Samaria Project 2009

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Acts 1:8

Our beautiful team!

Last week we headed down to New Orleans, specifically to the French Quarter, for our Samaria Project. The Samaria Project is the 2nd part of the three year mission plan that we do with our teenagers. Last summer was the Judea Project where we did a week of local missions in the Cookeville community. (Next summer will be the Ends of the Earth Project, when we go out of the country...where? we don't know yet.) While in New Orleans we worked with Vieux Carre Baptist Church in the French Quarter, just a block from Bourbon Street. We had a great week ministering to the community. We did various things like: window washing for businesses, giving out snack packs for businesses, artists outreach (on the square), cooking a meal for the homeless, coffee outreach very early in the morning, a coffee house concert at the church, and relational/conversational evangelism. Throughout the week, we ministered a lot to the homeless there...many of them new us by name by the end of the week. We had many beneficial conversations about God throughout the week, that we were really thankful for. There is so much that I could write and many stories to tell, but to write them all it would take me all night. Ryan and I are very proud of our youth. They worked hard throughout the week, and did what was asked of them. Hopefully, we will be able to go back to the French Quarter at some point. I hoped that the teenagers would fall in love with the city, and the people there...they did! We all (for the most part) want to go back.

We blew out not one...

but two tires on the trailer on the way to New Orleans. We left Cookeville at 7:30 am, hoping to make it to New Orleans before dark, but it just didn't happen. Thankfully, we were close to a Walmart both times, and were able to get new tires!

here we are at the Mississippi rest area

We went to a Mardi Gras museum one afternoon (during the super hot time)...Here's my favorite dress.

One outreach that we did during the week was free window washing for the various stores in the French Quarter. Well, Matt's group (Haley and Coleman) got locked out on a balcony. It was hilarious seeing them up there when we went to tell the store owner that they were locked out. They could see the square from the balcony...so at least they got to hear some music:)

Ryan and Chad (good friends:)

Chad, Claire, and I...we were in a group together the first two days

Hannah, Sarah, Paige, Me, and Claire

We went to get masks one afternoon. It was fun to try on masks and hang out:)

Friday night the youth band played a coffee house concert at the church.

(Chad, Evan, Ryan, Haley, Matt, and Coleman)

Chad playing and singing "Desperate Man"

Haley singing "Walk With Me"

Yes, I do have a picture of Ryan:) haha!

D'Angelo, Ryan and Danny

Ryan and I out by the river

Tera and I

Coleman, Tera, and Evan being silly

At the I Max theatre right by the river, they have a dinosaur exhibit going on right now. I wish that Josiah and Aedan could have been there so we could've taken them there. (We didn't go, ofcourse...but, they would have loved it:)

Ryan, the allosaurus, and I

Special thanks to Gigi for coming and staying with Josiah and Aedan!! They definitely miss their Gigi!