Suddenly the mission can change — and the beneficiary 

Legend links New Iberia with Haiti back to the days of the Haitian Revolution from 1791 to 1803 when many of the white settlers, slaves and freed men and women of color were entering Louisiana through ships sailing into the port of New Orleans.

Uprisings continue today in Haiti. During the last month local residents have prayed for the safe return of friends from North Carolina stranded by riots while on a mission trip to Haiti. Even last week’s story about singer Karen Waldrup mentioned a mission trip to Haiti. Then came news of Model City Mission at work in New Iberia — instead of Haiti as planned.

It was the Teche Area’s good fortune that two Texas youth mission groups joined the New Iberia Church of Christ youth for a week of helping hands in the community. Under the leadership of Rev. Kenny Wright, the united teens and their adult chaperones worked in the heat of summer to build a lasting memorial, one Iberia Parish President Larry Richard has been looking for an opportunity to implement and shared the reason with some of the city’s new leaders.

“The 22 rose bushes being planted here are dedicated to the 22 men (veterans) that lose their life everyday (nationally) due to suicide,” said Kearn Dooley from Leadership Iberia through the generosity of his employer, David Funeral Home.

Last week the volunteer youth and leaders cleaned out the forgotten flowerbeds along the front entrance of the Veterans Memorial Building in New Iberia’s City Park. While waiting on a load of dirt and mulch to finish the task, they removed spent blooms and adjusted where the holes would be dug for placement of Belinda’s Dream — a spring, summer and fall bloomer. The group was part of Model City Mission, a community activity focused on building relationships.

“This is the second year we’ve done it here. Last year we started with one group, the Westbury Church from Houston. They came back this year with the North Davis Church in Arlington, Texas,” said the Rev. Kenny Wright of New Iberia Church of Christ on Charles Street. “Next week we have a college group coming in from Dallas serving Thursday and Friday. This is not a one and done — each year we’ll be doing it and throughout the year.”

Wright said the idea of Model City Mission is something he was involved with in Alabama and Houston prior to coming to New Iberia in December 2016. It is a way to engage the community, a time to put their backs into the work while “Loving God, loving one another,” he said.

“We have some local kids from New Iberia, kids that just wanted to jump in, little kids,” Wright said. “We’ve got kids working at Habitat for Humanities, Boys and Girls Club, DaBerry Center (Market and community gardens) and visiting the elderly at Azalea Estates. At the end of the day, it’s relationship with God and each other. We don’t want to spend only one hour a week behind closed doors on Sunday. For us worship is how we live our lives. We’re trying to engage our community to make New Iberia a better place for all of us.”

Both Wright and Dooley agree with what others in the community are saying — that the Teche Area is a place where God will reclaim the city, first New Iberia and then Louisiana, they said.

“This is much bigger than any one thing. It’s not one group but all of us coming together, shoulder to shoulder bringing some sweat out,” Wright said as they waited for the load of dirt to be delivered before planting the roses.

“The kingdom is bigger than any one church. God didn’t put those names on the churches, we did. There’s one body, one faith, one hope, one gospel. We’re all in the same family and it’s time we start showing the world that and be the light,” Wright said. “We’ve been hiding it far too long and it’s time to work together and show the world how it can be done. Jesus is in the daily relationships. God’s bringing pieces together we could never dream.”

Change That Lasts

The youth were excited about what they were accomplishing. The work they did with Habitat for Humanity took only three days, quicker than permits could be obtained to continue efforts, Wright said. Split into four groups, the focus was helping even local leaders to meet people from different backgrounds. Instead of recreating the wheel, he likened their efforts to getting involved with what’s already going on.

“I think it’s awesome how we get to see change happen so fast, like going to the retirement home. Getting to talk to them and learning about them was so awesome. They were so excited to see us and when we left for lunch, they were worried we weren’t coming back,” said Dawson Foster from Texas.

Asked how they would carry this experience back to their own community and school environments in the fall, the young missionaries had this to say.

“Coming to Louisiana, staying in the country instead of going to Haiti, which was something we were really looking forward to,” said Foster. “Realizing there are people needing help right next to you. You can help people, a friend, a family in need and you don’t have to go to Haiti. You can stay in your own community. I think that’s what this trip is really showing us. The United States, Louisiana or Texas, wherever you’re from, there’s people right next to you that need help. That is so powerful.”

Amber Leach who was one of the youth returning to the area said, “Another thing that is powerful, every little small thing you’re doing right now is going to have an affect on somebody, no matter how small it is. Someone is going to be affected. If you think about that when you go to school, like the way you present yourself and act around your peers as positive and uplifting all the time, they’re going to feel that and wonder what’s different about that person. They’ll feel special.”

“I’m from the group that was suppose to go to Haiti,” said Megan Vollmering from the Arlington church. It’s crazy that God wanted us to serve in our own country instead of going somewhere else. It was His plan all along that we would stay here. Personally, I go to a school of 3,000 kids, and for me it’s just being a light to them and praying for them that Jesus finds his way into their hearts. Just by being positive, and although cliché, ‘What would Jesus do?’ Taking that literally is important.”

Leslie Anderson, one of the mom’s chaperoning the group from Arlington said, at home families get stuck in a routine and are around the same people all the time. The mission trip has given them the opportunity to step out and be around people not like themselves.

“When we go back home, we can now relate to others not like us and say, it’s not that hard to step up and talk to someone different,” said Anderson. “They’re going to take this back and when they see someone different they can say, ‘I can start a conversation’.”

Lasting Memorials

Keeping up community work takes everyone that remains after the visiting missionaries return to their home groups. Thanks to the outreach missions of local churches and individuals, the elderly are visited on a regular basis. The Berry Queens will continue the work at Habitat for Humanities. With commitments from people like Carl Cooper Jr. and others with Envision DaBerry and local governmental leadership in the Teche Area, improvements will last beyond the week’s efforts.