Day 2 - March 25th

Wow...again.

It was a rough night on the cot. I tossed and turned all night and I had no voice really when I woke up, but I wasn't feeling too bad, but I knew I would have to power through the day to make it.

Good Morning New Orleans:
We woke up early and had breakfast with the other teams staying here. They start the day every morning with a devotional at 7:30, this morning Darren led it with worship and a reading out of "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers.

The Bridge House:
The teams split up and 10 went to the New Orleans Mission, and 7 of us went to the Bridge House. The Bridge House is a long term drug/alcohol addiction recovery house. They house about 70 men, who agree to live/receive treatment for a minimum of 1 year. We got to meet and work along side a lot of the men. And let me tell you, it is clear that this faith based organization is doing BIG things in the lives of these men. We worked mainly with Bruce, who had been in the program for 10 months and is currently running the kitchen and storage facilities. We spent a few hours cleaning out an area they call the "cage", which is a big room that they house all their surplus food donations. They donate this food to local churches. It was hard, dirty work as most of it was canned goods. But, we worked as a team and got it done. The place looked SOO good compared to when we walked in.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays they serve a hot lunch to homeless men. We got to opportunity to set up and serve lunch to 106 men that day! Instead of having them walk down the food line, we sat them down and brought the food to them. It was such a blessing to be able to give them a hot/large/good meal. They were all so polite, always being sure to say please and thank you. And as they would leave they would repeatedly thank us. The men in the program at the Bridge House are normally the ones that serve this mean, so we got to work along side them. It was amazing to spend time with them and hear their stories. Stories of great loss. Over and over their stories would start with... "...and I lost everything". It was heartbreaking but inspiring at the same time. The Bridge House is empowering these men, giving them a clean, safe environment where they are fed well and taught a skill.

Needless to say, I didn't want to leave. But we had to.

Chozen:
So, we headed home, got cleaned up, ate dinner and headed to Celebration church. We attend their 20's group Chozen. They meet on the last Tuesday of each month, and the meeting is appropriately called "Last Tuesday". It was so great to see a service that is different from Fuel. This also gave us our first opportunity to connect with the members of Chozen. They seemed really receptive to the leadership training and were so gracious and welcoming. Their worship was amazing. They sang a few songs I didn't know. It's always fun to have a change of pace and get to hear non-Mariners music.

By the end of the service, my voice had gotten even worse and I had a headache and was sick to my stomach, so I was a party pooper and had to go sleep in the car while the rest of the gang hung out with the Chozen folks.

Learnings from the day:
As were were leaving the Bridge House, I got really upset. Sometimes I get really overwhelmed with the scope of the problems in the world. I feel really small and totally helpless. Like nothing I do will ever begin to make a dent in things. Yes, it was amazing that we were able to serve those 106 men a hot lunch, but all I could think about was the fact that they probably wouldn't eat again until Thursday. Tears flowed and I was lost on how to process the day. Later, when we were at church one of the speakers Allen said something that hit home HARD. Actually, he was speaking straight to us, he said that he thought it was great we were here, but wanted to be sure that we didn't forget who we were working for. WOW. Sometimes I think God wants us to feel small. It's His way of showing us how big He is. Yes, sometimes the problems will seem overwhelming, but I am just a piece of the puzzle... one person in the body of Christ. I am completely and hopelessly reliant on Him. And, only through Him will I ever be able to begin to chip away at the sometimes overwhelmingly huge problems we face here on this earth. So, today I choose to feel small, but I feel safe. Because, I know my Father is BIG and he's got my back.

Tomorrow: Construction time! We will be working with the Crossroads Missions organization. They are building affordable homes for low income families in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the area. Ironically this area is just a few blocks down from St. Charles St., the richest neighborhood in New Orleans.

Prayer Requests: Continued recovery for me. I am writing this on Day 3 and seem to have gotten a lot better, but I need to continue in that direction. Please pray for Becky, she has been very restless and is running on empty from lack of sleep. Our time is going so fast, please pray that we don't rush it and are simply able to savor our time here with the beautiful and hospitable people of New Orleans and Celbration church.

Love to all,
Christina