Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Revival

When Pastor Don and I sat down to his little electric piano in our trailer, we got it right off that we could have some real fun. He set us (the whole group) up for the next night at at the revival. Not a tent mind you, but a couple of hundred very well dressed black folk, and several ministers up front. We rehearsed a song Don taught us named "He's an on time God" , a little call & response thing that was very fun. You in the Congo church will hear it soon enough.
We listened to two different youth choirs sing some great, loud, rockin "hymns", and I felt a little sheepish about our little group. Then, a FOUR year old girl got the microphone, told the band to hit it, and sang her heart out for ten minutes!
Soon it was our turn and we gathered around the electric piano, I did a little intro and we were rolling. Almost immediately, the whole band was in behind us, and then I could hear the whole congregation as well. We rocked the house! When the song was over, the group all went back to their seats, but the band struck up a reprise and I rocked with them for awhile, getting up off the piano seat and playing standing up! I only showboated for a moment like that but everybody was on their feet! It was an incredible moment. No photos of course, but apparently there's a CD!

Chris

Tool Men and Women

Those handsome Tool Men are Dave and Lyn from the Church on the Hill, Lenox, MA along with Chris, standing in the Back Bay Mission tool shed which holds an incredible amount of hammers, power tools, saws, you-name-it, whatever is needed for house repair and construction. Also shown are buckets full of cleaning supplies which have were distributed as the first-line defense after the storm hit.

Also pictured is Natalie (pastor of Church on the Hill, UCC), sanding away on the ceiling of the house we were working on, and then the Tool Women (Becca, Emily, "Auntie Em" (the other Emily), Danielle and Sandy (all from Lenox), on the front porch of the house. (Photo by Anne, who also was covered with wall-board compound.) Few of us had done this kind of work before, but Dave and Auntie Em were old pros at this and soon had us sanding and slattering away with gusto.
-Anne

Back Bay Mission - Biloxi, Mississippi

We arrived in Biloxi on Tuesday, and headed over to the United Church of Christ affiliated Back Bay Mission, to join up with Pastor Natalie's church group from Lenox, MA. They were off at a work site, mudding dry-wall in a home that BBM is slowly rebuilding with volunteer help. We were on support duty and set about fixing dinner (our "famous" Chicken Marbella receipe which we dragged in a cooler from Slidell) for a dozen or so people in the crew.

Back Bay Mission was founded in 1922 by the First Evangelical Church (later becomes UCC) to help the needs of poor "fisher folk" in the Biloxi area. In these last 80 years, it has grown to a staff of 7 FT and 4 PT employees who work with people who are impoverished and marginalized by poverty, race, lack of education, homelessness and (now) the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Over 65,000 homes in the greater area were destroyed and 64,000 severely damaged, and most of those affected in Biloxi have few resources available. BBM itself lost 6 out its 7 buildings, but was able to get up and running again only a few weeks after the storm, with donated work trailers and an onslaught of volunteers from faith-based groups all over the country.

The smiling fellow in the truck is John, who has been down here volunteering at BBM since December with his wife Pam (showing off her Tshirt). Hailing from a UCC church in Evansville, Indiania, they coordinate the work crews who come down to dig out and rebuild homes, and are an amazing example of what "creative retirement" can look like!

You also see Chris on the floor, assembling office furniture and accompanied by Don Morgan (UCC pastor described in previous post) who serves as the Volunteer Coordinator for the organization. Thursday was a happy day for the whole place, as they finally were able to move into their new office buildings and out of the trailers where the 11 staff members have been crammed since Katrina. Our group helped move furniture, then spent much of Friday dismantling a wooden ramp and deck that connected the trailers.

Be sure to go to the Back Bay Mission website (just search with that title) for more details on their amazing work. -Anne

Honey Island Swamp

We took a brief detour before heading to Biloxi, and floated with a group through the Honey Island Swamp, along the West Pearl River and bayou near Slidell. Once private lands, they are now preserved and managed by Fish and Wildlife of Louisiana. Since the trees were still bare, except for some bright Red Swamp Maple blossoms, the swamp was a muted palatte of browns and greys and we could see far back into the watery woods. Katrina and the storm surge destroyed many huge, old growth oaks which had provided a thick canopy underwhich little could grow. Our guide described that the swamp is now filling up with thick undergrowth now which impacts the whole food chain (as does the habitat destruction of sprall-malls built on swamp and marsh fill). Thick bundles of Spanish moss hung from the branches and gave the scene an haunting feel.

We spotted numerous cabins flooding along the river, some mostly destroyed, and then would find "McMansions" around the next bend, built with their lawns actually disappearing into the swamp water. Such an odd mix.

The cypress trees grow strange "knees" that stick up above the water-line at the base of the trunks, to bring more oxygen to the main tree. The teenagers on the boat kept giggling when we passed these. Hmmmmm.

We also spotted a few turtles sunning themselves on some logs, and had the fun surprise of a 4 foot alligator enjoying the afternoon rays. The bigger guys are all down snoozing in the mud this time of year.

