What We Did & And What We Saw: Mission to New Orleans Part Two

There are still so many houses in ruins like this house in the picture above.

This is the house we worked on during the week.

This is one of the heaps of ruble that we cleaned out of the house.

This is our team leader working on some framing

This is a picture of my brother and me, along with another guy on our team, after we finished frame a window.

On my mission trip to New Orleans, my team and I did electrical and framing work on a house. It was such a joy to see the Home Owner's face light up as we helped in the rebuilding of her home.



Three other woman and I framed two closets and replaced some ceiling beams in one room. We also cleaned out the house so that it would be all ready for sheet rock.



It was fun having my brother Luke go on the trip with me. He was busy doing electrical work along with the other guys on our team.



Continue to pray with me for Erlean, the Home Owner, that she would come to know Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

The Mission Field Around Us: Mission to New Orleans Part One

I just arrived home yesterday from a week-long mission trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. My church mission team and I spent the week working with an organization called Operation NOAH Rebuild. We worked on one house doing electrical work, framing, and preparation work for putting up sheet rock.

In the past I have gone on several mission trips to Mexico, but I have never gone to New Orleans. Even though three years have almost passed since Hurricane Katrina, the devastation is still more than apparent. The great hopelessness that I witnessed in the lives of the people I came in contact with was overwhelming. But amidst the rubble and broken pieces these people hold in their hands and the hopelessness they face daily, God's grace, mercy, and hope shine brighter. My mission team's goal was not only to help rebuild a home, but to share the hope of Jesus Christ with the people we came face to face with.

Even though Katrina is considered a great tragedy, I also recognize that God's hand was in it. As one lady in my mission team concluded, before Katrina New Orleans would hardly have been an attractive location for Christians to visit. But God used the devastation of Katrina to send hundreds of faith based teams into New Orleans to help rebuild the city and to share Jesus Christ with the lost.

God has placed each of His children into the mission field of His choosing. But we must go out and put our hand to the plow if we are to obey and glorify Him. There are people all around us who live in utter hopelessness, and God has called us who believe and trust in Him to share our hope in Christ with those who are lost.

My own prayer to God is that He would awaken in my heart a compassion for the lost fueled by my passion for Him. God has given us so much in Christ, let us not keep the riches of His mercy to ourselves, but let us share the Hope of Christ with those around us. Whether it is a co-worker or a neighbor, whether you go on a mission trip to New Orleans or witness to a cashier at the grocery store, wherever you are share the hope of Christ that is within you.

A Passion to Make Much of Christ

Ever since I was twelve years old, I have wanted to serve the Lord as a missionary. I have read countless books about missionaries who spent their entire lives serving the Lord in foreign countries, enduring great hardships, and sharing the Gospel with lost people.

These men and women who have already gone before me as Soldiers of the Cross have inspired me to live for something so much better than myself. They have challenged me to live for God alone and to spend my life making much of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My passion in life is to make much of Christ and I want to do this by serving the Lord as a missionary to the unreached. I want to go and share the Good News of Salvation with people who have never heard and I want to translate the Bible into their language.

However, I can not do this on my own. Only by God's grace and strength will this great passion that the Lord has given me come to pass. I can do nothing, but through Christ who strengthens me I can do everything (Philippians 4:13). I also need the prayers of faithful Christians to uphold my endeavor. God uses His children to bring about His plans and one of the ways He uses them is in prayer.

I beseach all of you who are Christians to prayer for the unreached people groups around the world. Join in my passion and pray that the unreached would be reached with the Gospel.

I think it is so easy for Christians in the twenty-first century to become consumed with "self" and to forget that God is not a part of our lives, but that He is our life. All of us only have a short time to live in this world, let us make the most of our time by making much of Christ with the time we have left.