Anyway, despite the glory and needed relaxation that today has brought me, I'm missing my kids in New Orleans already. The rest of the group returns to Athens tomorrow and tonight they had a giant worship concert in a park. I can't wait to hear about the outcome of their public obedience to God... Now to sum up the rest of my trip.
nola... I blogged yesterday about how after the first day in that school I was torn up inside for those children. I find that so often I face the passionate turmoil that I cannot chose Christ for these people. I want those kiddos (and teachers) to grow up seeking Him but there's only so much I can do. A friend wrote me this that night: "The gospel is painful and a stumbling block...". So true. And yet when you get it, when you let it abide in you as you abide in it, its yoke is easy and its burden is light. I may never fully understand the juxtaposition of Christ-- how He can be (and is) both sides of all spectrums.
I went into day two at the school bathing it in prayer and still having no idea what to expect. My goal for the day was to spend more time communicating with the teacher than anything. To be honest, that didn't really happen. But my class's normal teacher was there (the day before she'd been out sick) and I was humbly taken back over the next few days by how wonderful she is. She has found the balance with these kids between being strict and keeping them in line and loving them so selflessly. I've never seen a teacher love on her students that much and take such an interest in their lives. They light up because they know she is proud of them. She has their respect because they have hers. It was a beautiful sight to see-- that they are being loved and cherished in a way that reflects how Christ loves on us. I could write so much more about her and how grateful I am, but I'll stop. The Lord taught me a ton about prayer and about listening to his quiet whispers. You can serve in anything, even if its testing sight words and sharpening pencils. I fell head first in love with these kids and their snotty noses. It broke my heart to leave them and I'll never stop cherishing the moment when 23 of them grasped my legs and cried for me not to go. I'm pretty sure they blessed me way more than I could ever have dreamed of blessing them.
The rest of the trip held a lot of beautiful moments. Worshiping as a team, meeting new people, scavenger hunts through the city... I prayed for unity going into this trip and I think it happened. So many encouragement notes, so many laughs and smiles, such beauty in us all coming around to pray over those who were hurting. The Lord was definitely at work.
One of my favorite moments came on the last night I was there. Kelvin walked me back to my room and he had the sweetest smile on his face as he explained to me that just hours before that at the Seaport Ministry he had gotten to share the gospel with someone... in Chinese. One of our boys had shared it in Russian. Funny how God puts the right people in the right place at just the right time. At just the right time... Romans 5:6.
My last night, a team of us prayer walked the streets of the french quarter. We walked, open eyed, and prayed out loud. Nola is a dark place... The streets are covered in fortune tellers as people invite in the darkness. I was reminded of the story of Jonah chapter 1 when the storm arises and each of the sailors is found crying out to their own god while Jonah sleeps in the bottom of the boat. The pagans are praying and the profit is asleep... everyone is crying out for something. We're all searching. It's time for the believers to wake up and speak truth.
Amazing things happened in our construction teams. I was broken and humbled by the stories of our sex trafficking team. I'm proud of my roommates, proud of my brothers and sisters, and humbled by the way God is working in and through our ministry. Praying for them today as they finish up and head home tomorrow. Praying that this unity and this ministry doesn't stop here.
Per usual, I could keep on writing... but there's a little thing called NCAA March Madness about to go down. What does it say that I'm watching basketball alone on a Friday night? Eh, oh well.
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