Broken and Rebuilt
Where are you headed this summer? What trips do you have planned before the school year starts back up and schedule overload takes over?
I just got back from NOLA this weekend! Food, fun, music, friends... all those and so much more. However, my NOLA trip looked different than most people's probably does.
This week a group from my church took a trip down to New Orleans to do some work. We teamed up with Mission Lab on the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary campus, and were sent out to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I headed up a team for park ministry. We had no idea of what we were stepping into. How many kids would be there? Would we be met with opposition? Or even complacency as we bring the same message as the workers who came last week and the week before that? How would the kids respond? Would there be behavior issues? Will we have too many kids to handle in such an unstructured setting?
The unknown of what we were to face, along with the added anxiety of being in charge of a group of peers and not children made me a wreck inside that first day. Little did I know that God had plans beyond my expectations.
We started the day out at 9 o'clock in the morning at a park in a rough neighborhood. A.L. Davis Park, known to the Mission Lab workers as crawfish park. Every day we were greeted by the remnants of the crawfish that were enjoyed the night before. Pieces of the crawfish were all over the playground as well as the basketball courts. The first day we arrived, we were horrified at who would do this! We made a Walmart run and got the needed supplies to clean up the park so when the children came, it would be ready for them.
No children came.
We played a few rounds of HORSE and had some hula hooping going... still no children.
Suddenly it was time for a lunch break, and we didn't meet a single child all morning. No one came to play basketball, no one came to play on the playground, and not a soul was lined up to take a dip in the pool. It was the nicest park I have seen and the strangest thing that there were no children there!
All that preparation ad stuff we brought from Texas seemed to be going to waste...
BUT GOD doesn't waste anything!! We were able to meet the people who worked at the park and hear how God had already gone before us to set up His people there. We were able to encourage one another, learn from one another, and help one another connect so that when we leave, His people are still in the park doing the work God has called them to. We also were able to use our mornings to just kind of connect with one another as a team. Having fun, and just playing together helped us to feel comfortable and get to know one another better as we served alongside each other.
God broke our plans for AL Davis park and rebuilt them into what He wanted. And, as always, it was perfect and what we needed before we even knew it was what we needed.
Our second location for the week was a most interesting site. We were signed up for park ministry, but we feel like they may have run out of locations, so they stuck us in a grassy area behind a fire station, under I10. It was loud, and a little unnerving between the swaying interstate above us and the questionable neighborhood surrounding us. We found ourselves in the 7th ward, which was a location that was hit pretty hard by Katrina. There were still homes and buildings under construction down every street and some that needed it, but people returned after the hurricane and began life again in this area. The first day of mission work, we were faced with no kids once again. I started to wonder what God's plan was in bringing us all the way out here to work with kids and then He doesn't send any! But after walking a few streets handing out flyers to let people know we were there, we had two kids show up. These two kids will forever be engraved on my heart. They were so hesitant at first. Not sure who we were and how to act around us, they just kept studying us to see if we were legit. To be honest, I was kinda thinking the same thing. Once we both let our walls down, the fun began! We played tag, soccer, hula hoops, made crafts, and had some snacks. When it came time for my to teach the lesson, I kept feeling weird about it. Like stopping all the fun would be a mood killer and they wouldn't want to come back the next day. As soon as I started talking and showing them my pictures, they were in it. They had questions and comments, and they were instantly relating to the story. The older sister (13) made a comment that broke me. We were talking about how God is with you no matter what is going on, and He will never leave even when really bad things happen. Then she says, 'You mean like when Katrina killed my Daddy?'.......
Tears filled her eyes. Tears filled mine. This was real life to her. It was so much more than a story. They knew the answers to all the questions I asked about the story of Adam and Eve, but they wanted to talk about what it means to them today. They wanted to get into it! They were craving that hope and peace that can only come from God. And He was there, in the midst of us, and I pray with every promise, He was soothing her heart.
A few more kids showed up after the story was over. Kind of a rough looking little group of boys. I was so concerned we were going to be faced with hostility disrespect, foul language... and not a smidge of it. You could just see a sigh of relief when they crossed the street into the mowed lawn where they could just relax and be kids. We have no idea what they had just come from. What situations they face at home and in their lives. What baggage they carry around. What responsibilities they have to take care of. What kinds of fronts they have to put up to survive in their neighborhood. But we were able to give them the chance to be kids for three hours every afternoon. And you could tell they craved that.
The second day under the bridge with these kids, we continued the conversation about sin and separation from God, and how the story doesn't end there. We talked about God's great love for us and how he provided a way to rebuild the relationship and He is just waiting for us to respond and be His child forever. I had their attention. They were drawn in and listening. I pulled out my Bible and showed them what it was and what was in it. They had questions about how it was written and put together. They had questions about who wrote it and what was in it. My pastor asked the kids if they had their own Bible, and if not who wanted one.... every hand shot up.
