On Sunday, August 31, I will be leaving for New Orleans on a mission trip with my church, Ginghamsburg.  This trip will be the 43rd trip of my church to the New Orleans / Slidell, Louisiana area to help those devastated by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005.  To read more about my churches involvement in the area read this article written by Bruce Nolan of the Times-Picaynne:  Servants, Not Volunteers

Our church works closely with an organization called Northshore Disaster Recovery.  This is a not-for-profit organization which works with many faith based organizations to help those in need due to the tragedy of Katrina.  This group is based at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Slidell, LA.  The church campus provides facilities for teams from around the world to come and participate in mission work.

This will be my second trip to the area to help those in need.  Last February, I participated in a trip where we patched flooring, insulated a house, and hung drywall on the ceiling and walls of the entire house.  It was a tiring trip, but I felt that we accomplished a lot.

During the trip, we were given a tour of areas hard-hit by the hurricane.  The following picture was taken in Chalmette which is a housing area outside of the city.  This entire area was under about 10 feet of water.  Even though it had been almost 18 months since the hurricane, most of the houses remained abandoned and minimal work had began to clean up and rebuild the area.

This picture is a church located in the Lower Ninth Ward.  Most of the houses in this entire area were completely destroyed when one of the levees broke due to a barge breaking through the wall.  Someone described it as a 20ft. tidal wave rushing through the housing development. 

I've heard many people with different views of the recovery effort in New Orleans.  Some are disturbed by the apparent lack of government help, others believe those living in the area should work harder to get back on their feet, and still others feel compelled to continue helping those in need.  While I'm sure there's validity to many of the views, my position is this:  I am not here to judge; I am the hands and feet of Christ.  I'm helping people that suffered through this unfortunate event because I've been called to do so.  For Jesus said "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." (Matthew 25:45)