Team #1 Wrap Up

This is Stretch…thought it would be a good idea to let everyone know that Team #1 arrived home safely. Everyone is pretty drained physically, but it’s good to be home in spite of a strong desire by many to stay longer. Too bad responsibilities like work and families have to interfere…

After another great breakfast (thanks Emily) we attended the Super Friday Rally behind Castle Rock Church. All of the other work groups who were staying at Trinity Church, and the youth who were staying at the Yellow House were also there. Many states were represented including Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, Texas, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and others. We then headed to clean up our assigned street. Unfortunately, there were very few people living in the houses so we had little contact with that community. We did have a few people from surrounding streets come out when the hotdog truck arrived. The water line from the flooding was still visible on some of the building…about 6 feet high. We ended our cleanup adjacent to the Projects that we visited Monday evening.

Ending the street cleanup allowed us to return to Living Witness a little early so the Nehemiah guys could give us a sendoff concert. Little did we know that we would be active participants…Yes, this bunch of conservative white folks from Wisconsin was transformed into worshipping in a passionate Southern style, complete with singing (off key for the most part), clapping, and even dancing in the aisles. They wanted us to perform one of our worship songs, so Leif (who had been playing guitar with them) stepped up to lead us in “How Great is Our God.” During our 2 hour time of worship, we all left even more of our hearts in that small sanctuary…what an absolutely fitting sendoff after everything we experienced all week. God’s hand is amazing!

We got packed up and cleaned up, and left New Orleans about 4:30. It was a slow start with getting stuck in rush hour traffic, and definitely bittersweet to be on the road. It was a fairly uneventful trip…more frequent stops were required overnight with tired drivers and apparently small bladders. A detour was taken to Farmington, MO at 3 am with the intention of “decorating” Team #2’s vehicles, but Younker’s dog who was loose outside stalled our efforts. I hope you guys pay closer attention to important maps in the future…

We arrived back in Menomonie about 4 pm Saturday. All of us have many, many stories to share…but some will take some time to express. It was a week packed with hard work, but more importantly with deep spiritual and emotional events. We experienced God’s amazing love in very real action, the fact that the timing of His plan is much better than our own, and that He directly answers prayer. We experienced the absence of coincidences when we allow ourselves to be used as servants, the power of the Spirit moving in and thru us, and the blessings when we glorify Him without expecting anything in return. We experienced the fact that a bunch of inexperienced people can accomplish great things when we surrender ourselves as individuals, and unite as the Knucklehead Construction Crew. We experienced that like minded people exist from all different backgrounds and cultures, and it’s God who gets all the glory when we put our differences aside in worship and in servanthood.

It was very much an honor to be called to lead this bunch, and I’m very proud to look back and know that we sacrificed ourselves keeping His will in mind. We can’t wait until the next opportunity comes to return to New Orleans. I’m hoping many of you who are reading this will listen to God’s call and join us next time.