Chris & Beth

Nick resigned as our worship leader in December.  Living an hour from the church building was not working the way we had hoped.  So, I began search for a new person to lead our worship through singing.  I was out of options in New Orleans.  No one here wanted the job.  So, I began to look a little farther away.  I called a former student from my youth ministry days in hopes that he was due to graduate this spring.  Unfortunately Jon had more than a year of school left.  I asked him if he could recommend anyone and he gave me some contact info for Chris Hall.

I began a conversation with Chris about coming to serve at Hope as our Worship minister. We had a first conversation, kind of an introduction to one another and to Hope.  The call went well, so we agreed to begin praying and talk again.  The second call was more of an interview, along with some Q & A.  This call went well also, which meant that the next step was to have Chris and his wife Beth come visit New Orleans.  I thought they should know what they were getting into.  It also helps to meet in person.  A lot can be discerned by spending time working or eating or riding in a car with another person.

Chris and Beth came for a weekend.  Friday night to Sunday afternoon.  It wasn’t a lot of time, but it was packed full of ministry, sight-seeing and eating.  (Food is important in New Orleans)  They got to help with Angel Food distribution and Super Saturday.  Saturday was a long day, but good day.  We wound down the day by eating po’boys at Parkway Bakery in Mid-City.  We talked for about an hour after the meal, answering questions and sharing the vision for Hope Christian Church.

Chris led our time of worship through singing on Sunday and did a great job.  The celebration service was followed by lunch with the Launch Team, followed by another Q & A session.  A daylight tour of the city was followed by a trip to the airport.  They seemed excited by the opportunity.  We were excited to have them come.  Yet, nothing had been offered and nothing had been accepted at this point.  It really a weird and awkward dance, interviewing and being interviewed.  I would say things like, “IF you come” or they would say “IF we do this”.  It’s all so uncertain and non-committal.  As much as I wanted a certain outcome, I couldn’t get ahead of the process.

Through many phone calls, conversations with references, the weekend visit and much prayer, it was determined that Chris should be offered the position of Youth and Worship Minister for Hope.   As I got to know Chris and understand his passion, giftedness and experience, I realized that he could serve as the youth minister as well as the worship minister.  We could meet two of our staff needs in one person.

I am super-excited that Chris accepted the position on February 3, 2010.  Chris will be serving part-time initially.  His role and responsibilities will grow along with the church.  Chris and Beth will move to New Orleans in late May or early June after Chris graduates from Johnson Bible College.  They are a huge answer to prayer and I think God has some amazing things ahead for Hope Christian Church.

 

Super Saturday

We participated in another Super Saturday, which went great.  Super Saturday is a day camp outreach for school age kids.  I did a class about making videos.  Kids paired off and were instructed to create a character, who would then pitch a product for an infomercial.  The product was a foam noodle.  The kids were instructed to use their imagination to create their character name, where they were from, what their product could do, why and where people could buy it.  To help them be in character, we had some costume clothing for them to wear.  We had some very funny stuff.

Jennifer gave a “girl” talk for the young girls.  I don’t know anymore about it since I’m a guy and was not in her talk.  I did hear that it went well.  We had the inflatables from Hope set up.  The kids always enjoy the inflatables.  Many said it was their favorite thing to do at Super Saturday.

These pictures show a few of the things that took place.

 

A Hundred Pounds Of Trash

Our church wants to be a good neighbor and make a positive contribution to the community.  We want to do tangible things, that make a real difference.  We want to live and serve others the way Jesus did.  So, we signed up for the Adopt-A-Block program in Lakeview.  This means that we are responsible to keep the trash picked up along our section of neutral ground.  A neutral ground is the wide grassy space between two roads, like a boulevard.  Our section is wide enough to play a football game in and about a third of a mile long.  We also pick up along the sidewalks.

Eight of us from the church spent about an hour and a half picking up trash of all kinds.  One couple brought their two year old daughter to help.  They were teaching by example what it means to serve.  She was very cute as she ran around looking for things to pick up and thrown into the trash bag.  She pulled one item, trying to get it free from the ground.  It stretched and then snapped up to her.  She showed her Dad the “balloon” she had found.  (balloon=condom)  Her Mom took her home to wash really, really well.

We collected more than a hundred pounds of trash.  We already had most of the trash bags in the dumpster when the picture below was taken.  I got the following email a couple of days later from the guy who supervises the Adopt-A-Block program.  “Eric, I was driving down Canal Blvd yesterday and I had to let you know that I had never seen your adopted blocks of Canal so free of litter.  In fact, I didn’t spot a single piece.  Thanks again to you and your church for doing a great job of helping to keep Lakeview litter free.”

I think our time that Saturday was well spent.

 

Louisiana Christian Convention

I’m part of the team that is preparing the Louisiana Christian Convention.  So, I’ve sent many emails, made calls and had meetings in Baton Rouge to make this convention the best one ever.  At the first meeting with the host church, we were asked, “What’s the purpose of the convention?”  An answer was given, but honestly it wasn’t a good one.  The team that was planning the convention had never really asked or answered that question before.  We were a little defensive at first.  But, I realized what an important question it was.  We were planning a convention the way that it had been planned previously.  We were doing what was familiar, comfortable and perhaps even expected.  But, the convention we were planning really didn’t have a purpose.  That one question served to challenge our leadership.  We asked some tough questions of each other and had some very good discussions.  It was agreed that we should have the convention serve the purposes of the Louisiana Evangelizing Association, LEA for short.  The LEA exists to help churches plant churches in the Gulf South.

