I hope all you parents are following the blog! This trip has been amazing and Im sure we all will never forget it! God has been largely apparent throughout the trip and the light of Christ is shining through each and every one of us! We all can't wait to see you all and we are (oh my goodness) almost home! Lots of love from all of las manos de Dios

Julia

Coming home(:

Today was the last day of the mission trip and we are spending it driving back to Albuquerque. However, to entertain us rambunctious kids, we are watching a movie titled as Facing the Giants. This movie is about a football team that is not doing good and the coach has his job threatened. The coaches wife really wants to have a kid, but is unable to. When the coach starts feeling really down, he pulls out a bible and starts to read the scripture. He preached to the football team and made a big difference in their lives.That one little light shined on the whole school and the kids broke into groups and just started confessing sins and became a family. Those little lights where each one difference. One difference leads up to the big difference. When we were working and building houses, each one of us was a light. A light that lit up the homeowners dark corner. My friend Rachel and i were upset that we couldn't make a bigger difference in each homeowners life devastated by Katrina. However, our small group leader, rob green, made it clear that we couldn't rebuild everyone's homes, even though everyone would like to. But there was one way we could help everyone. This was praying for them. Although we couldn't make a physical difference, we could make a spiritual difference.This was my first missn trip and I was deeply impacted.I realized how much I took for granted and how much I have compared to a lady that really inspired me. Her name was Barbra. After Katrina, her home was one of the many homes that was destroyed. This year, she found out that she had a brain tumor that she thought was to be a stroke. Did she care? No. She focused on how much she was blessed and didn't focus on it. She has truly changed my life around and I won't look at anything the same again.

This is the last day of the 2011 mission trip. As I sit on the bus I this about all the many lives that we have changed as a group. This is my forth and final high school mission trip. I have made so many new friends through these mission trips. They will be in my heart forever! I look forward to spending this first week of every summer with all these amazing boys and girls. I hope as a senior that I have changed some of their lives and that they will do great things next year without all of the seniors. This week I worked on the freret street house. We did a lot of painting. On the last day of work we called our home owner, Ms.Ethel. She was so thankful to have all of us kids working on our house. Although she had never even met us she sounded so happy to hear from us. She kept saying "God bless you for coming and helping me, you all such angels". She was filled with joy. I just didn't understand how someone could go through something so horrible and still be so happy. Over this week I have realized that you can't take anything for granted because in a blink of an eye everything you have worked so hard for could be gone forever. It's hard for me to think about going from having everything I want to having nothing at all. My last mission trip was full of laughs, cry's, smiles, and amazing memories that I will never forget. I love all the new kids I met this year and will miss them all next year, but I know they will do great next year without all the seniors.
-Hailey Green

Pleasing =)

"Try to find what is pleasing to the Lord"-Ephesians 5:10.

 The dictionary says the definitnon of pleasing is the act of being agreeable and satisfactory, or to have manners. This word has been coming up in conversation all over camp the last few days. "Make sure that it pleases Chad", or "The chicken pleases the gators", or "Is it pleasing to *insert worksite manager*", or "Does that please God?" In my opinion, the word pleasing doesn't seem to describe the experience that this mission trip has given me. Maybe a word like bufoonery, gladdening, high time, or a very voluptuous experience. Yet not one word that thesaurus.com has on their website seems to fit. We saw gators, ate fabulous food, met an amazing woman named Barbara, working our booties off in the sweltering sun, and had some pretty intense small group time. I think that a better word would be God-inspiring. It popped into my head this morning. Every little act of kindness adds to the upbeat, lively, grateful, and blessed attitude that we all share. My worksite group met a man that had  gotten out of prison only two days ago, and he was making a "complete 180", as Chad would say. Another cool encounter was watching a little boy push his baby brother in a broken wheel barrow. The joy and bliss on their faces was so humbling and astonishing. Though this town was broken by a catastrophic strom, it still has a spirit that can't be broken. I've enjoyed every second of this mission trip, and I know that God has been carrying me every step of the way.

Tons of Love,
Rachel McKinney <3

A Blessing :)

I'm not gonna lie--  I was a little anxious about coming on the mission trip this year. I'm an incoming Junior and I've never been on one of these before, so I was afraid of a lot of things: not fitting in with the group, not peforming on the worksite, not feeling any closer to God... But it's a relief to realize how very wrong I was. I've met some amazing people, heard inspiring stories, and felt so much closer to God than I have for a very long time. Although Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans over five years ago, it's still working on coming back together and rebuiliding. A quick glaze over the city would make a person think that it's completely restored, but a closer look has given us a different portrayal. There are still empty lots, destroyed homes, and broken communitites, all just waiting for the push needed to continue to rebuild. I'm so thankful to have gotten the opportunity to work on the houses this week and to have met all of the amazing people who have opened up to us and shared their stories. All of my anxieties leading up to this trip were misplaced as I got closer to everyone on the trip and realized how supportive and hard-working they all are. I can't think of anything better than spending a week with a group of people who are all so focused on helping others and spreading the light of God. This trip has truly been a blessing, and I'm already looking forward to next year!

