thanks to thomas, apparently i am one of the least offensive bloggers in all the land. i'm like disney.. actually disney probably is more racey than i.. guess i need to step up my controversy & scare level. now, where to begin?
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thanks to thomas, apparently i am one of the least offensive bloggers in all the land. i'm like disney.. actually disney probably is more racey than i.. guess i need to step up my controversy & scare level. now, where to begin?
Posted at 10:57 PM in bloggin | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: blogging
so i was pretty stoked to check facebook and see my friend laura holding another friends baby. note: i actually assume it is my old friend.. how many friends does laura have named phaedra. so as it turns out phaedra named their new boy gavin thomas wheeler. chaulk one up another baby named after me!
i guess this is the 2nd baby. it might be more than that. the first i knew of is my friends jenny high school friend nathan, who we hung out with for a couple of weeks a number of years ago. she mentioned to me that he had a boy and named him gavin after me. weeks later i was at a party where some of nathans friends were at and when i told them my name they were like "whoa, we have a friend whose boy is named nathan." my response.. "i know, he's named after me cause i am soooo very cool."
Posted at 12:38 AM in personal | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: baby names, gavin
i can't believe it. the announcement happened while we were on mission trips so i am just now catching up on news that my show is back on the air again.. not for the fall, but next week! wow! apparently people cared, cause i sure didn't. well, i didn't care enough to create some website about it.
Posted at 12:21 AM in culture | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: jericho, television
this evening a strange occurance happened. i had an interesting conversation with a girl i don't know over instant messenger & she didn't know me either. not sure why we started talking, she started chiming in with me (my only guess being on some old user name of someone i don't talk to anymore). turns out she's from australia and her talking to me is as odd as it is to me... so the conversation was awkward.. and when she claims that she is an atheist, how does one respond? a bit of how i did..
grl: How old are you?
me: 33
grl: Yup see i'm 15.
me: most of the folks i talk on here are youth from my church. i am a youth pastor
grl: and im Athesit
me: that's cool
grl: Yes. I dont go to Chruch
me: i could understand that
... (random chit chat, where i found out where she lived, she doesn't like camel races, plays world of warcraft)
grl: Are you REALLY relgious?
me: it depends on what you mean by "religious"
grl: Like strongly believe in goD?
grl: Liek PRAIsE THE LORD
me: i like to think i have a healthy relationship with God. with that, i believe that God exists. i'm not too praise the lord (hands in the air type stuff).
grl: Oh I just dont believe.
me: that's cool, i have often talked with other atheists as i have trouble not believing... though i constantly go through times of life where i "go away" and "come back" to this relationship with God. i have a hard time understanding how others can't do the same.. i do get how people can have periods of not believing
grl: I never have believed
me: never thought about it? never cared?
grl: Basically
me: i couldn't imagine my life without my relationship with God. i know my life has become more joyful and more complex as my relationship has grown deeper. i could only wonder if i didn't have faith
grl: Ah I feel better. Dont gotta worry bout it.
me: i get that.. the complex part comes from my convictions to do more for those who are poor and in need.. probably part of why i work with youth. my heart breaks for those that hurt. something i didn't quite have a number of years ago
grl: KAY
... (more random chit chat, where she talked about wanting to go out for cross country, said bye)
at the close of the conversation there was one thing i found that i never did.. i never offered her to ask me any questions about "why" or "who" for me. i shared a bit about how i experience God, nothing major.. but i never gave her a chance to ask questions that she might have been interested in. you would think that could be an important part of a conversation.
Posted at 12:11 AM in church/religion, youth ministry | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: atheism, instant messenger, youth ministry
... a mystic, and evangelical pastor and a fundamentalist preacher die on the same day and wake to find themselves by the pearly gates. Upon reaching the gates they are promptly greeted by Peter, who informs them that before entering heaven they must be interviewed by Jesus concerning the state of their doctrine. The first to be called forward is the mystic, who is quietly ushered into a room. Five hours later the mystic reappears with a smile saying, "I thought I had got it all wrong." Then Peter signals to the evangelical pastor, who stands up and enters the room. After a full day has passed the pastor reappears with a frown and says to himself, "How could I have been so foolish!" Finally Peter asks the fundamentalist to follow him. The fundamentalist picks up his well-worn Bible and walks into the room. A few days pass with no sign of the preacher, then finally a door swings open and Jesus himself appears, exclaiming, "How could I have got it all so wrong!"
