The youth received a send-off from the congregation on Sunday morning, July 11, which included Mardi Gras beads, snack bags for the plane ride, a gift certificate for the two sponsors, and an umbrella for Tom to carry so the rest of the group will be able to follow him.  They left the Church to the strains of "When the Saints go Marching In".

 

The group left Lubbock at 2:40 PM, July 15th.  During their four-hour layover at Love Field, Tom could be found taking a nap, Aaron spent his time on the phone,  Lauren did crunches in her chair, Ryan played on his Nintendo DS, and Megan watched a George Clooney movie.  And of course Lynn was taking pictures.

July 16, 2010

Greetings from New Orleans!
We made it here safely on Thursday evening and walked around the French Quarter.  Slept in on Friday morning after our day of travel and then walked to the riverfront by the Aquarium.  We ate lunch at the Riverwalk Mall and then Tom and Lynn registered the group at the adjoining Convention Center while the youth hung out together at the mall to do some shopping.  The piles of tshirts and backpacks was amazing!  There are going to be 25000 youth descending upon New Orleans by Saturday night!  That does not include all the adults leaders!  We took a break from the heat and humidity until time to go on our Haunted History Walking Tour tonight.  It was very interesting and we got a lesson on how New Orleans was built and how it has overcome many adversities.  We saw an area in Pirates Alley that you will not see anywhere else in the entire continent.  There is a church, a bar and a government office within just a few feet of each other.  We listened to many street musicians after the tour on some of the side streets in the French Quarter and then ate at the Oceana Grill where everyone had a great time playing on the old piano and eating great food and having a great time.  Ryan had the patrons applauding his for his playing of the Charlie Brown theme song and he and Lynn played Heart and Soul.  Got back to the hotel after midnight and time for bed.  Saturday we split up for trips to the Zoo and the WWII museum.  Then the Mass Event begins on Saturday night.  The Gathering is going to be fantastic!  We have a servant event on Sunday morning at 7:30 am where we are working on the River Road Project building and painting handicap ramps and doing landscaping.  On Monday afternoon we will be at an off site event to the 9th ward on a Katrina Tour.  Many sessions and concerts to be enjoyed with Bible study every morning at the Convention Center and a Mass event every evening at the Superdome.  Thanks to everyone for the prayers during our Gathering, the youth will have many great memories of this trip!
In Christ,
Tom, Lynn, Ryan, Lauren, Megan and Aaron
 

	Our hotel.	Tom, Aaron, Ryan, Lauren, Megan	25,000 t-shirts
25,000 backpacks	Lauren decorating her water bottle	Megan decorating her water bottle	Interesting person on Bourbon Street
Ready for the haunted history tour	Street musicians	A capella group	Dinner at Oceana

July 17, 2010

Hi Everyone!
Saturday was a beautiful day in hot and humid New Orleans!  We started our day with a breakfast at Cafe Du Monde with Beneits and coffee.  There are always street performers to entertain us while waiting in line for activities or meals.  We split up today to go to different activities with Lynn and Megan taking the trolley to the Audubon Zoo and Tom, Ryan, Lauren and Aaron looking around the riverwalk flea market, riding the trolley sightseeing and going to the WWII museum.  A great time was had by all, and then the highlight of the evening was the Opening Mass Event at the Superdome.  There were 25,000 youth and several thousand adults there, and the noise was deafening!  We heard lots of praise music, listened to several speakers and watched a skit that will be continued throughout the gathering every evening during Mass Event.  The question they posed to us to discuss tonight was "What are the truths that the world wants us to believe?"  The discussion consisted of things such as how much effect humans have on global warming, how being pretty is more important than one's own happiness or well being, how money makes everything great and how different governments must be better than others and how media makes everything better if you use their products to lose weight, grow hair, get the perfect body etc. so you will buy their products.  We discussed how our faith is more important than all these material things and how others try to convince us that the truths they try to impose on us are not real.  Only the Word of God will help us achieve true happiness and help us understand what the real truths are in life.  We have our servant event early tomorrow morning and then LIVE sessions and concerts that will end with the Mass event tomorrow evening. 
In Christ,
Tom, Lynn, Ryan, Lauren, Megan and Aaron

Guys at Cafe DuMonde	Megan at the zoo	elephants	giraffe
Megan and Lynn at the zoo	Outside the Superdome	Inside the Supersome

