Prologue Plus One

Because I work in a store selling Ohio State Buckeyes memorabilia and souvenirs, work gets busy around football season. With the Buckeyes being ranked Number One in the pre-season polls, and with the first home game and the Texas game coming soon, we were gearing up for high-demand business. That gearing up period was about to begin, so I was not sure if my boss would give me permission to go away for another week.

On the walk to work, I confronted my worries in my mind. The worst-case scenario was not really that bad. If I did not have permission to go, I would have to email Servants Unite! and tell them that I could not go. In the best-case scenario, I would be allowed to go. Then I would still have to email Servants Unite! and tell them that I was able to go. So, either way, I reasoned, I would be writing an email to Servants Unite!

I asked my boss for permission as soon as I saw him in the morning. He said "yes." On the outside, I thanked him, but on the inside, I was shouting "YEAH!" and jumping around the room.

I got an email before I got an opportunity to send a message to Servants Unite! The message asked me to contact the team leader for this trip. I phoned in my news, and was told that I was going to be added to the list of team members, and that I would soon get some "sign-up" information from Hilltop Rescue and Relief.

Prologue

We stayed at church to help prepare for Vacation Bible School. VBS would start tomorrow, so we had a lot of work to do with decorations. We had a "jungle" theme, which involved making tall palm trees out of wood, cardboard tubes, paper, and wire. I had helped produce a large number of "leaves" for the trees a week ago, so we were mainly cutting the final leaves out, taping them to coat hanger wire, and then taking them to the people building trees to attach at the top.

In the morning, I had taken Benadryl to help get rid of something bugging my eye. I'd been bothered in the past by allergies that made my eyes red, itchy, and watery. Because I was taking Benadryl, my eyes were clear but my head was foggy.

I had been interested in getting another chance to go to Louisiana, and I had read the Servants Unite! blog a couple of days ago. There, I saw a post about another team heading to Louisiana. There was mention of some kind of news crew, but the arrangements weren't definite, and that fact did not stick in my memory for long. What I hadn't realized was that the meeting was today at 3:00 P.M. It was impossible for me to get there on time, since we stayed to work on VBS decorations until well after 4:00 P.M.

I considered the trip prayerfully, and recalled being told that I had three "personal" days left for this year. We use those "personal" days to handle things that aren't "vacation" time, like family emergencies, events that come up unexpectedly, and other similar things. Since they expire just like vacation days at work, I had to "use them or lose them." Anyway, I sent an email to Servants Unite! and asked if I could know the details of the trip and told them I would sign up if I could get permission to take my personal days off.

They sent me a reply that the trip would be for one week, just like my first trip. Arrangements might change based on needing to add more people to the crew, but in any case, they welcomed my coming along. All I had to do was get permission from work.

Day 8 - Returning Home

We received a cell phone call stating that the replacement bus had arrived. Everybody gathered in front of the Opry Mills Shopping Center, then we trekked across the parking lot, wondering what the new bus would be like. We were surprised when we arrived, because the bus drivers told us that they had transferred everything from the lower compartments of the first bus into the lower compartments of the second bus. All we had to do was get our other things from the overhead storage.

We completed the remainder of the trip with little delay. In Kentucky, we made a stop at a rest area for people to stretch and use the bathroom, and our next scheduled stop would be for dinner. North of Louisville, we stopped at a Wendy's and the youth ministers advised all of us to order our food "to go" so that we could avoid delays in the trip.

In Ohio, one of the teens offered me her cell phone so that I could call Dad. Dad asked for another notification once we were "in town," and I explained this to the person who loaned me her phone. She agreed. As we reached Columbus, she let me use her cell phone again so that I could call Dad again. He said he'd be on his way.

As we drove through Columbus, the youth minister from the other church revealed his "Quote Book." They traditionally record all of the notable quotes that happen during a trip--and this week's trip had amassed quite a record. The youth minister read the quote book, providing an explanation of each quote, including my "sound out" quote.

