VSCeCeNOLA

Mr.Willy:)

2009-01-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

it was amazing to revisit mr.willy,and to all of you who didnt get to his house but worked on it, ITS AMAZING.NICE JOB!!!

hope to revisit him and pastor washington and ray and clara again!:)

they will come back...

2009-01-03T21:19:00.000-08:00

it's late and I'm finishing up my laundry from the trip. i can't quite believe it's over already. it seemed to go by too fast. a lot of us are already posting our photos on this blog or on facebook. already enjoying the memories. and i still have dirt under my fingernails. yesterday was our last work day and there's always a deep sense of what you accomplished on the last day. at least for me. yesterday was no different. we had packed up the tools and thomas and rob were finishing some things up as I stepped out onto pastor washington's front porch. I looked out onto a wonderful scene. the sun was beginning to go down and the wind was blowing leaves down the sidewalk. the boys that had hung the sheet rock that day had already finished and were all goofing off in the street. play fighting or something. and I smiled. because I had just talked to pastor washington and i had just seen the grin on his face when he walked into his house and saw the walls up in almost all the front rooms. his house was coming together and he could see it. and we could see it in his eyes. so as i stood on his porch i thought of him standing there one day soon. standing next to his wife watching the sun go down. i imagined his grandkids or maybe even some neighborhood kids playing in the street as our boys were doing and it made me smile. it made me feel hopeful for this man. and when you stand in the middle of the lower ninth ward hope is a word that is hard to say out loud. but in that moment I remembered all that our groups had accomplished and I believed in the hope I felt and held onto the vision of a rebuilt lower ninth ward.
it was too quiet after I got out of my shower tonight. there were no voices from the common room laughing and joking and playing games. there were no singing voices from the next shower. i miss walking out into the bunkroom and seeing the huddled heads of teenage girls watching a movie or looking at a magazine. and i even miss the boys continual attempts to chug large amounts of liquids until they couldn't anymore. but this is not a sad missing. it's a "grateful-that-I-go-to-such-a-church-where-these-memories-can-be-made" type of missing. this is my third year doing this in nola and each year it is wonderfully different. i definitely have a new respect for all that you do Hope! but I also have a new appreciation for the people. i've got to know them in new ways and I am very grateful.
so, from your "boss lady" on the 08-09 NOLA mission trip, i say goodnight. and thank you for being a part of the church that makes me feel like family.

The Children

2009-01-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

Beginning on Monday, I noticed that there were no signs of children in the Lower Ninth Ward. No toys in the very few yards; the homes that have actually been rebuilt look like they're inhabited by older people (I realize this sounds biased, but some houses just don't look like they have chldren in them); the homes we have worked on over the last three years are all owned by older people; the school we drove by every day looked abandoned (and I so hope it was only because of Christmas break); a small playground on the way to Pastor Washington's church never had any kids on the swings or anywhere else - I was saddened by the thought that the few people who had returned to the Lower Ninth Ward were mostly old men and women who had lived there all their lives and wanted to die there. Today, on our last day, on our way from Pastor Washington's house, we drove by a house with a young couple in the driveway and two boys playing with a dog in the yard. To my worried heart, those two boys were angels of God's presence.
Miles only wanted to see a gecko, he said, and he saw two huge, white herons instead - to him they were angels of God's presence in the post-Katrina wilderness.

where did i see god today-day 5 vscc

2009-01-02T18:16:00.000-08:00

don z- i saw god today when the bathroom was flooded and i needed a mop; it suddenly appeared and i was able to clean up a big wet mess

zathy z- i saw god in the baptistry as i was cleaning and sweeping and thinking that we should always keep this a sacred space

leslie c- seeing all the inner spaces and friends moving throughout these inner spaces made me sense the Spirit moving with us

julia k.- in the moment of carson's recognition and acknowledgement of boyd's help and ability; in the re-creation/re-claiming of a holy space here at vscc

alice- i saw god in everyone who was here today. everyone made the "work" so much fun. this is especially true/important knowing that for most, this was not the first day of donating their time this week

joe - i saw god in the group working together with a positive attitude and for me, truly being church

nancy- i saw god when i thought about the people of vscc this week, working hard for their church. they are committed and it makes me proud of our church

morgan- i saw god in the dunpster guy, he was really sweet and nice

emily b.- i saw god when i was mopping with hope

carla - I saw god in hope. without hope, this week would have never happened. she's a wonderful leader and her determination has made this all happen

carson - i saw god in boyd. he helped me so much. we did 24 jobs. i could have done 5.

