Initial Post - September 16, 2007

This blog will follow a mission trip to the city of New Orleans in October 2007. The mission trip is sponsored by the United Methodist Volunteer in Mission (UMVIM) program. Approximately 25 of us will spend a week in October working on damaged homes.


Our team leader is Jim Scott - Jim was born and raised in New Orleans and he has led several mission trips to help with recovery and rebuilding activities after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the area in August 2005.

Nearly two years later, 200,000 people in New Orleans are still living in trailers. More than 250,000 evacuated residents are still scattered throughout the nation. Two years later, 70 public schools in the New Orleans Parish remain closed. There are no mental health services, no hospitals to serve the uninsured poor.

When we arrive, we'll learn more about the exact nature of our trip. We'll get our work assignments from one of the local assistance organizations in New Orleans.

As we spend our time in New Orleans, various members of our group may choose to post entries here on this blog. I am hoping that we will have at least one new entry each day. Stay tuned...