March -- Table of Plenty

This month, March, Table of Plenty is our featured ministry opportunity. Begun in 1994, Table of Plenty is a free community kitchen whose mission is to meet the needs of a growing number of people who may be having trouble putting food on their tables. A weekly meal is served on Tuesday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall of First Parish Church. Over 100 nutritious meals are served each week to anyone who comes through the door. This is also a ministry to those who are lonely, or feel forgotten, so it’s an effort to address emotional needs, as well as physical hunger. The churches in town take turns providing meals, cooks, servers and dishwashers. Our church helps out 6-8 times a year. There are a variety of ways to help—cooks often prepare food ahead of time at home, and others help with serving and clean up on site. 

Karen Gilroy (kgilroy@maine.rr.com) is the Table of Plenty Coordinator for St. Georges. Ask her questions, check out the display and look for signup sheets to go up several weeks before our turn comes up again.

Homecoming

Most of the team has arrived back in Maine this morning. The driving team is well on their way through Tennessee and will arrive back in Maine on Monday. We are all very tired but gratified by our amazing experience seeing the need in New Orleans and responding with love and hard work, and in the process opening ourselves up to a new kind of self-giving love. That is the purpose of Lent: sacrificing our selves as Christ sacrificed himself so that we might open ourselves to the love of God that makes resurrection happen and happen and happen. Resurrection happened for us in New Orleans. Let's all pray for the ongoing resurrection of that city, its neighborhoods, communities, churches and lives. As we approach Easter let's all pray for how we might give of ourselves in order to open ourselves to resurrection love and truly experience God's awesome gift to us.

I am having a lot of fun sharing about our experience this morning at church - please come next Sunday (see below for details) to hear from the whole team, see pictures and celebrate New Orleans as we pray for its ongoing resurrection.

Peace,
Steve+

Day 7: Hope

Today was our last day working at the home we have been helping to rebuild. After a difficult day yesterday our enthusiasm was not diminished. In fact, our frustration after the tour of the city seemed to have made us that much more determined to finish our work with care. We have fallen in love with our homeowner, whom we have never met. We yearn for her and all of her neighbors, friends and family to be home and for this city to be fully alive again. And we sense that that is happening. We have a palpable sense of really being the hands and heart of Christ - and we have all learned how to hang sheetrock too! In fact, we transformed a house from a maze of studs into a house of rooms, a place looking very much like people will indeed live there again soon.

This is the last post to the blog from New Orleans - at least for this year. We all start heading home in the morning. We bring home with us the love and gratitude of a city and, more strikingly, we bring home our own gratitude for the opportunity to grow closer to God through being those hands of Christ. We have seen resurrection at work and we have participated in creating resurrection. Death no longer has hold over us or the people of New Orleans, if we are guided by hope and driven by love. We have all, in one way or another, fallen in love with this city and its people and we all hope that it will thrive again. We are grateful to be able to be a part of it - and to all who have supported our journey and work here through donations and prayers. This trip has created love between the Southern Maine Seacoast and the city of New Orleans. That love makes us and our nation stronger and the world a better place.

Remember to come and see some of what we have seen, Sunday, March 2, at St. George's (407 York Street/Route 1A, York Harbor, Maine) for a multimedia sermon at each service, putting all this in the Gospel context, and time from 10:00 to 11:00 to interact with team members and hear first-hand experiences or the rebuilding of a city.

God Bless the people of New Orleans and the love that connects us!

Steve+

Day 6: Intensity

The first part of our day today was similar to the last two. We are getting increasingly efficient at hanging sheetrock and taking more and more pride in our work. We also realized that this family's return to their home will have a notably hopeful impact on their block and neighborhood. The more people move back in the faster the renewal proceeds.

We left the house early today so that our team leaders could give us a tour of the city and the various neighborhoods that have experienced destruction in various ways. Some of the team who have been in New Orleans since Katrina were impressed with how much has improved in the last year or two. Most of us who have not been here since the storm have been struck by how depressing it seems here. We were blown away by the annihilation of the Lower Ninth Ward. But we were just as disturbed by the many middle class neighborhoods that must have been neat and tidy before the storm and now, two and a half years later, look like blighted slums. The storm did not discriminate, although we know that the politics of rebuilding does.

