Evening At The Dome

WOW..... what a great night of laughter, fun, music, and worship!  Our youth got to be in the dome early for our   live lip sinc.  It was an incredible experience...all the rehearsal, entry in a special gate, front row seating for the night and on the Big Screen live... it was an experience most of us will never forget.  The music tonight was also incredible...I hope that you had the chance to be there with us through the link that Anna sent out.

All the speakers tonight were incredible... Bishop Mark Hanson opened the gathering and declared the 2012 Youth Gathering officially had began.  Rev. Curry talked about gumbo and how God wanted all of us to be part of His Gumbo, a little hard to explain what he meant unless you know all the things that go into making gumbo good... it takes all of us to make God's kingdom complete.  But of all the speakers tonight, the biggest impact in the dome was from Nadia Bolz-Weber....the lady with all the tattoos kind of rocked the place.  She had an incredible message to send out to all of us that God doesn't care where we are in life....He just wants to be in ours!

After the evening program we had some weather that really dampened our spirits (just a little).  We were contained in the Dome because of the storm for about a half-hour.  Then when we did venture out, the lightning and rain continued and we got wet and watched the sky light up multiple times.  It was kind of scarey with that many people out on the street, but everything turned out fine .... except no hotel life and no food available...so it was apples, chips, and cookies...not a good supper, but at least we had a fine meal this afternoon.  Until tomorrow... which is our Practice Justice day....launching from the dome at 8:45 to go out into the city of New Orleans in our orange shirts.... time to share the love of Christ with our hearts and hands,  as Bishop Hanson said... "God's work, our hands."

Good night from New Orleans.....

Sneak Peak

Our first night in the dome was quite the adventure! Here's some photos...Dan will update with details tomorrow.

Tomorrow is our Practice Justice day where we serve in the community! Keep us in your prayers as we jump into this with open eyes and hearts.

Watch Us Live Tonight!

For those who haven't heard, we have a little secret role in the opening Mass Gathering tonight at the Mercedes Benz Superdome! If you want to check it out live, you can click on either of the two places below. The first streams the video on the ELCA website; the second link  streams from Gathering TV using facebook.

http://www.elca.org/ELCA/Youth-Gathering/Multimedia/Gathering-TV.aspx
https://www.facebook.com/youthgathering/app_142371818162

There is a pre-show that will stream beforehand, but the main mass Gathering starts at 7pm central time.

PS If you want to follow our blog and get emails when we update feel free to put your email address in the space on the right side ====>

Thanks! :)

Beignets Part Two

We finally got to taste these lovely New Orleans delicacies! The group left at 6:30am to get breakfast at Cafe Du Monde. It's a good thing we went early because soon after the line was growing and growing.

Day 3- 2nd Day In New Orleans!

Hey everyone,
Our day has been a pretty full day so far and the official gathering activities haven't even started.  After breakfast at the famous cafe, we headed out to the river walk and took a little ferry ride across the channel.  While we were on the boat, I visited with a local gentleman that told me about the day Katrina hit.  He was trying to evacuate with all the other people and got part way across the bridge where he remained for several hours.  He said that the people running everywhere for cover was a sight that he will never forget.  He told me that it changed his life forever..."money is not important at all, cause when you have money, and everything is gone, where would you spend it?"  He continued, "What is important is family and friends and that I am alive, I thank him, the one up above, everyday."

After our boat ride, we did some shopping in the French Quarter...lots of little shops .... lots of interesting people.... and most of our youth were carrying bags of items as we left and headed out to get some lunch.  We had lunch in a great restraunt..."Mothers Restraunt"  We had lots of great New Orleans cuisine with jambalaya, cray fish, chicken, poor boys, grits, calamari, grilled shrimp and debris (yes that is a food, the roast beef, in gravy, that falls off the main roast). Our waitress was awesome...a real hoot....and she really knew how to make us feel welcome and served our group remarkably!

As I update this blog.... it is hotel time... pool, weight room, naps, all happening ... as we begin to prepare for an evening of lip-synching, music, worship, fellowship and fun. Please be sure to go to the live webcams that will be broadcasting tonights activities (Anna sent out a link) ...it will be awesome!

Later....going to the pool...to see how the youth of Zion, are cooling off... pictures later....

Day 2 Of Travel and Day 1 in New Orleans

We left Missouri short one chaperone from the Rochester group.  Dan will be staying for a week in the hospital, as he had emergency surgery and an infection in his intestine.  Please keep him in your prayers. After a visit to the hospital we got on the road alot later then we wanted to and it did not look like we would get to New Orleans in time to register today...but God had a plan and our prayers were answered as we pulled up to the convention center with 2 minutes to spare.

The bus ride today had lots of games played.  Games of cribbage, Catch Phrase, and Mafia... Mafia is a story telling game of mystery...pretty fun!  The trip also included a couple of movies...Yes... the DVR was repaired. We enjoyed a little Ghost Busters to prepare for our tour tonight. 

We toured New Orleans tonight with a Haunted Tour.  It was not very scarey at all...but some good history of New Orleans was covered and we saw some incredible buildings and architecture as we listened to some interesting stories of the haunted nature.   The night concluded with a large group meeting to discuss being safe in New Orleans and the trip in the morning for their famous pastry.  Good night everyone from New Orleans...it is lights out time!

Day 2 Of Travel

Playing a fast paced game on the bus!

Here we go again!

Early morning starbucks run and breakfast at the hotel...I think everyone slept like logs!  We are ready to head out for a day of traveling, straight thru to the big easy! As tickled as I was that yesterdays stop was ironically in my hometown, we are super pumped to hammer thru and get there! Our group of kids is (so far!) A dream group... Ninja dan is working on getting the dvd player working as we speak :-)
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers today..stay cool!
-sheryl

Day One NOLA

It was a great travel day on the bus for the Zion youth.... starting around 8:00 this morning.  We traveled all morning and stopped for lunch at a park in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.  We realized part way down, that the bus trip today was NOT going to include any movies....DVR sound not working... I will try to look at it tomorrow morning (no promises though).  Our youth were incredible...not a single complaint :)   During our small group time Mack said "We found other things to do!"  We arrived tonight about 7:00,  at Cape Girardeau and enjoyed a little pizza by the pool at the Pear Tree Inn.  After supper we had small group time and then a little R&R in the hotel rooms.  We will be up early tomorrow...breakfast starts at 5:15 with a Starbuck run at 6:00.  We do need prayers for one of the other Chaperones.... Dan from Hosanna in Rochester was taken to the hospital tonight by ambulance in a lot of pain.  Please pray that he can continue the trip with us.  Also please pray for lots of energy for us as we have another long day ahead and that we arrive in time to register early.  Lots of love from Missouri.......

Follow Us...LIVE!

Our programming at the Superdome will be streamed each night on the ELCA website so parents and anyone who can't be there can check out what we're learning and doing in New Orleans.

Our group has the pleasure of being a part of the opening Mass Gathering on Wednesday night (starting here at 6pm)! Check it out to see what we'll be up to. I can promise you it will be entertaining!

Here is the link to the live feed: http://www.elca.org/ELCA/Youth-Gathering/Multimedia.aspx There's nothing up yet because we're not there, but there will be starting on Wednesday night and each night after that until Saturday night.