Finally, the bus left the freeway and drove the main roads and took a final turning. In the distance, the steeple of the church we had left a week before was visible in the distance. The teens from that church began a slow clap that increased in speed and volume. We joined in, shouting along with them as the bus turned the last corner and pulled to a stop in the parking lot. My trip to Louisiana was finally over.

At the time, I did not know that it was only my first trip.

Day 8 - Nashville: Killing Time

In the morning, the youth minister from my church took one of the teens and the bus driver. They went in search of food, and returned with McDonald's breakfast food, orange juice, and milk. They also returned with news. There was a basic choice we could follow--we could stay for a while in Nashville and kill time waiting for a replacement bus from Tennessee, or we could head for Cincinnati, where we could meet up with a replacement bus from Ohio. The decision was made not to keep us on a hot bus, but to wait in Nashville. After we ate breakfast, we were informed of the decision not to continue homeward until we had a bus with working air conditioning.

There would be an activity provided to occupy our time, one of the best activities possible for killing time with a group of over 20 teenagers--the mall. We rode in the original bus to the Opry Mills Shopping Center in Nashville. Again we split into groups, but rather than require adults to be in each group, the so-called "chaperones" were simply people carrying cellular phones. That included almost everybody, so phone numbers were exchanged to keep everybody in touch.

The mall sprawled across acres, all of it indoors, all of it air conditioned. My sandals, which I wore to keep my feet cool on the original bus, occasionally flopped off my feet as I walked, but I managed not to trip. I had gotten used to this during the week, since Hilltop Rescue never let us wear dirty work boots upstairs in the sleeping areas. We had all kinds of fun.

In the Bass Master store, we tested flashlights that operated on power generated by shaking them. I saw a solar and dynamo-powered radio flashlight combination, we looked at a travel poker set the size of a small briefcase, and we examined all kinds of travel drinkware, hunting accessories, and more. We visited a sports souvenir store where everything was autographed and therefore expensive. Some of the teens allowed professional masseuses to give them free 5-minute massage therapy sessions.

We ate in the food court, and I returned to a souvenir store that sold American flags, patriotic memorabilia, and sports team merchandise. I bought two replica embroidered patches, a gold star, and a "NASA" patch.

Afraid that we would arrive late in Ohio, some of the teens discussed the length of the trip. I mentioned that when we returned to Ohio, my watch would be correct. The current time was only 1:00 P.M., I stated. We would not be very late in Ohio.

Day 7 - Traveling to Tennessee

With the song still running in my head, I paid less attention to the fact that the bus was not very cool. Even up front, the bus was still warm. At this point in time, that fact changed from something unremarkable to an actual problem. The youth ministers were well aware of that problem, and so was the driver. The air conditioning had broken. Before noon, the temperature of the bus began a steady increase--something that could not be ignored.

The church where we would spend tonight called us at a point on the road. They told the youth ministers that a funeral was scheduled for the evening at their church. Because of this, we were asked not to arrive too early, but instead try to arrive after 10:00 P.M. That gave us the leeway for some things we might not have attempted otherwise...

We stopped for lunch at a gas station in Alabama, where there was also a Subway restaurant. After the eating was done, we all piled back into our hot bus, which had gotten hotter since it had been sitting out in the sun. As we headed back toward the freeway, the bus driver saw a "Peterbilt" truck service sign. The plan to leave was revised by the youth ministers--we would see if the truck service station could service our bus' air conditioning first. At the service station, the staff let us get off the bus and sit in their air conditioned lobby. We played cards, talked, and enjoyed the cool air. Because a part was broken on the bus, and because that part could not be shipped until four days later, we had to get on the bus again and head for our stop in Tennessee.

I considered how hot it was in the bus, but decided to ignore it for the most part. Since I wasn't working on drywall, or carting wheel barrow loads away, I could just drink water or pop to stay cool. But the bus got hotter and hotter, and soon, we had to stop for something. We pulled in at a Travel America center, and the youth ministers went inside looking for parts. They came back with a temporary reprieve: an AC adaptor for the bus' power, a splitter that let them attach more than one appliance to that power supply, and two travel fans. The bus still got hotter.