benjamin- i saw god in everyone. when megan asked me to come help, i didn't really know what to expect. i was embraced with warm arms. to see everyone work together was truly a truly awesome experience.

megan- i saw god in the poop wax and all its experiences

hope- i saw god in benjamin as he willingly subjected himself to our mission team. we needed physical strength, emotional maturity and cooperation. he certainly added the missing dimension to our group and and did it while covered with poop wax.

thompson- i saw god in the two giant pizzas that came to feed all of us when we were so hungry from working

kathy b- i saw god in the boiler room when we realized we had too much storage space! i saw god in the children, through their tireless efforts, hard work, leadership and the wonderful example they set for all of us.

boyd b- i saw god everywhere!

loaves and fishes

2009-01-02T17:56:00.000-08:00

last night i asked god to appear in the form of lots of dry floors and no leaky toilets. it happened that way, but not in the manner that i anticipated.

instead, i received a phone call from the berhows at 8 am asking if we needed 5 more workers.
instead, three lovells appeared when they weren't on the schedule
instead, 2 carsons walked into the chapel area with huge smiles on their faces and asked if it was okay if they stayed and helped
instead, howard and eva appeared in the tablecloth closet right in the middle of the day
instead, a zamata came and went and came back
instead, the dumpster man was lovely
instead, benjamin brought kindness and brute strength
instead, a jafari brought pizza
instead, a trull popped her head out of the boiler room and said " I'm taking julia's place"

it was one of those loaves and fishes moments when the scheduled 8 somehow turned into 22. tonight, the floors are all dry and there are no leaky toilets. we've all returned home...satisfied. god has filled us up.

Moments of a Day

2009-01-01T20:35:00.000-08:00

The road home.

It takes a lot of good eyes and hands to make one good cut.
I'm not kidding.

You notice? They could be looking anywhere in the room, but they choose to watch Imre make the final cuts to fit the panel on the studs. Great team.

Yes, it says BOSS LADY, and she earned every fiber of that shirt.
Go Sarah!

Yes, Andrew does look that cool.

And here is Josh, the drill master.

Well, yes, its the markings for a cut out in a panel of sheetrock.
It's also a cross, one of the many ways in which the everyday calls us to look for signs of God's presence.
It's also a tic-tac-toe (tow?) board. Playful work. Great team.

Where indeed?

How Do You Blog This?

2009-01-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight after prayer partners - it was all girls in one group and all boys in the other (which means I can't say much about the girls) - I walked out of the kitchen area where the guys had met (and what a guys' experience it had been!!) saying to Eric, "How do you blog this?" It was so real, and writing about an experience or showing pictures can only do so much.
When we created this blog, we thought it would offer a great way for all of us to share one another's days. But all our energy really goes into being in these days, living, laughing, working, praying and playing - adding pictures to a blog (over a very slow internet connection, I must add) is a very solitary exercise, and at least one step removed from the transformative process we are seeking (and having).
I still think blogging can be an intrical part of a mission trip, but we may have to think about it as something some of the group do for all, perhaps taking turns, very much like kitchen duties, cleaning crew, vespers team, etc.

pictures from day 4

2009-01-01T18:17:00.000-08:00

demolition.

more demolition.

construction.

plumbing.

housekeeping.

we need each other

2009-01-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

it's 8pm and i'm in the church office with a small light on my desk. i'm dazed and confused. i learned from an excellent teacher how to remove toilets and how to install toilets. for two days i've worked with eileen on toilet detail and have managed to install 10 toilets. that statistic alone sounds worthy of a small celebration; however, the last three are leaking. i'm distraught. i'm sad and i'm really mad. the first seven all came out of white boxes and the last three came out of brown boxes. i'm not even kidding. can the color of a box change the effectiveness of the toilet? certainly not, but what gives? is it fatigue? is it a manufacturing change? is it because the floor in the chapel bathroom is tremendously skewed? is it because i want the chapel bathrooms demolished anyway and turned into a family bathroom that's really ADA approved? tonight is the first night that i'm going home feeling unsettled. hey, god....tomorrow i really need to see you on some dry floors. deal?

A Branch from the Stump of Jesse

2008-12-31T22:24:00.000-08:00

I am not sure what I expected when I came here this year, but I had hoped to see a more uplifted community. Sure, there are patches of brightly colored houses that have obviously been redone. I love the purples, blues, greens, and yellows but they would not "work" in Nashville.

