Sam and Crew in New Orleans

Sam, Hazel and the kids met up with Olie at Galveston's Scholes International Airport. They purchased and loaded supplies on the "Porpoise." Then they set sail for New Orleans, Louisiana. Sam and Olie sailed the "Porpoise" the roughly 400 miles from Galveston to New Orleans in just three days. The crew was anxious to get to work helping rebuild homes and lives wrecked by Hurricane Katrina.

Sam and Hazel volunteered with Katrina Aid Today to work on rebuilding houses for the next two weeks. Olie and the kids will be helping as well - feeding the hundreds of hungry volunteers in the area where Sam and Hazel will be working. Actually, Hazel and Olie will take turns working on homes and feeding workers with the kids. But Olie let Hazel go first in the construction work.

The normally strong Sam was moved to tears by the terrible destruction in New Orleans. Most of New Orleans is still deserted after more than three years. Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005 destroying or damaging thousands of homes and businesses.

The KAT folks told Sam that the Christians around the United States have contributed their time, money, food, furniture and so much more to help rebuild lives in New Orleans. Groups like the United Methodist Committee on Relief, Catholic Charities, Lutheran World Relief and many, many more are in various places around town hard at work. More than 500,000 Christians of every denomination have come to New Orleans so far to help build homes and clean up the Katrina mess. Those volunteers have built or repaired over 53,000 homes so far. And the rebuilding work continues which is why the "Porpoise" crew is here.
Sam then learned that Katrina is not the only hurricane to hurt the Gulf Coast. From 2005 to 2007, Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan, and Wilma have all caused major damage around the Gulf.

Sam and the rest will be in New Orleans for about two weeks helping with the rebuilding.
Please take the time to see how the love of Christ is being shared daily in New Orleans by Christian Good Samaritans in 2009. Search the 'Net or go to your church's web site and search for "Katrina" there.