Outside of Huntsville, Alabama, we stopped at another Travel America center because of rush hour traffic. The youth ministers called cell phone numbers and tried to see if the bus could be replaced, but the soonest that could be done was in Tennessee or later. In the meantime, we conversed, used the bathroom facilities, and bought things for the road. Before we headed back to the bus, I bought a pint of Ben and Jerry's coffee Heath ice cream. It was good, but I did not eat all of it. On the bus, I held it against the inside of my elbow joint, where it could cool my veins.

Rain overtook us as we neared Tennessee. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant for dinner. I bought an Amy Grant CD called "Hymns for the Journey" because it felt appropriate to buy, now that I was returning from this "journey."

North of Nashville, we finally stopped at a church which opened its gymnasium for us to sleep in. It was 11:00 P.M. by my watch. I had kept Ohio Time for the whole week, so I quickly calculated that we had arrived just on schedule to accommodate the church's funeral arrangements. We were led into the gymnasium and shown where the bathrooms were. As soon as I finished brushing my teeth and rolling out my sleeping bag, I tried to get to sleep. It wasn't hard, even though I was sleeping on a cool hard basketball court floor.

Day 7 - May My Steps Be Worship

Friday morning began in the same way that the other mornings had. We had breakfast and a devotional at Hilltop Rescue, but then things changed. We were getting ready to go back to Ohio. Mattresses and cots were stacked to one side of our classroom. The floors were swept and then mopped to get the room ready for the next group of volunteers. To make it easier for us to deal with a stop halfway home, we were instructed to pack a clean change of clothes and toiletries in a garbage bag to take on the bus. Then, in Tennessee, we wouldn't have to unload the whole bus.

We unpacked the bus before we packed it--we had brought bottled water, which we took to the storage areas near the kitchen and dropped off. Then we loaded up in the bus. On our way out of Chalmette, and out of Louisiana, I saw all the devastation I had seen on the way in. It was harder, I think, to look at things in reverse.

I was leaving Louisiana behind with so much work done--but I was also leaving with so much more work undone. The ride away was a lot quieter, since everybody was tired from the week. I remembered one of the songs from this morning's devotional--a new song...

Father God (also known as "Just For This Day"):
Verse:
Father God, just for this day
Help me to walk, your narrow way
Help me to stand, when I might fall
Give me strength to heed your call

Chorus:
May my steps be worship
May my thoughts be praise
May my words bring honor to your name
(repeat)

Thinking of the devastation we were leaving behind, the homes we were leaving behind, and the lives we were leaving behind, I wondered how I would feel when I did get back to Ohio.

Day 6 - Mission Possible!

A prank in the night resulted in trouble figuring out whose boots belonged with which set of laces. All the boots had been unlaced, which slowed us down but did not stop us.

We found out some very good news over breakfast--we had been reassigned to the same house we worked on yesterday. That meant we had a chance to finish the house. Neither of the two work teams of our 26-person group had managed to finish a house yet--but both would be getting the chance to finish one.

Overnight, part of the smell of the mildew, the mold, and the leakage from the refrigerator had dissipated. Still, there was enough dust inside that we would need to wear our masks. We began by emptying out the remaining rooms. They were, for the most part, mostly empty already. We continued to search for sentimental belongings for the homeowner. The youth minister sent two of our smaller teens up into the attic to check on what was up there, and a lot of that turned out to be salvageable. Another group split off and began to empty and gut the garage workshop behind the house.

We hit the drywall more than an hour before lunch and began tearing it down. Paneling, cabinets, and other woodwork had to be removed first, but that didn't take very long. Before we knew it, we were practicing our drywall removal technique.

The best way to remove drywall is to pull it down by the sheet and carry it to the pile. You punch out a single hole, work your way along the edges of the sheet, and wiggle it, until all of the nail heads break through the wall. Then the drywall is no longer attached, so you just carry it away. This is much easier said than done.

I joined two other people in pulling down one sheet near the kitchen. It came loose and turned out to be heavier and more cumbersome than the three of us expected. It fell down on the center person, cracking itself to pieces on her head! The cleanup continued, and I was told to find a "spot" to work on so that I wouldn't interfere with another person's drywall removing work.