i keep giggling at this, long after reading it. courtesy of 'how (not) to speak of God'
Posted at 02:44 PM in bloggin, church/religion, theology | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: books, how not to speak of god, pete rollins
last week i shared that we were spending the week in vbs. this story got picked up by nashville is talking, which i continually become amused by what gets picked up by nit. because of my lack of blog time last week i never noticed that it was put in circulation, so today i was intrigued in reading the various comments (warning: pg-13 language at times). shameful to say i was introduced to a new word and Christian practice of "tracts." now, i knew that people would hand out little pamphlets. i think i got a few when i was last in new orleans for mardi gras. however, i never knew they were a named practice. so when i was looking at this site i was amused to see one of their little banner slogans "equipping Christians with relevant tools."
with this i had to ask.. are these things actually "relevant tools?" me, i'd have to say no.
it's even worse to read some of the stories of people leaving them behind and looking like a large amount of money.. what message does that send? seems like a bait and switch to me, we know you want this but we are going to give you this.
Posted at 02:32 PM in church/religion | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: church, evangelism, tracts
Posted at 02:10 PM in methodism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: church, hendersonville, methodist
a strange sight for street musicians. not something you'd expect in nashville, however, unique sound i am taking notice of. i would actually drop some money their way if they were on 2nd ave. tip marko
Posted at 09:34 PM in culture | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: music, wrong trousers, youtube
33 years ago today i was born... or so my parents and the state of alabama tell me. i trust my parents, not always the state of alabama (though i see no reason for them to lie to me either) so i am pretty comfortable calling today my birthday.
i am not a big b'day person when it comes to gifts. i have everything i need, but this year, we are getting something that i have long wanted. if anyone has some idea how to play this thing give me some advice.
i'll be spending this grand day doing stuff i have done for almost 14 years straight.. working on youth stuff. having a summer birthday and working in youth ministry is a tough deal. i almost always away at camps or in the midst of some church event during the b'day. before i get to working i am going to treat myself to a spin around the golf course.
Posted at 12:42 AM in personal | Permalink | Comments (18) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: birthday, gavin richardson, personal
i just finished watching nightline which had an article on rick warren and purpose driven churches. i have been critical of warren in the past and the commercial blitz of purpose driven everything grossed me out. however, i have come to respect the man as he has found his place to bring attention to larger global issues.
the news article isn't anything fascinating. though, i found this quote amusing in my own way.
"I like to teach theology to people without telling them it's theology and without using theological terms," he said. "Simple does not mean simplistic. Simple does not mean superficial. Simple means it's clear."
he obviously isn't teaching the trinity.
Posted at 12:14 AM in church/religion, theology | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: church, rick warren, theology, trinity
so i find this particular writing by john wesley interesting.. for length purposes i'm putting into smaller parts. from "the character of a methodist" published in 1739.
Methodists are those who had God's love poured into their hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to them, who love the Lord their God with all their hearts, and with all their souls, and with all their minds, and with all their strength. God is the joy of their hearts, and the desire of their souls; which constantly cry out, Whom have I in heaven but you? And their is nothing on earth that I desire other than you! My God and my all! You are the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever!
They are therefore happy in God, yea, always happy, as having in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life, and overflowing their souls with peace and joy. Perfect love having now cast out fear, they rejoice in the Lord always, even in God their Savior. Having found redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of their trespasses, they cannot but rejoice, whenever they look back on the horrible pit out of which they are delivered. They cannot but rejoice, whenever they look on the state wherein they now are: justified by God's grace as a gift, and having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. For those who believe have the testimony of this in their hearts, being now the children of God by faith. Because they are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into their hearts, crying, "Abba Father!" And that very Spirit bears witness with their spirits, that they are children of God. They rejoice also, whenever they look forward, in hope of the glory that shall be revealed. All their bones cry out, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! by his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope... into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us!"
And those who have this hope give thanks in all circumstances as knowing that this (whatsoever it is) is the will of God in Christ Jesus for them. From God, therefore, they cheerfully receive all saying, "Good is the will of the Lord"; and whether the Lord gives or takes away, equally blessing the name of the Lord. For they have learned to be content with whatever they have...
maybe it's me, but as i read over this description of methodists.. i couldn't think of many it fits. as a church i feel we do show love, but when you get into our individuals it isn't always so apparent. i don't know too many methodists that would claim impacting by the Holy Spirit. that might be more due to a poor teaching of the spirit by our church as a whole. i don't know if i want to touch the happiness of the individual and how well we give thanks...
would john be upset with the character of today's methodists?
