The Wesley Foundation

Click the link below to listen to the March 8 sermon about the trip.  It is a wonderful summary of the week!

http://www.cullowheeumc.org/category/sermons/

Day 1

Jay Hinton

Sunday, March 1, 2009

We congregated at Cullowhee UMC/Wesley Foundation around 4:00pm and by 5:15am we were loaded in a 15 passenger van and the CUMC bus. The trip was pretty uneventful until we driving through Tuscaloosa, Alabama and it began to snow. It snowed and snowed and snowed. I began to wonder if we were going to have to stop and get hotel rooms because the roads were getting bad. After several hours of cautious driving, the snow let up and we were able to get back on our desired pace. As we got closer we noticed a field off the side of the interstate where thousands of FEMA trailers were parked and deemed unusable due to formaldehyde somehow contaminating them. What a shame. They were just sitting there for years unusable.

We arrived at Aurora United Methodist Church in New Orleans around 5:00pm Central time. We unloaded and shortly after went out to a local dinner called “Applebee’s.” You’ve probably never heard of it but it was pretty good (I’m just kidding, I know you know what Applebee’s is). After that, we were back to the church and off to bed to get ready for our first day of work.

Day 2

Corey Benfield

Monday March 2, 2009

Hey my name is Corey Benfield, a sophomore at Western Carolina University. This was my first experience down to New Orleans and a widespread tragic disaster. So when we were driving to the worksites, it was just overwhelming of how much to take in from all the damage that is still here from four years ago. It just really changed who I am as a person of coming down here and seeing how much LOVE many Americans have in this darken world. God has called us to share His gospel and be Christ-like and be a light in this world that is in complete darkness of sin.

When we got to the worksite we just started working right off the bat and helped everyone out with the project that one group was on. We just had a great first day working for this stranger that we are showing love to and it just made my day just giving me the experience of helping the less fortunate out and the people that has been effected by Katrina. Then when we were eating lunch (PB&J’s) and the homeowner drives up in the driveway. Jay and I just walk over to where she was and she just came out of the place where she was with a smile, a big smile. Her name was Janice and she was probably the nicest and most loving person I have met, besides my grandma and mom. She also offered to take us out to eat for lunch and was just talking to us for a while and was just so full of life and just full of love. She seemed like the queen of the street and the light in the neighborhood. After that we got back to work and had a productive rest of the day.

When we got back to the church we had an awesome dinner and the Bible study/Devotion. In the devotion it was just so much love and happiness of the day that was felt during the time of devotion. God has placed all of us here for a reason because our calling this week is to share our love and be a light in a community that really needs a light shone and really needs God’s hand placed on it. This day was a great start to an amazing Spring Break of LOVE. Janice is AMAZING!!!!! If you read this Janice Wesley Foundation of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina LOVES YOU SO MUCH YOU ARE A BLESSING TO US!!!!

Day 3

Haitham Dawuid

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

This is the best trip ever, period.

I wanted to start with that since that’s how I feel. I had a little bit more time this morning than yesterday morning to eat breakfast. It was really good food. We left about 9:10 A.M. this morning; it was fairly easy on the highway. We had to put some bathroom tiles at our site, I had to mix some more cement today. I did that yesterday too but we didn’t use it. Then we had the most delicious food in New Orleans. Janice, very nice lady from here, took us to a local restaurant where I had my white beans and rice with fried chicken. It was awesome. I think everyone enjoyed their lunch.

After lunch, we got back to our site and decided to but some doors up since we were done with the tiles. We started to cut the door frames and put them up. Manning was putting some baseboard in the closet, Alysha was helping him. Carol and I helped David to do the doors thing; it was really educational to me personally. I learned many things. I had the opportunity to enjoy few days with great friends, and meet new ones, like Marin and Stephanie, share some stories, worship, love each other, and help other people just because it makes us happy.

There is one more thing I’m going to learn probably tonight or maybe later on. It is the Scrabble game. I think Alysha is going to teach me, or maybe Stephanie or Jennifer. I think that’s all I have for tonight.

God bless us all.

Thanks.

