Our God is an Awesome God!

Today started out very early and ended up on an incredibly high note. If you ever despair about the future of our denomination or our congregation - don't. It is in good hands.

Our day started at 6 a.m. with a very long walk to the convention center. We boarded the bus for our service day at 6:30, and left around 7. We went to work on Habitat for Humanity houses in the Artist's Village in the Lower Ninth Ward. Our group worked on a total of three different houses. Shelby, Elizabeth, Raymond, and I worked on painting the home belonging to Mr. Tyrone and his wife. They lost everything during Katrina, and relocated to Dallas for a year before Mr. Tyrone's job was ready for him to come back. They have spent the past year working on their home and the homes of other Habitat homeowners, and now their home will be ready for them to move in within a month.

David spent the day caulking at Mr. Tyrone's neighbor's house. He also spent quite a bit of time getting to know folks from other congregations. He really discovered a gift for welcome and evangelism on this trip.

Josh and Ian spent the day being manly men. They helped to install a floor in yet another house.

I wish I had pictures to share, but I spent part of the day working and the other part taking care of a kid with a nosebleed. She's fine - don't worry!

We came back from our service project exhausted, but a shower and a nap did much to revive us. Then it was off to the Dome.

We got there in time to get better seats today - and it was worth it. The theme tonight was all about jazz. I wish I could share with you how amazing the program was, and how engaged our kids were. The evening ended with a concert by the Katinas - powerful worship music. Our kids heard "How Great Thou Art" in a whole new light.

Now we are enjoying pizza and America's Funniest Home Videos before we pray, pack, and go to bed.

All that's left now is worship tomorrow and the journey home. Pastor John invited us to be his guests on the floor of the dome tomorrow, which is really exciting.

Until tomorrow...

Peace!

There's No Place Like 'Dome, pt2...AND...Rest is Good for the Soul

And we're back. We left off at dinner time on Thursday. We went to a little hole-in-the-wall place on St. Charles called The St. Charles Bar and Pool Room. Attached to it is a tiny restaurant that is really a family operation. The food was fantastic. They make their own bread, and I've never had wheat bread that good before.

After that, we went to the Superdome. Our timing was much better this time, and we got right in. As we got to our seats, the house band was playing, "This is the Air I Breathe," and our own Michael Bade had a solo during it! He was fantastic!

After the house band finished playing, There were several skits, and a cartoon called, "Lil Luther". I took video of the cartoon, and I'll post that later.

The first speaker last night was Jay Bakker, the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. He told the story of how he rebelled against the hellfire and brimstone religion he was raised with. For years, he not only abandoned religion, but he abandoned faith and God. Then something happened - he discovered grace. He learned that God loved us all so much, that he sacrificed himself four our sins, and we didn't do and can't do anything to earn that salvation. He reminded us how lucky we are to be a part of a denomination that holds grace as central to our faith.

The next speaker was Viola Vaughn. Dr. Vaughn retired to Senegal to be with her children and grandchildren, and thought she was done working. As frequently happens, God had other plans. One day, a little girl who was failing in school came up to her and said, "You are going to help me pass third grade." Needless to say, Dr. Vaughn was a little surprised by this, but she told the little girl to come back the next day, and she would teach her along with her own grandchildren. The little girl came back the next day...and brought three other girls with her. The next thing she knew, she had 20 girls coming to her to learn. Now, to date, there have been over two thousand girls who have been through her program, and many more are waiting to be accepted. Her program has grown to include entrepreneurship classes to teach girls and women how to be self-sustaining. You can read more about her story here.

The final speaker for the night was Rev. Becca Stephens. Rev. Stephens is an Episcopal priest who saw a need and found a program for women who have been in the criminal justice system for things like prostitution and drug charges in Memphis, TN. She told us some of their stories, and it was heartbreaking to hear about such injustice right here in the wealthiest nation on earth. She challenged us all to see the needs in our own communities, and to do something about them.

The night at the dome ended with a concert by Group1Crew, a Christian hip hop group. They were fantastic! The video at the bottom of the page is our kids getting into the music.

After we left the dome, we went to the Cool Down Lounge for a bit, where we enjoyed slushies and an open mike night. Our kids were also handing out beads and meeting people from all over.

Friday started with breakfast at the hotel. We had a frightening moment when one of the kids thought he lost his backpack...which had his wallet in it. Fortunately, it was at the front desk of the hotel, and we left for the Interaction Center a little bit late.

Today at the interaction center, you had to enter through an interest room. I went in through the literacy room because...well, because the environment room was waaay down at the other end of the convention center. But I think the Holy Spirit had a hand in that because before the speaker started, I met a pastor from North Carolina who has a member who is coming to LSU for graduate school in the fall. He plays the clarinet really well, and he loves working with young people. I gave the pastor's wife our address and phone number, so it looks like we have another young adult on the way!

