Day Four

The Earnest N. Morial Convention Center is absolutely huge! It has 12 separate exhibition halls that can be combined for a total of 1.1 million square feet. I'm not sure if they had the whole thing opened up for us, but I do know that I've ever been in an open-floored indoor space that was so enormous.

This was the site of the Interaction Center. There was a huge variety of activities presented. Some of if was purely for fun. They had climbing towers with zip lines. They had a climbing wall. The had several half-court sized basketball games going. They had both beach volleyball and floor volleyball. They had kickball. But there were other things going on, as well.

There was a wheel-chair obstacle course, designed to give you a feel for what it is to have to navigate through various floor surfaces and to manage things like getting through a door. There were opportunities to talk to people from Africa, about what it's like to go to school in a space where there are no chalkboards, paper, and only a limited supply of teachers. There was a blood mobile. Thrivent was there, sponsoring a Habitat for Humanity project, giving participants the opportunity to build wall units that would be later used in a new home.

The programming for the National Youth Gathering was structured so that from 9:00 AM until 2:00 PM, on any given day, 1/3 of the participants would be out at a volunteer site, 1/3 would be involved in Learning Centers, and 1/3 would be at the Interaction Center. Even with "only" one third of the people in this huge space, it was still packed. One third of 38,000 (the final tally), after all, is still 12,6667 people. That's a lot of Lutherans in one place!

Day Three

Today we had our learning day. We spent our time going to various workshops and learning experiences. The days are really packed.

The biggest challenge we face is getting meals organized. The morning of the servant event, for example, we had to be at the Superdome parking lot by 6:30 AM. In order to get food into everyone in time, we needed to be up and running by 5:30. We didn’t make it on that day, so we didn’t have anything to eat until 11:00 in the morning.

Lunch isn’t a problem usually. We get a little bit of a break in the afternoon that gives us time to get our lunch organized. Supper presents another challenge. We need to be at the Superdome by 5:30 or 6:00, because it’s so packed. We need to be able to get there early enough, because you otherwise end up in the nosebleed section. This proves to be a problem when several of the members in your group are afraid of heights. So we end up eating dinner around 5:00 the evening. If we wait until the end of the evening, there are lines out all of the doors of all of the restaurants. And with 37,000 people hitting the streets all at once, the local establishments are quickly overwhelmed.

The worship experiences have been wonderful with great music and powerful speakers. The two that have resonated the most with the youth are Spencer West and Michel Chikwanine.

From the National Youth Gathering Guidebook, “Spenser West knows what it is liked to be bullied. Having lost his legs at the age of five, Spenser had to overcome bullies and stereotyping. Through it all he never lost the hope or courage he needed to overcome obstacles of all sorts”.

“As a former child soldier, Michel Chikwanine has seen and experienced more suffering and violence than any human should see. Forced to leave his home country as a refugee at the age of 11, Michel traveled to 35 African countries, witnessing first-hand the problems faced by the developing world, but also the beatury of the communities and the people who live there. Michel believes we can change the world for the better and he has hope for his native Africa”.

The youth and the adults were very impressed with the stories that these two men had to share. They were; impressed and deeply moved by their perseverance, their struggle and their ability to rise to the challenges that life has presented to them.

We have a very impressive group of adults and youth with us. I’m constantly amazed at their ability to connect what they are hearing and experiencing with their own lives. They really are able to see how faith impacts their lives, and how their lives can impact and shape their faith.

We had our servant event yesterday. It was really an amazing experience. The first amazing thing was that we all managed to get up at 5:30 in the morning.

We had the opportunity to serve at a school that, four years after Hurricane Katrina, is still not fully operational. Before Katrina the school had a student body of 2,200 students. After Katrina it was 1,100. We did mostly clean-up. We cleared out old computers from the computer lab. We moved boxes of new books from the office to the appropriate areas in the school. Some of us put together computer desks. Some of us walked through the athletic field, picking up trash and collecting pine needles to be used for mulch.

One of the things that has affected the functioning of the schools is the loss of population. The schools are funded through local property taxes. But because there are so many abandoned and condemned properties in New Orleans, the tax base has shrunk dramatically. So while the financial needs of the schools have increased dramatically as a result of the need reconstruct, refurbish, and resupply, the funding available to the schools has decreased.

What struck us was the thankfulness of those whom we encountered. Whomever we met, after finding out that we were here with the National Youth Gathering (which has received a lot of local news coverage), their first response is invariably, “Thank you. Thank you for coming down and helping us. Thank for being here and serving here.”

This has been a major event for the city of New Orleans because it’s not only the first major convention that the city has hosted since Katrina, but one of the largest gatherings they’ve hosted ever.

The worship services in the evening are another thing. It’s simply amazing to be in a place with 37,000 other people. And those who are speaking have very compelling stories to share.

The Journey.

We gathered at 7:15 AM in the parking lot. There was a lot of excitement. We took care of some last minute things, and then we loaded into the cars. The drive down to Baltimore went smoothly. The only glitch was when we got behind an extra, extra-wide load on Route 83 South. It was all we could do to keep Rod from gunning his truck and driving over top of it.

We arrived at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport right on time. We checked in and went through security. I lost my phone. Luckily it was only temporary. I had left it with security. It’s a good thing I found it again, because I’m not due for an upgrade until October.

We grabbed lunch at the airport. Everyone was left to his or her own devices for that. We finally got onto the airplane. We had made it! And without a single mishap. I was tempted to celebrate with a gin and tonic, but I had been up since 6:00 AM and figured that it probably would incapacitate me. So I settled for coffee.

Many in our group had flown before, but some had not. We attempted to put them at ease by reassuring them. “Don’t worry, the runway is probably long enough”. “Most of the pilots have flown before.” “The stewardesses know Kung Fu”.

There was a close call during check in. Raymund had a live chicken in his carry on. He was afraid we wouldn’t have a chance to eat, because we were on a tight schedule. Security told him that it was a “no-go”. But it was ok. They were able to mail it back home for him.

Aside from some minor turbulence, the first leg of our flight went smoothly. We arrived in Charlotte safe and sound.

OK. So maybe I'm embellishing a bit. But we are now in Charlotte and we are on our way to New Orleans. Part of the pru0pose of the Nat'l Youth Gathering is simply to get together with 37,000 other folks. But we'll also be doing service projects. We, in particular, will be doing some outside work.

Right now everyone is very excited about the whole thing. It's a great bunch of young people, and a great bunch of chaperons, too. Pictures and more comments will follow once we're at the hotel this evening.

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This is a test. This is a test to see if this is working. I will be blogging our attendance at the 2009 ELCA National Youth Gathering.