Please pray for our New Orleans Mission Team as they make their way back home. The team left this morning from New Orleans and will stay overnight somewhere down South, then finish up the trip tomorrow. Praise God for the amazing work He did through all of them this week!
(Amy Lawson, Ross Wellman, Mike Mitchell, Caleb Mitchell, Ashley Lawson, Amelia Lynas, Alyssa Burns)
After watching it rain and thunderstorm overnight and early morning, we did some work around Camp Hope throughout the morning. Mike, Caleb and I attacked a store room and plowed through a stack of power tools, determining what works and what doesn’t. We made a sizeable improvement to the room helping with organization and eliminating some non-functioning tools.
While we were busy there, the Amy, Amelia, Ashlie and Alyssa along with Clara were busy in helping with clean-up in the kitchen and dining area. They wrapped up around 11 am and we finished shortly after noon. From there, we all got cleaned up and headed to downtown New Orleans and the French Quarter.
The French Quarter is definitely unique and we all had a good time. We stopped by Café Du Monde for some beignets and coffee (for some of us, hot chocolate for others). A short stroll down the street and we were in the French Market, though we only had about 20 minutes prior to it shutting down for the day.
On tap for tomorrow is a very full day. We’ll return to the home we were working on Tuesday to finish it up and get it ready to rent. We’ll also be doing an outreach event at the park in St. Roch tomorrow, so that should be a good time.
Today was a day where we helped out Crossroads more than any specific individuals or neighborhoods, but knowing we could save Crossroads personnel the time of sorting, checking and organizing tools and accessories was rewarding.
The small groups today focused on how the beatitudes serve as a constitution of the Christian life. An interesting concept, but one that rings abundantly true.
Looking out the windows, it looks as though we may be due for another light show tonight. Another 24 hours of living life the “Same, Same, but Different”.
Live Radical!
Ross and the WRCC NOLA Team
Today was more along the lines of what we all expected. At the end of the day, we are all hot, tired and paint speckled. After breakfast, worship and small group time, we headed back to St. Roch (pronounced Rock), where we went to work on a home owned by St. Roch CC where tenants had recently moved out.
We spent the day mowing, pulling weeds, trimming bushes, cleaning and painting. The house was not just a half-block away from the church we visited yesterday and is directly across the street from where we have an outreach function planned for Thursday evening.
But today’s story really begins where we left off last night. A Hoosier Native named Dave dropped by Camp Hope and had dinner with us. In the course of the time he was here, Bruce convinced him to stay and be our featured speaker for worship last night. In a nutshell, here is Dave’s story. In July of 2008, he was the police chief in North Manchester IN. He walked in one ordinary day and 14 hours walked out, having left his job and having no immediate plan for the future.
The future eventually led him to volunteering in disaster relief, which led him initially to Franklin/Johnson County IN and eventually to New Orleans.
“I came down here as a volunteer for a week,” Dave said. “When I left, the people I was working with said, ‘Next time, why do you stay for two or three.’ So about a month later, I came down and stayed for three weeks. I bounced back and forth, but eventually ended up just coming down here. I’ve rented my home in Indiana and two years ago started Capstone Ministries.”
Dave explained that his ministries focus mainly on the homeless and downtrodden, but he also visits the jail each Sunday and does counseling with the teenage boys who find themselves there.
“Down here, they throw in jail for about anything. I have a 15-year-old boy I am counseling who is in jail for 52 days, because that is how many days of school he has missed,” Dave said. “I started Capstone with the idea that the skilled homeless could build a home along with the unskilled homeless and they could all live there, but I have found a new mission. I started a small garden to supplement my food. That kept growing and I now have a 3,000-square foot community garden. The vegetables are open to anyone who feels they need them. It’s what I can do to serve this area.”
It was humbling to listen to Dave speak matter-of-factly about his life-changing decision to simply walk away from a $60,000-a-year job with no real plan in place only because he felt God calling him away from the law enforcement industry where had spent 22 years.
Not sure what all is on tap for tomorrow, but rest assured, it will be the "Same, Same, but Different”.
Live Radical!
Ross and the WRCC NOLA Team
A great day today, though one probably none of us expected. If you’re like me when you go on a trip – mission, vacation, to the store! – you have certain expectations. Some days, those expectations are met; other days, no so much. Today, Monday, was one of the “not so much” days, but nonetheless a great day!
Coming to NOLA for the week, I was expecting projects we’d have to complete, many in the hot sun, and “jobs” that would be in many cases instantly rewarding. Today was different from that. We started out with morning cleanup, so after breakfast, worship and devotion time, we went to work in the kitchen cleaning up breakfast. After that, we were busy with prep work for dinner and cleaning up the vegetables from the parade – if you missed yesterday’s edition, you know what I’m talking about. If not, parade, floats, vegetables being thrown at you. That pretty well summarizes it.
From there, we were all ready for our next project when Julie, our leader for the day here at Crossroads, says, let’s go see my friend Miss Monica, who was promoting today as Autism Awareness day. Julie and Miss Monica attend church together at St. Roch Community and she has a son with Autism. So, off we went.
That visit to Miss Monica was great. She is a native of New Orleans and told us how much she enjoyed meeting us and appreciates our being here. While we were in the St. Roch area, we took a quick tour of a cemetery and stopped by for a quick tour of St. Roch CC. This church is a former corner store that has been converted, remodeled and remade into a neighborhood gathering place directly across the street from St. Roch Park.
From there, we visited the banks of Mississippi River and the Battle of New Orleans Memorial Park and Battlefield. While we were touring the battlefield, I asked Julie how frequently she gets to do this type of thing with groups. Here response: “Never. But, it’s really kind of nice. I just don’t get to do things like this, but you all did a great job of helping get everything done in the kitchen and ready for tonight, so let’s enjoy a little free time.”
Funny. At devotion time last night, in the leaders’ meeting last night and again this morning, Bruce talked about us slowing down and taking notice. He told us all to be aware and “Just pay attention.” That if we are simply always focused on what is next, we might miss why God has us here. Again, not necessarily the day I expected, but without question a day of great value.
"Same, Same, but Different” is our devotion theme for the week. In many ways we are all the same, we worship the same God, but in as many ways that we are the same, we are different. That is okay. God will use each of us as He needs when He needs. Just pay attention.
Live Radical!
Ross and the WRCC NOLA Team
Our new White River Sports Director, Ross Wellman, received a surprise visit this morning over at the annex from both our Jr. High Pastor, (Corey Willoughby) and Jr. High Intern (Jeremy Hutchinson.) They came over to welcome Ross to our staff, bringing a used golf club along with a few other sports related gifts. Thanks guys! :-) We're very blessed and excited to have both Ross and his family join our WRCC Staff and Outreach Team.
The frozen tundra of White River Sports fields... Oh, sorry must have been thinking about the Packers and the Superbowl coming up this weekend. Just wanted to give you a glimpse of the terrain as I headed out to the sports shed this afternoon for some orange cones. Let's just say it was an adventure of ice! Hope this stuff melts before WRS Soccer starts!