Alone, I began practicing the drywall removal technique and detached a huge piece. Before I could be proud of myself, though, I realized I couldn't control it by myself. It tipped from the top instead of the bottom, and I ducked my head in time for the impact. I was now standing in a circle of drywall debris just like the team of three had produced, holding the largest chunk in my hands. Another team member quickly came to help me by picking up the other end of the big piece. She helped me get it thrown away on the debris pile, then helped me get the smaller pieces.

We took our lunch break across the street, where the youth minister discovered that the "Hooah!" energy snacks we had were better for throwing than for eating. A couple of people had walked about two houses away to sit under a shady tree. Our youth minister was able to land the "Hooah!" right to where they were sitting, but they couldn't throw it back.

After lunch time, at least half of the drywall was down, and in some rooms, we were shoveling the leftover drywall rubble into wheelbarrows and sweeping up dust. It looked like we were going to get done, but as time wore on, some parts of the work slowed down. Bits of drywall clinging to nail heads had to be removed also, so I began pulling out nails. I later found out that you don't need to pull out the nails to get the drywall bits down. I also removed a few missed pieces of drywall in the window recesses.

Soon enough, it was possible to see through the studs from one room into another. I got overheated, so I stopped for a bottle of water. Outside, a garbage truck stopped and a worker picked up a bag. It took me a second to realize what pile that bag came from.

"Hey wait!" I said, "that's stuff from the house we're working on. We're saving that for the home owners." The worker climbed back onto the truck and the truck drove away. I do not know if he'd already taken something from the pile, but I hoped that he hadn't.

Work continued, and some of us tired out and sat outside for a few minutes drinking bottled water. I managed to cool off enough to return to working. I was just finishing up the nail removal in the kitchen when the end of the work day happened. Rain had begun to fall outside, so we brought in all of the sentimental items we had found. Then we gathered inside for a final picture, taken at an angle to reveal the fact that we could see from one corner of the house to the other.

We gathered up all our tools, marveling at the emptiness of the house we started yesterday, and the difference we had made. But as we took the last load of tools, somebody walked through the house, taking pictures of the empty gutted rooms. She noticed one piece of drywall near the front door. In a moment similar to the completion of the transcontinental railroad, we all watched as the youth minister finished the work, prying off bits of the drywall and passing it to us to throw onto the debris pile.

On our van trip back to Hilltop Rescue, the youth minister's wife called the home owners on her cell phone. She shared the good news with the home owners, and relayed their thanks to us.

Back at Hilltop Rescue, the group member we had left behind had finished washing loads of laundry that she had collected from each of us. With mostly clean clothes for the return trip home, packing up was a lot easier. It was hard to believe, but it was finally time to return to our "normal" life in Ohio.

Well after lights out, I was still restless. So were some of the others in the converted classroom where we were supposed to be sleeping. They tried three times to lift a sleeping person and carry him out into the hallway as a prank. None of their attempts succeeded, the person woke up before they could reach the door, so they finally gave up.

Day 5 - Seeing the Sights

After showering, and taking several minutes trying to find some items in my luggage, we finally loaded up in two vans (all 26 of our group), and drove to New Orleans. We parked in the French Quarter and found a restaurant that had enough room for our group. After dinner, we split into smaller groups to see the sights. I was asked to join one adult and his group of ten teenagers. Since I was one of the adults in the group, I brought up the rear, with the other adult taking the lead. I did not see as many sights because I kept having to count heads, but it was still fun. We heard street musicians, saw Jackson Square, and then stopped at Cafe du Monde.

The waiter memorized all of our orders, shared his story of surviving Hurricane Katrina with us, told us how to see the sights of Bourbon Street without winding up in the bad parts of it. We drank our cafe au lait (I had mine iced), ate beignettes, and I noticed two of our group members pouring off all the excess confectioner's sugar. They funneled it into one iced cafe au lait and then achieved the ultimate sugar high.

