Hope Chapel Katrina Relief

2006-01-20T01:18:00.000-05:00

Here we all are fighting off the sun in our eye's in front of Cheryl's new door!

2006-01-20T01:08:00.000-05:00

This is Cheryl's House. It's 3-bedroom/ 2 bath.

We've been having too much fun!

2006-01-19T20:00:00.000-05:00

Our team has had an exciting and blessed week. It has been amazing to be able to see first hand the work of God. Never again will we be able to wonder if God will provide in any situation; we have heard many stories and been apart of a few ourselves that has opened our eyes and brought our faith to a whole new level.
We have spent our days at Cheryl King's house. She is one of the many who lost everything but the clothes on her back. Cheryl is a single mom of three boys (all in their 20's) who lived in the, as she calls it, "projects" for their childhood while working a fast food job. About 18 months ago she bought her first house and after Katrina came through it was filled with five feet of water throughout. The insurance company only gave her forty five hundred dollars for a new front and rear door and carpet in the house. She looked the insurance guy in the eye and said "Thanks for the money for those things and God will provide the rest."
When we arrived, her house had been gutted and new dry wall was installed. Our contribution has been painting the ceilings and walls; scrubbing the bathroom and kitchen tile; installing eight new doors; finishing her electrical; yard clean up and we are hoping to lay lament floors tomorrow. We have all had the best time working on her house, hanging out with all of our new friends from Ohio, Oregon, and Seattle and talking with all of those affected by the storm.
Cheryl is one we have fell in love with. She is extremely thankful, a great woman of God and just a joy to be around. She has been like a kid on Christmas every day rushing home from work to see the progress we have made. She comes by the church each night to thank us and tell us what a wonderful job we've done.

2006-01-15T21:01:00.000-05:00

This sign sits about 100 yards from the ocean and says it all. The dome shape building in the back ground is now the catholic church.

Yes, He is!

2005-11-19T23:44:00.000-05:00

Wish we could stay longer

2005-11-18T19:59:00.000-05:00

We spent our final day taking down storm damaged trees in a single mom's yard. The guys were happy cause they got to have chain saws in their hands...Joe even handed one to me. Thanks Joe, another thing Scott will have me do around the yard.

It has been an incredible experience to be here in Waveland. All four of us wish we could stay longer as there is such a huge need and every task done is important to someone. We hope that people will pray and consider coming to Waveland, Mississippi. There is no talent too small. It is never our ability, but our availability.

Hope Chapel has a list of specific families to take care of for Christmas. I pray that each family can be blessed by us and know they are not forgotten.

God Bless Waveland, Mississippi

Burrrr...

2005-11-17T23:33:00.000-05:00

It's getting VERY cold at night here.
A big need for Waveland residents living in trailers, will be small electric heaters...the propane is just too expensive. Keep an ear out at Hope Chapel as we may be trying to get some of those to the people we have been meeting.
Here is a photo of Aude and his beautiful family who live in a FEMA trailer on the church property.

A new friend's childhood home

2005-11-17T22:34:00.000-05:00

We were on our way to take linoleum (3 very stubborn layers) and kitchen cabinets out of a house, but we needed directions. I asked a lady driving by where St. Charles street was and she said "That's MY street." We followed her to our destination and we got to talking.
This is a picture of the house she grew up in, right down the block. She is five months pregnant with her first baby. Up the street is the house she lives in now...but they live in a trailer on the property. This is a block off the beach. Her clock making business in New Orleans "Quality Times Clocks and Signs" was flooded with 10 feet of water.

2005-11-16T22:39:00.000-05:00

Some of the explanation about the photos is later in the blog...photos came last...so read on!

It's a good thing...

2005-11-16T20:51:00.000-05:00

You learn something new every day!

2005-11-16T20:45:00.000-05:00

So Libby got to learn how to rewire outlets...while Joe already knew and Alan and Josh installed insulation.

Joe "Mudding Out"

2005-11-16T20:32:00.000-05:00

Alan, the Bridge Inspector...Really!

2005-11-16T20:24:00.000-05:00

By trade, Alan really is a Bridge inspector...this one did not pass.

Way ironic...

2005-11-16T20:10:00.000-05:00

2005-11-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

Libby and Marilyn whose dryer GOD fixed!

