New Orleans Trip a Success!

Our group standing by the Mississippi River near the Gulf Coast. We had 25 students and 5 adults.

Every night we went to the Super dome to hear speakers and Christian bands. What an experience!

We are home! Our bus drivers pushed hard all the way through and we arrived at 9am this morning in Madelia. We are all tired, sore, bedraggled, and inspired. Thank you all for supporting us so that we could have this experience. Thank you to the parents for trusting us with your children! Thank you, kids, for being great troopers! We will share more about our experience at the Stockholders Supper on August 15 at 5:30pm at Zion in Hanska. The Stockholders Supper is for (1) People who bought stocks in the youth, (2) People who supported the youth monetarily in any way, (3) The youth and their families. Please join us for some pictures and videos of our trip! We will also be sharing some highlights of the trip during worship for the next few weeks. Praise God for a great trip and safe return.

We had another busy day! Today we toured the French Quarter, did some final shopping, went to some workshops and had pizza for supper. We were at the Superdome once again tonight and heard the author Don Miller, a woman who started a running club for the homeless in Philadelphia, lots of bands and the Mayor of New Orleans! Tonight people are beginning to pack and get ready for our return trip tomorrow. We have to load the bus at 6:15 tomorrow morning because there will be hundreds of busses loading in the downtown area. At around 9:30 we have worship at the Superdome and then we head home. We should be home a little before 12:00 and it may even be earlier. We will call first thing in the morning to let you know. We look forward to seeing you all!

Aaron

Hello everyone! It is 3:21 in the afternoon and we finished our service project just a few hours ago. We went to an elementary school on the west bank of New Orleans to hang out with third graders. We read to them, helped them finish an assignment and just had a good time with them. It is interesting to note that their original school was devastated by Katrina and they now meet in a series of double wide trailers. The group is still having a good time and right now they are getting a few hours rest before we head to the Superdome for more speakers. Tonight we will hear from a former child soldier and a band called the Katinas.

Tomorrow we spend a day at the convention center attending workshops on faith, God, the Bible and the culture of New Orleans.

It is hard to believe that we only have two more nights in New Orleans and that we will be back on Monday!

Blessings, Aaron

We had another great day yesterday. We spent the day in the interaction center playing games, seeing displays from locations all around the world and meeting people from across the country. It is amazing how small the Lutheran world is!

For supper last night we all sampled authentic New Orleans food in the French quarter. Some folks had catfish, some had muffalettas (a type of New Orleans sandwich) and some had po' boys. Everyone agreed that the food was really good. Tonight we might do something more mundane like Pizza!

Yesterday we had another wonderful gathering at the Superdome. We heard some amazing speakers and listened to some amazing bands. It truly is remarkable to feel the energy of 37, 000 people singing, dancing and praising God.

This morning we are headed out for our service day. We are scheduled to go to a local elementary school to help children learn how to read. It should be an interesting day!

This afternoon we have some free time to tour more of the city and then we have another gathering tonight in the Superdome. Everyone is doing really well, eating well and having a great time. I hope you are too!

Greetings from New Orleans! We made it safely here after about a twenty hour bus ride. Most of the kids were able to get some sleep. You know sleeping upright in a seat is really hard!

Last night we got settled in our hotel and went to our first gathering at the Superdome. We heard wonderful speakers and great music. Just imagine 37,000 people cheering and having a good time celebrating Christ's love for all of us!

All of us were really happy to sleep in real beds last night and everyone slept really, really well.

Tonight will be our second Superdome event and we will hear more bands and hear Jay Bakker speak. This afternoon we will see some displays about the ELCA at the convention center, ride a New Orleans streetcar and visit the French quarter. As I write this right now, your kids are doing some shopping.

Later in the week we will help kids read at a local elementary school and do some learning about New Orleans culture. Everyone is in good spirits and having a great time. You should be proud of all of them! God bless!

Aaron

Youth Trip postings coming soon!

Come to this site to see what our youth will be up to in New Orleans. Imagine...36,000 Lutheran youth all praising God at the Superdome.

Home from Nicaragua

What an experience! As I told our hosts in Nicaragua, "I have a lot to chew on. With God's help, I will be able to share the stories of the people of Nicaragua in light of the Gospel." I want the stories of the people to convict us to act on our Christian faith. The lives of the people in Nicaragua are similar to the lives of poor people the world over. The problems of poverty, hunger and abuse of the environment are so overwhelming, but we need to start somewhere. And we in the United States are blessed with the energy and resources to start making a positive difference in the world. Thanks for all the prayers during my journey!