New Orleans Journal Continued...

New Orleans Day 6

Today was our free day. We headed back to the city to hang out. Our first venture was the ferry to no where. We took a ferry across the Mississippi to Algiers and back. The only thing we found was a statue of Louie Armstrong (which only Erica, Jessie and I really found interesting…) and an opportunity to deface some public property. Yes we left our mark on a bench in the ferry terminal.

After that we hit some shopping centers and a few went to the Aquarium… pretty low key and relaxing.

During the evening festivities, when all the groups come together, all of the leaders took part in a skit for the students… what they didn’t tell us ( and I found out later that they didn’t tell us on purpose to ensure our participation…) was that it was one of those gross you out, pass the food and drink along and everyone share eachother’s spit and stuff kind of skit. I don’t do that. The mere thought of it makes me sick. The only person I would drink after, eat after, etc… would be Ashley my wife or Ava my daughter… and I’m not even too crazy about that! However, I didn’t want to be mister party pooper youth pastor. So with my stomach in knots, I went through with it…luckily there were only two people ahead of me… My students, knowing my germ a phobe tendencies, had a blast watching me go though it. And of course, there is video documentation.

After the “fun stuff,” we had a closing worship service. At the end, they just opened up a time for people to connect with God – sing, pray, whatever. It was a cool time – looking around the room at the different races, denominations, types of people from different geographical locations… there was a great sense of unity. No one was fussing about doctrine, or worship styles, or worried about any sort of differences. They were just focusing on Jesus. That was refreshing.

New Orleans Day 7

Headed home! The trek through Louisiana and no where Mississippi found us back in Huntsville in the early evening. Over all it was a great trip. A memorable one – a lot of laughing, a lot of funny instances, a lot of one liners, and a theme song. I don’t think any of us will ever be able to listen to Coldplay’s Viva la Vida with out reminiscing about our experience together working in New Orleans.