Katrina, Isaac and Sandy: Unwelcome Visitors

November 29, 2012

Guest post by Nancy Asbedian

The Katrina team from Bedford’s First Church of Christ, Congregational  (l-r) Nancy Asbedian, Cathy Gray, Mickey Weber, Ginni Spencer and Lisa Baylis.

Although September’s Hurricane Issac was downgraded to Tropical Storm status and lost strength, the buckets of rain, rising waters, and widespread flooding continued. And then Hurricane Sandy hit the Mid-Atlantic.

For many of us in Bedford memories of Katrina return upon hearing such devastating reports.

In November of 2006, one year after Katrina, five members of the First Church of Christ, Congregational, of Bedford visited New Orleans as what would be the first of many Gulf Mission Teams to follow.

Get The Bedford Citizen in your inbox!



We joined other churches in a naive effort to make a difference.  Whether we did or not, not one of us returned unchanged.

As each of us carried a duffel bag full of books along with our own checked luggage and dragged ourselves through the airport, joining church members from other communities, little did we know what was in store.

After our arrival I recall driving along the highway to our destination and thinking that nothing seemed unusual.  The neighborhoods appeared neat and the houses seemed intact.  Little did I realize that the houses were uninhabitable and the streets were empty of any activity…no cars, no children, no dogs, no birds.  We were seeing only the tip of the iceberg, and appearances can be very deceiving.

Our temporary residence was a trailer attached to a church.  Needless to say, sharing cots in a trailer dormitory style is less than luxurious.  But we laughed our way through and settled in.  Bathroom facilities required an excursion past another trailer and through a gutted gym…with only a flashlight to guide us.  This would become an adventure in itself..

Our tasks were varied and we broke up into different groups.

We sorted the books and delivered them to a local library because the books were destroyed.

We went to a nursery school where some helped with the appreciative children and others donned gloves to clean the playroom, toys and refrigerator which were covered with mold and dirt.

We spent hours on our knees sealing the new tile on the sanctuary floor of our host church because new pews were to be delivered.  Happily, we not only finished the floor in time, but also witnessed the joy of the church members receiving the pews.

We gutted a house destroyed by mold with an intact brick exterior.  It could have been one of the homes which first appeared “normal” to me. As we donned our protective gear, little did we know how heart-wrenching it would be as we discovered a broken toy or fragments of a dish, traces of a family we would never know.

We painted the interior of a “shotgun house” which had been been rebuilt in preparation for its tenants.

But the things we did paled in comparison to what we experienced.

From the first moment at the church to the meals we shared with the church community to walking the streets downtown, we received such appreciation and gratitude for our inexperienced work.  Strangers could identify us as volunteers by our accents and would stop to thank us.

We heard their stories, how some families were separated and reunited after weeks of not knowing of their survival.

We learned of their pride and love for their city and their love for their culture and their “Joy of Living”….(?French?)

We learned of their faith and belief that they would rebuild.

The details have faded, but the feelings remain.  And once again, we learned that in giving we receive so much more.

We five started out as friends. But this experience bonded us together as only such an emotional experience can.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Subscribe
Notify of

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

All Stories

What’s Bedford Thinking about the Red Sox?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Junior Landscaping
Go toTop