Where He leads...: My summer in New Orleans: Week 1

My summer in New Orleans: Week 1

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Week 1 of "my summer" has ended, and Week 2 kicked off with new groups having just arrived Sunday. For those of you who need a refresher… "my summer" is defined as MissionLab Youth Camp. From June 3rd until Aug 4th, we run 8 weeks of summer camp (excluding the week of July 4th). This is an extremely intense time for my ministry here. I'd like to say that everything went smoothly this past week, but to be honest with you, this was a difficult week for me. It was physically draining, and when you're pulled in so many directions, your weaknesses shine through a little more than you'd like them to. Basically, this week taught me many things about myself that still need improvement. So pray with me as I continue to ask God to transform myself into the woman He created me to be.

There are so many amazing stories I could report from the volunteer groups this week. We had groups out gutting homes, cleaning yards, playing with children at daycares, leading activities for nursing home residents, singing in the French Quarter, helping with backyard Bible clubs, and more. We even had one group take the initiative on several occasions to set up a free lemonade stand! Ice cold lemonade in this hot and humid city is a wonderful blessing! It also provided an opportunity for the students to listen to the stories of survival and perseverance that so many residents of New Orleans and the surrounding areas still want to share.

The responsibility I have this summer has grown tremendously since my time as a summer missionary last summer. I am embracing the new challenges. This past week I had the opportunity to use my "position of authority" in a special way, and I can only thank God for that opportunity. There is one house that was on the list for the week to be gutted. The house belongs to Ben and Janet, members of a local church here. The pastor had contacted me weeks ago and requested help for this couple who lost everything during Katrina. A team is coming to donate sheetrock and labor later this month, and they desperately needed the house gutted before the sheetrock and volunteers arrive. I had scheduled one youth group to gut their house, but after they saw the house and the mold, they did not feel comfortable gutting it without "professional" masks and suits. Knowing, 1) that couldn't force the volunteers into an uncomfortable situation and 2) that this house was a priority, left me with a problem. I was determined to at least try tapping into my resources to see if I could help out the situation. I called in a favor with a friend who has some heavy-duty respirator masks, and I called Pastor Mel of Bethel Colony South (the men's ministry) to see if he had masks and/or men to help with the job. The next day I would go to the house myself and gut it with whatever help I could find from a couple summer staff. Turns out, our whole summer staff team wanted to go (minus Stacy who was sick) and Pastor Mel gave me three of his men for the day. I borrowed masks and bought suits for all of us. We worked HARD!! When I took off my suit at the end of the day it looked like I had been swimming. It was hot, but we accomplished the task well enough that the youth group was comfortable going in after us to finish the job (since we'd removed most of the moldy sheetrock from the walls and ceilings). So I was excited that I got to be a part of the physical labor I love so much here, and especially because God used me and the resources I have here to accomplish something that would have otherwise been an obstacle to complete.

There are adult teams here as well. A couple of the summer missionaries buddied up with them when they arrived Sunday night. The senior ladies of the group started asking them all kinds of questions and it ended with the ladies telling our guys that Wednesday night they'll come over to the guys' dorm and cook us all chicken and dumplings. One of the ladies said, "We'll even stay up until 9 o'clock!" :) So we're all looking forward to that! Thank God for Grandmas!!!!

I'm excited for this week and all that God has in store! I can already tell a difference in myself this week in terms of my attitude, stress level, etc, and I can only praise God for that. Continue to pray for me and the MissionLab staff as we coordinate the summer and lead these students and chaperones into an effective time of service and worship.