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!