I believe the Lord's will is truly in the timing of our being in New Orleans when the crisis response ministry team needs us the most (from spring break through the end of summer) and that the days leading up to our stepping out as a family were an opportunity to be humbled and learn to lean on Jesus.
It was a great trip out... we stopped over at the Vaught's (Jason & Jodi with kids Patrick, Justin & Gavin) in Phoenix, AZ for a couple of days for some great hang time. Emily and Jodi and the kids had a good time together, and Jason and I even got to do some car mods just like old times when our van needed air shocks for towing all of our stuff (though we let the mechanics do most of the work while we cruised around town).
Next we drove overnight through Texas and arrived at my dad's new place on the lake in Weatherford, TX. The kids (James 5 1/2 and Mary 3 1/2) had never traveled out of California and call my dad "Grandpa Texas" which he gets a chuckle out of, he and Sarah both being from California originally. We ate some great food, went for walks, and did some fishing off their boat dock and caught a decent size bass.
So not only was the company great along the way, but the weather was perfect as well. The only bad weather day when it actually snowed in Texas, we weren't on the road but just hanging with my dad the whole day. We also bought a Garmin nuvi 360 GPS for the trip which turned out to be the coolest, it has all the streets and addresses in the whole country in it and can get you to the nearest gas station or dairy queen at the touch of a button, has hands-free calling, and doesn't get too mad when you make a wrong turn. The thing will no doubt be incredibly useful in New Orleans as well (highly recommend).
Well praise God we made it safe... we had a warm reception when we landed in Covington, LA with a whole team of volunteers to greet us and help unload. Special thanks to everyone!
It was a great trip out... we stopped over at the Vaught's (Jason & Jodi with kids Patrick, Justin & Gavin) in Phoenix, AZ for a couple of days for some great hang time. Emily and Jodi and the kids had a good time together, and Jason and I even got to do some car mods just like old times when our van needed air shocks for towing all of our stuff (though we let the mechanics do most of the work while we cruised around town).
Next we drove overnight through Texas and arrived at my dad's new place on the lake in Weatherford, TX. The kids (James 5 1/2 and Mary 3 1/2) had never traveled out of California and call my dad "Grandpa Texas" which he gets a chuckle out of, he and Sarah both being from California originally. We ate some great food, went for walks, and did some fishing off their boat dock and caught a decent size bass.
So not only was the company great along the way, but the weather was perfect as well. The only bad weather day when it actually snowed in Texas, we weren't on the road but just hanging with my dad the whole day. We also bought a Garmin nuvi 360 GPS for the trip which turned out to be the coolest, it has all the streets and addresses in the whole country in it and can get you to the nearest gas station or dairy queen at the touch of a button, has hands-free calling, and doesn't get too mad when you make a wrong turn. The thing will no doubt be incredibly useful in New Orleans as well (highly recommend).
Well praise God we made it safe... we had a warm reception when we landed in Covington, LA with a whole team of volunteers to greet us and help unload. Special thanks to everyone!
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