Our experience of the grief of New Orleans - of the people here and our reactions to the scenery - was coupled today with grief within our group. Our deacon at home, Sudie Blanchard, lost her father today quite suddenly. A close friend of two of our team members also died suddenly today. We closed the day with reflections on what we experienced today, mostly to the tour, and then with a memorial service for these two men who died today and for the City of New Orleans pre-Katrina, recognizing that Resurrection happens and grows in the midst of our grief, that the triumph of Christ and the love of God is greater than any of our losses and that we help God to make resurrection happen when we become the hands and heart of God.

May God bless our team and all who are supporting and praying for us!

Steve+

Day 5: Gratitude

Another day of work at the house that we are helping to rebuild. Substantial progress is visible since we started yesterday morning - lots of insulation and sheetrock up and much sense of accomplishment. We are also musing about spending some of the excess money we raised to purchase appliances for the kitchen in this home. There is a real sense of pride and connection to this family, whom we have not met and will not meet but are able to love and support through our work here.

I learned that while the physical rebuilding effort is going pretty well - 11 houses are under construction now - at least on the small scale that the Diocese of Louisiana is at, the emotional recovery is much more precarious. One home is complete but the homeowner is still not able to move in because of overpowring reminders of the flood. Government funds for support are drying up, though Episcopal Relief and Development is helping to fill in some of those gaps.

This evening we were invited to join the congregation of St. Paul's Church in Lakeview, next to where we are staying, for their Lenten Wednesday series. We prayed Evening Prayer with them and then they treated us to a supper of crab and corn chowder and Po Boy sandwiches and a video of the damage and rebuilding of St. Paul's supported heavily by the Diocese of Olympia in Washington State. We then shared conversation about their experiences of Katrina and the aftermath and our impressions after three days here. It was a powerful opportunity for connection and relationship. Four members of our team have been invited to a couple of parishioners' home for crawfish on Friday evening. I was impressed to learn that the new pews at St. Paul's here were donated by St. Paul's in Indianapolis, where I was baptized. This is truly the heart of Christ's activity in America right now and, as the Rev. Will Hood, rector here, emphasized, we are the hands of Christ here now, which is very exciting. Our supporters are our Holy Spirit!

I continue to be blown away by the hospitality and gratitude for our presence here. One man said that he just can't get over how people, often far away, who were never asked for help would offer to give their time and money to support rebuilding in New Orleans. I feel the love of God here and am grateful.

Blessings,
Steve+

Day 4 - Check in from Steve+ and a report from one of our youth

News Flash!  First pictures from our work crew are in!  Here's one of the whole group in front of the house they are all working on this week.  Had a good phone conversation from Steve+ a few minutes ago, heard Cheryl and others shouting greetings from the background--they all sound great!  More to come, but I need to get ready to go to work at the library!  Sudie :-)

***********

Late last night (after I had gone to bed) the following email message came from Steve:

"Sudie, it's now 11:00 pm and I've been flat out since 5:15 am. Now I understand why it was so hard getting updates from folks last year.

We have been assigned to work on one house this week, owned by an elderly woman who takes care of several grandchildren, but has been evacuated to somewhere in Mississippi since Katrina.  Most of the adults are blown away by the incompetence and neglect that led to the floods and have prevented rebuilding. The youth are mostly impressed by the sense of community evident in the poor neighborhood where we are working. 

It makes us adults even madder when we realize how little of that community has actually come back. There is a sense of broken-heartedness about the city that is itself heartbreaking and makes us want to reach out and hug the whole place, or at least do what we can to bring back one matriarch and her family."

Also received this morning, forwarded by Paige, from a youth member of the group, Chris Ervin:

"We got our first assignment today and we are rebuilding a house in the upper ninth ward. The group I'm in consists of Gene, Steve, Cheryl, Tristan, and me. We are building ceilings in a large house. We finished one ceiling and now we are working on another. Gene, is probably the most enthusiastic.  He really enjoys climbing up the scaffolding and drilling screws into the ceiling. 