Posted at 09:22 AM in books, methodism | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: books, john wesley, methodist, spiritual life
i have mentioned the simple way before & shane claiborne as well. i am saddened to hear of the 7 alarm fire that has damaged the homes and hub of kensington neighbor hood in philadelphia.
This morning, a 7-alarm fire consumed an abandoned warehouse in our Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia. The Simple Way Community Center at 3200 Potter Street was destroyed as well as at least eight of our neighbors’ homes. Over 100 people were evacuated from their homes, and 400 families are currently without power. Despite this developing tragedy, we are incredibly thankful to share that all of our community members and every one of our neighbors is safely out of harm’s way.
This fire will forever change the fabric of our community. Eight families are currently homeless, and in many cases have lost their vehicles as well as their homes. One of our neighbors, the Mahaias Family, lost their three cars as well as the equipment one family member uses for her massage therapy business. Teenager Brian Mahaias is devastated not because he has lost his belongings, but because he fears that this fire will force him to move away from this neighborhood that is his family as well as his home.
The Simple Way has lost a community center that was home to our Yes! And… afterschool program, community arts center, and Cottage Printworks t-shirt micro-business as well as to two of our community members. Community members Shane Claiborne and Jesce Walz have lost all of their belongings, Yes! And…’s after school studio and library were ruined, and community member Justin Donner’s Cottage Printworks equipment and t-shirts were destroyed.
a 7 alarm fire is big and tough to handle with the row home neighborhoods in philly. my feelings come from being a firefighter across the river in nj (which had some row homes) but mostly i grew up watching these incidents a number of times over the years and hearing of the people displaced.
this one hits me a little harder as i have a passion for the mission of the simple way. i appreciate what the people of the simple way stand for. i will be helping support the simple way, i'd encourage everyone to check out the simple way, you will have a hard time not finding a reason to feel for their situation and
We have established an emergency relief fund, not just for the simple way, but for those in the neighborhood who lost their homes. You can contribute by either sending checks to the simple way at PO Box 14751 Philadelphia, PA 19134...
Posted at 10:48 PM in culture, emergent, monastic | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: philadelphia, shane claiborne, the simple way
today we kicked off our vacation bible school. i cannot remember if i have mentioned this before, but hendersonville first does vbs very big. crazy big, i've been overwhelmed by it when i first got to the church. this year is not any different, the difference is that our church has been chosen as a test and filming site for next years abingdon vbs curriculum.
the big theme is "surfing the scriptures" which i can totally get into for a vbs theme. beach and ocean stuff is a plenty to decorate and do crafts with. the music is fun, at least today it is.. after a few days of it i'll check back in with you.
our youth team is in charge of the 5th & 6th graders. it's a complicated age as generally the 6th graders find themselves too sophisticated to be doing this childish stuff. we are trying to mix it up with our own indoor volleyball set up, some different kind of seating, and using the youth area with pingpong/fuseball and playing some raggae music over the sound system. we tried to pick some craft & interactive learning stuff that is more challenging.
Posted at 06:55 PM in church/religion, methodism, ministry | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: children, church, hendersonville, methodist, vacation bible school
my erin is now newspaper famous. erin & her father were featured in a series of business articles on dads handing over their businesses to their children. it seems that there are not too many dads handing over their businesses to their daughters (or so it seems from erin's interactions with the reporter) it's almost a guy thing. that is kinda sad, but it allows for erin & fam their unique relationship to be showcased.
i don't know if many of you know, but we are a bug family, all american pest control was started in the 60's by erin's granddad, her dad has ground it out over the years into a super quality business in what is not always the most professional of fields. i was actually recommended to them when i bought my first home, about two years before erin & i started dating.. now, i am atleast trained to spray homes. i'd have to get involed a bit more to do anything more technical.
anyhow, she's the planner as her dad is too, so they have begun this process of working out the biz & our eventual purchase of it. me, i'm the cheerleader persona (i guess).. many concepts are still foreign to me, but i can nod and smile. &:~) we have talked of my involvement in the future years as our family and the business grows.. we shall see how all that turns out
they are both super folks (erin obviously i am biased, as is all of erin's family) so i am happy to see them get some good exposure for their unique relationship and well grounded business. if you have a pest problem and live in the middle tennessee i'd highly suggest you give erin or her dad a call at all american pest control.
