Day 6: Servant Day

This was my favorite day of the week. Today we did our servant day
activity. It was tiring at first but after lunch I was set and ready
to work. The task performed today by our group was to clean sidewalks
covered with trees, large plants and hard soil. In the sun, it was
pretty difficult and every half hour we'd take water-breaks. At first
my job was garbage duty. A few of us had to clean any teashthat we
found. The second job I had was to rake leaves, remove soil, cut roots
and a few more things. We went around doing this from 8 am to 1:30 pm.

Worship today was also great hearing Spencer West and Michel
Chikwanine. Both of their stories were touching. Both stories involved
a bad thing in life turning into a good thing.

Skillet performed at the dome. I really like there music and I am
going to put some of their music on my iPod. Tommorrow is the last
full day and I look forward to it.

One more thing. I haven't become as brown as I thought I would.

Showing where we're from

Our Day of Service

We finally got a little dirty today as we traveled to the town of
Covington. There we cleared up sidewalks that were completely
overtaken with overgrowth. Armed with clippers and saws we attacked
the the bushes and vines with full force. If you've ever seen how
poorly I've cleaned my room, you'd never believe how much of a good
job I did. But don't tell my mom. The work was fun and worthwhile, but
not as much as I expected. As we worked through the day, we recieved
many thanks from the townspeople who genuinly appreciated our efforts
and time.

Don't stop believing...

A little impromptu kareoke while waiting...

The climax of the trip

Hey Church,

We had so much fun doing our servant life project. Some people painted
things but we cleaned the side walk. We cut bushes and picked up
trash. I felt a great feeling of satisfaction like I made a
difference. After we finished it you could see the sidewalk and the
natural beauty. I had a lot of fun and p.s. I still miss you Shawn and
family.

Love Janeane.

>

Celebrating God's Unconditonal Love.

Yesterday we started the day with a hip hop worship service, it was amazing to see a different way of worshipping God. I really LOVED it.

After woship we headed to the convention center. It was our day to learn about the environment- our purpose for being here in New Orleans. We watched a 30 minute video about environmental issues facing New Orleans after the devastated Katrina.We were then guided to the interaction center where there are many fun things to do - I got a free foot massage. It felt really good because we've been walking a lot since we arrived.

The evening service at the superdome was awesome as it was on Wednesday. The service was about God's Unconditional Love for everyone.

Off to ServantLife!

With only a slight rough start, we got to the Superdome by 6:30am and
got on our bus. We are traveling 45 minutes to our project site.
Currently we are going over the 24 mile bridge -- we can't see any
land on the horizon, only water on all sides.

Our work here has been on the news. We are the largest convention to come to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. City officials said that the work we will be doing in three days of the gathering would have otherwise taken 3 years to complete. Check out a local article here:
http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl072209cbcity.68f400a1.html

Day 3 without Febreze. Still had a Good Day.

Kanye West singing at church?
That's what it felt like this morning in worship.

It wasn't actually Kanye West. It was Agape, a hip hop worship leader
leading Church in a completely different way. From the crazy beats to
his gospel rays (which actually made sense). He put God's word into a
hip version and was able to still keep the basic aspect of Church.

Another interesting thing today was that I almost got adopted. At the
convention, a South Dakota church played basketball with me and
treated me like a fellow South Dakotin. I even got invited to lunch.
Even though I didn't go, it was still cool.

Today was good!!

--Mark

Day 5: All You Gotta Do To Change The World Is Love

Today was a day full of activities such as hip hop worship with Agape
and visiting the Interaction Center, but the best part if the day was
worship. During worship the message was love. We can use love to
create change. One of my favorite speakers was Viola Vaughn. She had a
very inspirational speech. She devoted her life to education and is
now the executive director of 10,000 Girls, an education and
employment program for village girls in Senegal. Viola said how her
love for education and helping people made her who she is today. A
band called Group1Crew ended today's worship with great music that I
plan to listen to again in the future. Worship was beautiful and I
look forward to tommorrow because it's servant life. Everyone should
be getting brown and pink tommorrow.

A Welcome Change

Today we woke up early to go to see Agape's Hip Hop morning worship
service. I can honestly say this was the first of the worship services
that I genuinely enjoyed. Although it's easy to see David Scherer is a
very religious guy, he's not super serious and grim when he speaks.
He's very funny and entertaining, and he gets his message across
without being too preachy. In fact, that was one of the things I liked
most about him -- he didn't really preach. He simply spoke to you. And
being lucky enough to talk with him a bit afterward, he's just what
you would expect -- very cool, very friendly, very down-to-earth, very
genuine. That was easily the best part of the day for me.

