Saturday, July 24, 2009

 

Day Six

 

Jazzed Up

 

 

Saturday was a good day.  No early morning wake up call.  No pressure to do see and experience everything all at once.  No anxiety over complex logistical concerns.  No longer are we wondering, ‘where is that?’ or ‘how would we fit that into our day?’  We already put in the extra effort required to be on the floor for the mass gathering event.  We already got up early for our servant event.  We already meandered through the Learning Center.  If the last few days have been cake, Saturday would be the icing.  Most of us had plans to do that thing or two we haven’t had the time to do yet.  Shop, see the rest of the French Quarter, go that museum we wanted to make time for or just get back to the hotel early to take a long deserved nap.

The day started with a little structured Gathering time.  From 9-11:30 we were assigned our time for the Interaction Center.  We got a taste for this amazingly huge place on Wednesday, but Saturday morning was our time to feast here.  After zip lines, wall climbing, and the pick up basketball/volleyball games we rejoined Holmen Lutheran for lunch at the Hard Rock Café.  It was truly a gift to enjoy our midday meal at tables away from long lines.  This was genius planning (thank you Leah for foresight!)  After the Hard Rock, our group from First walked together toward St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, King of France which is New Orleans iconic Church behind Jackson Square.  From there we split into smaller parts to enjoy whatever parts of the city still beckoned our attention.

After our afternoon experiences we met up again at 6:00 outside the Superdome.  Some of us (female types) had bought masks and boas and were ready to fly through a night of masquerades.  Others had ‘chilled’ at the pool.  But no matter where we had been, we were on our way to our last evening gathering event.  And it was a good one.

The theme for Saturday night was ‘Jazz’.  The first 10 minutes or so were dedicated to linking the way of jazz to the ways of God, which was exactly what I did with last Sunday’s sermon.  Jim Knutson heard so many of the same analogies that he asked me whether I got my sermon from the Jesus Justice Jazz website.  I, of course, told him that actually the JJJ gathering planners downloaded my sermon from First’s itunes site after hearing how helpful it wasJ  Anyway, that was – generally speaking – the theme for Saturday evening: how our God can improvise creation, redemption and grace into our lives and the whole world.  We first heard from Donald Miller, the author of Blue Like Jazz.  At no other point in this gathering has the connection between our service and Christ been made more clear.  Let me explain.  All week we have been patted on the back for how 36,000 Lutherans have so graciously come to New Orleans – a place in need of so much healing – to serve them by painting their schools and churches, assembling bags for school kids, reclaiming parks etc.  At the beginning of Saturday’s evening festivities we were even thanked in person by New Orleans’ mayor Ray Nagin and heard a thank you letter read by our Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson from President Barack Obama.  Our works are being noticed by the world.  But Donald Miller made it clear that we do not do these acts of service just because it is nice or the even the right thing to do.  We act on behalf of Jesus.  We serve because Christ first served us, as an act of worship and discipleship.  We not only do what we do in the name of Christ but for Christ.  Yes, it’s nice .  And yes, it IS the right thing to do.  But Christians act in service to our Lord first and foremost.

It can be easy amidst these amazing speakers who have done and are doing such amazing things to forget that connection to Christ.  I was so glad Saturday evening started out by being so clear.  We also heard separately from two women.  One leads a garden project in Milwaukee in response to God’s call for good stewardship of creation.  She doesn’t do it because it’s green, she says – although that is a perq.  Above all, she does it in respons eot her Lord Jesus who calls her to steward His creation.  Finally we heard from Kelly Mahlum who started a run club in North Philadelphia.  Just in her mid twenties she told her story about how she has gone from a girl with no faith in anything bigger than herself to finding herself caught up in a call from God, doing God’s work.  Just two years ago, after running every day past a dilapidated area of her city she slowly started to get to know the homeless guys who lived there.  She started to care about them and their problems of addiction and neglect.  So she asked them whether they’d like to run with her.  9 said yes and soon she was running with 30.  Two years later she has a bona fide ‘group’ who are there to support each other and dare I say love each other through life as they run.  But it was Kelly’s faith journey that spoke loudest to our kids.  She admits that this ministry (she never called it a ministry… but I just have to because it so clearly is) is not her own.  She never set out to meet her own goals or expectations.  This thing has a life of its own and is clearly God’s work.  She has just had the guts to say yes: here I am Lord (again she never used the ‘Here I am Lord’ line , but she so obviously has said that whether she knows it or not.)  Bottom line: she gave us a great example of how God jazzes love into the world through sometimes unsuspecting people.  And so, we are jazzed up after a great Saturday.  We are ready for Communion in the morning and our departure that we may get home as soon as possible on Monday morning.  

