A note was left for every family / individual when part of the team had to head home early during this last Dulac trip. I wanted to share the note our family received (with permission, but anonymously) ...
Dear Rolffs,
I must admit that I've not always loved the Dulac initiative. Why fix a sinking ship?
But I get it now. The love's worth it. Thank you for the lesson. I'm happy to be wrong.
-- Team Member
I've often wondered how many people feel this way ... truth is, I probably don't want to know. It can't be said better than above ... "the love's worth it."
Dulac VIII Mission Team
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Julie's Reflections
"How was your trip?" ... a question I hear 100s of times in the days and weeks following a mission trip to Dulac. And after 6 trips there, I still don't know how to answer that question!
The thing is, a Dulac mission trip -- probably any mission trip -- is all about the stories.
It's about the stories of the people we served ...
... it's about the craziness of living with 11 or 34 or 46 people in a dorm ...
... it's about the stories of hurricane survivors telling you how they escaped, where they went, what they lost, who they lost, and how they rebuilt ...
... it's about making 8 trips to Hope Services throughout the week to show the kids (& adults) the alligator pond ... and about learning alligators like Peeps (candy) ...
... it's about music in the dorm at 10pm because we haven't yet practiced for worship tomorrow ...
... it's about learning new skills or doing something we know how to do but learning to do it with new tools / equipment ...
... it's about worshiping as a team, whatever the seasons, but especially powerful during Holy Week ... and it's about giving team members an opportunity to shine for God as they plan beautiful worship services for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday ...
... it's about 27 mosquito bites in 2 days and an empty bottle of After Bite ...
... it's about meeting new friends way down da bayou ...
... it's about having our heart break for little boys who need their daddy ... a daddy that left one morning and never came home, buried 4 days later ...
... it's about learning to be humble and do work that's set before that we would NEVER otherwise volunteer to do ...
... it's about enjoying Bosco's cooking at "The Road Kill Cafe" ... and praying for Bosco's healing through this gentle man's tough exterior ...
... it's about the grief experienced by so many of our Dulac friends ...
... it's about parenting each others kids, whether that be 1 or 14 of them! ...
... it's about letting the people give back to us -- crabs, wood carvings, love, shrimp, hugs, using their pool, sharing their crawfish on Good Friday ...
... it's about Easter Sunday with Pastor Kirby and his congregation at Clanton Chapel ... no new dresses, no candy-filled eggs, pure and simple worship declaring "He Is Risen! Hallelujah!" ...
... it's about using unique skills of team members in service to a community, like Bicycle Repairs ...
... it's about strangers becoming friends ...
... it's about taking the time to let kids help build a deck, knowing that a man would hammer that nail in with 3 swings, but a 6th grader might need 70 swings ... and being ok with that delay in "getting the work done" ... because what is the work that needs done anyway? building a deck or helping a kid learn how to help, how to work hard all day, how to line up the boards, how to be loved by somebody else's dad?
... it's about spending all morning making 52 sandwiches for 34 team members ...
... it's about making your 5th trip to Bayou Hardware for the day and getting to know the guys names there ...
... it's about quarantining a sick team member at a hotel for his rest and for our health ...
... it's about leaving a corner of a bedroom wall for a 4-year old to paint so that he can tell others he got to paint his own bedroom ... and then it's about cleaning up his paint mess later ...
... it's about those awkward first moments of knocking on someone's door for a visit, hoping they're home, hoping they receive this cold-call visit well, praying that the situation is safe for my family to go into ...
... it's about making trips up da bayou, down da bayou, back to the dorm, up da bayou, stop at Bayou Hardware, deliver lunch to 4 different homes, up da bayou, down da bayou, take this team member up da bayou, but his tools are at the dorm down da bayou ...
... it's about serving a dad who is heart-sick because his wife left the country with their 9 year old son, and helping this dad begin to remodel that boy's bedroom in hopes of his return ...
... it's about the late-night shenanigans of the teens ... er, the moms! ...
... it's about having our heart break for those things that break God's heart ... and knowing a broken heart draws us closer to the heart of Christ.
So, how was this trip? Blessed! Always blessed.
We see God's hand all over our experiences, our interactions, our joys, and our sadnesses.
When the team gathers in the evening for devotions and God sightings, asking "Where have you seen God at work today?", the discussions ALWAYS run late, the little kids ALWAYS get to bed too late, and the tears, both from laughter and from sadness ALWAYS flow.
There's no way to summarize a Dulac trip ... other than "blessed." So I guess that's my answer from now on.