We got a large amount of work done. unlike last year were we wouldn't go back to the house we started we get to keep working on the same house all week witch will be really nice because we get to see our final product before we go. 

I'm estimating that we may completely finish this house if we keep up the fast pace working."

I'm hoping to get some pictures of the team members at work before long.  Stay tuned, and let's keep them all supported by our prayers--they are working hard!

Sudie :-)/

A quick update from Steve--

Steve emailed me late last night (the email was time stamped 12:15 a.m.) from his Palm: 

"I'm writing from my Palm and it's very late. We're all in bed at St. Paul's Homecoming Center, after a long day of travel, sightseeing, grocery shopping and orientation. We'll be up at 5:30 CST to get ready to begin our work. Hopefully we'll post some photos soon. Peace, Steve"

It was good to hear that everyone's together and getting settled...

Sudie :-)/

A question from Brenda...with an answer...

Received this message from Brenda earlier today (and just this minute learned that they have arrived in New Orleans and are unpacking.  Hooray!!!! Your blogging deacon is carefully avoiding the "A" word....but she's thinking it...):

"Forgot to tell you that it seems like every hundred miles or so, we would see three crosses (large - 20' tall; two side crosses are white and the middle (higher cross) is usually brown), set up like the crosses from the crucifixion.  Do you know which church or denomination puts those up along interstate 81?  Regardless, it's a great reminder of why we're doing this trip, and we're all noticing them.
Tennessee is the 10th state we've been through, with Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana on tap for today."

Your faithful reference librarian did some Googling--here's the answer  (from RoadsideAmerica.com)

"Those sets of crosses were all put up by the same man, Bernard Coffindaffer, a once-wealthy West Virginia businessman. He spent more than $2.5 million putting them up after a vision following open heart surgery told him to start building "crosses of mercy." The first trio was built north of Charleston, WV, and eventually some 1,800 were planted across 29 states. Coffindaffer's crosses are two pale blue ones and a yellow one, painted these colors to represent the colors of the sky and the light of the sun over Jerusalem. The crosses are treated with a saline solution and built to last 35 years. Coffindaffer eventually went broke, and died in October, 1993, after more than ten years of building."

I'm glad they are reminding you of the reason you are doing this work, and I suspect that Rev. Coffindaffer is too, from his current vantage point! :-) More about the crosses and Rev. Coffindaffer

Fliers & trainers arrive in Louisiana

15 mission trip members have arrived in Louisiana - staying in Slidell, just outside of New Orleans, before arriving at the St. Paul's Homecoming Center in New Orleans on Monday. Ethan, Travis, Kelsey, Andrew, Lauren, Abbie, Savannah, Ariana, Gene, Sarah, Jeanne, Donna, Paul, Cheryl and Steve flew Skybus from Portsmouth to Gulfport, Mississippi, about an hour northeast of New Orleans, sharing the second plane with other missioners headed to help on the Gulf Coast. We drove along the Gulf to get to Slidell, witnessing the vast destruction in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that has still largely not been redeveloped. We'll add photos when we can.

Mary and Gretchen arrived by train, having shared cars with other missioners from other churches in the northeast.

Brenda, Rich, Taylor, Caitlin, Chris and Tristan are making progress in the car, hoping to make it to Chattanooga or Birmingham today and on to New Orleans Monday.

We'll get settled, do some sightseeing and grocery shopping for the week, and attend orientations on Monday.

It's been a full day, already eye-opening, with much more to come.

Peace,
Steve+

Update--fliers en route, drivers in Chattanooga, TN

Several of us went to Pease Airport this morning with our missioners to see them on the plane south. Everyone was in good spirits as Dave Balian, Julie Young and I saw them depart for the security checkpoint. Here's a picture of the group just before they headed for the boarding area. (Dave and I slipped into the picture as kind of "Honorary " members of the team--we're both feeling just a little "left behind!")

No word from the air travelers yet yet, but I suspect they have been spending time getting from the airport in Gulfport to Slidell, LA and settled in the Hampton Inn where they will be spending the night.