--Kadin

The trip is coming to it's high point

Dear Church 
I'm having a great time here. Thanks for helping us to get here, and to experience this event. We had a hip hop morning service that was very energetic. We also went to the interaction center were we discussed our service life projects and played games and other fun activites. So thanks Church and I miss you Shawn. 

Love Janeane

Hello Minnesota!

Today was our day to spend time in the interaction center, a huge place full of many different activities, booths and stations (think mega church carnival) that sought to help us learn a bit about our purpose here while throwing in a bit of fun.When we first visited the interaction center yesterday, we were overwhelmed by all the things we could do. I did everything from racing go-karts with Kadin to learning about different Lutheran colleges and organizations.

While I was thoroughly entertained throughout the day, my highlight would most definitely be enjoying all of the people that I got to meet or "visit," as they say in Minnesota (There are herds of them here and I love love love their accents!). Barely anyone was hesitant to smile and ask where we were from. As the Gathering continues to become more "personal," I have been developing a better understanding of the people who make up the congregations of the ELCA beyond our synod, one of the reasons that I chose to attend the Gathering.

Each gathering, people choose to bring in small gifts to give to random strangers or new acquaintances. So far I've received tons of wristbands, buttons, candy, a clothespin and a bookmark. These gifts, called "swaps," are often exchanged in return for something else, but if you have nothing, a simple smile will do. The little action of giving to random strangers is a beautiful one, reflective of the unifying spirit of the gathering.

Thursday Evening Worship in the Superdome

We're here and ready for our second night of worship with 37,000 other people.

Don't forget to join us with the live webcast at www.elca.org/gathering and check back later for some reflections on our day!

The youth thought of Pastor Bob when they saw this:

Building a House

Mark built a house at the Thrivent Builds area. We took a tour an learned about how Thrivent pairs with Habitat for Hummanity to provide housing for people in need. We walked through a trailer museum that showed us the potential living situation of someone in need as well as what could be done for them. We learned ways to be able to help people by getting involved when we return home.

Painting Patchwork Peace Panels

These canvases are going to be made into tents for people in need of shelter in Darfur.

Guitar Hero

There was a Guitar Hero booth set up. Kadin got a chance to play (as
did Maria). Kadin drew a small crowd as he played. He was awesome!

The Trip Continues

Dear Church,

I had a cool day. We ended MYLE and I really didn't want it to end. I really loved learning about the different races. After we ended MYLE we went to the convention center where thy had games and other fun and interesting activities. It was very interesting to hear how we could help buy affordable houses for people who were homeless or living in bad conditions. After the convention center we went to the youth gathering opening worship and it was really huge. I had a lot of fun with the music and songs. Finally we went to a fun dance party that was very funny.

In the middle of the party, I got a message from Shawn (Mark's brother and my cousin) telling me to tell everyone we miss him and all of our family and to blog about just how much we miss them. So, we miss you Shawn.

Love, Janeane

The Gathering Begins

MYLE has finally come to a close today with what I thought was the best sermon of the week by Karris Golden. She asked us to consider what the soundtrack of our lives would sound like and made a good point in saying that when we do self-evaluate ourselves, we tend to self-censor because we are afraid of what others may think. But at the end of the day, the things that should define us most and the little ones that changed and challenge the way we live life. Her sermon pushed me to think more about my personal soundtrack, and how different it would sound with the retrospect that comes with old age.

Our trip has turned in a new direction as the actual gathering began with opening worship, which was absolutely MAGICAL. I've heard previous youths speak about how great it was but you just don't know or understand it's greatness until you're here for yourself and you can feel what it's like to be with so many young people, gathered and unified by religion. The music was beautiful, the speakers were beautiful, the pyrotechnics were beautiful but more of that could hold my attention as much as the 38,000 people in such a large space, we were a large force.

Exploring my True Heritage

Today was a very important day -- today I was made by my group members, an honorary Guyanese person. I was educated in the plethora of Guyanese ways of speech and in return, I taught my group members some commonly-used white people phrases. Then after the Gathering's opening worship, we went to a dance, where I showed them the basics of white people dancing. It was an incredible exchange of culture -- I feel truly multi-ethnic.