During our first trip, we were shocked by the signs of the devastating flood: the huge piles of rubble, the armed guards riding in Humvees, the painted signs on each house saying if there were bodies or survivors. I still remember coming out of the 9th ward, seeing a bright red Pizza Hut roof and just knowing it would still be in business. I was sorely disappointed. This year, when we drove by the Pizza Hut, it looked so drab and unwanted. No one is taking care of it. Other individual houses I have seen look like they are ready to fall over with termit damage visible from the street, torn roofs, broken windows, and even a couple of burned hulls visible from the interstate. Even in Algeirs where we are staying, there are vacant building staring back with big, black, vacant eyes for windows.

In the lower 9th where we are working, Brad Pitt has built a few houses, there are groupings of houses that have come back, and the street signs are finally up; but the dominant landscape feature is tall, brown grass placed in a grid of gray streets. You do not always know what street is coming up until you get there.

In the midst of this barrenness of the lower 9th is the New Jerusalem Church. It has bright blue concrete block looking exterior. As you open the doors to go in, your first surprise is to see a shiny black tile floor. Some of the tiles have been removed to reveal a cross of 1 inch tan bricks or tiles. As you go in you see a bright, shiny, white marble floor, some very nice light fixtures, a nice set of pews with cushions, and a drum set.

It really is nice.

There is so much to do and we contribute so little in the grand scheme of things. Nevertheless, our contributions, when added to other contributions brought here by God, make a real difference in the lives of individuals here. A few of them, can begin to gather in the vestigages of their original community and spend a few hours each week worshiping God in a place of beauty.

I can only hope that others will answer God's call of "Whom Shall I Send" and that these examples of beauty will heal some of the hurt that these people must feel so that these survivors can be branch from the "stump of Jesse."

I am where I belong on New Years Eve.

2008-12-31T21:52:00.000-08:00

Last year I had doubts about coming to New Orleans. When I went out to watch the fireworks with the youth in the Winn Dixie parking lot on New Years Eve, I knew I was where I belonged.

That memory helped me decide to come back this year. These sorts of things are hard to truly repeat. The expectation never quite lives up to the hype you give things. Nevertheless, I can think of no better way to ring in the new year, than to join my Vine Street Friends in NOLA for New Years Eve and having a party in the midst of trying to help others. I am reminded of the motto of Virginia Tech where I partied, earned my Bachelors, and did a lot of service work--Ut Prosism--That I may serve.

Tonight, my comment was essentially that the City of New Orleans, unlike most places I know of, doesn't need to officially pay for fireworks. They can just let their residents take care of it for them. I guess I have another memory that will encourage me to come back.

Happy New Year's to everyone.

day 3 at vscc

2008-12-31T16:51:00.000-08:00

joe, julia and the boiler room
hope and eileen getting a good seat
matthew and carson: search and destroy
morgan reaching into the sewer
carla's birthday party

god amongst the siblings

2008-12-31T16:36:00.001-08:00

today morgan prayed for matthew. there's no doubt in my mind that it's happened before, but not for the same reason. today, they were prayer partners on a mission trip. it's a new experience for both of them and she had reason to pray. reason one: he was a reluctant volunteer. reason two: he wielded a sledge hammer with glee most of the day. reason three: he worked outside in the cold for hours. they left before prayer partners, so we called and did it with them over speaker phone. while we listened, morgan was honest enough to tell her brother that she thought he worked hard and she was proud of his accomplishments on the mission trip. he listened. we listened. they hugged and we envisioned a moment when god was really delighted with the children of vscc. with some imagination, i saw god today in matthew and morgan's embrace.

i wonder about our siblings in NOLA: johanna and jude; ellen, sara and julia; kara and andrew; alex and joshua; and clare, emily and elizabeth. don't forget to see god in each of them.

God in the Little Smooth Stream

2008-12-30T22:40:00.000-08:00

Before today I didn't know what aerators were -- those little tips on the edge of a faucet that force air into the water and then push the air-water combination through a fine wire mesh. With the aerator, the liquid jets through the tap in a smooth, neat little stream, conserving the water by keeping it from splashing aimlessly out of the faucet. My job at the VSCC mission today was installing aerators.

It was fun to learn about faucet tips, but what made the day meaningful was being with the group. As we talked over lasagna about where we had seen God, I could have answered -- with good biblical precedent -- that I had been reminded of God in the streams of water I had helped flow a little more smoothly from Vine Street faucets. But that wouldn't have been exactly accurate, because where I really experienced God was in working with dear friends, making new ones, and feeling that I have a spiritual home where love and freedom abound. It was a good day at the VSCC mission.

we are tired, but the good tired...

