My team traveled to Slidell, La., divided into groups, and worked on several different houses. The house my work team helped to rid of debris was a large home owned by the Shockley family. They were both in their 80s, and Mr. Shockley had a birthday while we were there.
It took our team of 10 workers three days to gut their home. It had been under many feet of water and everything had to be torn out--walls, ceiling, kitchen, paneling, doors, and bathroom. They were very sweet people and thanked us with an ice cream break one day. Before we left, we all prayed together, and Mr. Shockley got very choked up as he thanked God for us coming to help.
I was very thankful to be able to go on the trip, as I was born in New Orleans and have family who live in Slidell and lost everything. While it was heartbreaking to see the damage Hurricane Katrina caused, it was a joy to be part of the "wave of kindness" we could take down there from Cedarville.