Friday, July 24, 2009

 

Day Five

 

Front and Center

 

 

On this fifth day of the gathering, many of us are feeling the full effects of being away from home.  Lack of sleep has accumulated.  Aches and pains from many miles walked are real.  And, of course, we sincerely miss the families and work we are absent from.  BUT, it is a good day to be at the Gathering as God continues to do a whole new thing in all of us… today especially through learning.  Each of the three full gathering days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) has a theme.  Day 1 for us was our service day.  Today, Day 2 is our learning day.  And tomorrow is our day to play (and so much more) in the interaction center. 

Our learning day (from 9-noon) was in the incredibly large New Orleans Convention Center.  Each participant was encouraged to complete 3 learning experiences which were rewarded by a pretty snazzy bandana.  We had dozens of workshops to choose from.  I heard Psalm 139 in a whole new way in terms of discernment.  Then I watched the PBS “American Experience” movie about the history of New Orleans.  Finally I did 6 activities that pertained to AIDS awareness.  There were workshops on keeping churches green, making Mardi Gras masks, and how to share your story through drama aong with many others. 

After our learning experience we ate in the New Orleans Riverwalk on the Mississippi.  I must say the jambalaya, red beans & rice, crawfish and hush puppies are all really tasty – especially when you have a little of each all at once.  (It’s a good thing I’m walking so much with all these extra calories).  Later our group went to an IMAX movie near the Riverwalk called, “Hurricane on the Bayou.”  This was a great way to be reminded of the devastation that occurred here from Katrina.  And it is actually necessary to be reminded, especially as we walk around this fully functioning city.  It is difficult to imagine, believe it or not, that 8 feet of water flooded out much of this area and that people literally died in the convention center and Superdome in the storm’s aftermath.  Remember the chaos that followed the storm?  Remember how there was an actual national debate as to whether we should rebuild this city?  And now we are here, walking its streets and experiencing its culture.  The movie brought it all back to our hearts once again. 

After relaxing in a dark air conditioned theater we made our way into the hot muggy New Orleans afternoon so that we could trek to the Superdome for tonight’s worship service.  The goal: floor seats for tonight’s mass gathering – which aren’t easy to get.  We arrived at 4:30, a full hour before they would even open the doors and 2 ½ hours before the 7:00 start time of the event.  That meant that we had to sit outside the Superdome’s closed doors for a full hour in the hot sun before we could get in.  And trust me, that wasn’t easy or fun.  But when those doors opened, and after we rushed inside we got the best seats in the house.  We sat on the same floor where thousands of people lived for a few weeks after Katrina.  Only this time where we sat was front and center at the foot of the Gathering’s enormous cross.

The theme of the worship service tonight was Hope.  We heard from  Spencer West and Michel Chikwanine.  Spencer had his legs amputated at the pelvis as a child and now advocates for all who are too easily bullied.  He knows Hope intimately as he has had to overcome seemingly hopeless social obstacles his whole life.  Michel was abducted as a 5 year old boy in the Republic of Congo so that he could serve as a child soldier.  If you have never heard a child soldier’s tale it is more awful than you can imagine.  After being forced to kill his own best friend, Michel (5) was made to assault a village for its food.  There – just 2 weeks into his new soldier life – he ran for three days and three nights back to his village.  He now advocates for change in Africa, believing Hope is real.

It was a good day, but everything requires patience and extra time.  Going to the bathroom, waiting for a shower, and even getting ice requires time.  Lunch had a 45 minute line at every restaurant.  The water fountain in the Superdome had a 35 minute wait.  IMAX was a half hour and well… patience wore thin at times today.  But it never left us completely, and I truly consider that a gift from God.  We should be more cranky with each other and ourselves.  But God is putting himself front and center in our lives through these experiences and when God is being so overwhelmingly powerful, it’s hard to be crabby.  Even when I write this blog at 1:00 AM after a long day.  Thanks be to God!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Day 4

 

God’s Work.  Our Hands.

