New Orleans

So I just got back from a week long missions trip to New Orleans. It was amazing!!! I may or may not post on some other themes that were going on in New Orleans, but there was one constant thing I felt the Lord was reminding me throughtout the week, and that was the theme of the faithfulness of God.

There were parts of New Orleans that was actually depressing to go through. Depressing as in emotionally draining. We, as a group, went through the lower ninth ward and, honestly, maybe one in 10 houses actually had residents. Two years later, there are still areas and houses in New Orleans that haven't been touched. Weeds reach fifteen feet in the air and choke up entire yards. Doors still have notes left by the Navy indicating how many dead bodies were inside and needed to be collected. Mounds and mounds of junk still lies outside of houses.

But at the same time, there are still people who are inspiring in their trust in God and in the example they are to others in New Orleans. The church we visited, Lakeview Christian Center, is full of such people. They helped us see, even as we were serving them by doing yards and door to door evangelism, that God is sovereign over everything, including hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina didn't take God by surprise. One of the things that has happened since the storm is that people living in New Orleans have become much more receptive to help, and, more importantly, the gospel. Although New Orleans is full of voodoo and Catholicism, people are willing to listen, willing to engage in conversation. One elderly man was actually saved when we went door to door.

There are simply too many stories, too many ways that God showed himself to be faithful. I was constantly reminded of this passage in Isaiah 25.

1O LORD, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
2For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4FOR YOU HAVE BEEN A STRONGHOLD TO THE POOR,
A STRONGHOLD TO THE NEEDY IN HIS DISTRESS
A SHELTER FROM THE STORM AND A SHADE AGAINST THE HEAT

As my grandmother said, God is in control and everything He does is good.