Then we walked along the river walk. This was the farthest south that I had ever been in my life, only my second time seeing the Mississippi River, and I was amazed that my home in Ohio was all the way on the other side of the United States. We saw Bourbon street, including souvenir shops sporting t-shirts reading: "FEMA, the other 4-letter 'F' word," "Make levees, not war," and a variety of other political sentiments. I bought some magnets with the French Quarter street names on them, and a book with photos of the post Hurricane Katrina damage. Our 26-person group gathered together again after our sight seeing, and we had one large group photo overlooking the River again.

We returned to Chalmette, Hilltop Rescue, and bed. After all, we had another work day on our schedule before we could go home. Apparently, the sight-seeing had gotten our group too excited to sleep. Even after lights out, some people kept talking. Finally, I shouted:

"Hey, everybody! Let's take 'lights out' as a metaphor that really means 'sound out!'" After some laughs, that settled the matter. We did not realize we would be in for a special opportunity on Thursday.

Day 5 - Being the Body

I woke up with aches all over my body, and shuffled down the hall to the bathroom. As I went, I said "ow!" whenever I took a step. I felt good that I had helped yesterday, but today, I was feeling the after effects. I tried my best to keep moving, and by the time I shuffled out to the Cafeteria, I had loosened up a bit.

We headed out to the next assignment. I was told that we do not typically get re-assigned to the same house, so we weren't finishing the house from Tuesday. Instead, we took a few more wrong turns trying to find the house we were to do today. We stopped for directions once, and some people had a chance to see a fully gutted house before we had to get back in the van.

The home owner told us how the ceiling in their house had caved in after the storm surge drained away. The floor was covered in the first real "muck" that I saw. It was a mixture of ceiling, debris and belongings from the house, and insulation. The home owner also told us that when oil leaked from a tank at the refinery, it had also gotten into this house.

We faced the problem of having to get the big items out of the house, while also having to deal with the junk on the floor to make it easy to carry out the big items. We worked in groups, shoveling up junk until we made it to the refrigerator. As we had done yesterday, we all evacuated while two people carted it out of the house. The smell of rotten food mixed with oil and storm water is literally the worst smell anybody could ever smell. Yesterday, I had a dry heave, from all the way across the street, upwind of the refrigerator that got taken out of the house.

We found a couple of crucifixes, a couple of small rosaries, and some paper weights for the home owner.

Though it was hard work, we got to stop early today, because we were going to see New Orleans. We still prayed for a "power hour" as we got close to our time to leave. There was a lot done, but a lot more left to be done as we packed our tools up and headed back to Hilltop Rescue.

Day 4 - Working for Real

The volunteers who stay behind are the "heart" of Hilltop Rescue. Without them, food would not be ready for the volunteers returning from gutting houses. Without them, the building would get dirtier and become unsanitary enough to be a health risk. But the volunteers who go out to gut houses are the "body" of Hilltop Rescue. Neither has a purpose without the other.

I was about to see what it was like to be in the "body" of Hilltop Rescue. During morning devotional, Tim (the devotional leader) taught us a new song, called "On a Day Like This."

Loud: On a day like this (clap twice)
Louder: On a day like this (clap twice)
Loudest: On a day like this
Oh! Oh! Oh! (clap once)
Shouting: I need the Lord to help me!!

I found out later on just how much singing that song could help.

The drive to the work site involved a couple of turn arounds, because the residential streets still have not got signs. After a few minutes, we found the house. We all got out of the van, met with the homeowners and prayed for success during our work day.

We got our work gloves and our masks on, and then we went inside the house. There was a lot of work to be done, and at first I was stunned. I asked myself "Where do I start?" As I had expected, I was mentally unprepared for this, even after what I saw on the trip. But then I noticed something: all the objects I saw were wrecked, but I could recognize them after a couple of moments. I started talking to myself, telling myself each object that I saw. Each time I picked up something, I told myself "This was a ______."

