The following was written by one of the Impact Youth Ministers. It happened during the Summer Program at Impact. These teenagers wanted to give back what they had received…help.

I just spent 5 days with 14 middle school kids. That is 120 hours of non-stop, around-the-clock, in-your-face attention from 14 kids who have more energy than 50 adults combined. For the first 3 days, we gutted houses in New Orleans. That means, we walked into a house that had been flooded with at least 8 feet of water, and some houses had 12 or 15 feet. The water had subsided months ago, but the damage was still as real as if it had happened yesterday. For 3 days, my kids carried out ruined furniture, shoveled mud and dirt , broke down walls and ceilings and carefully moved salvageable memories. At the end of those 3 days, we rested. Destruction is hard work. On the fourth day, Sunday, we worshipped with a local church and then went sight-seeing in New Orleans - Cafe du Monde, the Aquarium, etc. On the fifth day, we came home tired, worn out, but somehow wanting to go back. God is good.

I'd like to comment a little on what I saw. The amount of destruction from Katrina is overwhelming. Block after neighborhood block have houses that are still waiting for something to be done to them. As we were gutting a house on our first day, I began to realize the enormity of what happened. And I don't mean on a national, state, or even community scale. I mean the enormity of personal loss and upheaval. Let me explain.