Self Explanatory

2005-11-16T19:51:00.000-05:00

"Mudding out a house"

2005-11-16T19:31:00.000-05:00

Josh, Joe, Alan, and Libby spent the day "mudding out a house." Everything including every single nail needs to come out so only the studs are standing. These homes had water up to the ceilings or higher during the storm. After they are totally cleaned out the engineers will cometo give the thumbs up or down for rebuilding. If they don't think it is sound it will be bulldozed. ( Pastor Tyrone and a crew had worked on his own house for a week and then were told it needed to be bulldozed. )
When you take down light fixtures they are full of water. (Gulf water) Same with all of the insulation that needs to be pulled out. Libby found a fish in the front yard...go figure...smelled awful.

"Find Robert's House"

2005-11-16T19:10:00.000-05:00

Robert's foundation is in the forefront...his house is the blue one in the distance...it landed upright on a trailer.

Above is Robert, Debbie aned their great kids Michael and Elizabeth on the steps of their FEMA trailer which sits on the church property.

We can't forget Waveland, Mississippi

2005-11-15T20:22:00.000-05:00

Waveland, Mississippi had storm surges of twenty to thirty feet in most areas. If homes were not completely torn from their foundations and spread for miles from the winds, they were submerged in water, some more than ten feet over their roof lines. Homes were set down on railroad tracks. All the town halls, etc. completely destoyed. Needless to say, the town of Waveland has been destroyed. Not much was ever shown on the news about Waveland...they will be rebuilding for many, many years to come. Most people are still in survival mode. Some of the fortunate ones are able to have their homes fully gutted, given a permit and are slowly trying to make a dent in huge task ahead of them. Many people are living in tents on their property. Kids just started school last week and it is strange to watch them get off a bus...and walk down streets with devastation to their right and to their left. At the 3 or 4 distribution tents around the town, many thousands of volunteers and residents are fed three times a day for free. Those places are run by various church organizations as far away as California.

Word of Faith church is where we have landed. What an awesome group of people with a wonderful pastor...and they really need all the help that people are willing to give. There is a huge distribution tent that the church maintains for anyone who has a need. Hundreds come by daily for anything from clothes, sheets, some toiletries. Trucks will show up with supplies donated from all over the country.

Today we installed insulation in a church member's house. We also needed to strip and reconnect wiring in all the outlets that had sat in water that went at least 6 feet high in her house.

Here are a few random stories I need to write down before I forget.

Pastor Tyrone wanted to get a dryer over to a mom of one of the ladies in the church. The mom lives next door to the church member who has known Tyrone since before he became a pastor. . Joe and I (Libby) took the dryer over today and installed it. I talked awhile with Marilyn on her driveway...listening to her story.
When we were going to the car I asked Joe if he had checked to see if the dryer worked. "No," he said...men...(ha ha) Anyway, I said, "Joe, you are definitely not a mom...I'm not leaving here until we check to see if the dryer works." Sure enough...it did NOT work. We tried EVERYTHING...pushed in the cord numerous times, checked breakers on the sub panel and Marilyn checked the main panel outside...nothing worked as I kept pushing buttons, shaking the dryer...opening and closing the door.
At one point I mumbled, "we need a miracle here"...tried the button...nothing. Joe said wecouldn't start messing with the 220 outlet...I'm looking at this sweet lady Marilyn who probably had gotten her hopes up to finally do laundry in her home, ...and I knew we could not leave there without that dryer working, and having to send someone back some other day. I said " God, we REALLY need a miracle here...and I touched the dryer, sort of by the lint collector, NOT the start button...and....I jumped so far WHEN THAT THING STARTED!.
Joe, Marilyn and myself knew there was no explaining that miracle away... God gets that glory.

It's so hard to begin writing about what's going on here because it is so overwhelming and it's hard to know where to begin. Every story is literally unblievable.

The young family with two small kids, girl age 6 and boy age 7 live in a FEMA trailer behind the one I stay in on the church property. During the storm the dad had walked 4 miles over trees and debris to get to his mother in law who was stuck in her attic, the house completely flooded. The mother in law broke her arm on the way out of there. His own house had a storm surge 10 feet OVER his roof, so needless to say they have NOTHING left. Three of their four dogs died in the hurricane. What makes that even worse for him was that part of his income is from the dogs as they are show dogs that he gets $3,000 for each puppy. The two sweet kids just got to start school this past week. They don't have room in their trailer for anything extra so they don't have all that kids would usually have at home with them.

Josh, Joe, Alan and I went over to Jeanette's house the first day we arrived. Their beautiful dream house...a yellow cottage with a front porch that they built 3 years ago...totally destroyed...you walk around and see parts of photo albums from who knows from where...sometimes being able to make out the images in the picture...proms, new baby, graduations...on and on. The house will be bulldozed, they will sell the land and she plans on moving to South Carolina to open a bakery with her daughter who lives there. Sadly, her 80 mom had just moved into a beautiful new home they built for her one year ago...and it is gone. Her mom is now in Texas with another relative, wants to come back to see her home...but her daughter knows it would be too much for her.

