Here is a brief snapshot of some of the things that I took away from last week…
Finding unity in service: There is something to be said about how service and trials can unite communities and people that otherwise might not agree with each other, talk to each other or even like each other. I can think of two examples from this trip. First was all the people of different color that were so excited to see us, talk to us and share their stories. It is no secret that the South is rather segregated by color still and this segregation is not limited to the South either. Color was not existent as we related to the friends we made down there. It really was a neat experience. The second example is how we served with churches that were held different approaches to church. We ranged from our church to fundamental Baptist to Pentecostal assemblies of God. By the end of the week, these distinctions didn’t matter, as we were all there to serve. It was the centrality of Christ that united our work together.
Hard work feels great. This was not so much a spiritual lesson as it was a great reminder how good it feels to work your butt off. We left the work site totally spent each day and it felt great. While I am not sure I am looking for a life of manual labor day in and day out, part of me does miss those UPS and Roofing days…
Destruction. I do not think it will be possible to describe the devastation that we saw to others. It truly was a war zone and words cannot express the pain I felt for these families and people. On the side of one house near one of the levee breaks was written the word “Baghdad.” I have never been there but the description was not far off.
The Joy of unity across cultures. The Hispanic church we did some ministry with was awesome. We connected with a the pastor of Gethsemane Baptist Church. The pastor’s name is Alberto Rivera. We spent 5 hours moving solid oak pews and didn’t stop laughing most of the time. I could not imagine what it would be like to be a pastor in the situation he faces. He has lost 75% of his congregation and much of his neighborhood is deserted. What is exciting is that they are not going to stop “being the church.” They are currently getting ready to be a central spot in the community for help when the neighborhood begins moving back into town. Not only was it great to meet Alberto, it was a complete honor to be able to preach with him at his church last Sunday. I preached in English and he translated into Spanish. Having never done that before it was quite an experience! The unity in diversity was so amazing and to be part of a service that was in two languages was so special. I wish God would allow our church to do the same every week!
The challenge for us to be the hands and feet in a culture that still has the mask on. In New Orleans, the façade is off. The poor have been put front and center in a city that did a great job of hiding them before the disaster. Up here, we don’t see the pain laying in the streets and we are distracted by so much. I’m challenged fresh by the need to be the hands and feet of Jesus (and to get those hands and feet dirty with the work of the kingdom) in our culture.
Evangelism in a pluralistic culture. We went to a coffee shop where we heard Otis do a great set (we had met Otis earlier in the week and spent some great time talking with her. She invited us to come hear her play at a local music spot). The coffee shop was classic modern day hippie spot, complete with the make out room in the back. We brought Alberto with us (the pastor of the Hispanic church). I was wondering how he would feel in this place until I saw him stick his head through the beads into the makeout room and strike up five minute conversation with the couple in there. It really was a beautiful sight. There was a lot of talk about politics, a Gnostic view of Christianity and peace and love and all kinds of good hippie stuff. Really, it was all pretty good except it was missing Jesus Christ (which is kind of important!). But in the van home we were reflecting on how hard it is to share narrative of the Bible with someone who has a complete worldview already made up. This is a lot different than the other group out there in the world who has a atheistic or agnostic view of God. What I mean is, it is on thing to share your faith with someone who has no worldview. But when someone has a worldview that has already been shaped and formed its hard to just insert Christ into this.
There were other things that I learned on this trip, like why Gary has such great hair, Kevin doesn’t mind ice showers, Tom is not a big fan of maggot invested refrigerators and other important lessons…but these were the few that I had time to write on…