Ourlife

New Site, New Host

We've finally moved over to www.ourlife.ca. So...go there - this site won't be updated any longer. In fact, it will disappear soon. We've been planning on switching for a while but finally had a chance to do it. In case any one is curious, our new site if hosted by Dreamhost who is highly recommended. They have an awesome "one-click install" of WordPress, which is great blogging software and is so easy that anyone can install and use it. Check them out if you're interested in a great (and cheap) web host.

Angela - a story of heroism

   When Shawn and I were in New Orleans we ran into this woman and took her information back to church. Well a team recently worked on her house and this is her story written by someone who was on the team that gutted her home.

 

"I feel somewhat compelled to share briefly a story behind the woman whose house we helped muck out yesterday in New Orleans. It is a story of great heroicism and the best in our soul.

 

Angela is a woman who lives in the heart of the 7th ward. When the hurricane hit, she and many on her street were caught in the aftermath. Her house took on 6 feet of water. She slept in the upstairs of the corner church. This 5'5" ball of determination helped to keep alive and then led recuers to the homes of 10 people on her street. For 11 days she and a young man who was her ally swam pulling a boat through the neighborhood, bringing food and water and supplies from a neighborhood cornerstore that was also flooded. She took us on a short tour, including walking on the roof of the store which had been half blown off. She would swim pulling the boat to the store; walk along the roof and jump into the store which was 5-6 feet of water; she would dive to the food cases that had canned food and packaged food. On her street there was a blind man, an invalid, several elderly, one young family with a newborn. She supplied all of them food for 10 days until they could all be rescued. She could only go in the store until day six because the smell was so putrid after that, it was not possible to enter. As she showed us some pictures and recounted her story, we were all stunned. We could hardly believe our ears. Here was a mighty woman, and furthermore a woman dedicated to her neighbors. She literally saved their lives. After about a week or so of this, several people were getting moldy feet. All shoes were wet and mildewing, feet were getting sluffy. So she went to the Payless shoe store to get shoes. She brought back 12 pair. Then she commented, she could have been shot dead on sight for looting. For shoes that Payless will never sell (in fact have already thrown away) and will get insurance reimbursement for every pair. Different perspective.

 

We came at her request, because an earlier team had helped her aunt. We gutted her house. She is a musician, a percussionist. She had $15,000 invested in a set, that is now ruined. As we took stuff out to the street, she was busy determining if anything could be salvaged. She was processing her loss in light speed. We had taken much to the street, when a bobcat with a claw rolled down the street behind a dump truck and started crushing all her stuff and dumping it. What a stark, dramatic event, seeing everything in your house being wasted before your eyes. I was concerned for her. After lunch we continued by removing the drywall. It was a moldy, musty mess. Yesterday she was strong, today though she was emotionally a wreck. She has seen her house and goods and neighbors and life all vanish before her eyes.

 

Tonight we invited her to the mid-week service at Trinity church. She came and experienced the testimony of others and the love of Christ in a new way. She knows God gave her the strength to do all she did, but she still is learning what it is to know God personally through Jesus. Pray for Angie."

It's been one week...

We've been in Covington for a week now and I (shawn) thought I'd post a few quick thoughts about our time down here so far...

• This is tough work. It often seems like the hard work is out in the field - the people who are removing trees from people's houses, cleaning up debris, mucking out houses (that's what we calling emptying and gutting a house), etc. Indeed that work is hard - very hard, but equally hard is the work here in the office. Having to tell people that we can't help them because they're not in an area that we're focusing on, or having people deal with us like we're a government agency - upset that we haven't gotten to them yet, or having to figure out logistics in the face of something that is SOOOOO large of a project. It often seems overwhelming, but then we see a life changed, a marriage saved and/or hope brought back into people's lives and it reminds us why we're here and that it's all worth it.
• This is rewarding work. Hearing the amazing things that are happening everyday is one of the coolest things about what we're doing. And knowing that for every story we hear there are multiple more that we'll never hear about. This week a team helped clean up a guy's property, mainly using chainsaws to cut up numerous large trees that were down all over his property and then a Bobcat to take all the cut up logs and brush out to the street to be picked up. As a team member was talking with him, the guy shared that he thought his marriage had just been saved. Upon further inquiry, it turns out that they (the whole family) had returned after the hurricane and the property was such a mess that the wife was overwhelmed with it to the point that she couldn't handle it and took the kids and left. The husband was left to try and figure it all out on his own, the wife doubtful that she'd return. The team cleaned everything up and the guy talked to his wife and she agreed to come back.
• We have a place to live! On our way down here, we found out that my cousins just purchased a second house that they're gonna work on fixing up over the next 6 months or so and are letting us stay there while we're here! The closing is set for Dec. 23, so we'll hopefully be moving in there after Christmas. Until then, we've been staying with my cousins and it's been awesome getting to know them better and help them out however we can. Last night we "babysat" the 4 kids but it was too much fun to be called babysitting.
• We're going to Washington for Christmas. Many of you know that Danielle has been working on her immigration process for several months now. (She's from Canada in case you didn't know) The day before we left Rockford, she got her Work Authorization and Social Security number, but she still can't cross the border to go home until the whole immigration process is complete which could be a long time still. So, we're hoping to find a place in WA to stay so that her family can come down to WA and it'll be almost like being home for Christmas.

That's all for now. Thanks to everyone for the emails and comments - keep them coming.

Arrived in Covington...

