Hi To All Back Home,
We have had a good day. We went to church this morning and met up with friends from last year. We saw Donna whose house Frannie, Janice and Tom had worked on last year. She was so happy to see all of us. She showed us pictures of her house. It looks beautiful. I talked with her for awhile and she shared with me that Katrina changed her life in a good way. She said that God has taught her that it is through him that she is able to get things done. She used to have a hard time asking for help and because of Katrina she has had to rely on others to help her. She used to think she had to do everything on her own and that all she accomplished was of her own doing...... she now knows it is all because of God. She comes to church at Lagniappe and has a wonderful community here. She was a joy to listen to and I could see how God and the Lagniappe church have changed her life..
After church we went and enjoyed New Orleans. Some of us got a wonderful tour of New Orleans by our very own tour guide. Tom's girlfriend is from New Orleans and her parents live here. Her father (Mike Gibbs) took us on a tour of the city. He grew up here and he had so many stories to share. He took us through an old cemetary and showed us different graves and told us about the people buried there. In New Orleans people who are buried are buried above the ground and laid in these tall crypts. The water table in New Orleans is high so that is why the bodies have to be buried above the ground. As Mr Gibbs stated..."If you buried the bodies they would float!" Mr Gibbs treated us to a wonderful lunch and we had some great southern food. We had Poboys and catfish and rice and beans and of course sweet tea!!!!! Kevin and Jim and Tim and Mike visited the aquarium and then went to pick up Dora at the airport.
We are having a good time and the weather has actually been bearable. We ask that you pray that the Lord will give us patience on this trip. As Kevin mentioned yesterday we are staying at the same place but it is now being managed by another group and things are different. So far everyone has been flexible and helping out. We have made several trips to the Walmart already. We met with Habitat for Humanity today and we begin work tomorrow at 8:30. We will be working on framing a house.
Please continue to pray that we stay healthy. Bob Reed was not feeling well today so keep him in your prayers. Please pray that Alex gets her safely tonight. He is landing at 11:00 and Kevin and some other folks are off to get him. God Bless and have a good night!!
Debbie