:: full article (you might have to put in some info) ::
Posted at 01:16 PM in personal | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: business, fathers day, nashville
i am not one who normally picks and chooses atheletes based on their faith. however, i have in the past. so why not again. in reading some of the updates from the usopen weblog i was intrigued to read that the current leader and playing partner to tiger woods tomorrow has a faith that is present to those around the media.
But I do like Baddeley's demeanor. He's a very religious guy and he seems very at peace with himself. He just might have the heart and soul to deal with all the outside stuff that Woods brings to a final pairing.
curious to know if this was just well wishes i checked out aaron's website (www.badds.com). it's a flash site, so i cannot give a direct link, but if you follow the "q&a" link at the bottom you will see a new page open with a button on "faith." in there i was pretty impressed with some of the write ups, testimonials, and devotionals. they cover a pretty substantial topic list from attitude, q&a, dating, to grace.
i knew i liked aaron when he came onto the scene as a young phenom a few years ago. now, i'm pretty impressed with his character.
it doesn't seem right to me to root for one person over another strictly on a basis of their faith being similar to mine. so i won't be doing that. but i will be watching with interest how he handles things. and if he wins, i will be watching to see who he thanks first (see his thoughts on attitude). i am sure i will be cheering for him some, as well as the rest of the field, namely my fellow lefty "bubba."
Posted at 02:04 AM in church/religion | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: aaron baddeley, christianity, church, faith, golf, us open
this week has been crazy. i am super tired from annual conference right on the back of one of our mission experiences for the summer. after all that it's been vbs set up time (more on that later) and i'm off to church for the evening as we are hosting a concert.
for a break i've been watching a lot of the usopen. i used to be a pretty good golfer in my day. so the pga is something i try to keep caught up with, but the summer is hard to keep up with anything. as i sit in forced relaxation i found amusing these church translations by eric on conversations at the usopen. some favs
“Why would Sergio Garcia wear those ugly blue pants?” (Churchspeak translation: “Why would they choose THOSE curtains for the Fellowship Hall?”)
“When the U.S. Open was held here back in 1994, we could get much closer to the players.” (Churchspeak translation: “We’ve never done it that way before.”)
“I hope a foreigner doesn’t win the Open this year.” (Churchspeak translation: “God bless America!”)
oh, i'm pulling for bubba. he's a lefty like me, plus he's named bubba.
Posted at 04:36 PM in church/religion, personal | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: church, golf, us open
having a little blast from my past. i'm trying to get rid of some old media. so i am finding these old youth videos i created over the years. this is one of the videos for Warmth in Winter, a large youth gathering of united methodists from the tennessee conference. I can't remember exactly which year this was, but I believe it was january 2005. if you want you can check out some of the other videos i have uploaded onto google video. |
Posted at 04:15 PM in youth ministry | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: tennessee conference, united methodism, video, warmth in winter, youth ministry
this is so stupid, but i couldn't turn it off. ever wonder what country pentecostal church in tennessee might look like? note: one time language alert.
Posted at 08:35 AM in church/religion | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: church, pentecostal, tennessee
i decided to take the day off from annual conference. too much stuff to do in re-entering the life of the church after being gone. check in with jay, he's apparently still there and giving vote results (if you care about that stuff). me, i'll probably be doing some back to normal blogging.
Posted at 10:07 AM in methodism | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: annual conference, methodism
jay helping people miss votes by talking in the lobby. apparently the camera on my phone is pretty bad
Posted at 04:37 PM in bloggin, methodism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: annual conference, methodist, tennessee
that is supergirl in the distance. apparently conflicted on sitting in the balcony or on the main floor.
Posted at 02:53 PM in bloggin, methodism | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: annual conference, methodism, tennessee
10:29am... the fifth vote for laity came through with one delegate elected. beth morris who had 134 votes, with a needed number of 134. apparently the morning vote was a low turnout of people. one more delegate to go.
on the agenda today is the youth report. so after the report and the election of our last delegate, i'm going home to bed. this running from mission experience, to youth annual conference (which was cool, i led a workshop on servant leadership & we had three youth elected to office), now to annual conference.. gavin is tired.
before that though i might spend my rei dividend.
