Hello!
So while my friends were all off to Colorado to ski and Florida to surf, where
was I?... Livin' it up in the Big Easy of course! The New Orleans Baptist
Theological Seminary (NOBTS) has recently implemented an organization called
Mission Lab, whose purpose is to coordinate the various missions teams that go
into New Orleans during Spring Break. The seminary provides food and housing to
the groups during their stay and orients everybody so that they can be as
prepared as possible for the upcoming work. This year, Lynn and Rebecca took a
group of ten students, including myself, to participate in Mission Lab. Our
group had four main projects: the Methodist Home, St. Roch, homeless ministries,
and the New Orleans Mission. Each provided different opportunities for service
and interesting personal experiences.
The Methodist Home serves as transitional foster care for up to 38 children ages
8-17. The home's goal is to help them assimilate into society, since many of the
students are hardly prepared for integration upon first placement in foster
care. A school is provided at the home for those who are not yet ready for
public school and there is also a cafeteria, gymnasium, swimming pool, and a
rather attractive playground. When we were there, the home was not at full
capacity and some of the students were gone to public school, so we worked with
about twenty children on Monday and Tuesday. At first, introductions were
awkward because we weren't quite sure what to expect and there is always a
certain hesitation when one is in unfamiliar territory that is far outside of
one's comfort zone. Eventually, though, the students loosened up and let us get
to know them a little bit.
We went to the gym where Krista Kay gave a very animated presentation of
Jonah and his mishap with a big fish. I think everyone's favorite part, though,
was when they taught us how to play Jigalo! The object of the game is simple. In
our case, it was to look as ridiculous as possible while they completely showed
us up... ok so maybe that wasn't the real point of the game, but that's how it
felt at least. =) On Tuesday, we colored Easter eggs and shared the Easter story
as much as possible. Lynn even told me that Rebecca had the opportunity to lead
one of the older girls to the Lord! If ten students and two adults can enter a
children's home for but two days, and one child's life is changed forever, then
what a victory we have in Jesus! I believe the angels in heaven celebrated extra
this Easter. We didn't interact with the kids on Wednesday because they started
their Spring Break, but we helped by painting several bedroom doors bright blue.
As well as brightening their living environment by covering the drab brown that
was there before, we had the opportunity to see into most of the bedrooms of the
students that we had played with the previous two days. I was surprised to see
that even the older boys had stuffed animals on their beds and that even girls
from rough situations sometimes have several pairs of shoes. I guess some things
are universal! We pray that every time they go through their pretty blue doors,
they can think of the nice group of Christians that came to play with them, and
that maybe from that seed will grow an eventual relationship with Christ. We are
also thankful, of course, for the blessing that they were to our hearts as well.
In the afternoons, Monday through Thursday, we went out to the corner of
Rocheblave and St. Roch. Our task was simply to play with the kids after they
got home from school to help pass the time until a parent got home from work. We
fed them snacks and told them Bible stories while trying to show Jesus' love to
them. I was joking when I got home that New Orleans is kind of (at least used to
be) the murder capital of the country or the world or something... and
Rocheblave is kind of (or at least used to be) the murder capital of New
Orleans... my parents were both comforted to know that of course that was where
we went! HA just kidding... fortunately my parents are both faithful because
they were certainly trusting God for their little girl's safety! All kidding
aside, we had a fairly pleasant experience there. Individuals from the NOBTS
have now been prayer walking that area for a couple years and several groups
before us have played with the same kids, and so racial barriers have begun to
fall as trust is beginning to build. The children were expecting and waiting for
us and greeted us with smiles and hugs.
For me, my most exciting moment in the whole trip happened on Wednesday. I approached one of the younger girls (maybe 7-9 years old) who looked sad and alone and asked if she wanted to color on the sidewalk with chalk. She did and while we were chatting, I asked if she knew what Easter was about. "Candy and the Easter bunny comes and you have a party in school and get beaucoup candy..." ("beaucoup" was a frequent expression in New Orleans). She continued to tell me all the superficial, commercial aspects of Easter and none of the real ones. I agreed that that is how we often celebrate the holiday, but asked if I could tell her what Easter really means. After telling her about Jesus and the cross and the resurrection, I told her how one becomes saved and asked if she wanted to. She did! We sat under a tree and there in the middle of one of the roughest areas of a rough city, a little girl's name was added to the Book of Life. Of course I was ready to celebrate, but all the sudden she put her head down and looked as if she was about to cry. I asked her what was wrong - was she sad? hurt? confused? angry? No to all. Then a big man rode by on his bicycle and she physically shuddered. ... Was she scared? A slight head nod answered in the affirmative, and when I asked what she was afraid of, her faint reply overwhelmed me: "I'm afraid somebody's gonna kill me." When I gently asked who might kill her, she just shrugged her shoulders and plowed into my arms for a hug. And then her little sister came to get her and she had to go home; I didn't see her anymore after that.
Little girls like her need our prayer far more than we often give consideration. I couldn't even tell her not to worry and that she was safe - she isn't! The truth is that her fears are legitimate and that murders happen in her area every day. A man that I will discuss later lost his 3-year-old daughter to stray bullets. Sometimes it is so hard to see how God is glorified in that and yet we must believe that ultimately, He is the Master and He is in supreme control. We must submit to Him. Lynn told me later that Thomas also had a chance to lead one of the older boys, Randy, to Christ. I believe Randy is 16 years old and has a younger brother over whom he seems to have a strong influence. He loved to steal hats from Thomas, Jesse, and Bryce, but he was merciful enough to let me keep mine because I'm a lady. Haha, I do love Southern chivalry! (All hats were returned at the end of the day, by the way.) Randy is a very special young man and I believe God has plans for His life, as He does for all of us, but the children in that area need prayer and salvation both spiritually and, for many of them, physically. We can easily go into their world for a week and have our hearts break for their situation, but return home unchanged; but, when we go into their world for even a day, and God moves, it is impossible to stay the same! Between the Methodist Home and St. Roch, we saw three lives that would never again be as they were - they were new creatures in Christ. God does have a plan for those children and we cannot believe that they have been forsaken. We celebrate the positive changes that have happened already and look toward the future with hope. I am convinced that God is using NOBTS and other local ministries to fulfill His plan.