Countdown to 30: Day 27

New Orleans March 2002. The week in New Orleans for spring break 2002 changed my life forever. New Orleans has done quite a bit to shape me into who I am today. New Orleans will make quite a few appearances over the next few weeks, so I am going to go ahead and lay the foundation for New Orleans as well.

My first trip to the Carver Baptist Center in New Orleans was March 2001. I hated it. I hated the city. The children were rowdy. The Center was not what I expected. The sleeping quarters were hot and crowded. The showers were small and crowded. The French Quarter was dirty and crowded. The trains and boats on the River were loud. There were a ton of things that I did not like about the city. There was one little boy that I did like named Michael, but that was it.

My friend went to New Orleans as a summer missionary the summer of 2001, and I started to fall in love with the children at the Center through her. I also went with her and a few friends fall break of 2001, and God was starting to chip away at some of my dislike of the city. I still had a ways to go, but I was starting to see that God had a plan for that city and for those kids.

In March 2002, our church chose to go on our second spring break mission trip to New Orleans. Although I was slightly disappointed that we were going back to the same place two years in a row (back when I viewed mission trips as a way to see as a new place as much as sharing the gospel), I could not wait to see Michael. There were other children I knew by name by that point and could not wait to see either, but I was most excited about seeing Michael. During that week, my heart towards New Orleans was changed forever.

I was not assigned to work with Michael’s age group, which was a disappointment at the time, but now I can see how God used that to form relationships that are still meaningful today. One of the boys in the class I was assigned to is currently living with me and attending Texarkana College. A simple little decision by a college minister making assignments seven years ago resulted in my ability to host this student today. That college minister probably has no idea that the decision made seven years ago has present day consequences. Isn’t God amazing? A boy who was locked out of his house when we arrived in town who remembers me from that trip although I do not remember him from then is one of the most important people in my life today (you will hear more about him before I reach thirty!). Missionaries who the year before were just names and people we saw working started becoming friends. A city that the year before had not quite captured me became my second home. When I left that mission trip, I began planning my next trip to New Orleans, and I still am always planning my next trip to New Orleans. At this point, I have lost count on how many times I have been there. It is a place that is a part of who I am, and in the past eight years (almost nine now) has taught me so much about God and humanity.