It helped me to understand the magnitude of what had been lost, and it helped me keep going. The work was hard but the homeowners helped where they could, and after lunch, we started to realize that we were running out of time. With the home owners, we prayed for a "power hour" and got back to work. By the end of the day, all the furniture was out of the house, some drywall was being removed, and we realized that carpeting has to come out first, before the drywall. I was asked to help carry a carpet out to the debris pile a few minutes before we stopped working. Even though we had four other men helping, that carpet wore me out too much to keep going.

A couple of minutes later, the youth minister from my church asked everybody to gather up all of the tools. We were sad that we hadn't finished the house, but the home owners were glad that we had left our mark. Before we left, I stood amazed at the house-sized pile of debris that we had removed from inside the house.

When we got back to Camp Rowley, cleaned up, ate, and finished devotional, I was grateful for that cot that was my bed for the week. I fell asleep, knowing that we were scheduled for two more days of this kind of work.

Day 3 - On the Job

One of the things I liked a lot about Hilltop Rescue was that things were organized. On the trip down, I had no idea how well-oiled the operation would be, since I'd heard rumors of things not being as organized early after Hurricane Katrina. One of the things that helped things stay in order was the policy concerning volunteers--each day, a volunteer from each group was asked to stay behind at the Rowley Elementary School. This created a pool of workers to handle cleaning, cooking, and handling upkeep on the school grounds.

I joined this group and was put to work immediately after the morning devotional. We cleaned the tables in the cafeteria, arranged the chairs, then swept the floor. The cafeteria isn't connected to the main building, so it has its own air conditioning--through a boarded-up exit where tubes and machinery softly rumble. I had to get a mop from the main building, and on my way across the parking lot to get there, I broke out a full-body sweat.

I had barely started working. I realized I'd have to get used to this, because I might be working on houses tomorrow.

At about 10 A.M., after I had helped by cleaning one bathroom upstairs, a truck delivered supplies to the kitchen. I got involved in dish washing after solving the problem of getting cooked-on scrambled egg residue off the industrial-sized cooking pans. Jenny (the head cook) found out about my success (I scraped the pans with a heavy-duty metal spatula), and asked if she could keep me for the week. I told her that was up to the rest of the people in my group.

I continued washing dishes for the rest of the day. Some of the same dishes I saw clean came back dirty a few minutes later, got washed, then got dirty right after that. I soon understood why there was a janitor's sink in the kitchen. I started filling it with soapy water when another volunteer joined me. We pressed on, satisfying the demand for clean dishes. Dinner for the day was spaghetti--in massive quantities, boiled outside over a propane flame, in a pot big enough for me to squat inside.

We got done just in time to help serve dinner. With over 400 people at Hilltop Rescue this week, serving dinner took quite a while. Everybody loved the spaghetti, though, even me.

After evening devotional, I helped empty the giant spaghetti pot. One of the people from our bus load of volunteers helped me carry it outside and dump it. It was half-full of water and was very heavy. When we dumped it out, it was still as heavy as it was when it was full! Back in the kitchen, I used a spray hose to add water to the pot, and (almost) had to use a mop to clean it. I found a scrub brush (like a bottle brush for washing dishes) could do the job. But what could I use to rinse the soapy water out of the pot?

I jokingly said "I need a victim--I mean volunteer--to help me rinse this pot." A hapless volunteer approached. I turned her down and said I needed a man, then explained why. My hare-brained idea was genius: I was going to "rinse" the pot in the Men's Showers, where women were not allowed. For that, I'd need a man to help me. After the rinsing of the pot in a shower stall was done, and after we put the pot away, Jenny told me I could hit the showers too and call it a day.

We hugged, and I told her it was a pleasure helping in the kitchen. I also told her that I was going to be replaced by a different volunteer from my group. I had no idea what I was about to face in the morning.

Day 2 - Arrival in Louisiana

We crossed over at least one levee, and drove into St. Bernard Parish. There were buildings with the "X" symbol on the side. One of the teens from the other church explained what that meant. The date went on top of the "X" and the Company name (of the National Guard or the Army) went on the side of it. The number of bodies found in the building went under the "X." We started to spot buildings all around us, but there were zeros under most of the "X" signs. Then somebody pointed to a building with a "3." It was sad to see that.