10:36am... jurisdictional election results for clergy coming in. one election, harriet bryan. Whoa!! vin walkup, whom i have the greatest amount of respect for, is giving a great testimony of his commitment to the conference and asking those voting for him to vote for other persons who can give leadership for the coming years. i wonder what this will do with the clergy vote.. i might just have to hang around now.
11:28am... we just finished up the youth and camping reports. this is my fav part as obviously i am heavily involved in the youth ministries of the conference. johnathan put together the highlights video which was well done and touching. seeing many of the kids i've been with over the years. the youth ministry institute was recognized as well, my new friends in the ministry, whether it be my mentee or retreat friends.. the camping report came after that. having my position as conference youth coordinator i am a member of the camping committee. we have spent the last two years putting together changes in programming and focus for our camping ministries. it was great to be at a point where we could recognize our new staff members and vision.
1:47pm... we return from luch to hear the results of the laity vote #6. no election. different from the prior ballots the bishop has posted a list of youth and young adults that are on the ballot for election. i am not part of that as i am a few years too old for young adult consideration. this process is taking so long i wonder if we will ever get done our jurisdicional candidates and alternates.
2:20pm... we are currently listening to the bishop give the state of the church address. a couple of things he is doing is proping some books, restoring methodism, something by bishop schnase, & the life journal. he just went through the online life journal which mark did a tremendous amount of work to get rolling smoothly, he propped the banner (but no props to me eventhough i made it a few years ago).
2:59pm... the latest clergy vote has come in without an election. we continue to have invalid votes which i don't understand. if you don't want to vote some particular person in, atleast vote someone who doesn't stand a chance (ala. yourself) and then the vote for a legitimate candidate will be valid.
a laity vote came in... some 12 invalid votes.. various reasons. red pen, wrong numbers, voting people who were already voted for. no election. opel ransom got 140 votes (156 needed), a big drop off after that. they keep screwing up the display of all votes. i'm interested to see if there is an increase in the youth adult vote.... okay, that is up now, no real improvement. i drop to 2 votes. gee, not even my friends are voting for me. think it is time to head home. &:~)
6:51pm... we finally had an election for the last of our gc laity delegation. opal ransom. ran away with the voting. our closest young adult was 134 votes away from getting elected. as one looks at the laity voting we had a struggle between the friends of our conservative lay leader and those who are middle of the road or somewhat progressive.
7:02pm... we almost had an election for clergy delegates for jurisdiction.. max mayo recieved 75 of a needed 76 votes.
Posted at 10:44 AM in methodism | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: annual conference, brentwood, methodism, tennessee
i have been hanging out at annual conference this week, obviously. in hanging out i've had some great times catching up with friends that i don't get to see too often. favorite quote was in meeting up with joaquin garcia in the bathroom. i broke the rules in talking with him.. i know this.. get over that
me: "so how is life on the main floor?"
joaquin: starts laughing. "life on the main floor? i suppose the real question is. is there life on the main floor?"
us: laughing hysterically
Posted at 08:32 AM in methodism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: church, conference, tennessee, united methodist
in a few minutes i'll be heading over to the "methodome" for the first full day of our annual conference. the first balloting order of business is to elect our candidates for general conference. we will elect five laity candidates, which i am part of that pool. the church has wi-fi, if it actually has signal in the sanctuary i'll be live blogging my results. if not, i'll just post results as i can.
i'm excited to see how this all turns out. there wasn't much "campaigning" on my part, just hanging around and talking to friends of mine yesterday. fortunately or unfortunately most of those friends are clergy and may or may not have mentioned to their delegates to vote for me..
let's see where the day takes us
8:39am i have arrived a few minutes ago and taken my perch in the balcony of the "methodome." side note: i call this the methodome as brentwood umc is the largest church in our conference, their sanctuary has a large dome architecture, plus, it's really really big. seems logical to me to call it such. we have started to do the initial vote on clergy and are now taking up votes for laity. not sure how long the ballot counting takes.
9:13am we apparently are counting a vote. had some report on standing rules and now we are listening to a bible study by dr. waite willis, jr. he has a nice presence, has thrown in some funny jokes, plus shared some stories about bishop wills as they are apparently brother-in-laws.
9:43am.. bible study is still going on.. i am noticing that people don't know how to turn off their cell phones.