BLESSED!
And now, after being home for 2 weeks, my body is recovered (late-night laughter with the moms = very little sleep) but my heart is still breaking. My heart went to Dulac 5 years ago this month and never came home. Dear God, keep breaking my heart for the things that break yours. Amen.
The thing is, a Dulac mission trip -- probably any mission trip -- is all about the stories.
It's about the stories of the people we served ...
... it's about the craziness of living with 11 or 34 or 46 people in a dorm ...
... it's about the stories of hurricane survivors telling you how they escaped, where they went, what they lost, who they lost, and how they rebuilt ...
... it's about making 8 trips to Hope Services throughout the week to show the kids (& adults) the alligator pond ... and about learning alligators like Peeps (candy) ...
... it's about music in the dorm at 10pm because we haven't yet practiced for worship tomorrow ...
... it's about learning new skills or doing something we know how to do but learning to do it with new tools / equipment ...
... it's about worshiping as a team, whatever the seasons, but especially powerful during Holy Week ... and it's about giving team members an opportunity to shine for God as they plan beautiful worship services for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday ...
... it's about 27 mosquito bites in 2 days and an empty bottle of After Bite ...
... it's about meeting new friends way down da bayou ...
... it's about having our heart break for little boys who need their daddy ... a daddy that left one morning and never came home, buried 4 days later ...
... it's about learning to be humble and do work that's set before that we would NEVER otherwise volunteer to do ...
... it's about enjoying Bosco's cooking at "The Road Kill Cafe" ... and praying for Bosco's healing through this gentle man's tough exterior ...
... it's about the grief experienced by so many of our Dulac friends ...
... it's about parenting each others kids, whether that be 1 or 14 of them! ...
... it's about letting the people give back to us -- crabs, wood carvings, love, shrimp, hugs, using their pool, sharing their crawfish on Good Friday ...
... it's about Easter Sunday with Pastor Kirby and his congregation at Clanton Chapel ... no new dresses, no candy-filled eggs, pure and simple worship declaring "He Is Risen! Hallelujah!" ...
... it's about using unique skills of team members in service to a community, like Bicycle Repairs ...
... it's about strangers becoming friends ...
... it's about taking the time to let kids help build a deck, knowing that a man would hammer that nail in with 3 swings, but a 6th grader might need 70 swings ... and being ok with that delay in "getting the work done" ... because what is the work that needs done anyway? building a deck or helping a kid learn how to help, how to work hard all day, how to line up the boards, how to be loved by somebody else's dad?
... it's about spending all morning making 52 sandwiches for 34 team members ...
... it's about making your 5th trip to Bayou Hardware for the day and getting to know the guys names there ...
... it's about quarantining a sick team member at a hotel for his rest and for our health ...
... it's about leaving a corner of a bedroom wall for a 4-year old to paint so that he can tell others he got to paint his own bedroom ... and then it's about cleaning up his paint mess later ...
... it's about those awkward first moments of knocking on someone's door for a visit, hoping they're home, hoping they receive this cold-call visit well, praying that the situation is safe for my family to go into ...
... it's about making trips up da bayou, down da bayou, back to the dorm, up da bayou, stop at Bayou Hardware, deliver lunch to 4 different homes, up da bayou, down da bayou, take this team member up da bayou, but his tools are at the dorm down da bayou ...
... it's about serving a dad who is heart-sick because his wife left the country with their 9 year old son, and helping this dad begin to remodel that boy's bedroom in hopes of his return ...
... it's about the late-night shenanigans of the teens ... er, the moms! ...
... it's about having our heart break for those things that break God's heart ... and knowing a broken heart draws us closer to the heart of Christ.
So, how was this trip? Blessed! Always blessed.
We see God's hand all over our experiences, our interactions, our joys, and our sadnesses.
When the team gathers in the evening for devotions and God sightings, asking "Where have you seen God at work today?", the discussions ALWAYS run late, the little kids ALWAYS get to bed too late, and the tears, both from laughter and from sadness ALWAYS flow.
There's no way to summarize a Dulac trip ... other than "blessed." So I guess that's my answer from now on.
BLESSED!
And now, after being home for 2 weeks, my body is recovered (late-night laughter with the moms = very little sleep) but my heart is still breaking. My heart went to Dulac 5 years ago this month and never came home. Dear God, keep breaking my heart for the things that break yours. Amen.