 

I’m intentionally borrowing the ELCA’s tagline for today’s blog because it will never be more appropriate for us.  It turns out that even before Hurricane Katrina, the ELCA was in conversation with the city of New Orleans about the 2009 Gathering (we learned this from our servant leader, Leslie, of whom you will learn more below.)  But after the storm the ELCA asked the honest question: can you still handle our group?  Of course, New Orleans eventually (in faith and hope) said yes.  They worked hard to recover enough to receive such a gathering and here we are.  So even before the storm hit, tens of thousands of Lutherans were slated to offer works of service to the City of New Orleans.  And today it was First Lutheran, Onalaska’s turn to do God’s work here with our hands.

Most of our group woke up EARLY this morning.  It was a 5:45 bus call in hopes of a 6:00 gathering time at the Superdome with many buses who would then scatter around the city by 6:30 to dozens of worksites.  I say most of us woke up early because one of the rooms remained in dreamy slumber til’ well past 6:00.  I’ll change names to protect their identities but suffice it to say Anne SloBerg, Paige SLofald, Ella Slonutson and Rachel Sl(o)unney were a tad tardy to the bus (mentioning them in this blog is their only punishment). 

Happily, their lack of alarm prowess didn’t matter one bit.  Our bus at the Superdome didn’t leave for another 45 minutes.  That time was spent with our Servant Life Rep, Leslie who is a chem. major from Oklahoma and extremely gifted with energy, smiles and a willingness to know other people.  She made it her mission to know our names, share herself and find out our stories throughout the day.  We were extremely fortunate to be assigned the best Servant Life Rep the ELCA has (although they could all be that good, I suppose.) 

After our brief commute to the service site, along with about a hundred other orange shirted people, we received instructions: avoid all poison oak, poison ivy, poisonous snakes, poisonous spiders, and alligators (at least they aren’t poisonous).  And while we avoided all those things, we were introduced to the invaders: Chinese tallow trees and cat’s claw vines.  Our mission: remove every tree or vine we saw.  And we saw a lot.  Our efforts would contribute toward reclaiming this park for the local neighborhood.  And although we were hot and the humidity levels were at least 111% our kids and adults went at this task with gusto.  We hunted and killed every cat’s claw and Chinese tallow we found.  For one group of young men, they entered into a sort of battle mentality.  And trust me, those young men won every time.  There was a hacker (scythe), a lopper, a ‘lumberjack’ (bowsaw), a poison man (every exposed stump received herbicide) and a clean up gang to make sure no offspring (seeds) survived.  In short order, they made a highly effective team and Scout Island no longer has even one Chinese tallow tree left.  I can confirm that.

Our return home was uneventful and most of us rested this afternoon in preparation for another worship service at the Superdome this evening.  There, we heard more amazing speakers whose theme was: Love.  Know that God loves you.  Love others as they are.  Viola Vaughan shared her story of going to Senegal to retire, but being pulled by God into educating 10,000 girls – by herself (seriously… she is the only adult).  We heard about Thistle Farms which supports a ministry in Nashville where prostitutes and addicts are welcomed and sheltered that they may restart their lives.  And we heard more wonderful songs that all lifted up the theme of love.

What especially struck me today was how we went from many groups to one gathered group.  Each group down here brought their own t-shirt.  Most say where they’re from and have their own color.  But today, every participant offering service wore orange.  That we are from Onalaska, and they are from Illinois and they are from Texas is starting to matter less and less.  Today we all wore orange and we all offered service in the name of Jesus for a place in need.  You can feel barriers melting away as people say hi and get into real conversations more easily.  We’re past ‘where are you from’ and I’m hearing kids asking about what their churches do, what their families are like and what they are like.  God made this day fantastic – through service, fellowship and all the ways our kids’ parents have prepared them to be them on this trip.  I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

 

Day Three

 

From Gators to Mass Gathering

 

 

A balmy night gave way to an overcast morning in New Orleans.  On Wednesday we could start the day slowly as we prepared ourselves for a swamp tour (see the link).  Along our hour long route to the bayou we saw areas affected by Hurricane Katrina that still bear her awful scars.  One apartment building would look brand new next to a gutted out carcass of what used to be many people’s home(s).  The number of buildings still deserving demolition is astounding.  But what amazed me was how much repair work has been accomplished. 