2008-12-30T19:33:00.000-08:00

i am currently sitting in a very bustling common area. there are games being played, knitting, sudoku and animated conversations. some of the indiana group are dipping oreos in milk and smiling in contented satisfaction. i am reminded of how unique community is. and how very much I love it.
today my group rode the insulation train once more. we did all we could in pastor washington's house regarding the insulation and thomas and his group even were able to get some sheetrock put up. i know we all look forward to putting sheetrock up tomorrow as cold showers to get rid of the fiberglass all over our skin can be the opposite of relaxing at the end of the day. brrrr.... we are all working hard and getting to see his house become more and more of what it should be. the weather has been nice these past two days. i found myself kneeling down on the floor of the house holding a piece of sheetrock to be screwed into the wall when I looked up and out of the window above me. the thin, twisting limbs of the tree outside were all dark lines against the bright sun shining behind it. i sat there in that sunlight and thought of how God seems to show up in nature for me so much. i took a deep breath and thanked God that this tree had survived. and then not just this tree but the idea of survival and flourishing that it left behind.
we are all considerably more tired tonight. and with that I wish you all goodnight...
live in love
-sarah spencer

day 2 photos to back up my blog

2008-12-30T18:34:00.000-08:00

dumpster diving and so much more

2008-12-30T17:59:00.000-08:00

we don't start our days with a bell, just quiet time with a cup of bongo java fairly traded coffee. as soon as someone is ready to speak in complete sentences, there's usually someone else who is ready to listen. today we added chris l., ted p., morgan j, and david j to our little group. morgan was really glad to be here, but her work ethic isn't quite up to carson's standards. megan and i were very amused at the whole situation and kept creating work opportunities to pair the unlikely duo. today was more about planning and shopping than drastic changes....until the dumpster arrived in our parking lot. it was like christmas all over again. we have the most fabulous blue dumpster hanging out in our visitor parking spaces. although it's only a visitor, it brought such joy to our group that we were motivated with a second wind and even a third (marcina). if you thought we were impressive with the sledge hammer in nola two years ago, you should see us now. even vera took a turn with the demolition. we keep searching for things to throw away just so we can be near the dumpster. :) our other accomplishments today included aerators on 80% of the faucets, timers on 80% of the lights, and a plan for the new shelving in the boiler room. joe, megan and benjamin picked up all the wood at home depot for the shelving project. it was a pain in the *** to get it all in the boiler room, but it's in there just waiting for the construction team tomorrow. tomorrow: shelves and toilet removal

second day:)

2008-12-30T15:42:00.001-08:00

As our second day in New Orleans is ending, there is already so much memories that have occured and so many places i have seen god.like today seeing mr. willys house and knowing that last year we did that, or all the hard effort that i saw everyone do at all different places:the mission center, pastor washingtons church, and ray and sues house.(so now i have something to answer for about the question:where have you seen god today?) I am so excited about this adventure and glad to be involved and hope everyone in nashville have an SPECTACULAR FANTABULOUS AMAZING time!:)

cant wait to see you guys soon and happy (almost) new year!

with LOTS of LOVE!
emily

P.S. you nashville people are so lucky you dont wake up to a bell.haha:)

lots of love! :)

2008-12-30T15:32:00.000-08:00

The Quad loves you!! :) YAAY New Orleans!

hope everyone in nashville at the vine street mission trip is having a SUPERDUPER awesome time!

lovelovelove

ellen elizabeth emily and kara!

traveling between piety and desire

2008-12-29T19:52:00.000-08:00

those were the names of two streets we passed today on our way through the lower 9th ward. some of us thought it a good place to be; between the two that is. we passed by the "brad pitt houses" as they are all being referred to now. they are wildflowers in a desert. we are working on Pastor Washington's house as I am sure you are all aware of by now. he is a quiet man and I wonder what he would say if given time and listening ears. i may very well give in to my curiosity. I stood there in the shell of his house and wondered what it might feel like to see the house you lived in for 50 years as a skeleton. i hope it's a hopeful feeling he has now as he sees it slowly being built back up. muscle and tissue added to the bones. we drove through some other streets. one by way of a turn around. :D I reveled in the people in the streets. i remembered my first drive through those streets. too quiet. empty houses. debris and lack of life. sadness that filled my heart. so imagine my joy to see all these people sitting on front steps, on bicycles and hanging out car windows. community built by rebuilding. relationships strengthened through the desire to not leave what they had always known. New Orleans is coming back. And i feel so blessed to have been a part of this for the past three years. three years of rebuilding. three years of bringing a city back from the dead. three years of being family with my church and the people here.
the other group has been adding new personality and laughter to our regularly joyful bunch. it is only the end of day one and i look forward to the many places I will continue to see God...
live in love
-sarah spencer

the beginning and the middle, but not the end

2008-12-29T17:13:00.000-08:00

the boiler room looks great; but the fellowship hall is really a disaster!!!

