KATRINA
Katrina visited New Orleans in 2005, and the place will never be the same.
But Kairos visited New Orleans in 2006, and we will never be the same.
It was so great to be down there. Katrina was such a "bad" thing, but I just love how God is able to bring so much "good" out of "bad." Everyone we talked to down there was just in awe of how people have reached out to help them in their time of need. Back home when you ask someone if you can pray for them, they are often taken back a bit. But down there, you had to preface your request for prayers by saying, "What is it that we can be specifically praying about?" And everyone always had something that was going on.
Not everyone we helped was "poor," but everyone was so grateful. Just before the trip happened, God arranged it so that we were given $1900 to take down and give away. Some of the people who we tried to give it to insisted that they really didn't need it. So we asked if they knew anyone who really needed it - and they never had a problem thinking of plenty of people who they could pass it along to. In fact, one lady called her friend on the phone right then, just so her friend could thank us in person!
The students that went did such a great job. When it's time to work, everyone worked HARD. And when it was time to play (UNO, spoons, etc) we all played hard too! No broken bones, but a few minor cuts, bangs, and carpet burns. (Sorry Amanda!) :) We even had a chance to have church together Saturday night in the parking lot. I love how Kairos loves each other. How they are so willing to but others first.
God really used us to touch some lives down there, and he really used down there to change our lives as well.
God is good. It doesn't matter what size "Katrina" is in your life. God is good. We might not "thank" God for every situation that comes along, but we sure can praise him through it all, because
GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!
ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD!
posted by Wade at 12/31/2005 06:38:00 PM
4 Comments:
Just a quick post as a thought from the trip on the morning of return:
The trip was truly amazing in so many ways. God was moving in EVERYONE down there. His presence was so palpable, kind of like the fog we had on our last day of work. You could just feel Him in everyone's hearts, in everyone's actions.
Whether we were de-mucking a house (fun work), talking to residents, or sitting through a devotional with people from all over the country, the energy and life of Christ was there. I don't think I am alone in saying that it made me focus on Him. That life was so "right" in that is just seemed to scream at me that this is what God wants from us all of the time. The fellowship of believers, the work of love, the glory of Christ.
In watching so many people step up to the plate, and out on a limb, I am truly blessed and humbled to have spent the last week with people so ready to do God's work. I feel privileged that God allowed me to experience the week, the work, and the people. God was amazing, and people were changed. Now my challenge is simply to try and live each week similarly--it isn't really that far of a stretch, is it? To just keep serving God and others--showing love and giving God glory.
Thanks for posting your pictures, Jordan!
http://spaces.msn.com/members/carfreakgm/
Prayer was an incredible tool durring our trip. Wade and Bill got us asking virtually everyone we saw for prayer requests. We formed groups around people we barely knew and prayed for them. I'm not sure if it was the circumstances that made them so open to this idea or if it was that they saw we were willing to help in other ways, either way though I'm thankful for the opportunities we had to pray.
If I could say one thing about the trip it would be this: I hope you get a chance to go. It has left an incredible taste in my mouth (figuratively) and I hope that I'll be able to do more things like this. Rob is completely on the mark when he talked about how God's presence was like the fog. This is the kind of things we should be doing, helping people both in large and small ways. We are the church.
Those are kind of scattered thoughts but I hope you guys can get the gist of them. Also because I want to be cool like Jordan I set up one of those photo sites and stuck pictures up as well, not nearly as many or as good of quality as Jordans but still some half way decent ones: http://spaces.msn.com/members/yrdnal2000/
Hey gang. If you want to get in touch with Katie or Gloria, here you go!
Katie Carr
7 Ivy Lane
Covington, LA 70433
ke_carr@msn.com
Gloria
543 Hendee Street
New Orleans, LA 70114
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