August 8, 2017
Dear LABC,
On behalf of all the LABC missionaries to New Orleans, I (Allison) offer thanks for your prayers, love and support. We had a good, challenging and rewarding week serving the community and the residents of the city who still face a great deal of hardship. We worked on rebuilding homes, beautifying memorial gardens, helping with a food pantry and visiting residents of a nursing home. We heard stories of struggle and hope, we experienced daunting storm conditions, we gave and received much love, we feasted on southern cuisine, we fought off fire ants, we felt the reward of hard work, we experienced Mardi Gras, we made new friends and reconnected with old friends, and we encountered God in a multitude of ways.
Come to church Sunday to hear more about our trip and what it meant for us to not only be the hands and feet of God, but to receive the hope, joy and love of a community who walks closely with God. My sermon is titled, “Anything is Everything,” a saying we learned from Burnell Cotlon, a true New Orleans Saint. The scripture is Deuteronomy 15: 7-11. This is the text Jesus likely had in mind when he told his disciples, “the poor will be with you always.” Brassavola will provide the music – there’s nothing quite like a brass band when celebrating New Orleans!
Please continue to pray for the residents of New Orleans, particularly those who continue to struggle in the wake of ongoing storms.
Peace,
Allison
Prayers of the Congregation
- The residents of New Orleans
- All who are affected by the storms in the southeast
- All who mourn
- All who are working for justice
- All who are in need of healing
- Jesus Portillo – recovering from a fall
- Daniel and Betty Stroberger for Haiti
- Georgia Upshaw as she mourns her brother, Monte
- Cecil White for his sister, Caroline (hospice)
- Kay Baxter for her sister Vee and family as they mourn the death of Abbott
- David and Carol Bartlett (David is in the University of Chicago Hospital)
- Whitley Joaquim (health)
- Paul and Johanna Wilkinson for Gloria Joseph
- Karen Okusu as she cares for her mom
- Cameron Wilson for her cousin (health)
- Anthony Marshall and Leslyn Henry
- Mary Karne for her family and herself
- Dwight Dickerson for the Dees-Dickerson family as they mourn the death of longtime friend, Paul Tjogas
- Mariel Paul as she begins her graduate program (MSW) at USC
- Karen Hopkins for her dad, Lyle Hathaway (health)
- Sharon Gordon-Greer for Louis
- Teresita Arciaga, LCC teacher (health)
- Margaret Alexander and family
- Charlene Wolf for friend Kaye and family
- For tenants and property owners
- The Parker family
- Ann Fields and family
- Alean Saunders-Coffey for her brother
- Kathleen Donson Soots for her brothers and herself
- Katrina Lau (health)
- Robert Wilkins (health)
- Sandra Dunn (health)
- Pastor Rick Mixon and the congregation of FBC Palo Alto in the midst of debate with the city of Palo Alto
Announcements
Thanks to Minister in Residence Sydney Webster for her sermon last Sunday. My personal take-aways from her powerful message on affirming people with varying abilities are 1) we are all broken in some way, broken, yet beautiful, 2) more than inclusion, let us seek space that does not exclude in the first place, and 3) Jesus carries the wounds of his body as a testimony to the power of God – may we carry our bodily imperfections as proudly, purposefully and perfectly!