The last day under the bridge was unforgettable. One little boy, the tiniest one of the group, was the first to show up. My Momma heart dropped when I saw his little head bobbing down the street toward us all on his own. He was on a mission to get to our green grass to shed the weight of the day and have fun. About 5 minutes after he showed up, he asked if he could go get some of his friends to join him. We sent a little entourage, and the sight we saw when they came back is something I will never forget. This little guy came back with about 5-6 bigger kids (the same ones that came the day before). He wasn't going to let his friends miss this. He knew he had to bring them back! We eventually had 10 kids join us under that bridge on the last day. When the time came for me to teach the lesson... I couldn't even get through the review before hands were popping up all over our blue tarp. These kids knew the story. I think they had heard it several times whether through other groups that came through or churches they may have visited... but I don't think they even quite got how it applied to them. I had a wide range of questions, mostly focused on how to be "reborn". What does it mean to be saved? What about when bad stuff happens? We all sat there, and I answered every single on of their questions. Lots of seeds had been planted. One boy asked if we could all say the Lord's Prayer together. And then I gave them the opportunity to respond. We all prayed together. We prayed for God to forgive us of all our sins, and that we want to stop following our own way and follow Him. We know that God sent His son to die for us and that He came back to life and is with us forever. And when I said Amen, the kids ran to my pastor to receive their Bibles. They wanted to put their names in them and valued them for what they were.
One little boy kept muttering to himself during the lesson. He wanted to be reborn but he couldn't figure out how to do it. So after he got his Bible, I sat down with him and talked to him. He said he didn't know that thing we all said together. He wants to know it so he can be reborn. I asked him if he prayed with me and really believed all the things we said to God when we prayed. He said he really did mean it, and I told him, You did it!! That's all you have to do! in that moment when you give you life to God, you are reborn and He will be with you forever no matter what you face!! I showed him where he could find the Lord's Prayer in my Bible and then helped him find it in his. He wanted me to underline it in his Bible like it was in mine. And he wanted me to do it because he didn't want to mess up and scribble through the words. When we were done, he said, "I'm gonna read this tonight!"
I will never forget the sense of urgency he had. He wanted to be reborn, he knew he needed to do it, and was frustrated because he couldn't figure out how he could do it. He knew he needed to Word of God and he was ready to get home and dig in.
This week, I was broken. the pieces that help my anxiety, control issues, depression, selfishness, complaining... all those pieces we thrown away. God rebuilt me with a grateful heart, a sense of peace and realization that He has everything under control, I just need to do what He says. And a sense of urgency that I didn't have a grasp on.
Broken and rebuilt. Just like that beautiful city. Those people didn't give up when a great storm destroyed everything around them. They came home and rebuilt.
Time for me to come home to my KING and rebuild this life He has given me His way.
Faith like a child. The same sense of urgency Christ had while He was here.
He is coming back. Time is running out. Go and tell.
I just got back from NOLA this weekend! Food, fun, music, friends... all those and so much more. However, my NOLA trip looked different than most people's probably does.
This week a group from my church took a trip down to New Orleans to do some work. We teamed up with Mission Lab on the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary campus, and were sent out to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I headed up a team for park ministry. We had no idea of what we were stepping into. How many kids would be there? Would we be met with opposition? Or even complacency as we bring the same message as the workers who came last week and the week before that? How would the kids respond? Would there be behavior issues? Will we have too many kids to handle in such an unstructured setting?
The unknown of what we were to face, along with the added anxiety of being in charge of a group of peers and not children made me a wreck inside that first day. Little did I know that God had plans beyond my expectations.
We started the day out at 9 o'clock in the morning at a park in a rough neighborhood. A.L. Davis Park, known to the Mission Lab workers as crawfish park. Every day we were greeted by the remnants of the crawfish that were enjoyed the night before. Pieces of the crawfish were all over the playground as well as the basketball courts. The first day we arrived, we were horrified at who would do this! We made a Walmart run and got the needed supplies to clean up the park so when the children came, it would be ready for them.
No children came.
We played a few rounds of HORSE and had some hula hooping going... still no children.
Suddenly it was time for a lunch break, and we didn't meet a single child all morning. No one came to play basketball, no one came to play on the playground, and not a soul was lined up to take a dip in the pool. It was the nicest park I have seen and the strangest thing that there were no children there!
All that preparation ad stuff we brought from Texas seemed to be going to waste...
BUT GOD doesn't waste anything!! We were able to meet the people who worked at the park and hear how God had already gone before us to set up His people there. We were able to encourage one another, learn from one another, and help one another connect so that when we leave, His people are still in the park doing the work God has called them to. We also were able to use our mornings to just kind of connect with one another as a team. Having fun, and just playing together helped us to feel comfortable and get to know one another better as we served alongside each other.
God broke our plans for AL Davis park and rebuilt them into what He wanted. And, as always, it was perfect and what we needed before we even knew it was what we needed.
