Karen leading an Evening Gathering.
Our streetcar ride.
Dinner at Mulate's.
Giving witness at St. John's.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Heaven Helper Highlights...
Karen leading an Evening Gathering.
Our streetcar ride.
Giving witness at St. John's.
Heaven Helpers Do Sno Balls at Plum Street
This bead encrusted bicycle leaning on a tree next to the Sno-Ball stand fascinated us. We just couldn't imagine the story behind this!!!
It's bling on steroids. Let's you know right away you're in New Orleans.
Sno Balls are a delectable treat that is distinctly New Orleans. They are not snow cones and they are not exactly shaved ice. They have strong heavy syrups over ice, and the flavors are amazing: mint, strawberry 
cheesecake, and cotton candy are taste sensations.
cheesecake, and cotton candy are taste sensations.
Heaven Helper...home again, home again, jiggety jig
What a long/short week!!!!
It was long because the heat and humidity was so constant and demanding, and there was so much to get done.
It was short because there was so much more we wanted to do, and not enough time. It was also short because the team was so harmonious. The time we shared flew by.
It is good to be home. In a lot of ways it was like the end of the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy comes back from the technicolor Oz to the real world, but just like Dorothy says, "there's no place like home".
Sometimes people ask why it is important for us to do missions far away from home, when there is plenty of need close to home.
Believe me, the ones of us who have a passion for missions debate this topic regularly and there are many answers, some of which you may never have considered.
First of all, almost all of us do serve locally and serve our families in many critical ways. It is not an either/or proposition. Most of us give our time, our hearts, our offerings, and our work to many causes. We tend to be people who find and keep our faith through action.
Second, these missions have two critical components: (1) building houses, (2) building our St. John's youth. Neither component is more important, nor supersedes the other. When our youth go to places less priviliged than Edwardsville and the Metro East, they learn both appreciation and compassion. We hear these kinds of comments: "I never knew how much my family does for me." "I thought being out of food meant not having anything quick to cook, I'd never before seen empty cupboards and refrigerators." "I realize how lucky we are." And, from a teen aged boy, "I don't say it often enough, and I want to say it in public, I realize now what you provide for me, and I love you, Mom."
Third, taking on missions far away from home requires a different level of commitment. If we schedule even a three day event in the local area, we have people move in and out of the boundaries..."we'll be late", "we'll have to leave early", "we can't spend the night", "we have to", "we can't", "there's a conflict", etc.
When we all pick up and go to Kentucky or South Carolina or West Virginia or New Orleans, we have to have a focused commitment. People have to make plans to serve and the mission is the only game in town.
Finally, travel to interesting and different places is restorative and keeps us from becoming stale and jaded. We have the opportunity to consider alternative ways of organizing life, and different styles and patterns of living. If we open our hearts to the different and new, we have a chance to grow in compassion, and to be less rigid and judgmental. We have the chance to understand that "different" doesn't have to be rated or graded. "Different" doesn't have to be better or worse, it's just another approach to handling this life.
This mission was a wonderful experience. This was our biggest youth mission yet, and we made such an amazing difference. We have no way to know how many lives we touched. Just having a chance to sit in both church services today and hear the testimonies from the various teams was richly rewarding and highly textured.
Here's a great, big "God Bless" to all the followers of our blog, all the members of all the teams, to all the shareholders, to all the members of our St. John's church family and extended family.
It was long because the heat and humidity was so constant and demanding, and there was so much to get done.
It was short because there was so much more we wanted to do, and not enough time. It was also short because the team was so harmonious. The time we shared flew by.
It is good to be home. In a lot of ways it was like the end of the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy comes back from the technicolor Oz to the real world, but just like Dorothy says, "there's no place like home".
Sometimes people ask why it is important for us to do missions far away from home, when there is plenty of need close to home.
Believe me, the ones of us who have a passion for missions debate this topic regularly and there are many answers, some of which you may never have considered.
First of all, almost all of us do serve locally and serve our families in many critical ways. It is not an either/or proposition. Most of us give our time, our hearts, our offerings, and our work to many causes. We tend to be people who find and keep our faith through action.
Second, these missions have two critical components: (1) building houses, (2) building our St. John's youth. Neither component is more important, nor supersedes the other. When our youth go to places less priviliged than Edwardsville and the Metro East, they learn both appreciation and compassion. We hear these kinds of comments: "I never knew how much my family does for me." "I thought being out of food meant not having anything quick to cook, I'd never before seen empty cupboards and refrigerators." "I realize how lucky we are." And, from a teen aged boy, "I don't say it often enough, and I want to say it in public, I realize now what you provide for me, and I love you, Mom."
Third, taking on missions far away from home requires a different level of commitment. If we schedule even a three day event in the local area, we have people move in and out of the boundaries..."we'll be late", "we'll have to leave early", "we can't spend the night", "we have to", "we can't", "there's a conflict", etc.
When we all pick up and go to Kentucky or South Carolina or West Virginia or New Orleans, we have to have a focused commitment. People have to make plans to serve and the mission is the only game in town.
Finally, travel to interesting and different places is restorative and keeps us from becoming stale and jaded. We have the opportunity to consider alternative ways of organizing life, and different styles and patterns of living. If we open our hearts to the different and new, we have a chance to grow in compassion, and to be less rigid and judgmental. We have the chance to understand that "different" doesn't have to be rated or graded. "Different" doesn't have to be better or worse, it's just another approach to handling this life.
This mission was a wonderful experience. This was our biggest youth mission yet, and we made such an amazing difference. We have no way to know how many lives we touched. Just having a chance to sit in both church services today and hear the testimonies from the various teams was richly rewarding and highly textured.
Here's a great, big "God Bless" to all the followers of our blog, all the members of all the teams, to all the shareholders, to all the members of our St. John's church family and extended family.
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