Hello from New Orleans

Well, actually, we're in Chalmette. It's early Monday morning and we're getting ready to go out to our first work site.

Yesterday, we drove through the ninth ward--where the levees broke. Even ten months later, there were still cars flipped upside down, houses that had been wiped from their foundations and unbelievable devastation.

Then, we drove through neighborhoods that we're quite as desperate to start with, but were equally destroyed. Nature gives no thought to economic standing. This neighborhood was like the one I grew up in, and the one I live in now. Residents had already started to decorate for halloween and for the fall. I'm sure they never dreamed that those decorations would be left ten months later.

I'm a little nervous about what we'll find today. I'm prepared for the debris and the rubble--that stuff is everywhere. But the homeowners will be there too. We were told that a lot of what we're going to do is bring the salvageable items to them--they've lost everything and they're looking for anything they can cling to. We've also been told about the water moccasins and the rats--so say a little prayer for our safety today.

I don't know if I'll be able to post pictures, but I'll keep sharing the stories. Thanks for your prayers!