......revelations of one woman's reality of life, love, and all things hopeful...

Monday, July 13, 2009

Mission New Orleans

It's been a very, very busy summer for me lately...last week being no exception. I went to New Orleans with 52 other people from my church. There we were involved in various volunteer community services projects. Our group was divided into 4 groups including a construction crew, sports camp, kids day camp, and puppet ministry. I don't have very many pictures....there wasn't a lot of time for photography!

I was on the construction crew...scary thought, right? We worked on rebuilding the sanctuary at Gentilly Baptist Church.


Gentilly Baptist currently meets in their gym every Sunday and continues to minister to their community. They have a goal of being back in their sanctuary in August...not too far away!
Mr. Jimmy Traylor was our crew leader. He is a very kind and patient man. And I mean patient! I asked him a question or two during the week! Below is our pastor, Jeff Mann, sanding the trim on the sound booth that we constructed. My pal Kim Galloway and I actually cut, hung, finished, and painted the sheet rock for this! Who knew....but, in the words of Mr. Keith "you can't mess up sheet rock..." I believe it!





H.O.P.E. (Helping Others Prepare for Eternity) Puppet Ministries is a group of adults and teens from our church who write and perform puppet shows to share the good news of Jesus Christ. These are not your ordinary hand puppets, I tell ya! I think they performed 3 to 4 shows per day in New Orleans at churches, parks, a juvenile detention facility, and children's hospitals.

The drama team performed the "Everything" drama at the end of each puppet show. It is very, very moving portrayal of the negative things life has to offer as it relates to the life and relationship Jesus offers. Their performance gives me chills everytime I watch! Love it!!!

On our last night in New Orleans, the entire group went to dinner at a Cajun restaraunte called Mulate's. They had live cajun music and a dance floor. Our youth entertained us all with their "Celebration Dance". We have the best group of kids! They worked soooooooo hard all week and you never heard a negative word from them.

Here is a picture of a light pole in the courtyard of our hotel. Our group all happened to be standing behind it, so someone snapped a picture. Duh.

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