Alyssa Amey’s "brief?" Operation Restoration Journal

Where do you begin to make sense of all this? Where do you start when you go to tell about an incredible week in your life spiritually, emotionally, physically… in a few short paragraphs? There’s no way I could ever begin to say it all… but it was beyond amazing. It was more fun, rewarding, and wonderful than I could have imagined going in. In one week I experienced and did things that I’d never done before. This week also contained the lowest of lows and highest of highs that I’ve ever felt. I came away with 80 new friends that were just faces around campus before- extremely cool people I feel honored to have gotten to know. I felt God move in mighty ways. I got to be a witness for my Savior and see people’s eyes full of hope simply from us being there. I got to beat drywall with a crowbar! I also broke down and cried with frustration and at all the destruction I saw.

Some of my memorable experiences that should be noted…
Monday, Dr. Johnson, owner of the house on Fairway Dr. found her grandmother’s antique platinum & diamond earrings under a pile of debris in her yard. She’d been looking for them since the hurricane and had given up on finding them. We were working on her house, pulling nails, when she started screaming. We all thought different things happened… I thought she had cut herself, one of the guys thought she’d fallen, and one of the other girls thought she’d uncovered a snake. But in her quivering hands she held the small jewelry box and inside were the earrings, unharmed. That was one of the coolest stories on the trip… it was so awesome for us to be able to experience her joy!

However, Wednesday was my breaking point. The house on Davis St. was supposed to be finished by lunch, and then our small crew was going to move on and tackle the big house on Basswood St. that needed a full mud out. We arrived at the Davis house pumped and ready to finish the job… then we met the kitchen floor. What we thought was simple tile turned into another layer under that of still-wet tar paper that had glued itself to the sub-floor. It ended up taking all day, and we still hadn’t gotten anywhere with the floor. Nothing we did would make it come up- burning, sawing, chipping, scraping- none of it. I was utterly frustrated at the floor and disappointed that we wouldn’t get to go to the other house. I was sick of doing the same projects in different houses… it wasn’t fun to pull nails anymore. I felt like we were wasting time. Nothing I could do would change the situation. I felt powerless and useless… I walked outside, sat on the curb, and looked out at a sea of devastation. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I sat there and cried. The next thing I knew, Dr. Pickerill was there. I really think that God gave him the words to say to me at that point. He said what was on my mind and reminded me that while we feel useless at times, like what we’re doing doesn’t seem important with so much that could be done on other houses… that we’re making a huge difference in this one house. That our work means so much to the lady that lived there and is going to live there again. I realized I was trying to do things on my own again. So God broke me. I surrendered my self-reliance and admitted I just couldn’t do it alone. I never can. I picked myself up, marched back in the house, and faced it with newfound strength and energy I didn’t know I could muster.

Thursday was Thanksgiving… an amazing day all around. We had an awesome time of prayer and praise in Long Beach. Then after a great Thanksgiving dinner, we went back and finished the Davis house. Then finally we moved to Basswood St.

Friday was the best day for me. Realizing that our strength comes only from God, we were able to accomplish more than we ever thought we could on the monster house on Basswood. We almost completely finished the mud out that had looked so immense to us before. I had a great time smashing drywall, I must admit. Something else I realized about our team from Asbury is how much we care. Other groups would just throw everything these people owned onto the curb. But we cared enough to pull some things aside. While they may be insignificant to the owners, we cared enough to try. I hope they get to see Jesus in us through our work, even though we didn’t get to meet the owners of the house on Basswood St.

I was also blessed to be able to introduce friends of mine originally from my home church in New Jersey but now residents of Slidell, Louisiana to the group. They drove the 40 minutes to come spend the evening with me. During our debrief time, Susan shared with us. She didn’t have to, but I was really glad she did. She said that if any of us had any doubt that we didn’t make a huge impact on Pass Christian to forget those thoughts. People who show they care enough to come down affect everyone who went through it, not just the residents of the houses we worked on. She told us how much she appreciated us showing God’s love. It meant a lot to me, I’m so glad she did it.

This is longer than it probably should have been, but I have a lot to say. There’s no way to simply tell all about this trip… I’ll use the overused phrase: “guess you had to be there.” It was a truly amazing trip and I am so thankful that I was able to go. All praise and honor be to God… the same God who made Katrina has the power to restore. I’ve seen it first hand…

And I’ll never be the same.

~Alyssa