Our second location for the week was a most interesting site. We were signed up for park ministry, but we feel like they may have run out of locations, so they stuck us in a grassy area behind a fire station, under I10. It was loud, and a little unnerving between the swaying interstate above us and the questionable neighborhood surrounding us. We found ourselves in the 7th ward, which was a location that was hit pretty hard by Katrina. There were still homes and buildings under construction down every street and some that needed it, but people returned after the hurricane and began life again in this area. The first day of mission work, we were faced with no kids once again. I started to wonder what God's plan was in bringing us all the way out here to work with kids and then He doesn't send any! But after walking a few streets handing out flyers to let people know we were there, we had two kids show up. These two kids will forever be engraved on my heart. They were so hesitant at first. Not sure who we were and how to act around us, they just kept studying us to see if we were legit. To be honest, I was kinda thinking the same thing. Once we both let our walls down, the fun began! We played tag, soccer, hula hoops, made crafts, and had some snacks. When it came time for my to teach the lesson, I kept feeling weird about it. Like stopping all the fun would be a mood killer and they wouldn't want to come back the next day. As soon as I started talking and showing them my pictures, they were in it. They had questions and comments, and they were instantly relating to the story. The older sister (13) made a comment that broke me. We were talking about how God is with you no matter what is going on, and He will never leave even when really bad things happen. Then she says, 'You mean like when Katrina killed my Daddy?'.......
Tears filled her eyes. Tears filled mine. This was real life to her. It was so much more than a story. They knew the answers to all the questions I asked about the story of Adam and Eve, but they wanted to talk about what it means to them today. They wanted to get into it! They were craving that hope and peace that can only come from God. And He was there, in the midst of us, and I pray with every promise, He was soothing her heart.
A few more kids showed up after the story was over. Kind of a rough looking little group of boys. I was so concerned we were going to be faced with hostility disrespect, foul language... and not a smidge of it. You could just see a sigh of relief when they crossed the street into the mowed lawn where they could just relax and be kids. We have no idea what they had just come from. What situations they face at home and in their lives. What baggage they carry around. What responsibilities they have to take care of. What kinds of fronts they have to put up to survive in their neighborhood. But we were able to give them the chance to be kids for three hours every afternoon. And you could tell they craved that.
The second day under the bridge with these kids, we continued the conversation about sin and separation from God, and how the story doesn't end there. We talked about God's great love for us and how he provided a way to rebuild the relationship and He is just waiting for us to respond and be His child forever. I had their attention. They were drawn in and listening. I pulled out my Bible and showed them what it was and what was in it. They had questions about how it was written and put together. They had questions about who wrote it and what was in it. My pastor asked the kids if they had their own Bible, and if not who wanted one.... every hand shot up.
The last day under the bridge was unforgettable. One little boy, the tiniest one of the group, was the first to show up. My Momma heart dropped when I saw his little head bobbing down the street toward us all on his own. He was on a mission to get to our green grass to shed the weight of the day and have fun. About 5 minutes after he showed up, he asked if he could go get some of his friends to join him. We sent a little entourage, and the sight we saw when they came back is something I will never forget. This little guy came back with about 5-6 bigger kids (the same ones that came the day before). He wasn't going to let his friends miss this. He knew he had to bring them back! We eventually had 10 kids join us under that bridge on the last day. When the time came for me to teach the lesson... I couldn't even get through the review before hands were popping up all over our blue tarp. These kids knew the story. I think they had heard it several times whether through other groups that came through or churches they may have visited... but I don't think they even quite got how it applied to them. I had a wide range of questions, mostly focused on how to be "reborn". What does it mean to be saved? What about when bad stuff happens? We all sat there, and I answered every single on of their questions. Lots of seeds had been planted. One boy asked if we could all say the Lord's Prayer together. And then I gave them the opportunity to respond. We all prayed together. We prayed for God to forgive us of all our sins, and that we want to stop following our own way and follow Him. We know that God sent His son to die for us and that He came back to life and is with us forever. And when I said Amen, the kids ran to my pastor to receive their Bibles. They wanted to put their names in them and valued them for what they were.
One little boy kept muttering to himself during the lesson. He wanted to be reborn but he couldn't figure out how to do it. So after he got his Bible, I sat down with him and talked to him. He said he didn't know that thing we all said together. He wants to know it so he can be reborn. I asked him if he prayed with me and really believed all the things we said to God when we prayed. He said he really did mean it, and I told him, You did it!! That's all you have to do! in that moment when you give you life to God, you are reborn and He will be with you forever no matter what you face!! I showed him where he could find the Lord's Prayer in my Bible and then helped him find it in his. He wanted me to underline it in his Bible like it was in mine. And he wanted me to do it because he didn't want to mess up and scribble through the words. When we were done, he said, "I'm gonna read this tonight!"
I will never forget the sense of urgency he had. He wanted to be reborn, he knew he needed to do it, and was frustrated because he couldn't figure out how he could do it. He knew he needed to Word of God and he was ready to get home and dig in.
This week, I was broken. the pieces that help my anxiety, control issues, depression, selfishness, complaining... all those pieces we thrown away. God rebuilt me with a grateful heart, a sense of peace and realization that He has everything under control, I just need to do what He says. And a sense of urgency that I didn't have a grasp on.
Broken and rebuilt. Just like that beautiful city. Those people didn't give up when a great storm destroyed everything around them. They came home and rebuilt.
Time for me to come home to my KING and rebuild this life He has given me His way.
Faith like a child. The same sense of urgency Christ had while He was here.
He is coming back. Time is running out. Go and tell.
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