New Orleans
…

The New Orleans trip was AWESOME!!!!!!! I was able to go with five other AIM women (either staff or spouses of AIM staff) and do ministry from January 16th to 20th. The area we went to minister in has seen the largest number of murders since Katrina. Our AIM staff there had checked out the area and felt it was safe for us to work there during the day.

It was a great chance to get to know and bond with these women, most of whom I didn’t know well prior the trip. I definitely see them as wonderful blessings now and am glad I had the chance to go. After nine or so hours in a van, you do get to know one another! And I have to say, they all have a wonderful sense of humor!

Our first day of ministry was spent helping out at Central City Missions, distributing food. Some people worked in the front, registering the people coming for food. Others helped them pack food in the warehouse. My job? I was handing out books to those who would take them! Youth WithA Mission workers were also there that day helping out and had brought books to give out. My approach was to ask if they’d like some reading material and many took me up on the offer. It was also great to get to sit down and talk with some of them.

Two things from that ministry stand out for me. The first is that I had prayed that morning, asking the Lord to allow me to shoulder the burdens of the people we’d be ministering to. Later that morning, a gentleman came up to me and said, “I want you to pray for me.” And it was about his shoulder! So I did! It was an opportunity God had sent!

The second thing was the opportunity I had to blow a shofar. (A shofar is a horn that is used as a musical instrument for Jewish religious purposes. It is intimately connected with both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The shofar originated in Israel for Jewish callings.) The gentleman who headed up the food distribution ministry owned one, but didn’t know how to blow it. At the church I attend here (Fellowship of Living Praise), there are several individuals who blow shofars at the beginning of the morning worship service. I had always wanted to try so he let me….and I was able to make sounds somewhat similar to those I’ve heard before! I was reminded of the Scripture that talks about blowing the trumpets in Zion, on God’s holy mountain. Cool!!!!

Our afternoon brought a drive around New Orleans. One area that we visited was the 9th Ward section, which is the area where a great deal of destruction occurred. Between the flooding from Hurricane Katrina and then when the levee broke (this area is right along the levee), many homes were swept away while others ended up on top of one another. In some cases, all that can be seen are steps leading up to the front of a non-existent home.

This picture below has writing on the outside that says, “Home...This was home.” The holes you see in the roof are where they had to bust through to escape the waters.

Pictures like the one below show that there is still much that needs to be cleaned up. Many lives were lost in the area. Seeing the “X”s on the buildings was sobering, as you knew those numbers represented, in some cases, lives lost, perhaps pets. Very few people have moved back into the 9th Ward a year and a half after the storm. I’ve never been to a war-torn country myself, but from pictures I’ve seen, this is what it reminded me of. There is still so much left to be done in New Orleans!

The next morning, our team came alongside Vieux Carre Baptist Church in the heart of the French Quarter where they do a ministry that serves lunch to the homeless on Saturdays. This was an awesome opportunity to talk to people! I helped more with sorting clothing than serving food and then spent time talking with the people who came for a meal. This lead to talking to several different people. One man that I talked with was originally from North Carolina and was telling me about his life and how he came to be in New Orleans.

Saturday afternoon, we went to the Central City area of New Orleans, into an area that has had a murder a day since New Year’s. We teamed up with Sharon Henry who has been planting roses at the sites as a memorial to the victims. Upon our arrival there, we went a wonderful black woman, Ruth Johnson, who had agreed to have the rose bush planted in her front yard that day. Miss Ruth is an awesome woman of God, ready to give Him praise at a moment’s notice!

We also picked up trash in the area. To be honest, this was hard for me. Not because of the physical work itself, but because there was so much to do that you were left wondering whether you’d made an impact. We did have a chance to talk to one woman in particular, who thanked us for picking up the trash in an empty corner lot next to her home. She didn’t know who it belonged to, but was appreciative that we would do this. So even if I didn’t see much of an outward physical impact in picking up the debris, I know we were able to impact another person just because we cared enough to do it. [If you’d like to check out the pictures from our time in New Orleans, you can go to AIM’s website and find them at: http://www.adventures.org/a/reports/r3ph.asp?id=2056

One cool ministry opportunity that He has opened up for me as I was transitioning from Next Step to Accounting is to do an online Bible study with the Summer 2007 Amazon Jungle Real Life Mission Team. I’ve so enjoyed interacting with them and they’ve been a blessing to me as they include me! This is taking place on Facebook online and it’s been a really neat door that He has opened up for me to be able to continue to connect, interact and encourage these young adults as they seek to do missions! How great is that?! It was an unexpected opportunity and I’m loving it!

That about wraps it up for this letter. I know it was kind of long, but I hope you enjoyed it! It has taken me a little longer to get it written this time. I will leave you with some prayer requests:

• That I will be able to adapt and learn quickly my new responsibilities
• That He will continue to open up doors of ministry opportunities for me, both inside and outside AIM
• That the Lord will continue to raise up prayer and financial support as I move into this new position. The responsibilities that He has opened up for me impact the whole of AIM and I still need people to continue to partner with me!
• That He would be honored and glorified through me

Blessings to all of you!

Love and prayers,

Sue