Thoughts for Pondering

The flood of volunteers that typically overtakes the city of New Orleans during spring break has not disappointed in 2011.  As I drive down the road I see multiple homes being restored and rebuilt by the generosity, sweat, and love of volunteers.  The home across the street from my office had volunteers working inside and outside last week.  When I passed them on Friday they were cheering and clapping- no doubt celebrating the accomplishment of bringing a home-owner much much closer to being back in their home.  Not just their house... their home.  Maybe they were the ones to put the finishing touches on the house and were handing the keys over to the homeowner.  Now that is definitely something to celebrate.  I wonder who that homeowner is.  I'm sure they have a story to tell- everyone does you know.  Not just stories about their experience through hurricane Katrina, but about their lives before and after.  I hope the volunteers were able to hear those stories.  They may have rebuilt a home, but they have made an impact on more than just the hurricane aftermath chapter of the homeowner's life.  The effects of their kindness will carry on through the rest of the homeowner's life.

Krewe de Kansas- Sept. 2010

The guys of Family Life Assembly of God (Pittsburgh, KS) brought with them cooler air and lots of sunshine when they joined HH2G for a week in September. Veterans of the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans, this team of 5 jumped right into the work. We utilized the carpentry skills amongst the group by assigning them to build a ramp for Mrs. Julia Brown. Julia travels in a wheel chair, so the guys worked on her deck and added a ramp for ease of access to her home.

The Kansas team was also able to reconnect with a homeowner they blessed in the summer of 2009. Steamboat Willie, a New Orleans dixieland jazz musician, always wanted a back deck, and this team delivered. Our staff is continually amazed by the connections that form between the volunteers and the homeowners they work with.

Grace Church of Chapel Hill (NC)- AUG 2010

Grace Church brought a wonderful mixture of volunteers to HH2G... There were young and old alike, and a few FAMILIES! Serving others together as a family can be an awesome experience. It can create strong memories and bonds that remain throughout a lifetime. It was a great experience to host such a team!

Half of the crew from Grace Church finished up several projects at Mr. Desoto Bobby Jackson's home, both inside and outside of the house. The team was privileged to experience the act of handing over the keys of the house to the homeowner, Mr. Jackson.

GREAT JOB TO ALL TEAMS AND VOLUNTEERS WHO WORKED ON MR. DESOTO BOBBY JACKSON'S HOME!!! There is no way that the full amount of gratitude for your hard work could be expressed. Know that you participated not only in rebuilding a home, but in deeply touching someone's life with the love of Jesus.

The other half of the team worked at the home of Pastor Green. HH2G did most of the rebuilding of Pastor Green's home, and returned to continue the work. The team painted the outside of the house, as well as laid tile in the house, complete with a small mosaic :)

First Presbyterian Church (CA)- JULY 2010

After a year off from HH2G, First Presbyterian Church returned to New Orleans with fond memories of their previous visit, and an eagerness to make more memories this visit. It's wonderful to welcome familiar faces back to HH2G- and we were privileged to do so with this crew, right down to a young lady who experienced her first trip to New Orleans back in 2007!

The crew of First Pres. worked hard to return Mr. Desoto Bobby Jackson's home to a functional state. With skilled workers to lead and non-skilled workers to fill in where necessary this team accomplished much! This crew accomplished so much that the next team was able to finish most of the work left in Mr. Jackson's home!

To the team members of First Presbyterian of Santa Rosa (you know who you are ;), it's always a pleasure to host and work with you. We look forward to seeing you all again!

St. Vivian Church (OH) - JULY 2010

"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention," so says Kahlil Gibran. St. Vivian Church faithfully commits acts of kindness and compassion by sending teams twice a year, and has graced our presence with teams a total of 6 times! That's right, folks... 6 times! The past 2 summers Jeanne Shaefer has headed up a team of young volunteers from the St. Vivian youth group. This year was no different. Upon arrival, HH2G staff gladly welcomed several familiar faces as well as a few new team members.

The beautiful thing about this team is that regardless of who is on the team, they perform whatever tasks are asked of them, and they do it with infectious joy and love... I've even heard of them serenading the homeowners as they work!

This July the St. Vivian crew scraped, primed, and painted the home of Frank and Nikki Brown (picture of home before painting is above). This team pressed hard to finish the painting job, and succeeded! Check out the action shots above...

Sweet Summer Fun

(Ahem)...After a rather long reprieve from blogging, HisHands2Go is back in action with updates on our summer happenings. We've had some extremely hard-working teams, sweet fellowship, and wonderful experiences with the homeowners. Check out the next few postings for specifics on the teams we were blessed to work with, and the homeowners they were privileged to work for!

Much love to ya,

HisHands2Go

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!!

HisHands2Go has been assisting homeowner Desoto "Bobby" Jackson with his home for roughly 2 1/2 months now. Mr. Jackson, an elderly gentleman, has been doing much of the work of rebuilding his home himself since 2005. HH2G staff made contact with him soon after the hurricane, and reconnected with him this winter (2010). Mr. Jackson was only expecting to have a little help, so he was thrilled when HH2G offered him much more: we've made a goal of finishing the work on Bobby's home, and seeing him move back into it, preferably by the end of 2010. Most HH2G volunteers that have come down since January have been priviledged to assist Bobby with his home, and have carried away wonderful memories of working with and for this man. Though much has been accomplished, there is still much to do, and now the work is to a point that it requires some skilled workers... but of course we ALWAYS welcome the unskilled as well :) Here are the tasks we are seeking to accomplish:

SKILLED
1) Sanding & refinishing hardwood floors
2) Finish carpentry work

UNSKILLED
1) Scraping & painting
2) Drywall hanging
3) Mudding, taping, sanding drywall

Please consider taking a week of your time to come down and work on Mr. Jackson's home. For more information or to book a trip, visit http://www.hishands2go.com/, email teams@hishands2go.com, or call (504) 302-0788. We look forward to seeing you!