meilander's blog

We're Back!!!

Hi everyone. Just thought I`d let you all know that we are all back safe and sound in Vernon. The trip home was uneventful, and most of us napped, seeing we left at 4 in the morning! We got to the Canada border at 5.30PM, and literally had to be escorted to the Canadian side by US borderpatrol, and had to hand our Parole papers back in. So now we are no longer deemed `parolees`. Although we were all tired, our spirits are still high, and will share our stories with you in due time.

Last day in the Big Easy

So that's it. We are done. In about 12 Hours, we will be heading to the New Orleans airport for our trip home. Unfortunately the last day is pretty much the same as the first. No, no injuries, but Michelle is sick. We pray that the trip home won't be too hard on her....She pretty much spent today in bed trying to sleep it off!

Down by the Bayou

Our day was how God intended it to be - One of rest. We went back to the Original Morning Star Church for our final Church service in New Orleans, and listened to Pastor Tyrone speak on being drunk with the Spirit. Both this service and last week's services were quite an eye-opener to us as Reformed people. Baptists in the south are very emotional when it comes to worship. Not something we are used to, but a joy to experience........ Relax Pastor Andrew, we will not be encouraging you to change the format, and jump up and down while preaching.

Tasks completed?

Well it's Saturday, almost Sunday, and the last of our projects is pretty much completed - just a few(!) sheets of drywall to hang at Miss Brenda's, and we will be on our way. Cor and Dave will be finising off the job on Monday, while the rest of us would like to go to the mighty Mississippi and the ocean for some well deserved R and R.

The almost final workday!

Here we are at the end of our workweek, and yet there is so much left undone...... Today we got to work on 2 projects, Miss Dupre's house which was in bad need of a new floor in the upstairs part of the house, and another project, one that came to us via Dar, our house mother. Miss Brenda's dwelling behind her house which is kind of a neat story.

Last day at April's

Well, time is flying, and the end is near for our work here in the Lower Ninth Ward. God has been with us on this project, and we were able to get our tasks completed at Miss April's a day ahead of schedule, actually having completed more work to the house then was expected. Anita and Helene finished off the painting at Henry's as well, all in all a great day.

Miss April's House

Well as the old saying goes - Better late than never, here is Tuesday and Wednesday's blog .........24 Hours behind. Wanna know why? One simple word - WIZZARD.

Demolition Day

Well day one is done, and what a first day it was - We had a 20 degree day, perfect for the work in store for us.

Mac's Tour

Well day 2 in New Orleans....What an eye opener.

We started the day with a church service at the Original Morning Star: HALLELUJAH. The Original Morning Star is a Baptist Church, in a ghetto part of New Orleans, truly an amazing service, Pastor Tyrone had an awesome message on Luke 2, and made us feel truly blessed to be a part of the rebuilding required down here.

The people here are very resilient, very welcoming, and very appreciative of groups like ours. It seems they  get more support (all around) from those, then from their own Government agencies.

Day 1 - We're off on the right foot!

Literally - because 20 minutes before we left, Anita managed to "miss the stairs" at home, and ended up with a nasty sprain of her left ankle.

Thankfully she is not injured enough not to be able to participate.

We got to the Sumas border, and were held up for 3 hours while they hunted up the appropriate paperwork, and finally allowed us to cross, getting us into Seattle around 10.30PM, and up and at 'em at 4.15AM.

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