On Monday, our high school ministry will take the final step in concluding our work in New Orleans. I will be traveling there to retrieve the Gladeville Baptist Church Mobile Shower Unit - or as we’ve lovingly called it for 10 years - The Shower Trailer.
When we began this work in New Orleans a decade ago, we could not have known the impact it would have on our students. Our focus there became a critical part of our missions strategy for our high school ministry. And when I made the final arrangements this week to go get the shower trailer, I must tell you that it was a bittersweet experience - certainly an emotional one. There’s a finality about this last step in the journey that makes our God-led decision to move away from NOLA a reality.
What’s interesting is that it is the same for our host church, Metairie Baptist. Their pastor, Thomas Strong, told me that it is bittersweet for them as well. While they have treasured their relationship with us as much as we have treasured ours with them - that trailer is one of very, very few remaining icons reminding them of Hurricane Katrina. Clearing that small patch of ground where the shower trailer has rested for so long is another step their church can take to move forward - past the memories of such a horrific time in the lives of so many.
So while this last step has a bit of sadness attached to it, it is also a happy time. We are so grateful for what has transpired in a city that was for so long a second home to a bunch of high school kids and leaders from Gladeville, TN. Please join me in thanking God for the tiny role He allowed us to play in serving the people New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish. He is still shaping the future of our next long-term missions efforts for high school ministry at The Glade Church. I’m looking forward to following His lead again.
Please let me know if there’s something I can pray about for you or your family.
- Michael
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