-Jessica Depies:)

Community

Community.  If there is one thing I have learned this week, it is a sense of community.  From the first few minutes we drove into New Orleans, I could feel a bond that was shared by everyone, no matter if they knew each other or not.  People sit on their front porches and talk on their cell phones, go for a walk with the dog, and stop to say hi to everyone.  Everyone is outside.  Despite the sweltering heat (the heat index today was 108!) everyone is outside and together.  Just today on the way to the work site, I saw a two little boys, the older pushing the younger in a red car, walking down the middle of the street.  It made me smile to see the friendship and camaraderie shared between the two little boys.
Yesterday, in the midst of working on our house on Paris Street, one of the neighbors came by.  He saw us working and offered to help when we got to the finishing stages (he paints/finishes houses professionally).  We asked about his story and he gladly obliged.  He waited 3 days and 3 nights on the roof top for help.  He told us that he was never afraid of death because he knew it was in God's hands.  He trusted in the Lord, and gave up control.  It was truly a phenomenal story.  How open he was with us showed me the trust that he openly puts in people and the Lord.  I really admire how together the people in New Orleans are.
I can't wait to go out and work hard tomorrow.  Meeting the people and putting a person or a story to each house really makes me want to work that much harder.  Going home Saturday I am really going to miss seeing people outside enjoying God's beautiful creation with each other!  

Allie Ogawa

A Day of Learning

I can't believe this time has come already! I'm a senior on the trip and it's my last high school mission trip :(. However, it has definitely been an experience I will always remember. I was so bummed when I learned the house I'm working on has no family living in it. My favorite part of these mission trips have always been getting to meet and know the family we are working for, as well as learning about what they went through. We do have an awesome worksite manager at the Rampart street house, though. We were lucky enough to have Alex, a history major, as our manager. He's been a fountain of knowledge telling us about this wonderful city and everything that happened, how it happened, and why it happened. He's also thrown in many fun facts along the way including everything from Christopher Columbus to the Ancient Greeks. He has definitely made up for not having a family in the house. This trip has been such a great experience. It's always wonderful to know we are helping people and improving their quality of life. Even though we don't have a family living in our house, we are helping the entire community regain a sense of normalcy. Visiting here has also allowed me to have a greater appreciation for our beautiful NM. We are so lucky to have no natural disasters, a rather mild climate, as well as beautiful landscape. This has been a wonderful senior mission  trip and I'm sincerely going to miss spending the first week of my summer working alongside the youth of our wonderful SPC.

Katie Tillery :)

First Timers(:

I have had so much fun so far through out the trip.  I am just sad to have to leave. I tried crawfish for the first time, and despite the fact that I hate every other kind of underwater animal, liked it.  I also go to kiss a baby alligator.  My work sight is in the painting stage which means exactly what it says we are painting the inside of the house.  The thing I have found to be most difficult is the texture gun is really heavy and hard to use.  Basically what it does is it adds texture to drywall.  It is what they use back home to make the walls bumpy.  I am really happy to learn about how the owner, of the house we are working on, survived the hurricane.  She actually sat through the storm in her house and then when she realized the water was to her shins she  decided she needed to leave.  She said she doesn't consider herself to be a tough women, she just said, "When you have to be tough and you to get something done you just do, and God will follow you through the whole time."  I am sad to leave New Orleans and the kind and caring people, but I can't wait to get home and see my family and friends.  I miss you Vanatsky's(:

Joliet worksite

Yesterday, my group and I had the pleasure of meeting our house owner Barbra, she was by far the sweetest and strongest woman I have ever known. She stayed in her house through the whole hurricane becasuse she said she felt safer there than she did anywhere else. After, when she knew she had to leave, she walked two blocks to a safe chuch, with the water levels at over five feet! She also told us that she was not tough, she had to do what she had to do, but what surprised me was that she loved her house enough to come back, after all the damage was there. She then hired contractors who ended up being fake, and just working so they could get paid; her house was ruined. When I met her, she said thank you so much, I told her I was happy to be here, then she put her hand over her heart and lightly thumped her chest, where her heart would be; that is something I will remember for the rest of my life. That experience was the best thing that has happened to me. It made me want to work that much harder to finish my job well. It also made me realize how easy I have it. It's easy to say that you appreciate every thing you have, but only when you meet someone like Barbra, do you really become humbled! I hardly know her and she has forever changed my life. I'm ready to work my butt off for the final two days in hopes of getting Barbra into her house by Christams!!!!!!!!!!!

Shelby Garcia:)

So today was a lot of fun...we painted! Alex, our site manager, also told us even more about New Orleans than he did yesterday.  Who knew there was so much to learn about one city?  As Alex said New Orleans seems to have a different history than the rest of the US, but maybe it is that way wherever you go.  Every place has a little bit of its own unique history.  Anyways, back to the trip, the house I am working on is almost finished.  My group is just doing the last coats of paint, fixing up the yard, and building a fence.  The only downside to our worksite is that we don't have an owner to get to know.  It makes the trip a lot more interesting when you get to hear the local stories of people who have actually been affected by the hurricane.  It has been great getting to know everyone here and I am going to miss seeing everyone daily after this is over!
-Grace Wiele

..just imagine

... picture. You are in your house on Monday and there is one inch of water under you house. Then Tuesday comes, and the levee breaks, now your house is covered in three feet of water, and you are no longer able to drive. The water levels keep rising and you don't even know how to swim. This is what happened to the owner of our site, Mrs. Williams. She and her mother were evacuated in a helicopter from the roof of their house. Rescue workers cut a whole in the roof and lifted them out. I can't begin to comprehend what it would be like to go through this, and then, five years later, still not have a house to live in. I feel blessed to be working with team F.A.F. (Freak'n. Awesome. Framers) in helping to give her this house back. It is hot and humid and everyone works with a smile. We are not just fixing houses, but creating homes.

- Madde Lesnewich

Work Day 2

Today was another productive day...Although the temperature was around 97% with humidity levels even higher! Everyone is taking a shower, enjoying some down time and getting ready for dinner.  Tomorrow should be another great day!!!