NoLa Time

Up way too early this morning, awakened at 6am by the sun and excitement to begin the projects for the week, I was joined in the fellowship hall of this grand church by two of our team members. They were similarly awake, probably due to the central time change and unfamiliar beds as much as excitement. Situated on the upper end of Canal Street near City Park, the small yet stately brick church lies nestled between quaint homes, small businesses, and nonprofits. Families walk to the nearby cafes and shops on the wide sidewalks. The trolleys traverse the median between the tree lined street in front of the church. Many young families live in this area. This summer members of Canal Street church will be assisted by mission teams from across the country as they seek to minister to and reach people of this community. 

When the church was reborn a few years ago, the new staff decided to also simultaneously begin a nonprofit for community service and outreach. Thus, the church building houses both the church community and RICC (Restoration Initiative for Culture and Community - www.thericc.org). Their byline is Restoring Communities and Reconciling Relationships. The purpose of the nonprofit is reconciliation in many iterations. They seek to to rebuild homes - many in the area are still empty from the ravages of Katrina. They seek to build strong families through family and children's ministries, assisting with counseling needs, providing a community preschool, hosting summer block parties and day camps, and lots of other events and activities. They seek to network within the community, assisting and partnering with other groups to meet needs and to make the community a more wholesome place to live and work. 

This morning our diverse team from campuses across Georgia will begin to help the church get ready for the many summer events that are scheduled. We are the first of many teams who will be living and working here this summer. We will do some cleaning, organizing, and painting of the church facilities. We will prayer walk areas where the church hopes to minister this summer as well as some of the other, more famous parts of the city. Later in the week we will assist some staff members and volunteers move into the church community. Living close to the church is essential to most effectively minister to the community. Budgets are tight. Staff is not paid much. Our team will be able to provide much needed assistance to three church families that are moving into the church community. It should be a good week. We are all excited and ready to begin! 

Let's do this for the glory of God!

NoLa Team #1

Clarke Bradley, Georgia Southern University

Nathan Byrd, campus minister@UGA, team leader

Nick Byrd, North Oconee High School

Alisa Curtwright, Georgia Perimeter College

Chris Davisson, Georgia State University

Walter DeGuire, Georgia Southern University 

Jennifer Hightower, University of North Georgia

Marcus Ross, Southern Polytechnic 

Kyle Todd, Georgia Tech

Shari Watson, University of Georgia

Natasha Wood, Georgia Southwestern College