The first lady I met here, Delia, age 71, had moved here from Visalia, Ca. two months before the storm. Her church had prophesied over her that He had big plans for her in Mississippi and that He would have His hand on her the whole time. She didn't know that would be Katrina and the storm's aftermath. She has seen God move in miraculous ways every day since the morning her daughter called and told her and her husband to just get the dogs in the car and start driving East...get as far away as quick as she could. They ended up in some parking lot in the Florida panhandle for 3 days in their van with their dogs as the few hotels that had room would take no animals. They ended up having to take the pets to the SPCA. It was terrible for her. They returned to waveland to find that their house had been completely submerged. It has been gutted, but they are in a section of Waveland that is not recieving bulilding permits yet. They now reside in a FEMA trailer here on the church property. They just got water and plumbing this week. Recently, she found out that someone had gone to the shelter in Florida and got the dogs before they were put down...and searched for over a month for her back here in Waveland. They even had people drivning by this church looking for their blue van. Persistance paid off and they reunited their smaller dog with them and agreed to keep the bigger lab, Summer, that would not be practical in the trailer here on the church property.

The house we are going to work at tomorrow belongs to a lady at this church. During the storm her and her 75 year old mother waded out of ther house in chin deep water then had to swim in water over their heads for several blocks until they got to a tree they climbed into and waited 4 hours there to be rescued. We will be pulling down what drywall is left in her house.

As we drove with Pastor Tyrone yesterday, he took us by Robert's house...well...Robert's "foundation"...Tyrone said, "So now it's time to play the game 'find' Robert's house." Josh, Alan, Joe and I started guessing what pile of debris might be his "house." We were all wrong. About 300 yards away, across a road, BEHIND some tall trees that were still standing...sat Robert's house. Somehow it had been picked up (probably a tornado) lifted all the way over there and sat it UPRIGHT on top of someone else's trailer. It is surreal...I will show you all that photo later. Unbelievable.

By the way, today Pastor Tyrone got the check from State Farm Insurance for his house...$6,000.

We cannot forget Waveland, Mississippi

HOPE CHAPEL HEADS TO WAVELAND, MISSISSIPPI

2005-11-15T20:17:00.000-05:00

Four Hope Chapel members - Joe Ellen, Josh Capps, Alan Osborne & Libby Snyder - left Raleigh on Sunday, November 13th, to head down to Waveland, Mississippi and offer their time, energy, hearts and prayers in a community that is desperate for help and has for the most part been neglected by the media.

They are sending us images and stories to update you all on. We hope you will take the time to read these amazing, God-filled stories and pray for these people and this community. We are working on scheduling future trips as well and want all of you to know that even if you don't think you could do a lot to help, if your heart is leading you to travel with one of these teams, God will show you with His clarity and confirmation what a blessing EVERY PERSON could be to this town.

They will be checking this site daily, so feel free to offer your words of encouragement and prayer by posting your own message to the site.

Thank you and God Bless!

WE ARE HOME - SAFE & SOUND. THANK YOU ALL

2005-09-27T12:03:00.000-04:00

As most of you know by now, we made it home safe and sound two days earlier than we had originally planned, but thankfully so to the wise counsel of our Senior Pastor (thank you Bill!) We were all able to get out of New Orleans before Rita came ashore and re-flooded several areas.

Looking back, I don't think that any of us had any idea of what to expect, but we were all willing to be FLEXIBLE and OBIEDIENT, and God used each and every one of us in amazing ways. This trip has changed my life forever, and I imagine it has done the same for everyone else.

I know, too, that we could never have done so much and with such grace had you all not been praying for us. So thank you - even if it was a quick prayer shot up while you were reading through the blog updates. They were heard, answered and greatly appreciated.

And to sum it all up by our very own Joe Ellen.........

the Hope Chapel Hurricane Katrina Relief Trip - Serve Well & Laugh Hard!

If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. -Ecclesiastes 4:10 NLT

TRYING TO OUTRUN RITA

2005-09-22T07:19:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone. Looks like we are cutting our trip one day short as we don't want to be a part of the problem with Rita. The clouds are starting to swirl and the winds are definitely picking up. PLEASE PRAY FOR US TO ALL GET OUT OF HERE SAFELY TODAY AND FOR US TO FIND THE LOST MINIVAN KEY - THERE IS NO ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE RIGHT NOW FROM THE AIRLINE BEC/ OF KATRINA.