1:37pm... they are announcing the results of the 2nd clergy and fist laity ballot. two elections for clergy. lynn hill, cathie leimenstoll.. from what i've been hearing, par for the course. clergy ballot #3 is being taken, voting for 3 persons.
as we wait on that.. some fun stuff. i ran into art & stacie just after the memorial service. they look just like i imagined.. or the pictures they put on their blogs. we loosely skated around doing lunch, but it is so crazy here. i did have lunch with some of the young adults brett & bill being two of them. jay, though not a young adult (nor am i) joined us.
1:52pm... the lay ballot #1, 316 valid ballots. 159 votes needed for election. don ladd & joe williams elected with the first ballot. it looks like over 80 people were written into the ballot. me, i got 50 votes. very close to getting elected is betty alexander.
4:37pm... clergy ballot 4 came in. no election. bettye lewis, john collett, barbara garcia are the front runners getting 50plus votes, but less than the needed 73. new clergy ballot being taken.
as i am waiting on all this.. i am beginning to wonder if the espiscopal process for elections is much better... hmmm..
4:44pm... lay ballot, 353 ballots, 334 valid ballots. number needed for an election 168. no election. closest was 147, which was actually a small drop from the last ballot. me, my votes got cut into half. no standing at 24. gross, suppose its due to all the write ins. unfortunately there isn't any close candidates at the moment for election, so this might be awhile.
7:05pm... i left.. the dinner break and waiting for a ballot result i felt that wasn't going to be promising, i left to have dinner with erin. got a text from a friend. we did elect a 3rd laity member betty alexander. a great person indeed, but like the two before her, they have a long history of participating in gc. maybe too long. there was a motion to not report those who had less than 40 votes, so i wasn't reported. rachel, one of the other young adults with a decent amount of votes was not mentioned either. guess there wil be no young adult representation on our gc delegation. i have some thoughts i'll expand on after conference. so let's see how things pan out in the end.
Posted at 06:42 AM in methodism, personal | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: annual conference, methodism
as we worked into thursday our goal was two things, finish enough work on the house we were tasked with and then get home to spend a last hour or two playing basketball with our friends before we engaged in our closing evening activities. those consisted of a dinner in the french quarter, cleaning our place of residence, and then our traditional awards ceremony. as we arrived at our house site on thursday we noticed that our debris pile had deminished substantially. it appears that the scavengers had come by and not only taken the large appliances for scrap metal, but also the wood wall boards. not a big deal as it made more space to pile in more drywall, insulation and other such building supplies. we had a number of improvised methods for taking down the ceiling & hvac. from climbing into the attic and punching through with our feet just jumping up and grabbing and then letting gravity do its work.
unfortunately for the home, there was too much obvious foundation damage to allow it to be rebuilt/remodeled. in all likely hood it would be torn down (like many in the neighborhood) and sold as a flat lot. our work though will allow the homeowners to atleast keep this house in their name to make that decision. knowing the future of the house structure made it really hard to keep motivated to finish. the hard work we put into the past two days and the finishing off the houses had everyone zapped. i am not sure we would have been able to put together a quality fourth day of gutting a house. so we put the home to a state that made it noticably prepared and treated.
when we got home, many cleaned themselves up and headed over to the basketball court. there was not as many folks as evenings past. partly because this was still later afternoon. we had a successful campaign this time as we won two games.. with a little help from will. he seemed to be the guy that was always given to us as consolation. when the games ended, we gave the ball we bought for the week to will, said our goodbyes, and then headed home.
Posted at 03:57 PM in ministry, youth ministry | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: mission, new orleans, youth ministry
wednesday was a full day of gutting homes. my particular group was finishing up the house we started the day before. the target was to finish as early as possible and join the other teams on a "big" house. after finishing up the "small house" we moved over to the bigger home where we found allen pulling off wood wall boards with all hands cleaning and gutting the house. being the big house, there were many rooms, so there were groups tackling each room. as the work progressed we found more and more stuff... some might use the word "pack rat" for the homeowner.
since it was wednesday we headed over to mount olivet church for evening prayers and dinner. on the menu was an assortment of locally made po'boys. it was a little more lax this time at church and we hung out talking with some of the members. before it got dark we ran around the neighborhood and circulated flyers inviting people the church's vacation bible school, which will be held next week.
after we closed out our time with mount olivet we made a little stop at what the locals call "the city of the dead" or for us not so local folks, a cemetary. it was one of our encounter moments of reflecting on how we live our life and what it stands for. not to mention, the cemetaries in new orleans are so unique it was a crazy place to be.
be sure to check out our flickr set.
