New Orleans Dispatch II.

We have only very limited time to write this, as we are super busy with all the other 38,000 youth members here in New Orleans and have barely time to eat and sleep. But do not feel sorry for us as we are having the time of our lives.

Tag sales are over, the fundraisers seem now a distant memory as we are awoken in the middle of the night to meet at St. John’s to travel to New Orleans. We (Bobby, Michael, Lukas, Jimmy, Andrew, Casey, Rehema, Jack, Jason, Andrea, Suzanne, and Pastor Henk) left on Tuesday very early in the morning.

All of our fundraisers, many meetings, preparation courses seemed as if they h ave been the headwinds for our flight south to the land devastated by Katrina and Rita. But ironically these efforts were not a drag on us but enabled us to go. The first leg of our journey has everyone laughing and enjoying themselves as the plane takes off into a bit of turbulence.

Just think a piece of junk nobody wanted, a bowl of chili that someone made and sold, all of those Christmas wreaths and the Lucinda Pins that all many ordered, and that Cabaret Night where everyone brought their dishes. All these efforts added up to taking 12 of us on a trip that will live forever in our memory bank.

It is a big joy to see our Youth Group with their eyes wide open and their jaws dropping over more than just the sights of the city but over the great music and spirutal songs that we sing every evening in the Superdome. In addition we are so enriched by the fascinating speakers we are listening to from all over the world. People who have helped to rebuild New Orleans, people who have built 500 schools around the world and started by being inspired by a past Youth Gathering. We listened to a women who came out of retirement to help 10,000 girls not to fail in school. We heard a guy, not much older than our kids, who got his legs amputated at his pelvis, inspire us not to get discouraged by our own shortcomings and not to let us be bullied by anyone. In addition to this sermons have been flying left and right and guess what no one fell asleep. (-: There is still much more to come and what is more than just a little surprising and even very inspiring we never hear a complaint about going to the Superdome to listen to all this.

Additionally we did a swamp tour and saw some alligators in their natural habitat. Unfortunately some of our youth members felt right at home too (yeah, that was a little joke). Believe it or not we all held an alligator and we have pictures to prove it. We walked around the wonderful French Quarter, where our hotel is located, and convienently near to Cafe du Monde - love those Beignets - and Jackson Square. We walked the historic riverwalk, but what we really enjoyed was the new National World War II museum, which each of our youth members found more than informative - even very moving. It was great to see their response. Also on the fun side was our exploration of the wonderful restaurants in the city, here is to Cajun, Creole and Southern Louisana cooking. We will all have another order of Crabcakes, Jambalaya, Gumbo, Alligator Sausage and Crawfish. When we get back to New York, we'll have to go on a diet (at least the adults??!)

We walked miles and miles (so maybe no diet necessary). We visited the Interaction Center where we learned among lots of other things how Habitat of Humanity is helping to rebuild New Orleans, we visited a FEMA trailer and we learned how difficult it is to maneuver a wheelchair through a house. We even visited the place where the levies broke and where the new ones were put in place.

So everyone, time is flying. We need to get off this computer to get everything else done, we have not done yet. We promise to tell you all about it when we return.

When you are worshipping today we will be worshipping with our fellow gathering members - all 38,000 of them - as well. We will be thinking of you, even though we are far away. We are united in Christ. We miss you and look forward to seeing you soon. Thanks again for making this all possible.