No Trip to the Beach
Navigator collegians “bring hope to the hopeless” in the Gulf Coast
By Rebecca K. Grosenbach, staff writer
Mud, muck, mold, stink. Ingredients for a first-rate spring break, right? Maybe not for an easy or pleasant spring break, but it does describe one that was life changing.
A host of college students involved in Navigator
ministry chose to spend their week off from school cleaning up debris
remaining from last fall’s devastating hurricanes and flooding in the
Gulf Coast region.
Kyle Kelley and Greg Crowley, Navigator staff at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, traveled with a team of 23 students to New Orleans. “Our job was to gut out people’s houses, removing water- and mold-damaged plaster and flooring,” says Kyle. “Our mission, however, was to minister to people.”
They cleaned out two houses, piling debris in front of the houses for sanitation workers to haul away. “Seeing piles and piles of junk that were once treasured belongings being clawed up by a machine and dumped into a truck made me want to be able to let go of my treasures at that moment,” one student commented. “I realized that if you have not Christ, you have nothing. God really became the one necessity for many people in New Orleans.”
A team of 54 students and Navigator staff traveled from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst to Biloxi, Mississippi. Navigator EDGE Corps worker Stephen Yeakley was among them. “Lives were impacted and changed over the few days we spent together,” he says. “We had significant conversations about Jesus and what it means to follow after Him.”
Their work was similar to that of other groups,
cleaning out houses. “A big part of this trip was restoring hope to the
hopeless,” Stephen says. “Students were challenged as they looked
outside themselves and responded to the needs of those around them,
just as Christ did. Each day was a chance to reach out and love our
neighbors down in Mississippi.”
Students from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, also made the long trek south to help clean up New Orleans. In one spot, they saw a 60-foot shrimp boat that had settled in someone’s front yard. “It was amazing to watch our hands and feet reaching out to a community yearning for help,” said one participant. “I will never forget just how much a small group of people can do in the name of Christ.”
“When we were wrapping up one of our hard workdays in prayer, a man dropped his bike and ran toward us, insisting that he get in on the prayer,” another participant said. “Seeing his heart for God and hearing his prayer, I instantly felt God’s presence in this whole catastrophe.”
The largest group was a team of 66 students and
eight Navigator staff that traveled from Colorado State University in
Fort Collins to Slidell, Louisiana. Caryn Hickman, one of the Navigator
EDGE Corps workers, says, “Nothing could have prepared us for what we
saw. As we walked into homes and saw the jumbled contents, mold-covered
walls and floors piled with more than a foot of mud, we were
astonished. We didn’t know where to begin.”
Staffer Linnette Bachman, also part of the CSU team, says, “After three days of work we completed the job. We left the house with nothing but the wood frame, concrete flooring, and a pile of trash in the front yard. The homeowners said we were part of God’s provision for them, that we were an answer to prayer. The husband said we were ‘giants’ in his eyes for driving 24 hours on our spring break to serve him and his family.”
The team helped 15 families. Says Linnette, “That was only a dent in the work that needs to be done. But it was 15 families with whom we were able to serve and share the reason we live—Jesus Christ.”
By Rebecca K. Grosenbach, staff writer
Mud, muck, mold, stink. Ingredients for a first-rate spring break, right? Maybe not for an easy or pleasant spring break, but it does describe one that was life changing.
A host of college students involved in Navigator
ministry chose to spend their week off from school cleaning up debris
remaining from last fall’s devastating hurricanes and flooding in the
Gulf Coast region. Kyle Kelley and Greg Crowley, Navigator staff at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, traveled with a team of 23 students to New Orleans. “Our job was to gut out people’s houses, removing water- and mold-damaged plaster and flooring,” says Kyle. “Our mission, however, was to minister to people.”
They cleaned out two houses, piling debris in front of the houses for sanitation workers to haul away. “Seeing piles and piles of junk that were once treasured belongings being clawed up by a machine and dumped into a truck made me want to be able to let go of my treasures at that moment,” one student commented. “I realized that if you have not Christ, you have nothing. God really became the one necessity for many people in New Orleans.”
A team of 54 students and Navigator staff traveled from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst to Biloxi, Mississippi. Navigator EDGE Corps worker Stephen Yeakley was among them. “Lives were impacted and changed over the few days we spent together,” he says. “We had significant conversations about Jesus and what it means to follow after Him.”
Their work was similar to that of other groups,
cleaning out houses. “A big part of this trip was restoring hope to the
hopeless,” Stephen says. “Students were challenged as they looked
outside themselves and responded to the needs of those around them,
just as Christ did. Each day was a chance to reach out and love our
neighbors down in Mississippi.”Students from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, also made the long trek south to help clean up New Orleans. In one spot, they saw a 60-foot shrimp boat that had settled in someone’s front yard. “It was amazing to watch our hands and feet reaching out to a community yearning for help,” said one participant. “I will never forget just how much a small group of people can do in the name of Christ.”
“When we were wrapping up one of our hard workdays in prayer, a man dropped his bike and ran toward us, insisting that he get in on the prayer,” another participant said. “Seeing his heart for God and hearing his prayer, I instantly felt God’s presence in this whole catastrophe.”
The largest group was a team of 66 students and
eight Navigator staff that traveled from Colorado State University in
Fort Collins to Slidell, Louisiana. Caryn Hickman, one of the Navigator
EDGE Corps workers, says, “Nothing could have prepared us for what we
saw. As we walked into homes and saw the jumbled contents, mold-covered
walls and floors piled with more than a foot of mud, we were
astonished. We didn’t know where to begin.”Staffer Linnette Bachman, also part of the CSU team, says, “After three days of work we completed the job. We left the house with nothing but the wood frame, concrete flooring, and a pile of trash in the front yard. The homeowners said we were part of God’s provision for them, that we were an answer to prayer. The husband said we were ‘giants’ in his eyes for driving 24 hours on our spring break to serve him and his family.”
The team helped 15 families. Says Linnette, “That was only a dent in the work that needs to be done. But it was 15 families with whom we were able to serve and share the reason we live—Jesus Christ.”
