Gulf Coast: Two Years Later

Today marks the two year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. To read and watch the news stories today is to hear the all too familiar account of failed relief and continuing devastation. Cities remain depopulated and unrepaired. Lives remain shattered and broken.

As our nation and the world pause to remember the tragedies of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (which for me, at least, always brings to mind countless other tragedies that continue to happen), we should pray. We should pray for those whose lives have forever been changed by these storms and their aftermaths. We should pray for those who are in positions of power and have the capacity to sustain recovery and prevent future disasters like this. We should pray for the countless volunteers who have given selflessly of their time, talents, and resources to help those in need.

I will be co-leading Fourth Church's next trip to New Orleans, December 29-January 5, and I'm hoping to recruit several of our current college students and other Fourth Church Youth alums to join us. We've also talked about the possibility of bringing next year's Senior High WorkCamp down to the Gulf Coast. I'm excited about these opportunities and look forward to participating in God's work with our brothers and sisters down south.

Hazard: Senior High WorkCamp 2007

From July 28 to August 4, 25 high school youth and 7 adults ventured to Hazard, Kentucky to build and repair homes for low-income families. We worked with the Hazard/Perry County Housing Development Alliance and had the pleasure of serving many great people in Perry County. We worked on a variety of challenging projects and learned much about the socioeconomic realities of this portion of America's coal industry in Appalachia. All of us who participated in this trip came back with a new outlook on where our energy comes from and how much it truly costs--not just in terms of dollars, but in terms of human life.

In addition to this life-changing service and eye-opening education, we had a ton of fun growing as a group, listening to bluegrass music, relaxing on the lake, playing the best game of Night Crossing ever, and much, much more.

To give you a sense of what we experienced, I will post the daily devotions that were written by youth and leaders on the trip and distributed to the congregation of Fourth Church and beyond.

You should also check out the video and pictures posted below.

This was an incredible trip. If you weren't able to go this year, go ahead and mark these dates for next year: July 26-August 3, 2008.



Pictures (Facebook albums):
Senior High WorkCamp 1
Senior High WorkCamp 2
Senior High WorkCamp 3
Senior High WorkCamp 4
Senior High WorkCamp 5
Senior High WorkCamp 6
Senior High WorkCamp 7
Senior High WorkCamp 8
Senior High WorkCamp 9
Senior High WorkCamp 10
Senior High WorkCamp 11
Senior High WorkCamp 12
Senior High WorkCamp 13