Ms. Norma
If you were in 8:30am worship on April 22nd, you heard our young friend Gabe talk about Ms. Norma. Either way, this is a pretty neat story ...
In 2007, during our first family trip to Dulac, our family (Rod & Julie Rolffs) visited Miss Norma and her husband Mr. Jim. We have fond memories of a fun visit with an engaging elderly couple. Most memorable for our kids was the story about their cat who chased the alligators away from their bayou-side home.
We attempted to visit Mr. Jim and Ms. Norma again during the family trips in 2008 and 2010, but neither time were we able to find anyone at home. This year, as I (Julie) was laying out who from our team would visit which families in Dulac, I had 1 opening for a team visit ... I had previously decided to pull Jim & Norma off the list, assuming that they were no longer living in Dulac. On a whim ... or a whisper from the Spirit! ... I decided to have a visiting group from our team make "1 final attempt" to visit Jim and Norma.
Imagine my surprise the next evening, during the team report-out about their family visits, to hear that our team had made contact with Ms. Norma!
As it turns out, Jim passed away in recent years and Ms. Norma is back in her home after having lived in Houma for a while. She is wheelchair-bound, living alone, and unable to go anywhere. Her daughter who lives 90 minutes away delivers groceries to her every 2 weeks. Ms. Norma sits in her kitchen / dining area day after day, alone, watching the TV to her right or activities on the bayou to her left. Our team members shared that she LOVED the apples from her care package and that she really LOVED having visitors. We made a commitment as a team that evening to ensure that for the 6 days of our trip, Ms. Norma would have visitors every day!
Our team had a wonderful opportunity on Good Friday to get Ms. Norma out of her home. We picked up some new clothes for her, sneakily removing the tags, as she didn't want us buying her anything brand new, and offered her an outing. She joined our team for dinner as we all thoroughly enjoyed dining on Bosco's (the cook) FABULOUS Chicken Gumbo and Potato Salad. After dinner, Ms. Norma joined us at Clanton Chapel for a beautiful Tennebrae worship service.
In 2007, during our first family trip to Dulac, our family (Rod & Julie Rolffs) visited Miss Norma and her husband Mr. Jim. We have fond memories of a fun visit with an engaging elderly couple. Most memorable for our kids was the story about their cat who chased the alligators away from their bayou-side home.
We attempted to visit Mr. Jim and Ms. Norma again during the family trips in 2008 and 2010, but neither time were we able to find anyone at home. This year, as I (Julie) was laying out who from our team would visit which families in Dulac, I had 1 opening for a team visit ... I had previously decided to pull Jim & Norma off the list, assuming that they were no longer living in Dulac. On a whim ... or a whisper from the Spirit! ... I decided to have a visiting group from our team make "1 final attempt" to visit Jim and Norma.
As it turns out, Jim passed away in recent years and Ms. Norma is back in her home after having lived in Houma for a while. She is wheelchair-bound, living alone, and unable to go anywhere. Her daughter who lives 90 minutes away delivers groceries to her every 2 weeks. Ms. Norma sits in her kitchen / dining area day after day, alone, watching the TV to her right or activities on the bayou to her left. Our team members shared that she LOVED the apples from her care package and that she really LOVED having visitors. We made a commitment as a team that evening to ensure that for the 6 days of our trip, Ms. Norma would have visitors every day!
A few days later, I had a chance to see Ms. Norma when I dropped off 5 girls and 2 women from our team who were planning to share a couple songs with Ms. Norma. She didn't remember me from our visit 5 years before, but as with the rest of our team, welcome us all into her home and shared her many stories with us. What a sweetheart!
She SO enjoyed the girls' music and conversation with the ladies! The
girls sang "Amazing Grace" and "You Are My All in All" for her and Ms.
Norma followed along with the words, later sharing that she liked this
kind of music so much better than all the loud, clapping, dancing music so many people
like today!
Watching each of the girls in turn give hugs to Ms. Norma was heart-warming!
Our team had a wonderful opportunity on Good Friday to get Ms. Norma out of her home. We picked up some new clothes for her, sneakily removing the tags, as she didn't want us buying her anything brand new, and offered her an outing. She joined our team for dinner as we all thoroughly enjoyed dining on Bosco's (the cook) FABULOUS Chicken Gumbo and Potato Salad. After dinner, Ms. Norma joined us at Clanton Chapel for a beautiful Tennebrae worship service.
God gave our team an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus, providing us overwhelming blessings for doing so. We have all fallen in love with Ms. Norma and look forward to future visits with her.
