1. What did God teach you this week? How did it transform you?
God really reminded me this week that nothing is really as it seems, and first impressions are not always right. Several people on this trip stepped out of their comfort zones and made some tremendous leaps spiritually—it was amazing to see the incredible difference between the beginning of the trip and the end. I also had some expectations about the attitudes of the people down here and, as usual, god blew me away. The amount of faith & hope that these people still have after something so disastrous as a hurricane left me completely awestruck.

2. Tell at least one experience you had where you saw the power of God and it touched you.
When we had worship on the beach on Friday night, I really considered for the first time what happened there eleven months ago, and again I was completely blown away. As I sat there listening to the waves, watching the moon on the water, and feeling the wind in my hair, I felt a tremendous sense of peace. I realized that even in the chaos of the storm last year—and even now when the lives of so many are still no where near back to normal—if you know God you can have peace in any and all circumstances.

3. Tell of one experience where God used you in a powerful way... something that impacted you.
The first two days of the trip, my crew did not have our own site, and ended up spending a lot of time in the car driving around attempting to assess sites to be worked out. It was very discouraging at first because many of the homeowners weren't home, or the work had already been done, and we felt like we weren't doing anything constructive. It was very frustrating for us since the main reason we came down here was to make a difference in the lives of these people. However, as someone very close to me pointed out, by doing assessments we were saving a lot of time for a lot of people who would go to work on those sites later. We were blessing others by doing there work for them—it really hit me that I was blessing others by doing something that I considered so insignificant and trivial.

4. What are you going to take home with you? How are you going to be different?
I have realized that I have been a very judgmental person. As I mentioned earlier, I had some preconceived notions of certain people going on this trip—and they were completely wrong. Those same people were all the ones whose experiences with god touched me the most. I will no longer judge people before I get to know them.

5. What was your favorite part of the trip? What did you like most?
I can honestly say that I liked everything about the trip: my crew was incredibly and group of girls in my tent was the best. But if I had to choose, worship was definitely the most exhilarating experience (particularly Friday night on the beach).

6. Is there anything else you want to add?
Through several conversations I had with people from the area this week, I was reminded that no matter where you live, what walk of life you come from, or what you've been through, you can always find something to talk about...if you have Jesus, you always have something in common with people.

7. Why do you want to go on this trip?
I want to go on this trip to reach and rehabilitate Hurricane Katrina victims. I feel immensely blessed because I am safe and unaffected by this tragedy, and I have a heart to help those who are less fortunate than me.

8. Briefly give your testimony.
I came to Christ in December 2001, and rededicated my life in the Spring of 2003. Since then I have been striving to live my life in such a way as to allow others to see Christ in me through servitude and actively participating in as many outreaches and opportunities as possible. I love worshipping my Lord with all of my heart and strive to do so daily by my actions and relationships to others.