Posted at 01:56 PM in ministry, youth ministry | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: mission, new orleans, youth ministry
as i mentioned on day two. our group made the neighborhood a little bit of our own by playing some basketball with the local folks. after getting cleaned up and some dinner in the belly it was time to pilgrimage down to the streetball courts for some beatdown. i headed down with the fashionably late crowd. when we got there things were well underway. our guys had one or two of their guys playing for us, which helped.. not calling fouls really helped us.
the coolest part with this game was the girls came over and asked our girls if they wanted to play. not planning on playing what ensued was the most chaotic and laughable (the girls were laughing) game of pick up in flip flops i've ever seen.
two images that won't leave me for a long long time. watching the girls laugh and play together. something i am sure both groups never imagined happening a week ago. and michael finding a new "daddy".. what happened during the game is michael kept guarding, and getting schooled, by the best player on the court. at the end, he came up and smiled and said "you my boy now, i own you.. just call me your daddy." they laughed gave a handshake hug and we started to walk back home. good times.
Posted at 12:29 AM in ministry, youth ministry | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (1)
Tags: basketball, new orleans, street ball, youth ministry
day three was work day.. and work we did. our team split into two sections. one set was given the task of gutting a small house. it was a two bedroom one bath house that had a kitchen and main room. it hadn't been touched since the storm. by touched, it hadn't been cleaned at any level. there did seem to be some movement within the house as the house was searched and it was possible some of the valuables were scavenged. the second set was given the technical task of helping put together a large storage shed for the ywam folks. as it turns out, people had been coming in and stealing tools over the last two years. this was to help secure the tools and store sufficiently to help maintain the ministry without taking on a continued cost of replacing.
the second team jumped into action putting up soffit and siding. not sure what else was on the task as i wasn't on the site. the great part of the site was that the youth had a face to face experience with the tension of being haves and have nots. someone who lives on the borders of the ywam property said in some colorful language how he wondered why he was needing help and no one was coming to help him. it's a legitimate question and something we always need to ask of ourselves, how can we live or do the things we do while others go without or live in distress. who is it that we help? what do we do? can we legitimately do things for an infrastructure that would enable better ministry for years to come? or do we give it all to those in need, even if we can only give for a short period of time?
stories abound from scaling scaffolding, casey weighting down the scaffolding, picking weeds, everyone getting trained and using nail guns, to the story of meeting up with the neighbor of the property.
our other team had gutting house duty. the primary means for gutting a house these days is not so much remodeling, though that is a possibility and needs to be done if that is entertained. but gutting a house these days, and there are many houses in need of it, is to help save the house from being condemned and taken possession of by the government. the gov had gone around in august putting up citations that if a house wasn't cleaned out by then it was to be demolished as soon as possible. then the house and the property would become government property. if it could get gutted before demolishing by the government it would continue to rest in the hands of the land owner. then they would be able choose to sell the property or house to a builder or remodel it themselves. regardless, it is reassuring when one has lost everything to have something to choose.
gutting by the nature of the task is hard work, heart breaking, and a lot of fun in the same. hard work because it is a lot of manual labor. heart breaking because as you throw things onto the street you are seeing remnants of someones life. fun in that you can punch through a wall, or knock down cabinets with a sledge hammer (a big hit for our group) maybe the only time in your life.
the highlight had to come from opening the refrigerator (not smart of me to open the freezer) and the sludge that came with it. it wasn't the worst smell, that came from the port-o-john across the street when it got pumped and removed.. that smell took up the neighborhood.
we almost finished cleaning the house by our 5pm deadline.. we didn't get there, and were a bit bummed by that, but we kicked some serious butt.
more pictures on their way to our ongoing flickr set. not to mention our version of dirty jobs.
