As I've already mentioned in previous updates, my time with MissionLab in New Orleans is coming to an end. My feelings at this moment are bittersweet. I am certainly sad to think of leaving behind the wonderful friends that I've made here--many I now consider family. And who can describe the magic of this city? Its unique atmosphere that sings a song all of its own, the beautiful people that make up each distinct community, the food, the flavor, the culture... It's an odd feeling, too, to leave behind a work in which I've invested the last two years of my life. I had never even been to New Orleans before this storm called Katrina wrecked havoc from corner to corner and beyond. In April 2006 I found myself driving through what might be described as a massive playground of destruction. The city looked as if it had been tossed in the air only to fall to the ground and shatter into a million pieces. (Parts of the city, sadly, are far from being put back together.) The needs in this city infected me with a desire that I couldn't shake. I wanted to do more. There was nothing else at that moment I could do, but do more for this city--more than just the 4 days of volunteering that I had originally signed up for. Within two weeks I was making plans to join MissionLab for the summer. By the end of that summer '06, I knew God had a full-time calling on my life for this work. And here I've been! My time here has been incredible, challenging, heartbreaking, joyful, and inspiring. God has blessed me with the opportunity to meet so many needs personally and through our volunteers. Words can never describe the joy that comes from seeing someone in need, and meeting them where they are to help fulfill that need. The stories and testimonies I have heard from some of the homeowners we have been able to serve have been so encouraging for my own life. How inspiring it has been to see the challenges and the triumphs of these precious people who have lost everything and yet never lost hope in the God who never leaves us nor forsakes us.

I suppose the hardest thing about leaving is knowing that there is still so much left to be done in this city. There are still homeowners distraught--unable to rebuild without further assistance. There are still children who have been bumped low on their parents' priority list as the family struggles to survive. There are individuals in AIDS residences who are hurting, men and women in nursing homes who are lonely, homeless people who are hungry, and people everywhere I turn who are weary, broken, and without hope. It is difficult to leave a ministry that is reaching out to each of these. It is easy to feel, in a way, that by my leaving I am turning my back on the very ones I came here to love and to serve. And then I'm reminded that no matter where I go, the needs of God's people are unending. The poor we will always have with us (Matthew 26:11). The orphans and widows will always need to be cared for. There are still 2 billion people in this world who have never even heard the Gospel! My main calling in life is that WHEREVER I am, I am to love and to serve God and God's people with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I have dedicated myself to that calling and leave myself open daily to whatever and wherever that looks like. Even while being in New Orleans, my heart is continually broken for people worldwide, and it is that brokenness that has led me to the next step in my journey. My last day with MissionLab will be September 30th. From there I will head back to Maryville, TN to spend the next several months with my family and friends there as I raise support for my next adventure.

In November, I will be going to Pearl River, New York as part of the next phase in my process with Africa Inland Mission's two-year program called TIMO (http://timo-aim.com/). I will be in New York for 5 days as part of AIM's Candidate Week. There I will learn more about the program, they will learn more about me, and (what I'm most excited about!) I will get more details on which country I will be going to and what the ministry focus will be. I am definitely looking forward to that week and hearing more about the specifics of what the next two years of my life will be like! :) I will definitely keep everyone posted and I hope that you will continue to pray with me as God leads me through this process. I will have more details after Candidate Week about how you can financially support my time in Africa if you feel God leading you to do that. I know God will provide. He already has in so many ways throughout my ministry here in New Orleans and other trips I've taken up until now. And I'm thankful for each of you who have prayed for and encouraged me along the way. I could not have accomplished all that I have without God using people like you to pray me through it!

I hope those of you here in New Orleans will continue to keep in touch after my departure, and I will be looking forward to seeing others of you when I am back in Tennessee!

With 2700 Christian volunteers coming to serve in New Orleans during our 8 weeks of summer camp, it is safe to say that New Orleans was impacted for Christ in a mighty way! Not only did they provide labor through the work of their hands and encouraging words by the kindness of their spirit, they shared the message by personal testimony and through the Word of God.

Our summer staff accompanied many of our groups as they went out into the city for ministry. They brought back wonderful testimonies of what God did each day through the service of the volunteers and as they handed out the New Testaments. Adam Fontana, a returning summer missionary and worship leader, recalled what it was like at "Tent City", an area under the Claiborne and Canal underpass where homeless individuals gathered and lived for months. The volunteers passed out waters, bag lunches, and the Bibles from American Bible Society. Sadly, some of the people rejected the Bible, telling the group that there was nothing in it for them. Then, however, his report changed as God began to open hardened hearts. "As our presence was established, many people started to ask what we were doing down there, why a group of kids would be in New Orleans during their summer to work, and what the Bible had to do with anything. Through the Bibles that were donated, the kids were able to provide these answer-seekers with a brand new Bible and prayed with them as they received the Word of God, some for the first time," Adam recalls.

Stacy Ellis has spent her last two summers as a summer missionary for MissionLab. Her heart is especially broken and burdened for the city of New Orleans. One of the groups she was assigned to this summer participated in a recreational ministry at one of the parks. While some of the students played with the children on the playground and teenagers on the basketball courts, others sat on the outskirts of the park and got to know some homeless men who frequented the area. Stacy shared, "One of the men started telling us about his life and the difficult things he'd been through. He expressed a great deal of pain, bitterness, and guilt about how he'd hurt people throughout his life. The kids and I listened, and then I told him that he didn't have to carry that pain and guilt around with him anymore, because Jesus has already taken all of that upon Himself. We expressed to him the Jesus loves him and can give him hope for his life and forgive his past mistakes. At this, the man started to weep, and we all prayed together. As we were about to leave, one of the boys in my group grabbed one of the New Testaments from the van and gave it to the man, telling him that the words in this book would change his life. The man seemed grateful and told us he'd be reading it." Some of the other groups Stacy served with handed out Bibles as they did street ministry and prayerwalked through the local neighborhoods. Others packed hygiene packs to handout to the homeless and street performers, and included a New Testament in with the rest of the items.

Thanks to the generous donation of American Bible Society, over 500 Bibles were handed out by our volunteers this summer to children at Vacation Bible Schools, adults in nursing homes, youth at correctional facilities, individuals seeking help and hope at community centers, and more. We trust that the love that was shown throughout the community by both word and deed will be planted as seeds that will multiply into a great harvest. It is our firm belief that God's word will never return void (Isaiah 55:11). May His glory be known throughout this city and to the ends of the Earth. Amen!