My oh my
how the time does fly when you're having fun! Family Life Assembly of
God joined HH2G for their 6th trip to New Orleans to volunteer in
September (2012). The faithful few (Matt, Micky, and Ramesh) have
returned year after year to bless various homeowners such as Brian
Berteaux, Steamboat Willie, and most recently Ron and Betty Dufour.
This year the trio brought some fresh faces to introduce to us and the
city of New Orleans.
The first 4 days of work were spent working at Ron and Betty
Dufour's home. Let me give you a bit of background information on this
project: Ron and Betty Dufour have lived in their home located on the
beautiful water of Chef Pass on the outskirts of New Orleans. (see pics
of their location below) The Dufours have lived in the home for over 30
years- they call it their Bayou Heaven (their son even wrote a song
about it). For the first 30(ish) years they did not have any flooding
in their home. Hurricane Katrina changed that record, flooding their
home to the roof. Aside from water damage, that hurricane left a few
feet of mud in the home, critters (including snakes!!), mold, and total
ruin of all furniture left in the home during the hurricane. Volunteers
from all over the country assisted in the rebuilding of the home. It
was a long process, but they were finally able to move back in the home
after living in a Fema trailer for over a year. Next came
Hurricane Gustav in summer 2008. The house yet again received a few
feet of water, and the back yard was coated with reeds and debris from
the water that housed all kinds of critters and snakes. This time
around only the first four feet of drywall had to be replaced and
pitchforks were used to clear the back yards- volunteers dominated the
tasks relatively quickly. Now... 4 years later... Hurricane Isaac
decided to invite himself in without welcome. I'm not sure what it is
about these hurricanes, but they just don't seem to understand that
house visits are not appropriate! This time around the house suffered
about 1 1/2 - 2ft of water. The bottom half of the drywall was again
ruined as well as most of the furniture and appliances. They have been
waiting on their home to be raised for the past 2 years, the work was
finally scheduled to begin in August... The Dufours are an inspiration
in how they are handling the situation. Their trust in the Lord's
faithfulness and provision is evident as they navigate the rebuilding
process this 3rd time around.
The
Family Life crew spent the majority of the week strengthening the wall
structures and replacing the insulation and drywall in the Dufour's
home. The last day of the week 3 members of the team spent the day
framing walls for a ministry by the name of Amos 504. The ministry
formed a few years ago when a small group of folks relocated together to
New Orleans in the Uptown district of the city. After a few years of
meeting for church in their homes, the ministry is renting a suite in a
building in an Uptown neighborhood. In order to suit the necessities of
a church set up, renovations to the space were necessary. HH2G staff
assisted Amos 504 in tearing down some of the walls the first week of
September, and the Family Life AG team put them right back up... but in
new sections of the building. The Amos 504 ministry is now working to
finish up renovations and start functioning in their new home!
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