Good morning New Orleans

Good morning! Well, let's say morning . . . The clock on my computer says 7:15 a.m. but I know it's really only 6:16 and no coffee to be found!

As we drove into New Orleans yesterday it became quite evident why Passport is here. The devestation is still pretty profound. Although it has been 3 years since Katrina, many buildings show lots of damage and many businesses are still boarded up.

We were the first group to arrive at camp and quickly began getting settled and then the thunder and the rain began. It rained and rained and rained. The apartment complext we are on campus has a real old world of brick and iron and not such good drains. As we ran through about 3 inches of water (it's still raining) to get to the bus, we quickly realized while the showers we had taken were well needed, if we had just waited, it would have happened naturally.

Most of the mission work this week will take place in two areas - one is working with teams to paint school buildings inside that have not been updated since Katrina. The other work is landscaping, or more accurately stated - cutting down tall grass. Many lots and yards have not had their grass cut and brush cleared in quite a while, so the government has decided to cut it for the homeowners and charge them $500 to do it (ludicrous, I know!!!). So, we will be trying to clear as much as we can to help these homeowners who have barely been able to rebuild or clean-up, save money.

It is exciting to know that we are hear in New Orleans as part of God's continued story of love and sacrifice.

We are in Louisiana!

We have crossed the border into LA and are about 29 miles from New Orleans. We've just finished watching Evan Almighty and are getting excited about arriving at our location. We have made great time and will be able to grab lunch before we register and take showers! Did I say that everyone needs a good shower?

When we stopped for breakfast, we thought the location had both a Hardees and a McDonalds. What a surprise when we pulled into the parking lot and saw the McDonalds had been leveled (it was just dirt). So, the Hardee's crowd was happy to see all 52 of us - did I say that surprise and happy are not necessarily the same thing? Signing off until later this evening - Michael

On the road . . . part 2

Well we've been on the road about 12 hours and are in Alabama looking for food. All of our senses have been frozen, so you don't really know that your drool from failed atttempts at sleep has frozen. A couple things I have learned so far . . . no one really sleeps well on a bus (maybe 15 minutes at a time), unless you are under the age of 20 - so you guesses it, the chaperones are already zombies! We have switched drivers - did that around 4 a.m., Oh, after that is when the bus finally got quiet as well. Everyone is doing great on this road trip. Our new bus driver is Todd - T Daddy for short (seems he has five daughtes) which means he will be able to handle all of us! Talk with you soon - Michael

Passport On The Road

Are we there yet? We are on the road . . . about 60 miles from Charlotte and have seen two movies and are now trying to get everyone settled down for the evening. It's freezing in this bus! Who knew it was an ice box on wheels? There is so much stuff on this bus! It's like an obstacle course to get to the bathroom :-) Can you believe a couple of the students are asking for extra pillows? - Michael

Passport preparation

So, it's early on Friday morning, and I can't believe that we leave for Passport - New Orleans in just a little over 24 hours! There's so much to do - wash the last of the clothes, make sure all the snacks and drinks for the bus are taken care of, etc. . . I'm sure many of you are in the same spot :-) Welcome to this new blog. While at passport, I will post pictures and comments about our trip. Let me know what you think!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Second Baptist Student Ministries blog!

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Richmond, VA 23229

More to come! Keep checking!