I must say I was glad to see the end of MYLE. I wasn't getting anything out of it, and I'm eager to get to the service day. Doing volunteer work is the whole reason I wanted to come back to New Orleans.

-- Kadin

Group Shot!

We're in front of a window over looking the Mississippi River in our
hotel. A beautiful view.

Day 4: Jesus, Justice, Jazz

Closing MYLE with the theme of soundtracks of life made me think about my soundtracks of life. One that comes to mind is my sister's laugh. I think her laugh is weird and quick and loud -- I sometimes make fun of her.

After we ate tasty fried cripsy (yes cripsy not crispy) chicken at popeyes and had some fun at the convention center where there was tons to do such as sports, games and music.

My favortie part of the day was Youth Gathering opening worship. The feeling to be there was amazing and being there listening to speaches and songs made me feel something special.

I look forward to tommorrow's activities and worship.

I tried to Incorporate febreze into the title but couldn't think of it.

37,000 youth, 2 parents a piece that comes out to approximately 74,000 Lutherans give or take. I was flabergastered (heard a girl on the elevator use that and thought it was cool). A whole SUPERDOME! Not just a dome, but a SUPERDOME filled with youth. I never knew there was that many youth but now I know.

Today we met someone who should be on a comedy central special, but the Lutheran version -- Karris Golden was hilarious and deep. Once again, I was flabergastered (cool even a second time). The message she was sending was about how your life story isn't what you pick and want to show people, but all the embarassing things as well.

---Mark

Interaction Center

This bicycle was set up to use our peddling power and convert it to electricity for lightbulbs and a blender. We were able to experience just how much energy it took to make things work -- things we take for granted.

Tattoos

Check out our new tattoos from the interaction center...

See the actual worship services for yourself...

You can see the worship services live by visiting the Gathering Website. You can also see a schedule of services here.

Tonight's worship featured lots of fun and surprises. There was a House Band, Rebirth Revival Band, and Agape leading our music. We listened to Liz McCartney and Marc Kielburger and his brother each speak about their experiences with justice and change in the world. But there were more surprises in store -- there was pyrotechnics and the presiding Bishop of the ELCA Mark Hansen joined worship by driving in a bathtub (really -- he greated us and led us in prayer with a bath robe over his shirt and shorts and flip flops).

Check back for more stories from the youth and pictures.

Don't forget to leave your comments! (click on the link to the
comments below)

"God's work. Our hands. "

After a long and exhausted day yesterday and a night of little sleep, I realized that I am 'multi-ethnic' :) I am 'mix up' - black, indian and portuguese !! WOW

Yesterday evening a few of us felt like we did not belong in some of the caucuses held by MYLE. For me I did not encounter such feelings, although I was asked about mine. I understand the feeling of 'not belonging' but I realized that it is not such a big deal.

As today passed I learned that everyone will not be that way and that's okay because God accepts each and everyone of us just as we are!

Today was amazing - absolutely amazing. The worships, meeting so many people - WOW ... Exciting !!!

I love it and look forward to MORE.

Look where else we are:

http://www.thelutheran.org/blog/JJJ09/

You can see the experiences of other youth here too. Check it out!!

Funny the Way it is

From Tuesday:

Today has not sat well with me. Our group had a rather odd moment in our "ethinic cacus." Admittedly, a lot of it had to do with miscommunication and poor vocalization but the experience unfolded into a much larger issue about our group's ethnic classification. What I have to say about the situation is this: the act of physically seperating teenagers by only 7 ethic classifications is not necessarily the right way to approach multicultural unification,
especially when I feel that I did not fit into any specific box of classification. The way I see it, race is a label created by humans whereas God has no labels for us.

The issue was pressing enough to have a few group discussions, one of them with a MYLE chaplain. There was all this talk about this kind of ethnic classification just being the way things are, but when you think about it, that's not any way to make the situation any better.

Progress is good. Accepting we have a flawed system and just living with it is not. I realize as I am writing this now how ambigious this all might seem. Just to clarify, there were issues in being eligible to vote in the "mulit-ethic" caucus as we were technically not multi-ethnic. But this is how the ELCA identifies our group rather than "other," which might have been a lacking classification but is more fitting. My question is why does all this labeling exist if we are
all equal unseparated members of one family in God's eyes?

Everything else today went swell.

Opening worship for the gathering!!