We're here! We arrived in Covinginton on Friday night and have been staying with Shawn's cousins. We went to church today and had lunch with the other Compassion staff, volunteers and the church staff. It was a good time of fellowship, getting to know the others. We officially start work tomorrow morning and are sooooo excited!!! Oh and by the way...did I mention that it was 65 degrees fahrenheit today!

Andy Patten

Thursday night in Fallujah, Iraq, Andy was killed by a roadside bomb along with 9 othe marines. Andy was 19 years old and was supposed to be done with his time overseas next month. He attended Maywood and had many close friends at church. Shawn used to be his junior high sponsor for a few years. Sunday moring church was extremely difficult. It almost felt like a funeral because his death had impacted so many people, so deeply. Please be in prayers for his family and friends.

Looking for Found a Truck...

UPDATE: Yesterday we got a 1998 Toyota 4Runner. We got a great deal on it and it's going to be perfect for this next phase of our lives. We still need to sell the Mini though, so spread the word...

As part of our move to New Orleans, we are looking for a decent truck. An area that looks more like Baghdad than nice winding roads isn't very conducive to a nice Mini Cooper, so we're gonna be selling it. We're looking for something affordable, as we likely won't be making a lot while we're helping down there for the next six months or so. If anyone has any leads, please let us know!

Going to New Orleans...

How ironic that our last post (2 1/2 months ago!) was about hurricane Katrina. We just returned from a week down in New Orleans and it looks like in 1-2 weeks we'll be heading back down there for a while (as in 6 months or more). It's gonna be one of the hardest moves we've made, yet the way it's all come about is amazing and leaves no room for doubt that we're going where we've been called.

The devastation down along the Gulf is more than you could ever imagine. The hurricane in and of itself was one of the most damaging ever to hit the U.S., and the flooding in New Orleans was among the worst disasters to ever hit the U.S. Put them together and it's really overwhelming - hundreds of thousands of homes have been destroyed, literally. Millions of lives have been directly affected.

As disaster response normally (if there is such a thing) goes, there is an initial wave of people who are ready to go and help within 24 hours. That wave (no pun intended) lasts for several weeks, and then the next wave of people come, typically with humanitarian intentions - "We just want to help the people however we can". After a few weeks or even months, this wave starts to die out. The media's attention is shifted elsewhere - the hero stories have been told, the dramatic photos of the damage have been taken, the world moves on. And as a society whose attention follows the media closely, we forget what happened and lose touch with what is happening in those areas. Often, communities are back on their feet enough at that point to carry on and complete the rebuilding process. This time is different, however.

With Hurricane Katrina, the devastation is so widespread and incredible, that even if every family were able to quit their jobs and return home immediately to empty what is left of their houses, then in the cases where the shell of the house can be saved, gut the inside and then find a contractor who won't take advantage of them...even if they had the money to rebuild...the millions of people who have been affected would be working for years just on their own house, getting it to the point of being re-inhabitable. And that doesn't even touch on where they're gonna live in the meantime, or the nightmare that insurance and banks are. That doesn't take into account the emotional toll that this has taken on people - it's not easy returning home and finding everything you own covered in mold and rotting. Antiques that have been passed down through the generations. Your grandmother's recipes. Your family photos. Your child's teddy bear. Your wedding dress. On and on the list goes, and it's a list that everyone at some point realizes is merely comprised of "stuff" and can let it go. And even though you have let go of everything, there is still an emotional toll involved in the process.

We are going to New Orleans to cry with people, to listen to people, to talk with people, to share with people and then turn around and communicate with the rest of the world what is still happening, the needs that are still present and the challenges that face a community that needs hope. New Orleans has the potential to emerge from Katrina stronger than ever. I'm not talking about the economy of the city. I'm talking about the millions of people who have realized that there is more to life than "stuff". There has to be because they've lost it all.

Katrina Links

We've been following the situation in the South closely and have found several great websites for up to the minute coverage of what is going on. The few that I've shared these links with have appreciated them, so I fiugred maybe others will appreciate them too.

• The Irish Trojan Blog - one of the best sites I've found, there are tons of links in the left sidebar
• WWLTV News Blog - great up to the minute Katrina newsfeed
• The Interdictor - amazing site of several guys who stayed and have managed to keep power and an internet connection up and running this whole time
• New Orleans Metroblog
• New Orleans Times-Picayune Newspaper - Breaking News
• Josh Britton - good site with links to photos and commentary
• PunditGuy

That's pretty much it. Between those sites and the major news sources (abcnews, cnn, msnbc, etc.) I think that's about as good of coverage as you're gonna get. There are countless others, these are just a few that I've found that provide a good overview of what all is going on.  If you have other good sites that you've found, feel free to let me know and I'll consider adding them.

Eric!

From the previous post you all know that Eric and the guys succesfully completed their walk across Nicaragua. Now they have also made it safely home to the US of A. (Speaking of which...why does a country need to many names: USA, U.S. of A., United States of America, America, US. I realize their all kind of the same thing, but all the same I like a good solid name like Canada or France!) Anyways, Eric is being picked up by his parents right now then they're coming back to Rockford to visit with us for a day or two. We're really excited to see him!
Danielle

They Made It!

Eric and crew (aka spanky, turbo and retro) just made it to the Pacific Ocean. That completes their long walk across Nicaragua - 335km (all on foot) in 16 days. Tomorrow they'll be heading to Managua, the capital, for a few days before heading back to the States. We're sure looking forward to seeing Eric and his photos and hearing all about the trip. In case you don't know what this is all about, check out  their website: www.walkacross.com. Congratulations, guys!