Monday, February 3, 2014

Ain't No Excuse

The buildings belonging to St. Luke Assembly of God suffered both major and minor damages following Hurricane Isaac in 2012.  The most severe injury being the separation of the wall from the building at the peak.  Quotes from other repair men have been… well let’s just say it’s out of the church’s price range!  Damages also include other spots of the roof being torn off on both the sanctuary and Fellowship Hall, thus producing even more leaks throughout the building.  Several pieces of electronic equipment were lost to water damage, and the entire office they were in had to have a bit of a makeover.  The list goes on…
Then, 1 1/2 yrs later, No Excuses Disaster Relief from IL blew in with a trailer full of tools and men and women with hearts to serve and the knowledge of how to get the job done.  We watched in utter amazement at the flow and amount of work these wonderful friends accomplished.  They reconnected the wall to the building (making us all dizzy at the height at which they were working!), repaired the other leaky roof spots, and took over any and all repairs and improvements that they saw needed to be done.  St. Luke now has a balcony room, new curtains in every room, all light bulbs replaced, repaired and freshly painted front doors, and a new hand sink in the kitchen.  That kitchen is so close to being up to code for commercial use!  In addition, they designed the vents to be used in the Garden on Marais hoophouse.  We can now grow food year-round in it!
One of the beautiful aspects of this event is that these people from IL were some of the first to work in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.  They repaired the New Orleans East church, have worked a good deal on St. Luke buildings before, and blessed countless other residents of this city.  They specifically chose to come here this trip to work on St. Luke and the Fellowship Hall, giving of their time and talents in love.  We consider them dear friends, and look forward to the next time we see them.  We may not have leaks in our roof anymore, but our eyes were definitely a bit leaky when they drove away!  From the deepest part of our hearts, we thank you.
Take a look at the work they did!