Our tour of the swamp connected us much more intimately with the true flavor of Lousiana.  From the comfy confines of our boat (we kept our hands and feet in the boat at ALL times) we saw its birds, trees, turtles and – of course – it’s alligators.  We saw the female first: a paltry 6 feet long, which looked plenty big to me.  Later we saw how puny she really was when the 15 foot male swam up against our boat (in hopes of a marshmallow).  Some of us appreciated the opportunity to see God’s creation more than others.  The tour truly did provide a wonderful glimpse of the area.  And besides, boat rides are fun.

We returned to the city’s convention center for registration and spent a couple hours roaming its cavernous halls full of inflatables, basketball courts, beach volleyball, an Old Lutheran shop, an Augsburg Fortress bookstore, karaoke, and dozens of other informative booths.  As we roamed we mingled.  Inhibitions and shyness melt away pretty quickly in a context like this.  Leah provided everyone with a pretty good sized sleeve of stickers with “First Lutheran Onalaska, WI” and trust me, many people now have one (or many) of our stickers on their bag, their Bible or their person. 

From the Convention Center we walked to the Superdome which if walked on a normal day by a few friends could be accomplished within a half hour.  But a gathering contains no normal days and we have 37,000 friends here.  So it took an hour and a half.  The downtown area is literally flooded with our presence.  It turns out we are the largest convention group New Orleans has hosted since Katrina.  And that is something to be proud of (especially considering we announced our intention to be here 3 years ago… long before many other groups were willing to commit to this city).  So, New Orleans is happy to have us.  But we sure have messed up their traffic.  I think we’re kind of like having a high-maintenance house guest. 

The walk was muggy, frustrating and sweaty.  Stop, Go, catch the light, wait for the rest of the group, GO!  When we finally got to the Superdome it was more waiting as every single bag (and everyone had just been given a bag at the Convention Center) required a search before admittance.  Our kids who did so well at the cemetery yesterday were balancing themselves out with all kinds of complaints about being hungry, tired and ready to get there.  I can’t say their chaperones were doing much better.  We couldn’t get in to any of the lower sections, or the next sections.  But then finally after a couple escalators we found an opening, and entered the light.

Even above the rattle and hum of the exceptionally loud band the expressions on our kids’ faces rang clear.  Eyes were opened wide and frowns evaporated.  Before them were what we had talked about but could not really communicate with words: 37,000 young Lutherans in the Superdome ready to worship.  All hunger, frustration and fatigue was forgotten (mostly) and the only words I heard for the next couple hours were, ‘Awesome’ ‘fun’ ‘cool’ and ‘amazing’.  We heard from the leader of the St. Bernard project who have helped 220 families get back into their battered homes.  There are still 15,000 more families in need of help, but the theme of the night was be the change you want to see.  Every drop in the bucket contributes toward a cup of cold water.  We also heard powerful words from the leaders of Free the Children who set out to educate young people throughout he developing world.  All of this was meant to help us understand how powerful our drops in the bucket will be as we enter into our service projects this week.  It turns out that together we will paint thousand of homes, dozens of schools and reclaim hundreds of acres from weeds and foliage.  Every child in the New Orleans school system grades K-3 will receive a bag of school supplies from us.  Some say that the amount of work done by our group this week would have taken 3 years to accomplish otherwise.  Our service is powerful and real. 

So we will get to sleep early tonight as we prepare our bodies and hearts for a morning of service done in the name of the Lord for the sake of community in need.  I just pray it won’t be too hot.  

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Day Two

A Foretaste of the Kingdom (and the Gathering)

Our wake up call came abruptly at 7:30 with the twing-twangiest country music you can imagine blaring through bus speakers.  Many had a fitful night's 'rest' but to our happy surprise we arrived at the Louisiana border much sooner than we had expected.  New Orleans was just 93 miles away.  After flooding a Cracker Barrel with a busload of half-awake Wisconsinites with that funny accent of ours we bravely returned to our bus for the last leg.  We saw the garden district (otherwise known as mansion district), some marks left from Katrina and finally arrived in the French Quarter - our home for the next week.  