no fights yet, but tomorrow is the day we start sorting between the dumpster, recycling, goodwill and back to the boiler room. we miss our friends in NOLA!

the boiler musical review

2008-12-29T16:57:00.000-08:00

during our free time, we created our own musical. it wasn't difficult with marcina directing and joe doing sound and voice-overs.

the boiler room

2008-12-29T16:29:00.000-08:00

today our group of seven tackled the boiler room at vscc. okay, it's not really the boiler room, it's the storage room next to the boiler room. regardless, it's a disaster and was highlighted on our environmental survey as a danger to the people and the facility. after about seven hours, we realized that it was only hazardous to carson who was attacked by a large metal filing cabinet (push over by joe keith).

where did you see god today?
megan j- having fun throughout the day even though it was in the midst of so much work; certainly god was in the nail buffing

joe k- i saw god in all the history that was being peeled open in all the layers that we removed in the boiler room. i got to be 15 again while hanging out with megan and i felt like a 9 y.o. boy when working with carson. my whole prayer triplet was here and that made sense to me.

carson l- i saw god when the cabinet didn't crush me. (joe pushed it over on him)

julia k-i saw god everytime we tried on "costumes" from children's choir performances - all our faces showed god's fun-loving spirit!

carla l.- i saw god today in carson. he never whined; he never rested; he worked all day with a great attitude.

hope- i saw god today when megan arrived for the mission trip. she was the only one who was on time and came with her lunch box, water bottle, fabulous work attire and a very willing spirit.

marcina- i saw god today in the spirit of our group and how there was such respect for each other, along with a great spirit of fun.

Lunch Break

2008-12-29T14:45:00.000-08:00

Lunch break! This is part of the crew working at Pastor Washington's house. We hung insulation and redid some framing. Tomorrow we'll start installing sheetrock. By the way, the sky was blue today, and it was sunny!

We've Arrived

2008-12-28T20:06:00.000-08:00

Actually it is bedtime here. Lights are going out as I start this post. We arrived just in time for supper, plus a short break. I don't like fast food 2 times in the same day; but I was very grateful to get something to eat. This trip we are working with 2 other churches, one from South Bend, IN, and one from Elkhart, IN. (Hopefully that is the right spelling.) About 9:30 we met the other folks in the Sanctuary and ended with a short prayer. Then there was the mad dash of young people running around, getting rid of some pent-up energy, people scurrying to get flashlights at the ready by their beds, clothes changed, bathroom breaks, etc. Now it is dark and mostly quiet. There was not quite enough time to get rid of the pent up energy from sitting in vans for 10 hours today.

For me this evening is like Christmas Eve. The real excitement is knowing that tomorrow we will begin to open presents:

What will the houses look like that we will be working on
How much difference will we see in New Orleans from our last trip
Will we get stuck in a traffic jam like a normal city at rush hour
Who are the individuals we will be helping
What are their stories

The three biggest presents will open all week slowly

What have we been called to do
Where will people find God
What will we learn about ourselves

Well, almost all is quiet now. I've heard one or two snores. I can hear the wind (maybe rain) outside, and the faint music from a radio in the dinning room. (Oh, and I have survived a day without a cell phone.)

2008-12-28T05:40:00.000-08:00

Well, I am really looking forward to this trip and looking forward t warmer weather than last year.

However, we are getting off to a not so good start. I cannot find my cell phone. Maybe God is telling me I should not be taking work calls this week. Nevertheless, I have torn the house up looking for it. (I have even cleaned house and missed 2 hours of sleep last night.) So far it looks like we will be getting a new cell phone come Sunday.

Some pictures from NOLA

2008-12-25T15:30:00.001-08:00

There are, of course, lots more pictures from our first mission trip to New Orleans...
These are just a taste.

The Future Will Be Dual Flush

2008-12-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

I understand the VSCC team will be installing a bunch of toilets. Does anybody know how many?

Greater New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church

2008-12-25T09:47:00.000-08:00

Our latest project news: we will be working on another parsonage, this one is for the Greater New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church located in the Lower 9^th Ward which is the same general area of Mr. Willy’s house; we should be hanging insulation and sheetrock, another house may be ready for painting.