Travail dur et bonnes périodes

Top: A crew consisting of Denny Howard, John Eblen and Charles Lander works on drywall. They'll be setting cabinets later in the week. Middle: On another site, Dick Ward, Greg Fisher and John Tom Utley work on one of the toughest assignments: Hand-mixing 30 bags of concrete in a wheelbarrow to use for installing a handicapped ramp. Bottom: One of the two King Cakes given to the Mission Team for Mardi Gras.

Donna S. writes:

Today's title says "hard work and good times" (we were told that we would be blessed if we try out the local lingo!)

Even though it was a holiday here in the bayou, work continued in a big way on our job sites. Foreman Bud Hill says we are currently working at about eight of the 15 sites on our list. The punch lists are getting close to being completed at some of the sites.

And now, enough from me and time to hear from some of the other 44 Mission Team members and their experiences of the past few days…. Here are some of their paraphrased remarks:

From John Eblen: “What’s better than Super Bowl parties and the day after Super Bowl? What’s better than Super Tuesday? What’s better than Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, Louisiana? It’s the sight of a homeowner and the smile on their face when someone comes to their front door to repair their home that’s been ruined by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.”

From Tony Weisman: A guy today who didn’t know who we were came across the yard where we were working (where they were doing replacement windows). He said he and his wife had boiled a bunch of crabs and wanted to offer them to the workers.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The work crew brought them back to the dormitory at lunch time and shared with the rest of the Mission Team. They were declared to be delicious by all who tried them.

From Chuck and Susan Harris (who are on Tony’s crew): That was very neighborly (bringing over the boiled crabs to share). They weren’t really doing any work for that couple, Susan said, but they still felt compelled to express their appreciation. Their gesture gave Susan an opportunity to go over after lunch and share her cross with them. “They just thanked us, thanked us, thanked us,” she said.

From Max Whelan (our team member from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada): There’s so much to be done. There are other people even worse off than the homeowners we are working for and nothing is being done at their homes. The people are friendly and appreciative of help, both on the team and in the town.

From Karen Hill: A man walked by the front of Clanton Chapel United Methodist Church with two big dogs. He stopped to chat to find out where the group was from and asked which house we were working on in Dulac. I told him we were working all over Dulac, that we had 45 workers. He got a big grin on his face and said “Good.” That was the first contact I had with local people.

From Rob Kerr: I don’t believe I’ll ever complain again about what I have (or don’t have).

From Dan Odom: On Monday evening he and a group were eating dinner out a restaurant in Houma (since we ran out of food at the center) and he struck up a conversation with a Baptist minister and his family from Houma. Dan and others in the group found an opportunity to give away their crosses. In the course of the conversation, they started talking about King Cake and its tradition during the pre-Mardi Gras season. In a bit, Dan noticed that the minister had disappeared from his table. In a while, he came back with a King cake to give his new Henderson friends.

EDITOR’S NOTE: An anonymous donor also left two King Cakes for the Mission Team at the Dulac Center for the team to have for dessert on Tuesday evening after our dinner at the Boudreau & Thibodeaux restaurant. Rob Kerr got the baby from the first cake that was cut, so he’s apparently hosting the Mission Team for a King Cake party next year on Epiphany!

From Steve Raleigh: I’m amazed by the logistics of working out the details of working with 45 people and not having short tempers.

From Rodger Swatzell: There’s a lot of poverty down here. These people are sadly used to it. A lot of the poor people here don’t have a means of making a living unless it’s the shrimping business.

Heard at the breakfast table: One of the good things about being down here … We haven’t had to hear about all that politics.

More from other Mission Team members as we go forward …