[StBernard] Spring break trip rebuilds homes, lives

[Westley Annis]

Spring break trip rebuilds homes, lives 
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer


Family photos in shattered frames, abandoned cars lining the road, clothes
hanging from trees, a perfectly preserved wedding dress tucked among
devastation: the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was stark for 41 members of
the Christ United Methodist Church.


Twenty-one high school students, four college students and 16 adults from
the church spent their spring break in Chalmette, La., and Waveland, Miss.,
clearing debris. Leaving on a bus Friday morning, they worked at cleaning
six homes and a state park on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, before making the
approximately 22-hour trip back. They unexpectedly had Saturday to enjoy in
New Orleans but the rest of the trip was spent serving people they never met
before.

The devastation was more than just losing homes or possessions. What
bothered many people on the trip was that the families in the houses they
cleaned up lost their way of life.

"It was really heart-wrenching to see that a lot of the destruction was
still present," said Emma Grettenberger, 16, and a junior at Interlochen
Arts Academy. "Two houses were completely destroyed at the state parks, all
over the woods were their clothes." 

Kevin Knight, 15 and a sophomore at Kingsley High School, said the small
towns have had minimal clean up work done in the months since Katrina.
Waveland, Miss., at ground zero of the hurricane's landfall, was simply
wiped off the planet. To even get into some of the homes they were working
on, teams had to shovel through a foot of mud to reach the door.

"We didn't figure it would be that bad so long afterward," he noted. "The
places that need it the most are barely touched."

The non-profit National Relief Network based in Greenville, Mich.,
facilitated the trip. Susan Johnson, a board member with the organization
and member of the Christ United Methodist Church, helped set it up and
accompanied the crew as a volunteer coordinator. 

When she heard of interest in a mission trip, she suggested the church
coordinate with the NRN. 

"It's a wonderful organization, essentially they just try to help people
rebuild their lives after a national disaster, we're in it for the long
haul," said Johnson of NRN, who traveled to Louisiana over Thanksgiving with
a different group of volunteers. "This was on such a large scale."

Sunday during their second service, members of the church listened to
testimony from trip participants and also watched a slide show of pictures. 

Pastor Louis Grettenberger, who also went on the trip with two of his
daughters, noted this small delegation was just one of many coming down to
help people clean up and rebuild their lives. In fact, his small church sent
nearly a third of its membership and the experience brought everyone closer
together and may spark additional mission trips.

"I was gratified to see that there were thousands of groups like ours from
churches, and other organizations working there," he said. "It's hard for
them to start all over again but it has to be done."

"There's an emergency need here that we need to respond to," Grettenberger
added. 

Three generations of parishioners went on the trip as well as seven exchange
students staying with church families this year. 

Zoya Belmesovan, 17, from Kyrgyzstan, was moved by what she saw on the trip
and felt like helping out was part of the American experience.

"I was really sad, almost in every house we found toys, these toys were
lying in this mess and all this mess because these little kids had to see
all this disaster and run away from it," she said. "I was shocked to see
everything, all the ruins, still there after seven months. The only people
working there were the volunteers."