HOPE Rise

I'm sitting here, it's just past 11 o'clock and I'm reeling with emotions, thoughts, and reflections over the past week. I've been in New Orleans helping out Katrina victims and the processing of it all is beginning to take place. As I think through all the happenings of the week I am certain of three things: the world has hope, God has hope, and hope comes through insignificant people.

One of the things we did as a student ministry in New Orleans was something so spiritually profound I don't know how to explain it. We handed out SnowBalls. Well, maybe it wasn't a theological or spiritual breakthrough, but man, was it awesome! We got to experience the people of New Orleans, which is the whole point. Something as simple as handing out free icy treats touched lives in incredible ways. We had so many people say to us things like, "You're bringing back the neighborhood" and "We're gonna make it" and "If it weren't for people like you, this place would still be a wreck." THIS IS THE STUFF I LIVE FOR! This is what Christ calls us to do. He calls us to let the world know that it still has hope. There is still hope in this world!

So we're handing out SnowBalls and a man walks up and takes one. He's a tall, underweight, man who looks rough. If you've ever seen The Machinist with Christian Bale, that's how he looked. Maybe not as emaciated, but he didn't look healthy. One of our students started talking with him and the guy asked us to pray for him. He didn't mean right there, but in general. Our student, who I saw incredible leadership in across the whole week, pulled him aside and started praying for him right there on the sidewalk. As I was talking to this student, later he said something like there's wasn't a point in letting him go and not be prayed for. I am so proud of the students in the group, and they're not just students, they're my friends this week that these words I write don't do it justice. Tears are coming to my eyes because I saw JESUS in them. God has hope for his people. He's probably looking down on us saying, "Keep it up! You're doing it! This is my kingdom being built and you are doing so well! I love you!" God believes in us.

Personally, I am really good at convincing myself that I'm insignificant. I pretty much always feel like God is going to use me in big ways, but that I'm not good enough to work for Him. I stumble...a lot. Something weird that's happened to me for probably two years now is that I have a number. People that know me, know this number because it follows me. I see it on billboards, on license plates, written on the back of dump trucks, in addresses, etc. The number is 311. I hadn't had the slightest clue about the meaning of such a thing, if there was even a meaning behind it until just recently. I was listening to a pastor speak and he used Exodus 3:11 which says, "But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" The man who was used by God to save the Israelites questioned God about his significance. If you've ever dealt with the ministries of a church, you've seen the students get shafted in the trust category. There are many churches that shun their students, thinking they're separate entity from the rest of the church. They're given their own room just so they can stay out the hair of everyone else. The truth is quite the contrary. Students are not insignificant. They are VITAL. Let me repeat that. They are VITAL to the life of the church. Who do you think is going to take over the church when the generation before them is gone? They are the future. This trip showed me that there is hope in the seemingly insignificant. God uses the underdog.

Hope was brought hard to New Orleans this week and I'm sure I speak for the group when I say it's time to shake the very foundations of our own community.