Mission Trip meeting Feb. 12
An additional meeting has been scheduled for the Youth Mission Trip Sunday, Feb. 12, 12:15 p.m. We will focus on last minute details for the Dinner Auction on Friday, Feb. 17 (see below). Please bring $5 for lunch.

 

Mission Trip Dinner Auction Friday, Feb. 17
“Lighting up the Bayou” Event
to Benefit New Orleans Mission Trip
Fellowship hall will be transformed into a bayou for this year’s dinner auction, and we need you to light it up with your presence! This annual event will feature:

• Silent Auction, with hundreds of items
• Fine Cuisine (Jambalaya and Macaroni and Cheese)
• Entertainment
• Exquisite Service
• Fun Crafts for Kids

Bidding is open from 5:30–6:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. Auction items, big and small, will be displayed in the commons, and bids can be entered at any time.
Proceeds of the dinner auction will support our Bob’s Builders Mission Trip, a return to New Orleans to repair houses that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina over six years ago. Nearly a thousand families continue to live in FEMA trailers while awaiting home repairs. We are excited to work again with the St. Bernard Project to help those families move back into their homes.

Tickets for the auction dinner are available in the office and will be sold in the commons during the education hour. The cost is $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children 3–12. (Children under 3 are free).

So, light up the bayou with your presence! We look forward to seeing you on Feb. 17!

 Auction items appreciated
We are always looking for interesting items to offer at our dinner auction fundraiser. Do you work for a business that would consider donating a product or a gift certificate? Do you have a skill or service you could contribute? All donations are appreciated! Please talk to Gretchen if you can help.

 

2012 Youth Mission Trip Named in Honor and Memory of Bob Biehn
This year’s mission trip to New Orleans would have been Bob Biehn’s 10th youth mission trip – a goal he had looked forward to celebrating. Last year, Bob made his 9th trip while undergoing chemotherapy, a fact that barely slowed him down. On every mission trip, Bob brought his great, infectious laugh, an always positive and supportive attitude, and a phenomenal work ethic. His words and actions left an impression on all of those who were on the 9 trips Bob made. His quiet impact was so great, in fact, that the almost 70 youth and adults going on this year’s trip to New Orleans decided to name the trip for him:

“Bob’s Builders: Yes We Can!
New Orleans, 2012”
We will miss Bob’s presence this year, but we carry him in our hearts.

 

RE-New Orleans Mission Trip a Renewal Experience: Youth Mission Trip 2011
The task of renewing New Orleans is daunting. Nearly 6 years after Hurricane Katrina, signs of the storm and the resulting levee breach are everywhere. Houses stand boarded up and untouched since the flood; businesses are closed; empty lots, where abandoned houses have been razed, lay between houses in various states of repair; over 400 families are still living in FEMA trailers, nearly 10,000 are in transitional housing.

Yet, renewal is also evident. Organizations like the St. Bernard Project (SBP) are making steady, if slow, progress in returning people to their homes. The SBP has restored 352 families to newly renovated homes, and 47, including the 8 worked on by our mission trip group, are currently in progress. The population of New Orleans continues to grow and is presently at about three-quarters of its pre-Katrina size.

Renewal is also found in other than physical ways; it touches spirit, emotion, and perception. It is present in the smiles and gratitude of the people of New Orleans; it flourished in the work ethic of the St. Matthew’s group of volunteers; it was tasted in the warm doughnuts and ice-cold milk delivered with smiles by the Riley family to the St. Matthew’s group dry-walling their home; it was proclaimed by the opened eyes and hearts of our mission trip group whose concept of family and community has grown immensely.

The renewal we all felt was simply and eloquently expressed by the six-word memoirs each participant was asked to write at the end of our week of serving. The following memoirs speak to that sense being made new in the service of others:

1. New Orleans has also renewed me.
2. Rebuild houses, recover memories, re-New Orleans.
3. White paint equals a new start.
4. Past destruction leads to new beginnings.
5. Stories can be the best motivation.
6. We aren’t so different after all.
7. Togetherness helps mend an aching heart.
8. Old faces. New faces. Never forgotten.
9. Becoming pieces of the bigger picture.
10. Faith in God withstands any storm.
11. Working together helps families come home.

In doing our small part to help renew New Orleans, we have been renewed.
--Gretchen Haugse, Director of Youth Ministries

The website for the St. Bernard Project is: http://www.stbernardproject.org/v158/

Images of the New Orleans Mission Trip, 2011

Vacant lots as well as vacant houses are common in St Bernard Parish. Only about half of the homes have been repaired for occupancy; others have been torn down or are still in their flood-damaged condition and vacant. The entire St. Bernard Parish, approximately the size of Milwaukee County, was underwater after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.		The group took a tour of the area including a levee along the Mississippi River.
Projects included working on window frames at the homes where crews worked. This crew accomplished painting the entire house. Another group worked to set drywall. This crew was able to accomplish drywalling 3 rooms, 3 ceilings and 3 closets.		Participants worked on drywall as a part of their weeklong project. This home’s drywall was a particularly difficult project because the home had already been drywalled once, but the new drywall had been ripped out by thieves to steal the copper piping underneath it. So our group had to repair damage left by the thieves and then cover it with new drywall.
Other projects included painting doors and window frames.	On the return trip, the group stopped at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, the site of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as visited the Civil Rights Museum which is located on the same site. The white wreath on the balcony marks the spot where Martin Luther King, Jr. was standing when he was shot by an assassin.