Will you join us in praying for Ms. Norma? We can all pray for her health, for her spirit, and that God would send regular visitors to her that would help break up the monotony of living alone.
To Him be ALL the Glory!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Wrap-Up on our Week
Wow, I can't believe the week has ended and we're home. In past years the dorm in Dulac has had wi-fi service, but for whatever reason (TID = This Is Dulac), it didn't this year. Thus the shortage of blog posts late in the week.
Our team served at 6 homes this week with LOVE as our motivation at all 6! Rather than share them all in 1 post, we will share about the families we served in a series of posts.
Ms. Cheryl's: We have been visiting Ms. Cheryl and her late husband Errol for 4 years now. In Feb. 2011, just a couple months after our last visit with them, Mr. Errol went to be with his Savior. This year, our goal at their home was to show Ms. Cheryl our love for her by helping her clean and purge her home of excess "stuff" and to repair soft spots in the floor of her raised mobile home. It was truly a joy to see the progress made at her home during our visit. Ms. Cheryl really has felt the love that we poured out for her this week.
Our prayer for Ms. Cheryl is that she will continue to heal from the loss of her husband and that she would take care of herself and her own medical issues. Ms. Cheryl is a former youth pastor that we love and care for; we look forward to seeing her on future trips to Dulac!
A team at play: On Saturday afternoon, just before returning home from our week of serving in Dulac, we took time to play by enjoying a Cajun Man Swamp Tour! This was a great cultural and education tour set in the canals and bayous west of Houma. The highlight of the trip was seeing an 11 foot alligator up CLOSE!
Following the swamp tour, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at Big Al's, a popular seafood restaurant in Houma. With crawfish in season, many on the team learned to peel and suck the heads on this meal that takes a while to eat! The shrimp were fantastic as always!
We invited some Dulac friends to join us for dinner and enjoyed having the time to continue getting to know one another and solidifying friendships over a great meal!
Check back in a day or so, as we will continue to post about the families we served and as we share reflections from different team members about their Dulac experience.
Our team served at 6 homes this week with LOVE as our motivation at all 6! Rather than share them all in 1 post, we will share about the families we served in a series of posts.
Ms. Cheryl's: We have been visiting Ms. Cheryl and her late husband Errol for 4 years now. In Feb. 2011, just a couple months after our last visit with them, Mr. Errol went to be with his Savior. This year, our goal at their home was to show Ms. Cheryl our love for her by helping her clean and purge her home of excess "stuff" and to repair soft spots in the floor of her raised mobile home. It was truly a joy to see the progress made at her home during our visit. Ms. Cheryl really has felt the love that we poured out for her this week.
Our prayer for Ms. Cheryl is that she will continue to heal from the loss of her husband and that she would take care of herself and her own medical issues. Ms. Cheryl is a former youth pastor that we love and care for; we look forward to seeing her on future trips to Dulac!
A team at play: On Saturday afternoon, just before returning home from our week of serving in Dulac, we took time to play by enjoying a Cajun Man Swamp Tour! This was a great cultural and education tour set in the canals and bayous west of Houma. The highlight of the trip was seeing an 11 foot alligator up CLOSE!
Following the swamp tour, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at Big Al's, a popular seafood restaurant in Houma. With crawfish in season, many on the team learned to peel and suck the heads on this meal that takes a while to eat! The shrimp were fantastic as always!
Check back in a day or so, as we will continue to post about the families we served and as we share reflections from different team members about their Dulac experience.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Day 4 and 5: And So the Work Begins!
It's Wednesday night and we're all exhausted, but we're happily exhausted. The week thus far has been amazing. God's shown himself at each work site.
On Tuesday, one group had the pleasure of helping a woman clean out her cluttered house and reinforcing her sagging floors. Another group is helping a woman who hopes to move back into her childhood home here in Dulac. It is currently unfinished due to past hurricane damage. Continued work from last year is being done on one family's house. This year we've put in new windows, painted rooms, and are currently working on her deck. Tuesday night consisted of a movie night for the community of Dulac. A group spent most of the day setting up a local gym for the event. We had face painting, games for kids, an inflatable, snacks, door prizes, and the movie Courageous. We had about 50 attendees. Everyone there was someone FUMC has come into personal contact with over the past several years. It was great to see our group of friends growing.
Wednesday was a day with a late start. We were all exhausted from the night before, and so we slept in a little. Rain also contributed to our slow start. That being said, we still got a lot of work done. We returned to yesterday's job sites. We saw a lot of progress in all situations.
