New Orleans

My trip to New Orleans was ridiculously awesome! I just can't even begin to explain how sweet it was ... God just gave me relief from weariness, from monotony, from VBS (haha) and from my own plans and expectations. We started the week with absolutely nothing on the schedule except for church on Sunday morning, and we just prayed every day to see where God would take us. I was pretty terrified that (1) I wouldn't be able to get out of my own head enough to hear the Lord (2) that he would ask me to do weird stuff and then not show up in those things and (3) that the team would be disappointed or frustrated.
Good thing God is bigger than my fears.God spoke clearly to each of us (in really different ways), and everytime we said 'yes' to His plans, he showed up and profoundly blessed us.
The team was awesome ... it was such a privelege to get to work alongside Randy again, and to help lead a team of willing servants. And it was just a sweet bonus that they were all really fun too. It was really fun for me to not be staff, but to be an adult leader ... I got to spend less time facilitating and more time ministering to the city and the students. I love both, but it was a nice change.
Probably my favorite story from the trip came from Saturday ... when we had driven around on Thursday getting a tour of possible minstry sites, we drove down Bourbon street and God really laid it on my heart. So after a heartbreaking encounter with a woman at tent city on Friday, God had really laid the women of New Orleans on my heart and he called me to hand out flowers on Bourbon street on Saturday. Bill, our project leader, was kind of taken aback by the idea and suggested that we really prayerfully consider it. But it turns out there were several students who felt that it what God had for them as well, so we spent the whole morning praying before we headed out in the afternoon. We bought some pretty flowers, and headed out -- it was so fun to see the looks on the faces of women who are degraded for a living when the recieved a flower! At one point, I walked into a strip club, handed a flower to the woman at the desk named Diamond and continued walking, despite a prompting to talk with her. I get this almost sick feeling when I know the Lord is asking me to do something and I ignore it, and the whole rest of our walk I felt like that. So when we got to the end of the street, I asked the team if we could go back. When I got back to her, I said "I know this is kind of wierd, but I really felt like I was supposed to come back and talk to you." She asked why I felt that way, and I told her it was God. She got this look on her face, and then said that was funny because she had been really depressed lately and named a bunch of things she needed prayer for. So as I bowed my head and started to pray for Diamond, she leaned over the counter and whispered "my name isn't Diamond ... it's Kathleen." In a world where she can trust absoulutely no one, she was willing to tell me her real name! I can't even express what a big deal that was! I got to pray over her using the name God had given her, not the one our polluted world had forced on her. It was beautiful ... moments like that remind me why I love ministry!
Sometimes I feel like God is out to spoil my fun ... but this trip was an extremely strong reminder that I am trading simple pleasures of this world for the true joys of the Spirit! It was awesome! You can see pictures and read stories from the students at http://loveforkenya.org/New_Orleans_2008.htm