July 18, 2010

Greetings from New Orleans!
Our Sunday started with our servant event at the River Road Historical Society and the Destrahan Plantation which is the oldest plantation in New Orleans.  We started with a rainy day so we had a tour of the plantation house and when the rain stopped we donned rubber gloves and scrubbed the white picket fence with bleach water to prepare it for painting.  Some of our group cleaned tables and chairs while others cleaned out flower beds and started work on a handicap ramp for one of the outbuildings.  We returned to the Convention Center and went to Mulate's for lunch then returned for a "Look" session that the guys went to while the gals went to the "Commons" where districts had information booths and arts and crafts to make.  We then all went to a concert by Echelon and saw the "Jesus Painter".  We went to the hotel to rest until the Mass Evening Event at the Superdome.  The Jesus painter was there as well as The Skit Guys who kept everyone laughing.  A somber time was felt by all when a mother told the story of her 18 year old dancer daughter who performed at the last Gathering in Orlando that was killed in a traffic accident last year.  The theme was "Believable"  tonight so it was touching that she knew God's Word was "Believable" and she knew that her daughter was in heaven in His arms and believes that the day we are born, only He knows the day we will return to Him.   We received a phone number to text prayer requests to; a spiritual team on the other lines will pray for those in need.  That number is 662-626-PRAY.  You could see the phones light up throughout the Superdome as people started sending their prayer requests to that number.  We picked up pizza on the way back to the hotel and then hit the hay.  Tomorrow will be Bible study, an early lunch, a session entitled "Altared Reality" which gets teens thinking about choosing life partners.  Then we hop a bus to the 9th Ward to hear a survivors story of how they weathered hurricane Katrina. 
Thanks for all your support and prayers,
Tom, Lynn, Ryan, Lauren, Megan and Aaron 

 

Destrahan Plantation	Lunch at Mulate's	Megan making pendant with woodburner	Jesus Painter
Jesus Painter	Jesus Painter	Jesus Painter	Jesus Painter

July 19, 2010

Monday was a great day!  The weather was nice and we started our day with Bible Study with David Hinz.  We went to a session called Altared Reality with the Rev. London Ledlow which was a preparation for a person's wedding day with a group of kids pretending to go through the wedding and the differences in how a man perceives his wedding and how that's different from a woman's perspective and how it is about God's presence and not all about the bride!  Tom, Aaron and Ryan went on a bus tour to Tulane University and the gals went to look around Mardi Gras Town until time for the Stellar Kart Concert.  We missed going on the Katrina tour because we got the times mixed up but some of us are going there tomorrow.  The Mass Event tonight was great with a repeat performance by the Skit Guys and a continuation of "The Network"  Lynn also got to be a first responder on Sunday night when a pastor from up North had a seizure on the way back from the Convention Center.  Talk about being in the right place at the right time!  That added excitement to our Sunday!  Check out the pictures along the way.  Ryan will be leaving us tomorrow as he has a High School Band Camp that he has to get back to.  Check out who we found at the Gathering!  Some of you will remember her and some will not!
In Christ,
Tom, Lynn, Ryan, Lauren, Megan and Aaron

 

Altared Reality 1	Altared Reality 2	Mardi Gras World	Buddy Holly
Mississippi River Bridge	Megan Preparing for Tuesday	Stellar Kart II	Becca Geisler with Jacksons
	At left, Mass Event

July 20, 2010

Dear Friends in Christ,
Bible Study/Ryan to the airport/sessions/bus trip to East New Orleans to see continued reconstruction.  Mass event tonight with recreation of Jesus' death and resurrection with communion with 25000+ Lutheran students and adults.  Last Mass event tomorrow morning and then to the airport to go home!  Pics to be added tomorrow.  Pray for our safe travel home.
In Christ,
Tom, Lynn, Lauren, Megan and Aaron
 

Click here for more information about the National Youth Gathering.

POTATO BAKE FUNDRAISER, JUNE 27, 2010

Members and friends of Christ Lutheran Church gathered for a potato bake after worship on June 27th to help send our four youth to the National Youth Gathering.  Baked potatoes with assorted toppings, salad, and dessert were enjoyed.

VALENTINE'S DINNER

Friday, February 12th, the youth hosted a Valentine's Dinner with a wonderful meal, appetizers, "mocktails", entree and dessert with a special gift and a dessert craft for kids.  All proceeds benefited the Youth Group's trip to the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans, July 17 - 21, 2010.

Click here for the 2010 National LCMS Youth Gathering Site.

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