We realized that the convention was a great opportunity to showcase the two church plants that the LEA helps to support.  These churches are Hope Christian Church and Pearlington Christian Church.  So, now the focus is on church planting.  Additionally, the convention is about unity between instrumental and accapella churches in our state.  God has brought the leadership of the LEA together with the leadership of the South Baton Rouge Church of Christ.  South Baton Rouge is serving as the host site for the 2010 convention.  It’s been very encouraging to work with the leaders of South, since they are like-minded in their understanding of the Kingdom of God.  They have been fantastic to work with to do something that has, to my knowledge, never been done before.  We are in uncharted, but exciting waters.

I think we’re on the right track now.  We understand who we are and the opportunity that is before us.  The pieces are moving into place for God to do some remarkable things for His glory and His namesake in Louisiana.  I’m glad I get to play a part in this adventure of church planting!

 

First Christmas In NOLA

2009 was our first Christmas in New Orleans.  Previously, we would return to Ohio to celebrate with family.  Having begun the Sunday service at Hope didn’t allow for that this year.  It was really nice to have some down time with the family.  Christmas day we slept in, exchange some gifts, ate waffles for breakfast, went for a long walk, cooked a delicious lunch together,  and played a new board game together.

Being in town during Christmas, allowed us to invite people from Hope and neighbors, for a Christmas Eve, Eve dinner.  I grilled up some meat from Angel Food Ministries.  It’s great to be able to grill out in December.  The meal was a pot-luck, so we had lot’s of good food to eat.  It is nice to be in a house big enough to have people for dinner.  It’s our goal that the house would be used for ministry purposes as often as possible.

The pictures are from our dinner.

 

Faux Fireplace Update

Previously, I wrote about our faux fireplace.  I’m not done with the project, but I am making progress.  The project is a little bigger than I thought it would be.  I’m always optimistic that things will go the best they possibly can, and of course they don’t.  Below you can see before and after pictures.

 

Too Much Rain

New Orleans received over 25 inches of rain in the month of December.  This was a record for the month of December, and a record for all months of the year, for every year that rainfall totals have recorded.  It was too much rain.  Much of the twenty-five inches of rain came in a three day period from Saturday to Monday.  I learned two things through this weekend.  First, I learned that record setting rainfall will not cause flooding around our house.  One section of our backyard had six to eight inches of standing water, but it was never enough to enter the house.  Second, I learned that record setting rainfall will enter one’s house if one has a hole in the wall.  Water began to collect on our bedroom floor late Saturday night, seeping from under the drywall.  We put towels down and hoped for the best.  Monday afternoon I removed big sections of drywall to see if I could determine the source of the leak.  It was easy to find, because there was a hole in the wall four inches high by sixteen inches long.  The base plate of the wall, the part of the wall which rests on the concrete foundation, was completely gone and open to the outside.  Jennifer wouldn’t sleep in our bedroom that Monday night because of the hole opened to the underside of our house.  I told her that it would be like camping, but she wouldn’t join me, so I camped alone and “enjoyed” the sound of torrential rain pounding our house for hour after hour.

The guy that rebuilt our house after Hurricane Katrina, “fixed” the problem by covering over it with sheet-rock on the inside and siding on the outside.  We had no way of knowing.  We haven’t gotten the hole completely yet, but we’re working on it.  The picture below shows our temporary fix, an old pillow stuffed in the hole.

The rain in December also dampened enthusiasm for our family movie night.  We partnered with the Lakeview Civic Improvement Association to show the holiday movie ELF.  Twenty-six people came out in torrential rain to watch a really funny movie.  It was a disappoint that a potentially great outreach event for the church got rained out.

 

Happy 42

I turned 42 years old in December.  I don’t feel old, but the boys think it’s funny to call me old man.  Compared to them, I am old.  But, that’s okay.  Because, overall my is the best that it has ever been.  I have an amazing wife, fantastic kids (I can still totally dominate them, so the “old man” stuff doesn’t bother me) and I’m on the adventure of a lifetime starting a church in New Orleans.

My birthday weekend was made even better because of a visit from Allan Morris.  Allan was on staff with me at Discover Christian Church.  Allan and I did some door-to-door survey work for the church.  It was a community needs survey.  We asked what the top three needs in the neighborhood were and what the top three needs in the respondents family were.  It went really well, so we’ll continue to do survey work in Mid City and Lakeview.

The pictures below are from a small birthday gathering.  The cake pictured is my favorite cake, tres leche (three milk for those non-Spanish speakers like me), it is simply amazing!

 

Gerald Affirmed

Gerald is the Associate Teaching Pastor at Hope Christian Church.  Gerald and his wife Penny completed an intensive assessment process that is conducted by the Church Planting Assessment Center.  They were affirmed as ready and equipped for church planting work.  Gerald has been super-great to work with the past three months.  I know that we are on the right track in planting a church that reflects the diversity of New Orleans.

 

Hurricane Ida

In Ohio, we had snow days.  In Louisiana, we have hurricane days.

I completely surprised that we had Hurricane Ida coming our way at the beginning of November.  At one point, Ida was a Category 3 hurricane, strong enough to do some real damage, and it was headed for New Orleans.  So, not knowing exactly what would happen with Ida and not wanting to take any chances, all of the area schools took a hurricane day on November 9th.  It ended up being a nice day in New Orleans, as the storm weakened significantly and moved to the east.  So, the boys enjoyed their day off school by playing outside most of the day.

It is such a strange thing to know that disaster is slowly coming your way, but that is the nature of hurricanes and the local news media.  I’m glad that Ida came to nothing for us and that hurricane season is officially over for 2009.