Written By: Kelcie Ward & Dolan Enloe

On July 4th 2016, a team of 37 high school students, including ourselves, headed to New Orleans for a missions trip. After a short flight from Kansas City, we landed at Lewis Armstrong international airport. This is our story.
We arrived at the church where we would be staying for the next 7 days, and we began our missions work that night. We began by handing out flyers for the big event at the end of the week. We went block after block, offering people a flyer and telling them about the medical attention, free groceries, haircuts, blow ups for the kids, and live music that would be provided.

They were all astonished at the fact that we were giving all of these things away for free. These people barely had enough money to keep the lights on, let alone to feed their families. Even though these people had nothing, they were the most thankful people we’ve ever met.

We were preparing for this major event the entire week. The event was called “Urban Vibe,” and was going to have everything the people of the community would need. Every time we would mention free groceries, they would be in utter disbelief. They would always ask, “are you with a church?” It’s amazing that the people of New Orleans new the power of the church and how giving other human beings could be.

On the first day, we went to the local park to begin passing out flyers. While we were there, we began talking to a young boy named Glen. He was about 8 years old and was full of joy. I remember the moment that one of the guys on the trip dropped his phone, and seemingly before it hit the ground, Glen had it and was in a full on sprint.

Besides the people and the experience of bonding with the community, we ourselves were touched personally. See, most people think that a missions trip is about you touching the community, but in reality, the community touched us. These people were so eager to have someone care for them. Even if it was just for a minute, all they wanted was the attention of another person.

Glen is the perfect example of that, as he latched onto us and never let us go. He followed some of the team around the city one afternoon, as he helped them pass out flyers to his own community.

One day, we were at the local park playing basketball with a group of boys, all Glen’s age. A couple of the boys started to pick on Glen. One of them started charging at him, with the intentions of a fight. I stepped in, and bear hugged the boy until the police grabbed him. This is just one example of how even the youngest kids of the community had been affected by their surroundings.

We saw some great things, and some awful things. Whether it was the heroine needles that were abundant about the streets, or the changes seen in the lives of the people, we were always affected beyond belief. We thank God for the opportunity to serve the community of New Orleans.

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