FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Final reflection

8/10/2018

Editors Note: this reflection was offered during the final evening gathering as we celebrated the week.

In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.
Matthew 7:12

This week Uncle Allen has reminded us of this rule again and again. I know it is an easy thing to say, but what does it mean.
Does it mean listening to Tim as he shares stories of how those in power can ruin the living environment of those not in power?
Does it mean listening to Daniel as he shares his testimony?
Does it mean following Gwen to her home with all that food from St. Roch?
Does it mean giving your food away in Pigeon Town like Crawford and Layne?
Does it mean standing in a sweaty warehouse showing Love and Outreach?
Does it mean painting so others can enjoy recreation on the field of play or sorting food so we can truly feed the 4,000- people like the widow, alien, & orphan?
For us, it has meant all those actions this week. And even though Christ proclaims the rule in the Sermon on the Mount, it is meant to be a sermon that is lived out for life, not just until the next Sunday or inside Orleans Parish.
As we go back, I invite you to take the memories of all these people we have met. For through them, we have seen the beauty of discipleship, in the myriad of ways it comes. Take this truth and:
Be a disciple to your classmates.
Be a disciple to your students.
Be a disciple to the ones you love and the ones you don’t.
For the rule calls us to treat the Jesus Freaks, Liars, and the ones who make us uncomfortable with as much compassion as the ones whom we call friend and neighbor. The rule invites us to move into a new vision of relationship. One that is heavenly, fulfilling, and lives into the experience of the other as much as it lives into the experience of ourselves.

In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. The One Living Triune God. Amen.

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Barrett's Reflection

8/9/2018

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A great week of work thanks to people like Crawford & Layne Brubaker from Okra Abbey (foreground) and Tim Shipkin from RHINO (back, green shirt).

On Wednesday evening, we sat for our final evening devotional. We read Mark 8: 1-10. The feeding of the 4,000. We have been reading scriptures both in the morning and in the evening that we read this past Sunday, and inviting each other to see where God is/has been in that reading throughout the day. In Mark 8 it reads that Jesus has compassion for the people for they have spent three days and had nothing to eat. He wants them filled so they can make the journey home without fainting.
Last night I saw the inverse of that scripture as we gathered. I saw 2 young people- Mary and Henry- who have journeyed with Christ these past three days. No, they were not physically hungry like the masses, but they were spiritually and mentally exhausted after serving for three days. They were filled with new experiences, new understandings of this life and the world around them. I cut the devotional short, knowing that rest was the best prescription. All of us were tired. I did this with the comfort of knowing it could be months, even years before they fully realize what they have witnessed, done, or what was happening in a specific moment.
Our job as brothers and sisters in Christ, is to invite them to share their story. To tell you what they saw, who they talked with, and what they think it meant/means. To explore the faith that has been nurtured this week, and to help them proclaim what is already within them. For the ultimate teaching of this week is not to read Mark 8: 1-10, but rather know how it and all of scripture is alive in the here and now, and forevermore.
Grace and Peace,
Barrett

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Henry's Reflection

8/8/2018

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The experience I have had from these two days has been an interesting perspective on New Orleans. I have picked eggplants, loaded and unloaded trucks, and sorted out shelves of sauce. Even though parts of those things were tough and uncomfortable, I enjoyed all of them.
I enjoyed all of these things not because of myself but the people I interacted with and the people who benefited from what we were giving. It’s not something I was originally jazzed about it (I have to admit), but I realized that it wasn’t about me. It was about the others who weren’t taking part in the fun. So I close this by saying that today wasn’t about us it was about the widow, the alien, and the orphan (Deuteronomy 24: 19-21).

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Mary Mac’s Reflection

8/7/2018

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Today was pretty eventful. I started off the day at 5:30a.m. I got up, brushed my teeth, put in my contacts, etc. I had a great breakfast and once I was finished I started on my makeup. I was ready a little bit before we had to leave which was good. We did our morning devotional and then left to go meet up with Tim who would give us a tour of New Orleans. The church we met him at was beautiful and I really enjoyed looking around. The tour was great. Tim was a very descriptive tour guide and he shared a lot of cool information with us. The 9th Ward was one of the places we visited on our tour and it was really sad if I’m being honest. I mean it’s been 13 years since Katrina and there is still so much work left to be done. After the tour we ate lunch at Audubon Park. It was really pretty there and Henry and I were able to even get a picture of me in front of a boat. As we were driving to the park we saw some homeless people under a bridge in tents. There was one old man in a wheelchair sleeping. After lunch we volunteered at New Orleans Mission, a homeless shelter. It was really impressive seeing all the things that they are able to accomplish there because they run off of donations. The lady that was giving us our tour of the shelter, Dion, told us that she used to be homeless and New Orleans Mission helped her get her life together. After the tour we met Brother Daniel who shared his story of how he became a Christian with us. We then followed him to a small parking lot where we loaded a truck with food. There was a random chicken roaming around as we did this and I was a little spooked. After we loaded the truck we followed that same truck to a neighborhood called St. Roch where we set up tables with the food from the truck on it and gave out free groceries to people. They also prayed with people. After that was over we prayed with the people of New Orleans Mission and went back to the church. We had some free time until dinner so I hung out with Henry and caught up with my friends. I also picked out my outfit for the French Quarter. After dinner we left for the French Quarter where we got beignets at Cafe du Monde. We then walked around the quarter. We saw some street performers of course, but we also saw some people that were begging for money on the street or laying flat on the sidewalk while they slept. We went into a souvenir shop and then debated whether we should walk around some more or just go back to the church. We decided on the latter. As we were leaving we passed an Urban Outfitters, one of me and Henry’s favorite stores. We asked if we could go in and look around and they obliged. Henry and I got a photo booth picture and Henry also got a cassette of an album by Vince Staples. We went back to the church where we had evening devotional and went to bed. I think it was a pretty great first day in New Orleans.

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Hello from New Orleans!

8/6/2018

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Our home for the week.

Henry, Mary, and I passed the drive from Livingston to here playing the name game and listening to 90s pop music much to Allen’s chagrin. We have made our lodging at the Church of the Annunciation in the Broadmoor neighborhood of NOLA. Our host, Robyn, informed us this is the final time their church will host mission groups. As she said, “We have hosted thousands of volunteers who have supplied millions of dollars worth of work. You’ve helped us rebuild our city.” You could see it in her eyes that this marked a transition. A bittersweet one, knowing the trauma that this city has gone through, but also that a turning point has taken place. In the church, we call this a liminal space, a place in between the sacred and the worldly. These space are often seen as places where the Holy Spirit can move in fascinating ways, moving in between and through the sacred and the worldly, the hope and the trauma. I wonder how God will move in this space as we walk with a church that has been on a particular journey since 2005. I wonder how it will move us. As we go through this week, you will hear from Henry, Allen, and Mary as they share their individual reflections on how the city, the work, and the walk moves and shapes us. Pray for us, pray for the people we have yet to meet, and the footsteps that we will follow in.
Grace and Peace.
Barrett

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Final reflection

Barrett's Reflection

Henry's Reflection

Mary Mac’s Reflection

Hello from New Orleans!

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