Here are reflections from two of our young peoplen and one adult on yesterday’s adventures in New Orleans…
Will Niebuhr’s reflection: “The first official day of the Gathering kicked off with a bleary-eyed walk to the Convention Center where we recorded our assignment for the day. After we loaded the buses we took a 20 minute drive to a nearby neighborhood. We learned that many communities in New Orleans, outside of downtown, often receive less attention, resources and money than the tourist areas. Our service project was to pick up trash in one of these communities. We cleaned a concrete slab that used to be a strip mall before Hurricane Katrina. Now, nearby residents who don’t recieve proper sanitation services dump their trash wherever they can. It was certainly eye-opening trying to understand what it would be like in one of these neighborhoods. After lunch and a quick shower, we made our way to the Smoothie King Center for a special rehearsal for the night’s mass gathering. Several weeks ago our group was chosen to participate in one of the night’s performance, along with about 500 other people. We spent several hours in the arena rehearsing for the night. Afterwards we got some food and returned to the Center for our major debut. Finally, after the mass gathering we headed to Cafe Du Monde for some of their famous beignets. After that, a quick final conversation with the group and we were off to bed for the night.”
Maya Troutman also shares: “First we had to get up at 6am to start our accompaniment day. We walked to the convention center that took about 15 minutes. There were lots of people there (5000 – 6000, a third of the participants) so we waited in line awhile to get through security. We met our servant companion and the three other groups serving with us. We then went on a bus to our work site where we were picking up trash, furniture, long tubes, etc. It was hard work in very hot weather. I felt God was with me and encouraging me to keep going and I am very grateful for God all of the time. We were there for 2 hours with 5 other buses (about 300 youth and adult leaders) When we were dropped back off at the convention center we walked to hour hotel. We freshend up and ate lunch. Then we went to the Smoothie King Arena to practice for the gathering. We learned a dance that was pretty fun. We ran through it several times to make sure everyone knew it and would remember what to do later that day. We went to a restaurant close by to get dinner. Then we went back to the Smoothie King Arena for the gathering. We joined everyone in the Center for the mass gathering for about an hour until we had to go backstage and get set to perform. It was really fun and everyone was hyped up. After the gathering ended, we went to get a snack (beignets) which were really good, I have never had one before. Then we went to our hotel and talked about our day. Went up to our rooms and showered then went to bed.”
From Sharon Hardel: “Thanks to all the parents and everyone who watched us perform live at the Gathering and sent us screen shots. Getting the opportunity to be on stage was a highlight for most of us, including Pastor Andrew! The photos are of us waiting to start our accompaniment day…tired, but ready. Our servant companion was a former youth of mine from PA – so exciting. We are sharingphotos from our rehearsal, after the actual performance, some screen shots parents took, as well as photos that friends in the arena shared with us.”
