New Orleans Mission Trip 2006

Hurricane Katrina occurred almost two years ago, but the devastation along the Gulf Coast is still fresh in the minds of those people who lived through it. Reality Sports took its inaugural mission trip in June of 2006 to aid the relief efforts in New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi.

Thirteen baseball players, six wrestlers, and seven leaders/coaches worked for a week in stifling heat gutting homes and providing cleanup in local neighborhoods. Most areas in New Orleans look as if the storm had just happened. Even today, New Orleans remains somewhat of a ghost town. Gutting four separate homes in the span of four days allowed athletes and leaders to experience what it means to serve in difficult conditions. In most cases, the homes were to be bulldozed upon our completion of the gutting process. It was only at the end of the trip that we found out that it was required by the city to gut the house before it would be inspected for the possibility of rebuilding. Talk about discouraging work! Sometimes the families were not even present to thank us. What a great lesson it was for all involved about how there is not always a return for serving others. In fact, we should serve with no expectation of return. It’s been said, “You can only lead when you learn how to serve.”

In Biloxi, our contingent was able to help the widows of a local church in whatever cleanup projects were needed. Splitting into five groups, some cleaned up yard debris and fixed fences, while others simply mowed lawns. The type of work didn’t matter. As sophomore wrestler Tyler Ball put it, “...it was rewarding to know that we helped people get through the time of crisis that they were in.”

The baseball players were also able to pitch a few curveballs and fastballs in a doubleheader one night in Mississippi against two local high schools. The team came out on the winning end of both games; a nice reward after a long day’s work! The host teams thanked us with a great barbecue following the games.

It was a blessing to see that life is not all about baseball or sports; that deep down, in our very core, we were created to pitch in and serve others.