Boulder's First Congregational UCC's
4th New Orleans Mission Trip

Nineteen members of First Congregational/UCC in Boulder went on our fourth mission trip to New Orleans. Some of us had been before and for some of us it was their first trip. This year we stayed at St. Paul’s UCC near the Garden District. Another group from New York was staying there also. That group gutted this church after the storm.

This church is small in numbers, but wanted to do something for their city. They decided to make the building usable for anyone who was coming to rebuild the city.  There are rooms with cots and two sets of bathrooms and the use of a kitchen. It was a comfortable space and we shared it with the New York group. Our group went to church there on the first Sunday. Later in the week the church provided dinner for all of us which was amazing since they are such a small congregation. It was a great time to get to talk to the team from New York who are also members of a UCC church.

This trip was planned to work with Habitat for the first time for 4 days building a house in Harvey, LA across the river. Most went there to work for those days. Our team always enjoys working side by side with the owners of the house. The stories are what keep our team coming back to help.

Habitat does not work on Mondays so we found some work with Hands-On-New Orleans. They provide volunteers to help all over the city. On that Monday, some did some building, some went to Project Lazarus, and some went to Animal Rescue. Project Lazarus is a site for people to live who have HIV/AIDS. Many of us had never been to a place like that. We were told that we would be spending time with the residents by mostly listening. Some of us did just that. We listened to their stories about living with the disease and some also told stories about the storm which is now called The Levee Failure. Some played board games with the residents. Some went on tours given by the residents to see their lovely living quarters. The old nunnery was made into a colorful living space that was not depressing, but uplifting to them. Many seemed very proud of this space. One of our group talked to a man all day about his disease and his stroke. We could see this resident change throughout the day. We saw his mood and posture get better. This group member decided to go back and see him later in the week. He took him out to eat, drove this resident around to visit the places he used to hang out and just talked. It was a memorable experience for the member of our group and this resident. One of our group at Project Lazarus was found to have needed computer skills. She helped there for more than one day using these skills.

Some of us had originally planned to work at the Goin’ Home Café in the lower 9th. It is a soup kitchen that fed hundreds. We were told that it closed due to lack of funds. We are sure the need is still there. Instead,  some of us worked at Animal Rescue(www.AnimalRescueNewOrleans.org) on that Monday and others worked there all week. This place opened after Katrina and has been run by volunteers ever since. They do not kill animals there. They try to get lost animals back to their owners. They also neuter and spade cats. Many are proliferating over the city. We fed, watered and cleaned cages for 200 cats. We did the same for the myriad of dogs in addition to walking them. We worked all day at this and were amazed at these volunteers there doing this every single day week after week. We did get a little play time with the animals and took many pictures. One of our group decided to take a dog home to Boulder and named her NOLA.

We had a wonderful experience the night before we left. Someone had read in the paper about a jazz concert happening at Christ Cathedral on St. Charles. The place was packed when we got there at this huge magnificent church. One of our group saw the pianist from St. Paul’s and the pianist got us seats right in the front of the church next to the group playing, The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Irvin Mayfield, trumpeter and conductor, directed this group with his piece that he had written in 2005 to commemorate those who had died in the storm. This was the third year the group had played it. Every year Mr. Mayfield adds onto the piece. In 2005, the premier was played when Mr. Mayfield did not know where his father was. Later, he learned that his father had drowned. The music was very moving to all that were there. This, some said, made the trip.

Every trip we take is different. Our group changes, the jobs change and New Orleans is changing. The people that go are changed by the experience. In addition, they get to know their fellow church members in a new and deeper way having shared this time together. There are years of work to do, but the city is coming back with faith groups like ours doing much of the work. Our church continues to get groups that want to go and be a part of this remaking of a great city. It is a mission trip like no other.

Abigail Sperry
First Congregational Church
Boulder, CO

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