Wednesday, May 4

This was a very long but enjoyable day.

PRAYER WALKING

Wednesday morning began with a side trip to meet Pastor Eric and his wife Kristina. God has called them to plant a church in downtown New Orleans and we helped by passing out fliers in the neighborhood. The people we met were very friendly.

At each corner we stopped to pray for either the city, the schools, the businesses, the police, the church plant, or the people living around us. Kristina told us that corruption was a big problem in many circles of New Orleans and we could see that prayer is very important in the recovery of the communities.

MEETING MISS CAMMIE

After the prayer walk, each team drove to their assigned home.

Today Miss Cammie stopped by to visit the team and share her heartfelt appreciation for helping rebuild her house. Katrina took a toll on her physically. The stress was so great that she had trouble with her heart and had a pace maker implanted. But she is convinced that the Lord loves her and watches over her through her many trials. We were able to pray with her and were encouraged by her persevering faith.

9^th WARD

After finishing our day of work, we headed toward the 9th Ward. Along the way we noted that there are more signs of life in the city than had been 5 yrs. ago. Many businesses are open and more homes rebuilt. But in the Lower 9th Ward near the levies there were still vast areas of empty lots and abandoned homes. Only about 15 % of the homes were restored and occupied. We saw many of the new, unusual Brad Pitt homes.

BLOCK PARTY

In an adjacent neighborhood we held a block party in the yard of one of our clients. We walked the streets and invited the neighbors to join us for grilled hot dogs. It was a great way to meet people and hear their stories. The stories we heard were harrowing. Veronica was awaken in the night to rapidly rising water in her bedroom. She escaped into her tiny attic, and was saved by her neighbor who hammered a hole in the roof for her to escape out onto. Otherwise she would have drowned in her attic. Patrick spent 2 days on his roof and didn't like to remember the things he saw floating by. He plans to drive up to Alabama next week when he has the time off so he can help out those who are in need there. Several walked up to thank us for the work Touch Global has provided over the years, and for sticking with it. We heard that 2 other relief organizations had pulled out of New Orleans this year.

We finished the night with a trip to the French Quarter for beignets and a creole dinner.