The day before I left New Orleans, Stacy and I had the opportunity to visit the "Living with Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond" exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum. I recommend this as a must-see for anyone traveling to New Orleans. It will remain open until sometime in August this year.

The museum does a great job tracking the before, during, and after of Hurricane Katrina. It also covers the history of New Orleans, including previous storms that have ravaged the Gulf Coast.

Here are some photos from the museum of damages following Hurricane Betsy in 1965.


Each Gallery has a different theme of exhibits and information...

Gallery One shows Louisiana's history with water and storms. You then move into the "Evacuation Corridor" where audio clips are played of residents trying to make the best decision as Katrina approaches. Next you go into a room with the "Storm Theater". Fans are blowing you away as you watch the storm's impact on the big screens in front of you.


In Gallery Two you find an attic similar to the one that thousands of residents were forced to wait for help. You can listen to firsthand accounts of what the families went through during those difficult and desperate days.

The museum is filled with items that have been donated to the exhibit.

Here's a photo of Fats Domino's baby grand piano found in his flooded Ninth Ward house...


Gallery Three has interactive displays where you can learn more about the levees, eroding wetlands, disaster management, and more.

And Gallery Four "celebrates recovery and promotes preparedness and showcases the ingenuity of Louisianans in rebuilding their lives and communities." (source: second article below)

Throughout the museums are dozens of videos of individuals and families telling their own survival stories.

Here are some additional photos I took of the exhibits.


147 patients in local hospitals died as temperatures rose above 100 degrees...

(Above) Giant journals on sheetrock of one homeowner who stayed in New Orleans throughout Katrina and the aftermath

You've probably seen the x's on the homes following Katrina. The diagram above describes what the numbers and abbreviations mean.

This is a real garage door donated by a NOLA resident

A teddy bear found and donated to the exhibit as a symbol of all of the personal items ruined or lost in the storm

There were several screens cycling through photos of the devastation

Mardi Gras costumes made from the blue tarps that once covered wind-damaged roofs throughout the city


Here are some photos back I took during my first visits to the Ninth Ward.


And finally, here is one of many audio clips with photos that you can watch and listen to at the exhibit. This one is about a local hero who helped rescue those stranded in their flooded homes.



Check out these websites for more information about the exhibit: http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/katrina/ and http://www.neworleansonline.com/news/2010/Nov/katrina.html
My buddies Mike and Brett put together a video of the Israel Pilgrimage I had a pleasure to be a part of a few months ago. Good stuff! Brings back some great memories!! :)

500.

No, that's not a sequel to the movie with super buff guys. It's the number of MissionLabbers that came through New Orleans this past week. 500! That's the biggest week on record. And what makes it more incredible is that it was a Spring Break week. MissionLab typically sees large numbers during their summer camp, but this was pretty remarkable for a week during the Spring. When I was in New Orleans back in January, I had heard that they would probably have a busy Spring. I made a mental note to try and get down here to help out during that time. While it's exciting to see so many groups come to MissionLab during the Spring, there were two things that made it a bit more challenging... 1) MissionLab doesn't have extra helpers--such as the summer missionaries who come during the 9-weeks of summer camp and 2) the seminary was on Spring Break this week, so the cafeteria staff was also down. Needless to say, they had no problem finding places for me to plug in. I helped serve breakfast and dinner in the cafeteria, lent a hand to Stacy and Sarah in the office, checked in on groups at their ministry sites, and even got to hang out with a group all day Friday down in the French Quarter.

I'll be heading back to Tennessee tomorrow, but before I leave the Big Easy, I thought I'd post some photos from the busy week.

The first few are of some groups doing clean-up and rebuilding projects...

A couple teenagers taking a break to chat with a local across the street. This is what I love to see!

Remnants of Mardi Gras

Remnants of Katrina

An apartment building near campus still mostly untouched since Katrina

Eddie, one of my good friends at Bethel, and his daughter.

Hanging out in the Quarter with 1st UMC McKinney. That gold and silver dude scared me half to death as I walked by. He sits still waiting for innocent passers-by like myself to walk by and then jumps and screams at them. Needless to say, I also jumped and screamed!

Stacy and I spent our last day together in the French Quarter. It was such a beautiful day!
I've spent this past week down in New Orleans helping out with MissionLab. (More about that in my next post.) It's been great to help out during a busy week of volunteers, to reconnect with my friends here, and to meet new ones.