Today was my first taste of the Interaction Center. It is HUGE! There are opportunities for everything from going down a zip line to playing hockey, to learning to knit and quilt, to reading the stories of homeless teenagers. I'll post pictures of that tomorrow.

We ate lunch at the convention center, then we came back to the hotel because just about everyone was tired. The girls slept for five hours, while the boys went running on the treadmills in the fitness center and visited the whirlpool before taking a nap. Rest truly is good for the soul.

Tonight we went to Mother's for dinner. I was so impressed with their setup and how kind their waitresses were to all of the young Lutherans invading their restaurant. The food was amazing, and we had some great conversation with a youth group from South Michigan.

After that, we went on to the Dome. We missed the house band tonight, but got there in time for all the speakers, who were awesome. The first was Spencer West, who lost both of his legs due to a genetic defect when he was 5. He endured a lot of hassle and heartache because of that, but he and his parents never lost hope. His story was quite inspirational.

The second speaker was Michel Chikwanine. When Michel was five years old, he was playing soccer one day with his friends in the Congo when he heard gun shots, he dropped to the ground. The next thing he knew, he was being shouted at to get up by the rebel soldiers. They took him off, cut his skin, and rubbed a mixture of cocaine and gunpowder in the wound. Then they blindfolded him and thrust an AK-47 in his hands. He dropped it because it was too heavy, but the soldiers picked it up again, forced it in his hands, and forced him to pull the trigger. When they took the blindfold off, he discovered he had been forced to kill his best friend. Now, he travels the world helping other people to realize the desperation people experience in other countries, and how each and every one of us can do something to share hope and grace with them.

The concert tonight was a big one. The group Skillet played, with pyrotechnics and all. If I had to put their music in a category, it would be hard rock verging on heavy metal...but with a violin and piano. The kids loved the concert, and so did I...though I have to say I'm getting to the point where ear-bleedingly loud concerts don't appeal anymore.

Tomorrow we leave at 6 a.m. for our service day. I'll post more after.

There's No Place Like 'Dome, pt. 1

Greetings, all! Day two of the Gathering presented lots of food for thought, lots of food for our bodies, and lots of food for our soul.

Our day started out with worship. We went to the worship service led by David Scherrer, aslo known as Agape. Agape is a Lutheran hip hop artist, and an amazingly inspiring speaker. The ballroom at the hotel was packed, and there were even more people standing in the back. Agape shared his unique brand of worship music with us, and a message that reminded us that listening to and following God's will can be a really a challenge. Sometimes, when God calls us to do something, we don't want to because it might make us uncomfortable, or it might be scary. We have to pray for the strength to listen to God's will our lives and to obey and go where God sends us. We enjoyed Agape so much that we are going to see if we can figure out what we need to do to bring him to Baton Rouge.

Here are some pictures from worship this morning.

After worship, we went to Cafe DuMonde for beignets. About half of the people at the Gathering had the same idea, unfortunately. It took forever to get to the front of the line, but the wait was worth it.

After that, we went to the aquarium. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from that. One of the kids had a bit too much of the heat and was feeling quite ill. I went back to the hotel with that person, while Ray went to see an IMAX movie and lunch and the Learning Center with the other kids. I'm happy to report that the sick kid made a full recovery.

I'll post the story of the Dome in the morning. It's been a long day, and I need to sleep. Interaction center and...other fun stuff await tomorrow.

We're in New Orleans!

Not without a few issues along the way...

We got off to a late start today, but made good time to the convention center, and found a great parking place right away. Registration went surprisingly smoothly, and the youth checked out the interaction center while Raymond and I were oriented.

We ended up spending about an hour longer than planned at the convention center, which was our first problem of the day. That is when we learned that we never go off on our own, and we always have a device that tells time with us.

We headed right to the dome from the convention center instead of stopping at the hotel first. That was mistake number two. They were supposed to have multiple food vendors at every gate. Turns out they only had one. The line when we got there around 5:15 was about 300 deep. So we decided to get in line to get into the dome, since they were supposed to open the doors at 5:30. Of course, they didn't. The lines really didn't start moving until about 6:00, and by 6:30, when the bands started playing, there were at least 15,000 people who still hadn't made it into the dome. Our kids were hot and hungry (and so were we!), so we made the decision to go back to the hotel, get settled, and get pizza. We're sorry to miss the speakers and bands, but now we'll be fresh for tomorrow.

So that's where we are now. We're watching X-Men: Origins, and having our own community night. Tomorrow we go to a hip-hop worship service, breakfast at Cafe DuMonde, the Aquarium, and teh Learning Center. We'll post pictures tomorrow night.

Peace!

Pray with Us During the Gathering!

Every night at 10:45 p.m., everyone in New Orleans for the National Youth Gathering will stop what they are doing, wherever they are, and join together for the Final 15 devotions. The devotions we will pray are online, so everyone can join us at the same time.

You can find links to each night's devotions here.

The speakers will also be streamed live during the Gathering. If you go to the Gathering home page, they will provide a link.