Last year as we headed home from New Orleans I remember looking out the airplane window at all of the blue tarps covering roofs and the abandoned neighborhoods thinking that after two years there was still so much work to be done how could we be leaving. I had an overwhelming sense that our job was not done and that if I had the opportunity I would return to New Orleans. The pictures and stories we brought back could not adequately describe the situation facing the people of New Orleans.
It’s so easy to intellectualize the suffering of our fellow humans, “there are hurting people everywhere”, but when you come face to face with the reality of such overwhelming loss it touches you deeply.
It makes you realize how inadequate you are. Fortunately God does not ask us to be adequate he just asks us to be available and if we let Him he works through our inadequacies so we can experience His power and love through serving others. Returning to New Orleans was an easy decision for me, I was probably one of the few people glad our original plans to go out of country had fallen through and we would be heading back, all year I’ve felt a yearning to return. Now God had provided the opportunity and I needed to be available. So here I am available and waiting to see what God plans to do with me, with our team, and with our trip. This year brings with it new experiences, new challenges and new interactions pray that God will help me to meet each challenge, experience and interaction with grace, compassion and love. Pray that I will not be overwhelmed by the task ahead of us and that I will remember it’s more important to love the people of New Orleans than it is to complete the task. Finally please pray for our team’s health, safety and physical well being.
- Robin Linscott, adult leader
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
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