I did get a note from Brenda saying that the driving group had made it to Chattanooga, TN today. They drove through some torrential rain, but at the end, they were treated to a spectacular double rainbow. Tomorrow, they will drive the final 1/3 of the way.

The Driving Team is Making Progress!

This from Brenda on Saturday evening:

"We've made it to the hotel in Winchester, VA just fine.  The guys are off to the fitness center and the girls are going down to look at the pool."

They are well on their way to New Orleans.  The rest of us will be setting off from Pease early in the morning.

Steve+

And they're off! (The First Wave, anyway)

This morning, Pete and I headed over to the Ervin's at about 6:45--everyone was up, and Brenda was masterminding the packing of the car, which Rich cooked breakfast for the troops.  Nancy and Bud Haugh were there, too, seeing Tristan off.  It was C-C-C-C-OLD...brrrr....  But the sun was on the rise, and there was no snow in sight.  The six travelers waited patiently for me to snap this picture...then we had a moment of prayer, asking God's blessing.  The "Thanks be to God" in response to my "Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord" was heartfelt--probably because they all wanted to get in the truck, where it was much warmer!!  I got good shots of the car slowly backing up the driveway and getting underway--check the picture link to the left.

Godspeed, Rich, Brenda, Chris, Caitlin, Taylor and Tristan!!

Bright and early tomorrow morning, the next wave flies out of Pease--See you bright and early tomorrow, gang!

Fund raising update -- "Change4Change" has been cashed in...

I just got off the phone with Sarah D--She and Abbie were just leaving Hannaford's after spending quite a while this evening running the coins that we collected in all of those "Change4Change" cans--and the big glass jar--through the CoinStar machine.   I imagine it took some real muscle to get all the cans of coins inside the store--I couldn't lift that big glass jar last week!

As they poured the change in, Sarah said the machine had a hard time keeping up!  And of course the cashiers heard all about the trip to New Orleans.   Thanks to a lot of hard work on everyone's part--and a lot of generosity out there--after the GoldStar machine took it's percentage, we made $668.50!  

Fundraising goal met, and exceeded!

If my figures are accurate (and I believe they are...), our missioners have met and exceeded their fundraising goal, maybe by more than the thermometer indicates.  

Thanks are due to all who participated so generously in any way--via the "Change4Change" buckets...chili and pancake suppers...the Jumbalya Jubilee...the flower and quilt raffles...funds contributed by family and friends in response to our requests...the special Christmas offering and vestry contributions...and the generous gift from the Diocese of Maine, through the Wolf Fund.

We ask for your continuing prayers as 25 of us prepare to leave in just over a week.  A carload will leave on Saturday, February 16...a big group flies out of Pease Airport on Sunday, the the 17th, and two are even traveling from upstate New York by train.

Due to work obligations, I must stay in York. But I will be posting daily to this blog...stay tuned!

February's Outreach Effort--The Craft Outreach Program

Ellie Butler and crew work diligently to provide several different articles for people going through tough times.  Nimble fingers knit or crochet prayer shawls for those who need special reminders of God's love and prayers that surround them as they go through life's hard patches...knitted caps, small and large are created for preemies as well as people going through chemo...there are also lap quilts and other stitched for those who need some extra TLC.  All these wonderful efforts are officially blessed several times a year at "Craft ingatherings."

During Lent, beginning on February 13,  the Craft Outreach Program will be having Brown Bag Lunches at St. George's on Wednesdays from noon to 1:30.  Bring whatever you are working on and join us.  If you want to learn how to knit or crochet a shawl or hat, just bring yourself--we will have needles, hooks and yarn on hand to get you started.  Bring a sandwich--we'll provide drinks and dessert.  Questions? Call Ellie at 363-7114.

Chili Chefs at work...

I stopped by church this morning and caught a group of chefs at work.  Rich was browning meat and onions with cumin, chili powder and other spices as Brenda was whippping up the cornbread.  Dave arrived with the slow cookers, and Peter (not pictured) rescued the entire operation with a can opener (we discovered that neither kitchen at church has a can opener!) See all the pictures here.