Youth Mission Caravan 2008

AWAKE traveled to New Orleans to help with Katrina Relief. 16 students and 3 adults spent the week learning about the community and themselves. The team included Dawne Carver, James Carver, Rachael Carver, Jessica Claeys, Amanda Coronado, Caitlin Coronado, David DeSmet, Nichol Gonzales, Emily Hawing, Thomas Hawing, Caitlin Kirkpatrick, James Mitchell Jr., James Mitchell Sr., Raemy Paterson, Lauren Popenoe, Ben Reynolds, Jon Reynolds, Jayme White and Lisa White. There were 2 other church groups, one from CA and the other from Oregon, and a non church group from all over the country.  We painted and cleaned schools, cleaned a homeless shelter, sorted food from food banks, ran a Kids Club, worked with special needs adults, visited with the elderly at a nursing home, and stripping abandoned homes.

We went to the French Quarter, on a prayer drive that included where the levy broke, hosted a BBQ for the community and went to a Gospel church service. Youthworks did a wonderful job showing us the community and the people that we were serving.

We learned that there is so much still to be done to help this community recover. The people that live there are grateful to the churches that have come to help out the community and welcomed us with smiles and thanks. There is pain and anger, yet there are people that are learning more about Jesus and his love, as they watch strangers come to help them out. We all learned to look at people through the eyes of Jesus and that even the most mundane job can be done with joy when it is done to serve others and not ourselves.

Upon their return, the group stayed overnight to plan the services for the next day. They conducted both services and it was a moving time for all.

We want to thank all of you that help us to get there!