It is the end of our first full day in New Orleans. What a long day! Breakfast was at the unruly hour of 7am (I am SO not a morning person). Julie is our cook and she made us HUGE portions of baked oatmeal with blueberries. Now, I am not big into oatmeal or blueberries, but that was one good breakfast! Most of the morning was training and orientation into urban missions. We learned about a ministry they do called Challenge Circle for kids in the community. They play games around a circle with different colors- sort of like AWANAS. Each color - green, blue, red, and yellow - mean different things about salvation. So they kids play racing games around the circle and get points an build self-esteem. It sounds like a really awesome and fun ministry that goes on for the kids everyday after school, so they can have somewhere safe and fun to hang out. It was raining by the time it was supposed to start today, so unfortunately it was cancel. Hopefully we will get to play with the kids tomorrow.
Most of the day from 11-3 was our big clean up project called "Neighborhood Blitz." The whole big Urban Impact team split up into smaller groups to clean up several street blocks in the community, picking up trash and raking leaves (Yes... raking leaves in March... a novel idea for most of us northern Midwesterners). My group spent most of the time raking and sweeping up leaves and dust from the sidewalks and street curbs. It looked like dirt and sand from the Hurricane was still built up on the sides of the roads - we swept up many seashells as well - caught me by surprise! The purpose is to allow the locals to see that we are here in the community wanting to help and to show them that making the place look better is beneficial and pretty easy to do. Although the project we are doing this week is not what most of us expected, but the end of the day we found meaning and purpose in the task that God has given us. Already the community is looking great! Many of the local people would walk by and say Hi and thank us for helping them out. It was great to get to talk to the people who benefit from our hard work.
After the long day outside in the sun (some of us got sunburns) it started to rain and we headed back to the Yellow House for free time. Some of us napped, showered, or played games. Here is a video of a rhythm game our leader Ashley Buse learned last year on her SSP:
OH! For supper tonight Julie made us Jumbalaya & corn bread. And for dessert: chocolate bread pudding! What a delicious Louisiana meal! Yum yum!
Tomorrow we start early our in the neighborhood at 9am.
Pray that the weather is warm and sunny so we can enjoy our work. Pray that God would give us all good attitudes and a vision for the good work he wants us to do. Pray that we can meet the kids tomorrow and we can build relationships with them. Pray that those who are ill on our trip will be healed. Pray for energy for tomorrow and for the rest of the week.
PICTURE TIME!
My team taking a lunch break on the porch - a very southern thing to do. 
Hard at work!
The "Yellow House" where we are staying this week.
Hello everyone! This is Kameron's mom from snowy South Dakota.
ReplyDeleteThis blog site is great! Keep us in touch! Moms love details! Keep up the great work out there, even if it's sweeping sidewalks and raking leaves. The Lord looks at the attitude of the heart!
ReplyDeleteKaren