Deanie's was our lunch spot and lived up to our hopes for a truly Cajun experience.  (Who knew new potatoes rolled in cajun pepper could taste so good as an appetizer?)  After our lunch (which had not come long after breakfast) and 22 hours in a bus, we were ready to use our legs to explore.  Our first adventure was to an above ground cemetery just a few blocks from our hotel.  But our energy was soon drained by a fierce midday sun.  Our extremely knowledgeable tour guide must have been disappointed in us as we literally melted before we were even half done with the tour.  The intricacies of crypts, bodies from the Revolutionary War, the Protestant section and the difference between wrought iron and cast iron soon became lost on a bunch of people who just felt hot.  And yet our brave clan from Onalaska refused to complain.  We sought shade wherever we could and leaned on our knees, but we would not give up.  If nothing else, the cemetery tour will be a shared (hot) experience for all of us to remember.  

After the tour it was time to get to our hotel, the Chateau Bourbon, which is beautiful.  A pool waits in the central courtyard for lots of fun throughout the week and we all have rooms on the 3rd floor.  The hotel itself is located on Canal Street - the main north/south thoroughfare in the touristy part of New Orleans and Bourbon Street is just around the corner from the back door.  After a couple hours of personal time, our group took a trip down the bawdy Bourbon street.  

Let me just say that in 1992 I, personally, went on my first youth gathering as a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod 15 year old youth.  What I remember most from that whole week (which is really too bad for all the efforts made by the Church to provide amazing faith experiences) was the feeling I took away from Bourbon St.  It felt dirty in every way to me.  It is definitely a rated R place with its many "gentlemen's clubs", nasty T-shirts and odd smells.  Yet Bourbon St lives in the consciousness of most Americans, and is definitely not a secret for our young people who are here (nor was it for me when I was 15).  This is an age of curiosity and exploration while discovering personal values and receiving the gifts of the identity God gives each of us as his own child.  I believe it my job as Pastor to help our young people process these sights and sounds, smells and temptations.  Where is God in all This? (WIGIAT) as my seminary professor would say.  So we went.  Our youth had pizza and strolled all the way to the end, only to be happily surprised by how much better the French Quarter felt once they turned off Bourbon St.  There, we saw fun little art shops with blown glass and pretty dresses and ICE CREAM!  Any street without and ice cream parlor can't be all that great, right?  

For the rest of the night we looked forward to tomorrow's Swamp Tour and time in the interaction center.  And, of course, tomorrow's first mass gathering at the Superdome.  What's amazing about New Orleans right now is that there are already hundreds of groups of young Lutherans flooding the raunchy and the beautiful sights of New Orleans.  We met some from Elizabethtown, PA, Norfolk, VA, Orlando, FL and the next group we saw was from West Salem, WI.  That's how it goes down here. There is an odd city with unique customs and many rich treasures to enjoy while also so flawed.  And amidst this beauty and brokenness are a bunch of people with high hopes that they will grow in Christ, serve those in need and get to know strangers... all in the name of Jesus.  It is in many ways a foretaste of the Kingdom... and the gathering.

Monday July 20, 2009

Day One

Full of questions, excitement & faith! 

 

On the surface, day one of our Youth Gathering seemed like a dull travel day.  Leaving at 1:00 from First, stopping in Normal, IL for the least healthy supper we could find followed by more and more hours of sitting in a bus.  But all that is just a travel itinerary.  Much more is simmering in the hearts and minds of these youth and their adult leaders. 

What kind of adventure will this be?  What will we see?  How will God show up to me this week?  Through service?  Through worship?  Through meeting people with different perspectives than mine?  I wonder how my faith will feel different to myself and look different to others upon my return?

These and many more questions await a response from our experience in New Orleans.  One thing is certain, though: everyone here is ready to receive whatever gifts God has to offer.  I have had the chance to talk to almost all 25 of our group individually today.  Each of us is leaving something different back home: a job, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, siblings, a summer sport, a family…   Each of us brings certain experiences, expectations and fears.  But as we enter a night in seated 'slumber' we are entrusting all we’ve left behind to God while opening ourselves to God’s work this week. 

Who? What? When? Where?

On Monday, July 20 at 1:00 26 of us from First Lutheran will embark upon an adventure we'll never forget.  But before we go I hope no one forgets to bring... 

1) a pair of heavy work gloves 

2) their Gathering T-Shirts

3) a willingness to endure HOT weather