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Thanks for all of your
prayers as I and a team of 12 headed to
Slidell, LA for 5 days to help families
devastated by Hurricane Katrina. We left
on Oct.
 12th
from Philly and flew into Atlanta. But
due to the bad weather in Philly our
flight was delayed and so we missed our
flight our of Atlanta to Gulfport,
Mississippi.
I believe that it was a God-thing
that we were unable to get on the plane
that night because when we got on the
bus to go to the hotel, there was a lady
crying on the bus. Someone said
something to her and she responded in
Spanish. I happen to be sitting next to
her and so I was able to talk to her.
She was so confused as to what was going
on and how she was going to get back to
the airport so I was able to explain
things to her and I helped her check
into her room and then in the morning
she went back to the airport with us and
I took her through the check-in process
and pointed her in the direction of her
gate.
We arrived in Mississippi at about
9:15am and then drove to Slidell, LA. We
stayed in a church called Faith Bible
Church-where the pastor and his wife are
PBU graduates. We all slept in the
sanctuary. Girls on one side and guys on
the other. There were other work groups
staying there as well. We had a time of
orientation and then headed to our first
job site at around 1:00.
We were at a house that had not been
gutted yet but that had all their
belongings, walls covered in mold and a
smell that cannot be explained! Our job
was to get everything out of the house
and onto the street and to rip out all
the carpet. The PBU students (the group
I went with) all worked VERY hard and
did not complain at all. We got it all
done by 5:30 and headed back to the
church. Then we went to a local gym that
has opened up its shower facilities for
work groups. It was so nice to get
showers after everyday of working in
mold and bacteria.
Back at the church, we ate dinner
with the other groups and hung out. The
next day we went back to the house to
rip out the drywall and to make the
house look presentable. It was hard work
but very rewarding to see how much we
had done. The homeowners (the Ryans)
actually came to meet us on the 2nd day
and when they walked into the house they
were very touched and the wife actually
told us that we restored her hope in
seeing a future in her house. There is
no greater feeling than to know that we
made such a difference in their life.
They are not believers but we hope that
our contact with them and our
relationship with the church will make
then visit the church...the seed has
been planted. That night we went out for
pizza with them and they brought us
Alligator Sausage to try...it was
actually pretty good.
Over the next couple days we worked
on 2 other houses and I had a group with
me (3 girls) for an afternoon and we
worked at the church. We cleaned out
their garage and got to throw chairs,
tables, etc, onto their huge pile of
debris in their front yard. On Sunday we
had church in our "bedrooms". We moved
all the cots and set up chairs. It was
not a huge congregation because many
people have left and may not return to
Slidell. The music and sermon were
amazing. Just the positive outlook on
life, their joy and attitudes just blew
me away.
These are people who have lost
everything and yet continue to rejoice
in the Lord. We them had lunch with the
entire congregation (about 50 people).
That afternoon we had the opportunity to
go to New Orleans and look around. Not
much damage was done
 to
the city itself but all the houses near
Lake Ponchetrain were completely
demolished. It was very hard to see all
the destruction and know that people
have to start over from scratch. There
were people in the church who lost
everything including their house but who
were sticking around to help out people
in the community. I was amazed by this.
On Monday we worked in another house
(one of the 3) removing the drywall and
ceilings. The trip home was fun and
uneventful minus the fact that I was
completely embarrassed on both plane
rides home when it was announced that it
was my birthday and that I was single. I
know that this is a lot of information
but i just wanted to give you a glimpse
of what I did while I was there. I have
become very close with this team and I
pray that our friendship continues to
grow. There will be a follow up team
heading down over Spring Break and it is
something that I would love to do again.
It was hard to come back to the
comforts of home when I know and have
seen the devastation that others are
going through. God has taught me a lot
through this trip and I pray that once I
get back into the swing of things, I
won’t forget the things that He has
taught me. I have attached just a couple
pictures to help you get an idea of what
it looked like. Thanks again for all
your prayers and if you would like to
hear more about the trip...I have lots
of stories and pictures.
May you have a wonderful week.
God bless,
Kim
(Kim Schlonecker is administrative
assistant at Push the Rock. She and
Billy Dunn –a BFC missionary headed a
team from PBU)
Please send us your experiences and
pictures from this summer’s short term
ministries)
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