International team helps rebuild in New Orleans

By Susan Hellums
VIM Coordinator
The members of the two part-nering disaster recovery teams from First UMC, McAllen, and the Methodist Church of Mexico returned from their January mission trips to New Orleans with a renewed and inspired awareness of what it means to join God in mission.
A total of 26 people were on both teams, 20 from McAllen and six from the Methodist Church of Mexico. The Mexicans came from as far as Puebla and as close as the border towns of Reynosa and Matamoros. We were joined by a bishop from Puebla, pastors, doctors and many others from both sides of the border.
The joining of these teams on a mission to the United States is a milestone for both The United Methodist Church and the Methodist Church of Mexico. The two churches have partnered before to work in Mexico but never as one team traveling together to serve in the United States.
Our teams were joined by Joshua, a homeless man in New Orleans who had been taken in by First Street UMC and was eager to learn and serve with us. The teams were also joined by Erika and Terra from Minnesota and another team of college students who came from Wisconsin.
Because many of our team members were bilingual, part of the team was asked to serve in the area around El Mesias UMC in Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans with residents from Central and South America.
We stayed at First Street UMC, which is the only African-American United Methodist church operational in New Orleans after the storm. The pastor, the Rev. Lance Eden, is a young, soft-spoken, energetic and spiritual man who was fresh out of seminary when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.
During the time in New Orleans, our teams were able to experience the special culture of New Orleans and its people. At the same time we saw firsthand some of the absolute devastation. It is beyond words. Pictures cannot express what the people are living through.
The members of the teams shared and worked in a community of people whose lives will never be the same. I dare say that none of ours will be, either.