Update from Your Team in New Orleans

On Sunday Sheila and Mary overheard the following conversation on Bourbon Street:

Guy: "Dawn, do you pray?"
Dawn, who is no more than 17 and with dead eyes, said, "No, never."
Guy: "You don't pray? Don't you ever talk to God?"
Dawn, shook her head NO.

Update from the rebuild team--- from John Ahonen
Great progress has been made on the house we're working on in East New Orleans. George and John D concentrated on putting in kitchen cabinets while Lorraine and John A painted two rooms with a final coat of paint. In addition to our work, we got to hear David (our supervisor) play the ukelele while we ate our lunch (EDITOR'S NOTE: They sang Happy Birthday to John A - 57 today!). We can see a major difference in the house from when we started on Monday. Lots of caulking, small carpentry work such as window sills and molding, and painting has been done.


Update from Rick Lindequist
A group of us drove over to view the Lower 9th Ward before going to our daily assignment. I am a new member of this mission, and have never been to New Orleans. The majority of the others in the car this morning have been on this mission either once or both times before, and they shared much of what they had learned about this area, and commented, thankfully, on positive changes they had seen since their prior visit. For me, it was an unreal picture of devastation even 5 years out! I am still dumb founded. Thankfully, members had seen definite progress, particularly in the Brad Pitt backed sustainable construction project of new homes.