New Orleans - Part 1

As stated in a previous post, I spent a week in New Orleans doing some work to help restore the still hurricane devastated area. We went with Crossroads Missions which is a great organization to do a mission trip with. While down there, our group did a few things including siding a house, putting on the porch banisters, and even going throughout the neighborhood to cut lawns, trim weeds, and interact with the residents. The motto for Crossroads Missions work in New Orleans is “Renew, Rebuild, Restore.” At the end of the week I felt like we had some part to play in all of those things.

The foreman of the project, Rusty, really drove home the point of what we were doing down there. We spent most of our time in Central City, just outside of the main downtown stuff. And to be honest, it was not hit all that badly – maybe 3 feet of water. Conversely, the 9th Ward was hit the worst. Most homes were destroyed and remain unlivable. That in itself is tragic. However, the 9th Ward was also home to a strong criminal element. They have not returned either. Instead, they have migrated into other areas that had much lower crime rate. And the result was to be expected – crime in these one time safer areas has increased. Central City was one of these areas. The first house that Crossroads attempted to build came with much uneasiness in regard to safety. Also, with the overgrowth of vegetation combined with the large numbers of abandoned houses gave criminals plenty of places to flee and hide out. But, as the police have seen what they are doing, they have increased patrols along the roads that they were working. In a given day, I would see a police car drive by maybe 25 times. The neighborhood is beginning to feel safe once again.

And so with each lot that gets cleared of 10-foot tall weeds, each dilapidated home that gets torn down, and each home that gets built, we were doing more than just helping out one family. We were restoring a community. We were helping eliminate the evil that was running rampant.


There is plenty of work left to be done, and there is plenty of reason to think that these little efforts aren’t making a difference. But they are.

And the same is true in our lives. All the little things that we do or don’t do in an effort to be holy as God is holy may not seem all that significant. But they are. They are small steps in bringing about a world that is once again good in God’s eyes.