Team 6 - Wednesday Update from Troy

WOW! What a day this was. Our assignment for today and probably the rest of the week is at the Crowder Blvd. CoC. This is a church in the infamous 9th ward. The day began with a stop at the Carrolton Avenue CoC. That, as you will remember, is the church we demucked back in October when we were here last. They have the pews from Tiffin Road in Findlay in place and are having services on a regular basis now. It was exciting to see the progress being made. In fact they are now acting as a staging area for "The Nehemiah Project" the rebuilding of the churches in New Orleans.

We left Carrolton Avenue and headed for Crowder Blvd. As we exited the interstate I thought we had regressed to the days immediately following Katrina. No power on in the entire area (including street lights and traffic signals), people were very sparse, even animals seemed to be in hiding and all building deserted and in shambles. It was simply amazing. I guess I was lured into thinking that things were better than they were based on the media.

I met with Gregory Hamilton, a Crowder Blvd elder. He told me that out of a congregation of 150 members, only about eight have returned. He is committed to rebuilding God's house in the 9th ward regardless of the opposition he is faced with. We prayed with him and went straight to work.

The entire building has to be gutted. It was quite easy since the front of the building was glass, we simply removed the remaining glass and framework and the auditorium opened up to the street. Our team had the auditorium gutted in no time and began working on the rest of the building.

It was rewarding to see the face of this elder begin to glow as we demolished his building.




As the furniture and walls and the like were carried to the curb, he knew that God was at work preparing the way for a rebuilding, and he understood it all too well.

We also had opportunity to witness to a single mother and her 12 year old daughter as three of our crew spent two hours removing some large appliances from her home across the street and then praying with her and leaving her with water and food.

I spent a considerable amount of time with Tim who is the principle of a private pre-K to 8th grade school down the street. He was principle for all of 9 days when the hurricane hit. Out of 897 students who were enrolled, he is opening back up this Monday with only 212 students who are back. He was overjoyed to be able to stop working for a few minutes and simply share what he has been through with someone who wanted to listen to him and shared a passion for children. We prayed and he walked back to his school.

It was a very tiring day, but a very rewarding day. Our crew is exhausted but looking forward to going back tomorrow. Today we got a glimpse of how in our weakness, He is strong.

Love 'Em Like Jesus,
Troy Blair, Youth Minister
Northland Church of Christ
www.ncocfamily.org
tblair@ncocfamily.org