Posted at 11:53 PM in ministry, youth ministry | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: lakeview, new orleans, youth ministry, ywam
day three.. we lost wi-fi, but it is back now
monday we set out for our first day of work. this work was a bit different than in years past as we plugged in with st. pauls episcopal church and their mobile ministry in the 9th ward. the group set up a site to hand out simple supplies for relief efforts. what were these supplies? some varied canned meats, a cup of ramen noodles, toilet paper roll, paper towel roll, a bottle of water... doesn't sound like much but for a day that it just rained and rained people came from all over. also for the day was saving a train from wreaking, fixing a ladies plumbing who was taken advantage of by a local person, listening to a latin american fellow who was upset and angry that he might loose his home unless he paid some people a large sum of money to gut his house, and other stories from people coming by to pick up some supplies.
we had plans of walking the neighborhood to play with the children and talk to some of the folks. due to the rain, we didn't do that, so we took some tours through the 9th ward area that was at the point of impact from the levee breaks. funny thing i have heard this week is that this isn't the first time this area was flooded, but this time it was much more populated, so thus the impact. it was crazy to see that the area is still being worked on and cleaned up, 2 years later.
in the afternoon... it was dinner time.. though the whole gang had the task of cooking dinner for themselves and the adult leadership. they had an easy budget of 75 dollars to work with, but for some reason the whole task seemed daunting. indicated by strong words of loving hate for me doing this to them. the group rallied, got a plan and we had a great dinner of tacos & rice with chips and salsa. it was a pretty darn cool bonding experience for everyone. plus, that third taco for me and preston was excellent!
we've uploaded more pics to our flickr set
Posted at 10:51 PM in ministry, youth ministry | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: 9th ward, mission, new orleans, youth ministry
hey all.. so it seems while gavin is away the spam comes to play. i've never been hit by the spam bug too much but five spam comments over three days and that is enough to say, it is image verification time. sorry for the inconvenience. i tried going without it for as long as i could (which was pretty long).
Posted at 12:06 AM in bloggin | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: blogging, spam
this morning we worshiped with the congregation at mount olivet episcopal church in the algiers community of new orleans parish. it's a gentrifying community with some really cute houses and a great feel as one walks the streets. the church was a small congregation, but they fed us like they were a large catering group. shrimp & pasta or chicken & pasta with a desert table that easily filled what was left over space in one's stomach.
the afternoon we were swamp bound. drove across one of the bridges and stopped at a swamp tour place. got to see some cool scenery that was kinda crazy in the same breath. caught a look at a number of alligators, turtles, fish, birds, and two raccoons. probably the best story from this little excursion was when they allowed us to feed some of the gators with this stick and wire contraption. the guide guy asked who would wrestle with it and so michael jumped at the chance. he had a chunk of chicken on the stick and the gator maneuvered and bit the chicken.. michael held on and the gator spun around a bit and then hit his head against the boat and then swam away with his food. this was the "ooooh" moment, as in "oh, that must have hurt." gator came back for more, so it must not have been that bad. the "awww" moment was seeing the raccoon.. not sure why the raccoon looked so cute, but it did.. plus everyone seemed amazed that it had opposable thumbs and could eat what we threw at him.
the big part of today wasn't planned though. a group of the guys and girls wanted to play some basketball outside, but the courts at the school next door and locked up and protected so that no one gets hurt on them and then sues for money they system doesn't have. so our crew walked a few blocks away to plan on some street-ball courts. as the scene progressed we had a hendersonville / new orleans pick-up game going with jr. highers and some young adults from the neighborhood playing our folks. everyone came back sweaty and the locals were wondering what time tomorrow we will be back. it's our first part of not being a fix-it group and really being missional in immersing into the culture we seek to be Christ like among.
we've started a flickr set to view more pictures. more to come for sure
Posted at 11:51 PM in ministry, youth ministry | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: hurricane relief, mission, new orleans, youth ministry
Posted at 11:42 PM in youth ministry | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: missions, youth ministry
today we are packing, tomorrow we are off to new orleans for our senior high mission experience. blogging will be non-existent, except to say that i'll probably post about what we are doing. we expect it to be a wonderful experience of mission work and pilgrimage experience. we are working with ywam for the work projects and wonder voyage for the pilgrim experiences and overall logistics. our work stuff seems to look like we will be gutting houses and prepping for renovation, otherwise they become condemned by the government and people will loose their home. strange that this is still needing to be done. we'll stop in and and work alongside a ministry at the ninth ward. other than that who knows. catch up with you all in the blog world next week! shalom, -gav
Posted at 01:05 PM in ministry, personal, youth ministry | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: missions, new orleans, pilgrimage, wonder voyage, youth ministry, ywam
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