After several days in the hectic traffic and Mardi Gras crowds of New Orleans, it was a relief to move through such a peaceful and strangely beautiful place. -Anne

Explaination about FEMA Tshirt

The "expletive" photo shot at the end of the previous post was of a Tshirt on sale in the French Quarter. People down here have quite a dim view of FEMA, ranging from disgruntled to furious. We thought the Tshirt summed it up well. -Anne and Chris

When Pastor Don Morgan started to sing the sermon

Amazingly we met up with Anne's close clergy friend from California, Natalie Shiras, and her church youth group (from a United Church of Christ congregation in Lenox, MA) for Sunday sevices in the lower Ninth ward. This is the area that really got hit by the breech of the levies, and where almost all of the residents were low income African Americans. The neighborhood surrounding the church was devastated,with few houses occupied now. The public school down the block is shuttered and dark. Beecher Memorial Congregational UCC sustained considerable damage, and is only about 1/3 through their reconstruction. But the memership is hardy and very welcoming to all of us.

It was quite chilly in the "sanctuary", a fellowship room recently covered with sheetrock on one side and hanging plastic on the other. But by the time we got rolling with the hymns, the temperature rose! About halfway through the rousing sermon, true, Pastor Don started to "sing" the homily in a beautiful chant monotone, admonishing us to "Make Prayer a Part of Your Diet." With humor and insight, he expounded on the Lord's Prayer in a way that made this prayer of Jesus come alive in new ways. So much adversity for these people, and yet such hope and determination.

We joined the friendly members for coffee, "King Cake" and discussion following worship, and learned much about the plight of the local public schools. Hundreds of children enrolled with no place to go, schools lacking basics of books and desks, many schools simply not on any repair schedule, and (as in many parts of the country) obvious tension between public and charter schools around resources. Another one of the very complicated pieces of this recovery process, in an area that has long suffered from a mostly inadequate school system.

After lunch with Natalie's group and Pastor Don in the French Quarter, we slowly drove together through the neighbors of the Ninth ward. Very few FEMA trailers visible, some cars and a few people, but mostly ruined and empty homes marked with the spray-painted circles and numbers signifying that the dwelling had been searched by recovery workers. We all were awed and quiet, overwhelmed and sad.

We head to Biloxi, Mississippi, today on Mardi Gras itself (Fat Tuesday!), to join us with Natalie's group and work with them at Back Bay Mission through this week. -Chris and Anne

Floats and Beads

An assortment of photos from Saturday in the French Quarter. Watching parades, catching beads, eating oysters and muffalettas, live music and crowds in Jackson Square. Then catching the ferry back across the Mississippi River to our truck, parked on the West Bank in Old Algiers. Home to our inn in the woods near Pearl River, Mississippi, for a quiet evening, finishing up said muffaletta for supper. -Chris and Anne

More on the Nelson School

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Medard H. Nelson Charter School is one of 23 charter schools in the New Orleans school district at this point, with many public schools having been in such disarray even before Katrina that they have been taken over by different charter groups. Only half the local schools have reopened. Nelson school was flooded out of their building across town and is temporarily in this older school building near the Garden District. The children's lives are consumed with Mardi Gras music, costumes, parades and festivities this week, and some of the classes had made minature parade floats from shoeboxes which they proudly carried outside to show us (see last photo). We were fed the local "King Cake" three different times yesterday (even at breakfast), and head into town for one of the dozens of parades today. -Anne

Mardi Gras at the Charter School!

We pulled up our truck next to the Nelson school yesterday and were told there were "festivities" planned. Wow. Little did we know! A few eighth grade boys came out to help us unload and create a little display of all the instruments in their schoolyard. Then the entire school came out for assembly, pronounced us King and Queen and started a grade by grade parade past us! Presented us with a plaque, beads and Zulu coconuts ( one of the "throws" from the huge all black parade on Mardi Gras day, and a coveted collectors item) and MANY thanks, really to all of you who donated as well. Photographers were snapping as I handed a check for $1300 to Ava Lee, the principal you see with us in the photo. A last minute surprise was a few members of the "Rebirth Brass Band" showing up to serande the children as they boarded their school buses for home. -Chris

Eight States, Multiple Climates

I took the ice photo near St. Louis, Missouri, where we encountered trees and field stubble covered in brightly shining silver, flashing in the sunshine. Finally, just south of Memphis, TN, the snow disappeared and we saw green grass and leafy magnolia trees along the highway.

As we traveled through Mississippi, about 80 miles north of New Orleans, we spotted a cluster of house tailers in a field. And then more trailers, and then acres of closely packed, dark, empty white trailers. They looked like FEMA trailers that have either not been delivered or have gone unused. It seemed eery to see them all seemingly abandoned there, when the need for these mobile homes has been so great. Our first glimpse of Katrina's effects, and then it was dusk and the countryside blurred into darkness.

We are staying out in Pearl River in a small inn, north of Slidell, and head into New Orleans to the school tomorrow. We are tired after hours on the road, but grateful to be here. -Anne

Headed to the Gulf Coast

We are headed to New Orleans with a load of used musical instruments, donated by the local Grand Marais and Silver Bay communities and churches, for us to take to a the Medard H. Nelson charter school (K-12). The kids and teachers are expecting us Friday mid-day, so we hope this snow doesn't slow us down. Saw 10 cars and a semi in ditches before we pulled off the freeway this afternoon. More details soon!
-Anne

Actually, Still on the Road

Having trouble posting - this is a test - we're south of Madison, WI, off the road in a snowstorm.

-Anne