Time to pack

Donna S. writes:

The team met tonight for the final time before departure. Most of the vehicles are leaving Saturday around 2 p.m. from Chapel Hill headed for our stopover in Oxford, Miss.

Here are some things about Dulac, Louisiana, the town we're going to serve:

— It's in the bayou in the southern reaches of Terrebonne Parish. Water and swamp outnumber dry land in square miles.

— Around Dulac, the population is around 90 percent Houma Indian. The parish is 51 percent Houma and 49 percent Cajun.

— The word "Houma" means "red" in Choctaw. After several migrations in the Louisiana, the bulk of the Houma people settled in an area they called "Dulac" — "the land of the lake" — referring to nearby Lake Boudreaux.

— Life in the bayou is centered around fishing, trapping and farming.

— The Methodist Church came to the area in 1882. In the 1930s, Miss Ella and Miss Wilhelmina Hooper brought educational opportunity to the children of Houma. Public education was not open to Native Americans at that time. When that changed, the focus of the Methodist Church shifted to social outreach to the community.

With this visit, we are in for an educational experience ourselves.

Where credit is due

Donna S. writes:

A couple of more successful fundraisers took place over the weekend, and it's time for the Blog to express gratitude for all who have supported this Mission Trip project by buying pizzas, attending chili suppers, flipping (and purchasing!) pancakes, listening to coffeehouse songs, taking time after church for a bowl of soup, doing legwork, attending meetings, organizing, delivering things .... and the endless number of jobs it takes to pull off such a big project.

The team thanks all of the many supporters for your generous hearts. Those hearts are critical for the success of the mission. No doubt about it: We are all a team.

That earthly acknowledgement given, here is a word from Team Leader Paul 3:
GOD has blessed this Mission Team and Trip. HE has provided the talent to make a difference in Dulac. HE has provided the Fund$$$$$ for this trip. HE has provided the leadership for this team. HE has provided the transportation for this team.

To God goes the glory.

The countdown has begun ...

Donna S. writes:

In a week, Henderson County Methodists on Mission will start packing tools, personal belongings and all the things needed for a week of hurricane relief work, this time in the deep bayou of Louisiana. Departure is Saturday, Feb. 2, and the return is Saturday, Feb. 9.

A 46-member team representing Belleview UMC, Bennett Memorial UMC, Cairo UMC, Chapel Hill UMC, First UMC, Holy Name Catholic Church and Wesleyan Heights UMC (Owensboro) will be working out of the Dulac Station, which is part of the Abbeville Disaster Recovery Station operated by UMCOR's Louisiana United Methodist Disaster Recovery Ministry.

This remote area's population largely consists of Native Americans and Cajuns, and its residents were impacted by major hurricane and major flooding from both Katrina and Rita.

This will be the sixth mission trip for the combined Henderson County Methodists on Mission. The first was to New Orleans in October 2006; three teams traveled to Gulfport, Miss., on consecutive weeks last winter and "the cabinet crew" returned to New Orleans in May 2007 to install kitchen cabinets in the home of Silas Dillion.

Dillion (shown at upper right in his kitchen with the staff of Westbank Station) was able to return to his home later in 2007 and the Westbank Station in New Orleans reported the joyous news to those who had worked on Dillion's behalf. They sent a photo and wrote: "Without your skills, hard work and love, this wouldn't have been possible. To put it simply, you changed his life. From our center here in New Orleans, we want to say thank you for being the hands and feet of God....."