THANK YOU ALL for all of your prayers this week. It has been awesome and I don't know how, but we will somehow figure out a way to share all that God revealed to us this week and allowed us the privilege of serving those in the most desperate of needs.

Saint Bernard's Parish - Total Devastation

2005-09-21T08:12:00.000-04:00

James and Rick managed to get assigned to a group taking food into Saint Bernard's parish to the Sheriff's Office. the sludge above is basically the dried up stuff that is coating the entire city. This area has been decimated by the storm.

Some of us are scheduled to fly out tomorrow - please continue your prayers for safety. the rest of us will be home on Friday night. Will keep you posted and hope to get more pics up tonight

Drive Through Tetanus Shots

2005-09-21T07:47:00.000-04:00

Pray for Kim who is taking over as the head of the clinical operations this morning. She had an awesome mentor in Heather who is from Church on the Way in CA. Heather had to leave this morning but did a great job teaching Kim the basics of running a drive through medical clinic.

And that is literally what it is. the picture to the left cannot do justice to what these teams are doing. When I managed to get out of the office yesterday, I stopped by the distribution center and saw National Guardsmen handing out water and MREs - which is all they are "authorized" to distribute, and then moving them down the line to where our volunteers were assisting with medical needs (literally reaching into cars to give tetanus shots, check vitals, etc; and then moving down for additional personal or food needs (diapers, paper items, juice, the plums stephanie mentioned) and then moving on down the line for prayer and just the chance to tell their story to our resident social workers - Susan and Stephanie).

And some of these people had just come back from going home and learning that their is no home for them in the traditional sense of the word. But time after time we heard people thankful to God that their lives and their families had been spared - AND NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON REFUSED PRAYER!!!!!!! I think that is awesome.

It's the Little Things

2005-09-19T07:35:00.000-04:00

Last night we went out to a local park and prepared food for 400+ MPs, police, firefighters, EMS - basically all the guys who have been in the trenches day in and day out - and what a privilege it was to serve them. The stories they share are remarkable and no doubt these last three weeks and the weeks ahead are sure to change their lives forever in both good and bad ways.

I met an MP by the name of Nelson who lives in Baton Rouge and was one of the ONLY 89 armed guardsmen in the Superdome for about 5 days trying to maintain peace in an unairconditioned building holding 25,000 people. The way he explained it was, "I was in Afghanistan for 263 days....and that was nothing compared to what I saw in here."

What affected him the most was the number of people who "turned bad" as he put it. There was a lot of good from people, he said, but unfortunately, what they saw was more of the bad. And I think he summed it up well when he said "You and I get our worth from bigger things; these people get their worth from what they have and that's why we saw the shoes and the TVs and the "cool" stuff getting looted.

He offered to take some of us into downtown NO in a Hummer - I told Josh and his eyes got big as plates so we may try to do that in a few days.

Susan spoke at length with a soldier as well and was so touched by his story that she grabbed the Mayor of Gretna when he walked by (all the local big whigs were there) and told him that God had laid it on her heart that it was just not fair that those 89 men had been at this day in and day out for the last 3 weeks and hadn't had anytime off. And when he nodded his head and told her he agreed and wished there was something he could do, she looked him straight in the eye and said "Well you're the mayor, you need to do all that you can to let these guys get home (they all live within 3 hours of here)." She also told him where we were staying and that we were leaving on Friday and she expected an update from him. GO SUSAN!!!

Josh Capps was right at home cooking up a storm on the grills - bbq chicken, ribs, burgers, cajun sausage, deer sausage (actually quite yummy), brats, kielbasa, hotdogs, ham.......and this boy can cook. (that's him in the visor - Jim and Debbie's son for some of you newer folks)

And our own Youth Pastor Josh Smith cooked up the BIGGEST pot of beans you have ever seen. He and Rick (his father in law) worked those beans all day and boy were they good.

God continues to be faithful - giving us all the strenth and fortitude we need in this heat and constant movement. For the guys out in the field, there is never a moment of rest and yet they come back, get something to eat, get cooled off and offer to help out for the next need.

Jesus said, . . . "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." —Mark 1:17

Returning Home

2005-09-18T15:34:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day that many of the parish towns have been reopened to residents. Kim, Susan, Adrienne, Joe, James, Rob and I were dispatched with the medical team to work with the National Guard in distributing food, medical care, and plums. Yes, plums - from heaven came boxes and boxes and boxes of plums just dropped off this am. People were so excited to have fresh fruit to accompany their water and MREs as fruit/vegetables have been impossible to snag.

