Thanks to Mary Ann for this report on their work week in New Orleans:

The Mission trip was incredible! It was hot as blue blazes but we were able to meet our homeowner and get to know her! She was amazing! She was one of the people we saw on the overpass trying to get on a bus to Houston. She was stranded on the bridge for 3 days! She had to leave her dog in the house and the dog survived for 30 days! When she got back she was alive but had lost her hair! Tracey pulled everything she had from the freezer and she survived! Her house had to be gutted since the flood water reached approx 4 feet in the home. World Changers put on a new roof the week before we got there and our job was to scrape and prime and paint. We scraped and primed the entire house. I think we painted over half of it. Pretty good for 3 days work! It was such a blessing.

Mama met us there and spent the week working with us! She is amazing! No one could believe how hard she works! We prayer walked and prayed with a lot of the neighbor hood. There were over 100 contacts made and at least 2 souls saved! It was an awesome experience for all of us!

Clay and Cooper were forever changed. They are so much more aware of their blessings now! We are all so glad we had an opportunity to do this! The folks from New Orleans were amazed that Rick used vacation to do this along with most of the Dads. We had 50 people from our church and there were other families from Georgia, Texas and South Carolina! We had a blast! and hope to do it again next year! We also got to deepen our relationships with the families from our church. (Did I mention we were all on a charter bus to and from?) It was an experience of a lifetime!

Continue to pray for the people there. I am amazed at what is left to be done. But they are so appreciative! I have never seen such soft, open hearts there before. After having lived there for 8 years, I am amazed how the waters of Katrina changed the city and her people. The people are hungry and thirsty for help and for healing. Pray for the harvest there. They are ripe and receptive for it! The drug dealers are the same as gone! Their crack houses washed away! Pray for the people there that want to rebuild and restore.