New Orleans - Day 8

Pastor's Portion: You would think a day of rain, and I mean rain, would dampen spirits, but that was not the case. The focus today was on discipleship and we spent the morning with the rest of the New Jersey delegation. There are 560 of us. We all the chance to wear our red New Jersey T-shirts. During our time of reflection, the group said the rain helped us focus on what is important. After our Synod meeting, we went over to the convention center to turn is our check for the 100 Well Challenge. Our gift of $5,000 was the largest they have received from one congregation so far. As you can imagine, the volunteers were very excited. The block party was canceled because of the weather, but a traditional Louisiana dinner was served under a shelter. We all had plenty to eat. Our time in the Super Dome was amazing. We were able to sit closer to the main stage. The sight and sound, at times, was overwhelming. Once again, we heard three amazing speakers, including Leymah Gbowee, the 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate from Liberia. We also had the chance to see ourselves on the big screen in a video we created during the day and sent into the central office. To make the evening complete, I got a text from Bishop Hanson. Here is what he had to say. "Pastor Mark, you have the most awesome youth group in the world. Bishop Mark Hanson". It was another good, good night. It's hard to imagine that tomorrow is our last day. Our time in New Orleans has been everything I hoped it would be. Tina's Turn: The Bishop recognized our youth group's awesomeness today! (insert brief victory dance here). Today's theme was discipleship, which we were practicing in the form of a Synodical meeting. As many of us pointed out, although it went a bit longer than we might have liked, it brought our experiences here into a more relatable context. While the time in the Superdome is amazing, the fact remains that it will be hard to bring that back with us. Today's discussion helped us think of ways in which we will be able to do that. We had planned to visit the French Quarter today, which we rethought based on the huge thunder storm rolling through. Instead, we visited the Convention Center again. We returned to the hotel in time to have a block party, which was complicated by the rain. It was moved under an overhang, though, and by eating in shifts we managed to make it happen. Next came tonight's Superdome visit. The speaker was a Liberian woman who is a Nobel Peace Laureate. The amazing part of her speech was how impressed she (an extremely impressive woman) seemed by us. For me, the most impactful portion of the night was the last song, a rendition of Halleluia which included giant white balloons which were sent into the air. It was a beautiful moment. It's hard to believe how fast the time has passed. Tomorrow is already our last day! I know it will be great!