Mission Work in Louisiana By Mary Lee |
From Feb.3-8, 2008, my cousin from Ottawa and I joined 42 other missioners from United Methodist churches in Henderson, Kentucky to do re-building in the tiny SW Louisiana village of Dulac. The people of the Dulac area are of French (Cajun) and Houma Indian ancestry. The area is deep in the bayou geography of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. No hills, no mountains, nothing to protect them from on-coming hurricanes from the Gulf. Most of the work in the area is in the shrimp fishery and there is much poverty. Our team was sent there at the request of the Louisiana conference of the United Methodist Church. They have had relief crews working there many times in response to storm disasters. This area was not hit by Hurricane Katrina, but when Hurricane Rita came in a couple of weeks after Katrina, Dulac suffered much flooding and wind damage. On previous mission trips with this group, we have gone in smaller teams & worked on one or two houses. This time, with so many people and many with specific skills such as electrical, plumbing and tiling, we were able to help with nine different houses. Funds from St. Michael's Outreach Budget were sent with me to spend on building materials. During the week, I used some of the funds to buy two fans to help dry the "mud" in the home where we were putting up new drywall. They made a big difference in getting the job completed. We also bought a new shower rod and shower grip for a disabled homeowner in the newly refinished bathroom the team worked on. The remaining funds were left with the relief station manager with the proviso that they were to be used for building materials or other special needs. I look forward to showing some of my photos to you in a display that I'll set up in the coffee area on a Sunday to come, but in the meantime, you may find it interesting to visit the blog which was set up for this and other mission trips. You'll see some of the photos and read many of the comments from people who participated in the work. Please go to: www.henderson-methodists.blogspot.com |
