Work Day 4: Just walk across the road

The Basics:
Our team united forces for the first time, today. All thirteen of us plus Allison Horst headed to center city New Orleans to finish roofing and lot care. We finished the lot care and had to stop roofing again today around 2:30 because it was too hot. The early quit time allowed us to travel to the lower 9th ward before having a block party.

The Details:
With the exception of three-inch cockroaches and swarms of fire ants, cleaning up the piles of old, soggy drywall (a bit of an oxymoron) was a snap. Our team handled it really well. With the help of John Horst and the addition of Neal and Tyler to Bret and me, we were able to finish the roof with the exception of the cap. It was satisfying to see our final product. Everyone did a fantastic job working in the heat index of 107°.

Fun Fact: It’s possible to drink five liters of water in less than three hours and not use the bathroom all day…as long as you’re roasting on a roof.

Today was the last day for us to be in the city. Our work is basically finished there and Crisis Response has another job they’d like us to do on the North Shore. Since it would be the last day to be in New Orleans, we drove to the Lower 9th Ward after work. This was the area hit worst by levee breaks. Nearly every home was destroyed. Boats, buses, houses laid strewn across a field for years. The only thing that remained was a concrete pad and stairs that led to where a home used to be.

This year a bunch of homes have been rebuilt. I’m not sure if Brad Pitt had something to do with it, but many of the homes have a strange modern look to them. They almost look like something from the future.

After visiting the levees, we headed back to our neighborhood for a block party. Each Thursday, one team hosts a hotdog block party for all of their neighbors. We invite everyone around the street to join us and get to listen to their stories. It’s a wonderful chance to interact casually about what the storm did.

You hear about helicopter rides, Superdome nights, rooftop rescues, and just how high the water actually was. I asked one lady today if she minded having to tell her stories over and over again each week to a new set of volunteers who ask her about the storm. She says it helps to tell people when she endured. Getting to listen to people continues to be a highlight for me on trips like this.

Leaving the city meant saying goodbye to Sam. It was really refreshing to see Sam’s desire to help his neighborhood. He has a reputation around the block for always pitching in to help people with whatever they need. There are so many other things an eighteen year old guy could be doing in New Orleans in the summer time besides shoveling piles of drywall. But Jesus has changed his heart! Praise God! We’ll tell stories about Sam for awhile.

Last year, I met a jazz trombone player named Doc Lewis at the block party. He’s played for a bunch of bands, most notably James Brown and Aretha Franklin. Now semi-retired, he plays on Royal Street in the French Quarter outside Brennan’s everyday he’s not on tour.

On Sunday, we visited him again. He remembered us but couldn’t believe it’d been a year already. He said he was playing in the area this week and invited us to see him. Today we took him up on that offer. After the block party, we headed to Bank’s bar and grill, a small, semi-shady establishment that’s probably 98% bar and 2% grill.

Doc was excited to see all of us there and introduced us to his band. Unfortunately, we were booted from the bar for not having IDs with us! Those that did stuck around for a couple of songs before leaving. I was tickled to hear him play and sing. I look forward to keeping in touch with him in the future.

A Reflection:
I’m currently reading Bill Hybel’s book, Just Walk Across the Room. When I decided to read the book, I thought I might have to meet him halfway across the room, but I’ve found his book to be excellent.

Today I noticed an interesting scene at the block party. There was a stoop across the street from where the hotdogs were that was loaded with neighbors. To create any conversation, you had to walk across the road. Everyone was on the other side of the street except for half a dozen people on their porch. It was a pretty segregated scene.

A couple of people from our group left their “circle of comfort” and entered the “zone of the unknown.” (I’m not sold on Hybel’s catchphrases yet.) They took over water and hotdogs and invited them over to the party. They did a fantastic job of reaching out to these neighbors. But the neighbors remained on their porch, so our team members left.

Half an hour later, another group of our team went over to engage the neighbors, but instead of invited them over to the other side of the street, they asked if they could sit down and asked questions about their street. The neighbors who were a little cold to the first couple warmed up as we sat and talked. More of our team joined us, and soon the block party was on both sides of the street.

It’s made me think about how we do ministry. Jesus attracted great crowds by performing miracles, feeding the thousands, healing the sick. A lot of Jesus’ ministry was attractional in nature. He gathered a crowd to himself, and then he taught. Our block parties and worksites are very attractional.

Jesus also went to where the people were. You would have seen Jesus on the party circuit. He ate with drunkards and prostitutes. He met adulterers at a well. He was incarnational and missional by taking on the form of a human and by intentionally meeting people on their home turf.

I was proud to see the initial crew cross the street. It was intimidating to even ask the neighbors to join us. I think it’s a bolder move to engage them where they were already are. That’s what I want to do! I’m so glad Jesus did that with me!