I want to tell you a brief story about one new friend that I met. Her name is Sheila*. Sheila is in the program at Bethel Colony South, a rehabilitation program for men and women struggling with addiction. I've mentioned Bethel several times throughout this blog. I was first introduced to this ministry in 2006 when I was a summer missionary with MissionLab. Back then, the program was only for men--there were about 40 at that time--and it was a 90-day program. Now, the program is open to men and women, there are over 90 men and 30 women, and the program lasts 9 months. It's been incredible to watch this ministry grow over the years. I've been in awe to see all that God has done and how He has provided. One of the mottos for Bethel is "If you don't work, you don't eat". Each participant in the program contributes to the ministry by having a job either at the ministry or out in the community. Some are painters, builders, cooks, cleaners... and some work in the various income-generating projects that Bethel has going. Bethel will soon open their thrift store and they're working on getting a coffee shop up and running. They also have a car wash located right across from the seminary. That's where I met Sheila.

On Sunday morning, I spoke at Coker Baptist Church in Alabama. I was invited by my friend Ronnie who I first met in 2008 on my trip to Israel. Ronnie has supported my ministry in New Orleans and Namibia since then. He gave me a few bags of brand new shirts to take to Pastor Mel at Bethel. And his church as a whole blessed me with a love offering and bought most of the FHS calendars I had left. When I arrived in New Orleans, I took the shirts to Pastor Mel. He was very grateful and gave me a tour of the new parts of their facility. As we parted, I told him to let me know if there was anything I could do for him while I was here. He told me to go down to the car wash and encourage the ladies there. So I did.

I decided to swing by Walgreens and buy some drinks for the ladies using some of the money from the love offering I was given. They just happened to have their big Gatorades on sale and the manager said I could buy as many as I liked even though there was technically a 10 quantity limit. (Even a small thing like that is not too small of a thing for me to notice and acknowledge God's grace and provision.) I took the Gatorades to the car wash and let them wash my car as well. The money generated from that car wash goes towards Bethel's programs. I helped a lady unload the Gatorades and then I went to sit down. Ginger, who manages that part of the ministry, called all the women over and they were given a drink. As they passed back by, they all thanked me, a few even gave me a grateful hug. I chatted with a some of the women while I waited. I got to know one lady in particular named Feritha. We talked about her time at Bethel and all that God has taught her. She graduates from the program in one month. She feels called into full-time ministry. She shared with me that she'll actually stay at Bethel for another year, contributing to the program as a graduate. God has big things in store for that woman! I prayed with her before I left and tried to encourage her as she continues on this journey.

By this time, my car was ready. I got up to leave and thanked the two ladies at the drying station. One of them had only been in the program for a day. You could still see the wide-eyed look on her face. She was probably a few years younger than me. I encouraged her to stick with the program (many leave prematurely and return to a life of addiction). The other lady was Sheila. She's been at Bethel for 2.5 weeks. She gave me a hug and said, "I just want to thank you for the confirmation you gave me a few minutes ago." I wasn't sure what she was referring to, but she went on. "I'm used to getting what I want, when I want it. And just this morning, I had to cut ties with some relationships in my life that I was dependent on. Those people were holding me back from the changes I need to make in my life. It was a hard thing to do. I could always call them and they would bring me things. And about five minutes before you arrived, I had just been complaining to myself... 'I don't even have a cup to get a drink!'. And then you showed up. I can't tell you what that means to me. I know that God is going to take care of me and provide for me." There were tears in Sheila's eyes as she told me this. I gave her a hug and continued to encourage her. And I was reminded that what might have seemed like a small thing to me, was something God wanted to use in a big way in someone's life. I'm glad that I could provide a drink to all of the ladies that day, but I'm thankful most of all that God used me to make a big impact in Sheila's life as she surrenders to Him and continues to grow during her time at Bethel.

Will you join me in prayer for Sheila and all the men and women at Bethel? I believe in this program and I've seen with my own eyes the incredible transformation that can happen if they stick with the program and allow God to take away those strongholds. But it's not an easy journey for them. Many will give up and return to their previous way of life. But by God's grace and a commitment to change, they can overcome addiction and find true peace and joy.

*name changed for privacy
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About Me

About Me
In 2005 God asked me to surrender my life to His plans and purpose. Everything changed. From Mexico to New Orleans to Namibia to Haiti it's been one incredible adventure with the Lord after another. This blog is a piece of that journey.

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