Summer of ministry in New Orleans
We had a great summer of ministry in the Crescent City in 2007. We had 7 groups come to New Orleans, participating in various ministries around the city. There were groups of middle schoolers, senior class trips, adult groups, and groups that had a mix of ages. Again, this summer reinforced that missions (and mission trips) are not age specific, but rather open to anyone that has a heart for serving others and sharing God with people wherever they go.
Some of my favorite recollections of the summer:
1- Our first week of trips featured a middle school group from Wisconsin, and an adult group from Georgia. Our debriefing meeting for this week offered a unique opportunity to hear from the two groups from different age demographics give their perspective on a week of serving in New Orleans. It was great to see the older generation encourage the younger ones, yet at the same time, taking insights from the experiences of the younger group.
2- Ms. Gwendolyn Jackson. 2 different groups gutted her house, and made a great impression on her. She cooked a meal for them, and offered to fly them all down from Wisconsin to see her house when she gets it finished.
3- A neighbor at a house a group from PA worked on came over and talked for a couple of hours about the lower 9th ward (where he lived) and about life in general. The group shared their reason for being there and witnessed to him. He admitted to having labeled Christians in general as hypocrites, but seeing the selflessness of the church groups all over the city that had come to serve the needs of the city, he was being forced to reevaluate this belief.
4- St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (deacon Quin Bates), who were always willing to accommodate our groups and always in need of volunteers. They provide a basic needs distribution 5 days a week in the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parrish. These days gave our groups a great chance to meet the people and hear the stories of the people who were trying to come back and rebuild their lives.
5- “Feed the Multitudes”. It is a chance for anyone interested to come and celebrate Independence Day. There was food, manicures, pedicures, haircuts, games, music, free bags of groceries, and more and all free of charge. They were expecting 8000 people, weather kept the numbers from reaching that high, but I am sure there was at least 3000 that came. It is the 18th year that they have done this in New Orleans.
All told, it was a good year in New Orleans. The city’s rebuilding is coming along slowly but noticeably. We had great groups, and wonderful opportunities that to be Christ’s hands and feet in the city. We are grateful for Church of the Annunciation, which became not only our contacts, but our friends and our home church in the city. Beth and Milton Gibson, as well as the rest of the staff at the church were a tremendous joy to work with and our lives are greatly enriched by our relationship with this wonderful body of believers. We are grateful to the Claverie family for the place to call home and to set up our base in New Orleans. And also, we are thankful for our neighbors, the Theriots - who we didn’t meet nearly early enough in the summer.
It seems, as the people of this city continue to put the pieces back in place, that they understand their need for something more in their life. There seems to be an openness to hearing the gospel message. The city will strengthen as it continues to rebuild and find its legs again. It is our hope, wish and prayer that it will make its foundation on a new found faith and trust in God and that the heart of the city will beat for him. We pray for the body of Christ in the city, that they will continue to love people in real and practical ways. We pray for the encouragement of the church in New Orleans, that they would not grow weary in doing good. And we also pray for continually quiet, tame hurricane seasons for the years to come.