 

 

A complete photo album of the Mission Trip with videos (including the slideshow video used in worship July 10) and daily photos is online [here].

The Podcast of the July 10 worship (including "reflections" by participants) is online [here].

 

Follow the Progress of Our St. Bernard Families
The St. Matthew’s mission trip group worked on the homes of six families who will soon be able to move home as a result of the efforts of many volunteer groups. You can follow the progress of these families, who are listed below, by going to the St. Bernard Project website at www.stbernardproject.org. Click on “Our Families” and then select “Welcomed Home.” Families who have moved home are listed alphabetically. Our families should be appearing on this page in the near future.

Homeowners who hosted St. Matthew’s group:

• Marlene Moody and her mother and 12-year old nephew will move into the home that is now a cheerful green thanks to the exterior painting skills of our group.

• Raywin and Jeffrey Jones and their son, Dale will soon be able to move from the garage to their home. Our group completed mudding and interior priming as well as exterior siding.

• Keith and Rockial Riley will be able to return to the home that connects them to their deceased son. Our group completed significant drywalling in their house.

• Sharon Taylor-Rachel will move home soon as a result of flooring and finishing efforts of our group.

• Helen Green and her 3 children will move into a home that was completely repainted on the interior by our group.

• Michael Kum and Ginger Brown will move back home with their three children. St. Matthew’s volunteers repaired drywall at their home.

 

Mission Trip building skills training event, June 4, 2011
Mission Trip participants met on Saturday, June 4 to work on basic building skills. The group learned the art of installing and finishing drywall as well as basic painting techniques and some light carpentry. The St. Bernard Project leaders are very appreciative that you will come to New Orleans with some basic skills.

A photo album of the training event is online [here].

 

Photos: Lenten Dinner, April 13, 2011
On Lenten Wednesdays, dinners were served by St. Matt's youth. All proceeds from the dinners are being used to support the Re-New Orleans Mission Trip this summer. Below are some photos from the April 13 dinner. (Click image to enlarge.)

 

Photo album: Pizzeria Piccola fundraiser, May 15, 2011 [here]

Photo album: Youth Dinner Auction, Feb. 18, 2011 [here]

 

Photos: Mission Trip fundraiser at Pizzeria Piccola Nov. 23, 2010
The Youth Mission Trip fundraiser was held again at Pizzeria Piccola on Nov. 23, 2010. A portion of all proceeds on that day will be donated to the St. Matthew’s Summer Mission Trip to New Orleans.

The great support we have received from all of you at our previous Pizzeria Piccola fundraisers has not only contributed significantly to our mission trip fundraising, but it has astounded the workers of Pizzera Piccola. We are grateful for your past support, and we ask for your continued participation in this fun – and delicious – way to support our annual mission trip!

A photo album of the Pizzeria Piccola fundraiser is online [here].

Photos: Mission Trip Retreat Nov. 19-20
Our overnight retreat was held Friday, Nov 19–Saturday morning, Nov. 20. Photos are online [here]

Blue Ridge Mountain Mission Trip, June 26-July 3
The Blue Ridge Mountain Mission Trip took place June 26 - July 3 in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of North Caroline. The group spent its off-time at Lutheridge Camp, Asheville, N.C. Monday–Friday focused on work on Cherokee Reservation and various service agencies in Asheville.

Photos of Blue Ridge Mountain Mission Trip [here]

Photos of the November 2009 Pizza Fundraiser are in the online photo album [here].

Photos of Youth Mission Trip fundraising events [here]

A photo album of events from Wednesday, Feb. 24 [here].

 

Photos mission trip dinner-auction, 2010

Gone with the Wind St. Matt’s Style was the theme of the dinner auction held Feb. 12, 2010, to benefit the Summer mission trip to North Carolina.

Our annual dinner auction was an experience of southern hospitality right out of the pages of Gone with the Wind. It was not exactly Twelve Oaks, Ashley Wilkes’s plantation, but the food and hospitality that was just as genuine as that experienced by the likes of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler. There was entertainment, too. Scarlett and Rhett even made an appearance!

Bidding on auction items took place prior to dinner, featuring southern favorites. Auction items donated by the congregation and friends were much appreciated!

Photos of the event are [here].

 

2010 Mission Trip meeting photos
Photos of the Mission Trip meeting March 7, 2010, are in the online Photo Album [here].

Photos of the Mission Trip meeting Jan. 31, 2010, are in the online Photo Album [here].

 

Photos Mission Trip get-to-know-you and planning retreat 2010
This year’s mission trip planning process began with an overnight retreat at St. Matthew’s, Nov. 20-21, 2010. Youth and adults going on the mission trip attended this group-building event, which included planning, get-to-know you activities, and games. Photos of the retreat are in the online photo album [here].