In Chalmette, we stayed with Hilltop Rescue and Relief, a Church of Christ relief organization that helps home owners in New Orleans rebuild. Hilltop Rescue operated from C.F. Rowley Elementary School, which doesn't have enough students to stay open as a school. So St. Bernard Parish lets them use the building for free. We arrived just in time to unload, unpack, and get our identification cards printed. Then we went down to have Jambalaya for dinner.

After dinner, Brendan got the two groups from Ohio together for "Orientation." He told us about mucking houses--our goal for the mission. We would go in, take away all the furniture inside, take away the carpeting, tiling, and baseboards, and then take away drywall and insulation. Brendan, who manages Hilltop Rescue, explained how to split up the garbage into piles for "electronics," "general junk," and "hazardous materials." We were also instructed in how to handle firearms, knives, and other weapons. This involved calling the police, calling Hilltop Rescue, and then setting the items aside in a fourth pile. After Brendan took questions and gave answers, he sent us to prepare lunch, snacks, and plenty of bottled water for the next day.

After that, we divided our group so that we could be two teams. People from both churches mixed to make each team. I don't know how Xenia divided. Since we were two teams, we were able to take on two house assignments each day instead of just one. We went to bed wondering what was in store for us.

Day 2 - Traveling to Louisiana

We got up in the morning for Sunday worship, but instead of going straight there, we were invited to have breakfast--another thing we did not expect. The food included doughnuts, juice, milk, cereal, muffins, and cinnamon twists. Even after our group ate, and the group from Xenia ate, there was still breakfast food left over.

Worship was in an auditorium that's a made-over gymnasium. There were songs, and a good message for what we were about to get into. The message was about "identity theft" and the fact that we should live our lives under God's guidance, instead of trying to "steal" control from Him.

After worship, we loaded up in the bus again, and noticed just how hot it still was. By now, we had the problem of knowing something was wrong but being stuck with a schedule that meant we needed to arrive in Louisiana by evening. We drove into Mississippi. Along the way, we stopped for food at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Laurel, Mississippi. Then we started going again, and I started noticing things.

I could see trees with branches only on the north side. I saw businesses with signs missing letters. And then we crossed Lake Ponchartrain. The Twin Spans Bridge is rebuilt, but it was obvious where the damage was done. We drove across metal trussworks instead of concrete slabs. Sometimes there were modular concrete barricates (like what they use in construction zones) to replace the original guard rails. We drove past Six Flags New Orleans. The entire amusement park is empty, but the parking lot was full of FEMA trailers. I saw high water marks on the concrete supports of the freeway.

Day 1 - Traveling to Alabama

The first time that I went down to Louisiana, I joined the teenagers from my church youth group, the youth minister, and the teens and youth minister from a different church. We numbered 26, which was enough people to put one person in each seat of our charter bus.

After we had a prayer, we loaded up and got ready to go. Little did we know the things that would await us. I am sure that I was mentally unprepared for what I would see, no matter how "ready" I felt about actually taking the trip. They are definitely two very different things.

On the trip, we played a version of "speed dating" which we did to give everybody a chance to get introduced to everybody else. We stopped in Kentucky to eat lunch at a McDonalds. When we got back on the bus, people began to notice how hot it was in the back, but there was no real way to figure out what was happening. So we decided to put up with the experience.

In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, we stayed at the University Church of Christ. They use their church as a "way station" for groups that are headed to the Gulf to help in the reconstruction work. A group from Xenia, Ohio got there a few minutes before us, so all the food was set up and waiting for us when we got there.

That's right--I said food, and I mean FOOD! We were expecting a place to roll out the sleeping bags, not "full service hospitality." We had barbecue, squash casserole, green beans, dinner rolls, salad, all you can eat. Since their building is a remodeled gymnasium or school, they have a locker room with showers, which they allowed us to use. They even invited us to stay for Sunday worship.

Everybody wished that we could stay, but we knew what we had signed up for. Everybody wished that we could come back and stay in Tuscaloosa on the way back, but we didn't get that chance.