Even though the line of cars moves quickly, we asked drivers how they were doing and found many who had just discovered that their houses and/or all their belongings were gone. Nobody refused prayer or a hug and it was a wonderful opportunity to assure people of God's faithfulness and His provision.

Please keep praying for us - we serve an awesome God.
stephanie

2005-09-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

I am sure this photo does not do this justice, but in the midst of all this to be able to look at that amazing sunset and see the colors, and feel like you are watching the sun move along is captivating and remindful of how much our God truly does love us that the things that He surrounded us with (things of nature, and not man made) are all stunning and perfect in their own way.

Josh & Rick

2005-09-18T06:57:00.000-04:00

Sitting on the bank of the Mississippi (Rick Barnhardt is Sumer's Dad!) The bridge behind them takes you straight into New Orleans

GUARDING THE FOOD (AND US)

2005-09-18T06:45:00.000-04:00

These guys are out in force at night, less so during the day, but those guns are very intimidating upclose! I took this while I was in line waiting for dinner

2005-09-18T06:41:00.000-04:00

the warehouse where they keep all of the Mardi Gras floats was a stone's throw from where we ate dinner. Most of the floats were spared any damage, but look at the next pic which is the bulding right next door.

HOPE FLOATS

2005-09-18T06:36:00.000-04:00

How cool is this. We got here and were taken to the banks of the Mississippi river where another group of volunteers cooked us amazing fajitas, pico de gallo, rice, and we were able to stand on the levee and see the New Orleans skyline - with power back on throughout much of it. The boat pictured here is named Hope and there is a group call Friendships (I think) that takes these boats to various disaster sites loaded with people (volunteers) and supplies and this one is currently broadcasting a local radio station on 107.9 (read Psalms 107.9, it is pretty cool) and playing Christian music, reading scripture - and it is broadcast out in a 30 mile radius. Which puts it right into the heart of New Orleans.

WE'RE HERE

2005-09-17T22:14:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone. We are safe and sound in Gretna. Plane rides were uneventful, we ate at a great local restaurant right outside LSU (see pic), made our way here after much travel time, a few rainstorms and some bathroom breaks. And tonight were welcomed with a dinner of fajitas, pico de gallo and rice on the riverfront of the Mississippi River overlooking downtown New Orleans. After dinner we had a debriefing time and people who have been here all week shared amazing stories of the lives they had touched and also how God had allowed them to see His hand in all that is going on here. From a former heroin addict who was released from jail the day before the storm and prayed the sinner's prayer today, to a radio station being set up on a ship named HOPE (no kidding) broadcasting Christian music and reading scripture over the radio to a 30 mile radius).

Tomorrow after church we are heading out to a park to feed 500 police officers dinner. Sure to be a busy day.

TAKING OFF

2005-09-17T22:04:00.000-04:00

We got together in Raleigh for the sendoff picture and some awesome prayer by Josh. This is an amazing group of people full of love for God, excitement for all He has waiting for us and a willingness to be as flexible as He calls us to be.

(l-r) James Feldman, Rob Watson, Josh Smith, Kari Fredrick, Josh Capps, Susan Adams, Stephanie Moore, Donna Wong, Joe Ellen (my he's tall), Adrienne Barnhart, Kim Carrington

Getting Ready to Go

2005-09-16T18:44:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone. It's 6:45 pm on Friday evening and in 12 hours we will be boarding our plane and headed down to New Orleans. I am excited and nervous and tired and......well, you get the picture. But most of all, I am HOPEful that God will use us and stretch us and grow us and even make us uncomfortable so that we have to rely fully on Him throughout the week and know that He is the source of ALL of our strength.

Please pray for safe travels, cooler weather, electricity, running water, and wireless access! And I will hopefully have some photos posted up here tomorrow.

god bless.

the Gretna Crew

Welcome

2005-09-14T09:53:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Hope Chapel Hurricane Katrina Relief Blog.

Please pray for our group as they prepare to leave for Gretna to support those dealing with the aftermath of hurricane katrina

List of Individuals Traveling to Help:
Susan Adams
Adrienne Barnhart
Rick Barnhardt (Sumer's Dad)
Josh Capps
Kim Carrington
Joe Ellen
Kari Fredrick
James Feldman
Stephanie Moore
Joshua Smith
Brian Walker
Rob Watson
Donna Wong

Posts from Hope Chapel volunteers heading to New Orleans will be posted on this site.