Day 4

Alysha McCrary

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Today was our grand adventure around the heart of New Orleans. We experienced the environment and more importantly the people. One group met none other than Grandfather Elliot himself, from the video of Stand By Me. The small group I was traveling around with ate lunch at McDonalds, and as we were leaving a man reached out and handed us a note that said “God Loves You”. There is a true pride and love from the people down here. I know that my experiences today helped me to better understand why we are really down here. It’s not for the work, and it’s not just a mission trip, it is spreading the love of God. I’ve cut tile, spread mortar, helped hang a door, but it’s all so much more than that. The house my crew is working in is marked with a symbol that lets us know that a life was lost there during the hurricane. I know nothing of the homeowner, of his troubles or triumphs, but as I cut the tile for his bathroom, or measured he baseboard for his closet, I just stop and think about how we are doing nothing more than giving him a physical home again. His house bears a line around the top, where the water levels reached plum to the room of his house. The entire neighborhood faced death and destruction. Many homes can no longer be lived in. Yet this man, despite his sorrow and pain still comes back to his home, here in New Orleans. To me, it is a simple reminder that no matter how much pain or destruction we go through in our lives, we can always come home to Christ, that he is there for us no matter what we experience.

Day 5

Kerri Bernhardt

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Today it was wonderful to get back to work on our house after a day of sightseeing. I liked seeing the many sights in the French Quarter and the wonderful Grandpa Elliott, but it was a blessing to continue progress on the house we are working on. Our homeowner, Janice, is a bright cheery person who is so grateful for all of our work. We have put down laminate flooring in two of the rooms in the basement and today we laid ceramic tile in a room and bathroom. I have never done either of these two types of floor before, but this trip has been a great learning experience. Our team has done a wonderful job together interacting and having fun while still getting lots of work done. It has been awesome to acquire new skills and spend time with my team but I must say the best part was talking with the homeowner.

She has shared with me the power of loving others. Her job is to work with women struggling with addictions. There are many different addictions such as drugs and alcohol, but really all they need is someone to love them. It is very similar to our purpose while we are here. Our group is here to share God’s love and our love with the people in New Orleans. I really enjoy talking with the people and hearing their stories. They have such a joy in their eyes and hope in their hearts. It is a blessing to me to see their happiness after the struggles they have been through. It gives me hope to carry on through the struggles in my own life.

I hope to return to Cullowhee with renewed faith and motivation to help people in my own community. Helping others is a gift that keeps on giving and brings me lots of joy. I am so glad that I was able to come on this trip and be blessed by the many experiences and adventures. It would not have been possible without the support of the WCU Wesley Foundation and Cullowhee UMC. I must say I am eternally grateful for all of the experiences I have had during my time at WCU. I hope that one day I will be able to give back to all of the people who gave so much to me. Our verse for this trip is Galatians 5:13 and we have summed it up as “Serve in Love.” The whole group wears it each day on a rubber band. I am so glad that I have been able to love the people in New Orleans as well as the people on this trip. Remember God loves you!

Day 6

Stephanie Grigg

Friday, March 6, 2009

My team left the church motivated and ready to finish up our work on Gloria’s house for our final day. When we pulled up to the house we saw that there was a lot of gang graffiti spray painted on our house and the surrounding area and became worried about our safety working in the house. We decided to pack up all of our stuff and head over to help the other groups for the day. I was a little disappointed that we did not get to totally finish the work we had been assigned, but we had gotten a lot done earlier in the week so I think that Gloria will be happy with the progress that was made.

First we went to help the team that was working on Louis’ house. I helped lay down some very tricky transition strip and hang a door. Then I rode over to help team Jasmine with grouting as they put down tile. Even though we had some snags along the way, I think that my team was lucky to get to experience working at all three of the houses on the mission trip. Each home owner had a unique story about their experience with hurricane Katrina, and I was glad I got to be a part of all their recovery processes in some small way.

At the end of the day we took all of our materials back to the tool shed and went to the church for make-your-own pizza night, which was awesome! We had a very powerful final devotion in which Sophi related the nails on the cross to the nails we used for our mission work. I thought it was a great way to end the week. We finished up the night with MANY rounds of one of my new favorite card games called “Blink” before packing up for our return trip to Cullowhee. I feel so blessed to be part of the Wesley Foundation and this trip has given me even more reason to love the people and work that we do.