On both Tuesday and Wednesday, we visited the woman who loves apples, people, and Jesus. We sent a minstrel choir of our team's children to her house and we were happy to see her joyful, tear-filled reaction.
The trip has been a joy so far, and we can't wait to finish all we've started,
On Tuesday, one group had the pleasure of helping a woman clean out her cluttered house and reinforcing her sagging floors. Another group is helping a woman who hopes to move back into her childhood home here in Dulac. It is currently unfinished due to past hurricane damage. Continued work from last year is being done on one family's house. This year we've put in new windows, painted rooms, and are currently working on her deck. Tuesday night consisted of a movie night for the community of Dulac. A group spent most of the day setting up a local gym for the event. We had face painting, games for kids, an inflatable, snacks, door prizes, and the movie Courageous. We had about 50 attendees. Everyone there was someone FUMC has come into personal contact with over the past several years. It was great to see our group of friends growing.
Wednesday was a day with a late start. We were all exhausted from the night before, and so we slept in a little. Rain also contributed to our slow start. That being said, we still got a lot of work done. We returned to yesterday's job sites. We saw a lot of progress in all situations.
On both Tuesday and Wednesday, we visited the woman who loves apples, people, and Jesus. We sent a minstrel choir of our team's children to her house and we were happy to see her joyful, tear-filled reaction.
The trip has been a joy so far, and we can't wait to finish all we've started,
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Gabe's God-Sighting
Monday:
Today I met people that I've been praying for for about three years. Their names are Paul and Mae. I was so excited when I met them. Mae was also excited and even cried because we had been praying for them for so long. They had no idea that we had even been praying for them. I'm really glad I was able to meet them after all these years and I look forward to praying for them even more!
Gabe Jones
Today I met people that I've been praying for for about three years. Their names are Paul and Mae. I was so excited when I met them. Mae was also excited and even cried because we had been praying for them for so long. They had no idea that we had even been praying for them. I'm really glad I was able to meet them after all these years and I look forward to praying for them even more!
Gabe Jones
Days 2 and 3: Settling in and Preparing for the Week Ahead
Hi Everybody! It's Tuesday morning and everyone's rushing around as we get ready for the day ahead. We've been uber busy, and therefore haven't had time to update the blog. Better late than never though!
We arrived in the lovely land of Dulac on Sunday. The first group rolled into Dulac at about 2:30pm. Some families took a side adventure to New Orleans and didn't get in until later. We found out that there was another team of 23 members staying in our dorm meant for 40 people. We thought it was an April Fools joke ... it wasn't. Shortly after arriving, Mr. Goodman decided to go into town to get some medical treatment as his bronchitis was getting worse. He is currently resting up at a hotel in Houma and will hopefully be back to join us soon!
On Monday morning, we headed out to deliver the majority of our care packages. We split into seven teams and headed out. We met plenty of new, wonderful people and reacquainted with old friends. From those conversations, we've found some jobs we're capable of completing. We'll be fixing up a couple houses, helping clean out one, and just plain visiting one woman who would love some visitors and a bag of apples. The LaCroix family (Nicole, Nick & Skyla) came and visited with us in the evening. It was a joy to see them and see how the kids have grown.
Within the hour, we will be heading out to our job sites for the day and we couldn't be more excited! We also have the Family Movie Night event this evening, so it will be a busy day. Can't wait to share more of our adventures with you.
We arrived in the lovely land of Dulac on Sunday. The first group rolled into Dulac at about 2:30pm. Some families took a side adventure to New Orleans and didn't get in until later. We found out that there was another team of 23 members staying in our dorm meant for 40 people. We thought it was an April Fools joke ... it wasn't. Shortly after arriving, Mr. Goodman decided to go into town to get some medical treatment as his bronchitis was getting worse. He is currently resting up at a hotel in Houma and will hopefully be back to join us soon!
On Monday morning, we headed out to deliver the majority of our care packages. We split into seven teams and headed out. We met plenty of new, wonderful people and reacquainted with old friends. From those conversations, we've found some jobs we're capable of completing. We'll be fixing up a couple houses, helping clean out one, and just plain visiting one woman who would love some visitors and a bag of apples. The LaCroix family (Nicole, Nick & Skyla) came and visited with us in the evening. It was a joy to see them and see how the kids have grown.
Within the hour, we will be heading out to our job sites for the day and we couldn't be more excited! We also have the Family Movie Night event this evening, so it will be a busy day. Can't wait to share more of our adventures with you.
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