Friday- An amazing but sad last day!

Wow!  We are overwhelmed by the fact that our week is over!  It has gone so fast, and it is hard to leave these amazing kids.  It is also hard to leave the friends that we have met, and the incredible directors and interns that we have come to know.  This is such an amazing environment.  We are put in situations where it is easy to show and share our faith.  We have been challenged today to take this feeling back with us and live it daily in our own lives.  It was not hard to start a conversation about God with a total stranger at the park or a child in day camp.  We had on our purple shirts.  Everyone knew we were here from a church.  Can we live this out when we get home in our communities, peer groups, and schools?  That is our challenge as we return home and get back into our normal routines.  At the end of the evening. the teens were given the opportunity to share with the rest of the group what they had learned, or stood out to them.  Many teens shared how this was such an eye opening trip.  Many had come with prejudices about those in this area.  Some had come to realise how selfish their lives were.  It was an encouraging time.

We had the last day of day camp and the last time to visit our challenge circle areas today.  It was hard, because we know that we will probably not see these kids again.  It was great to know this, though and say goodbye to all.

This morning we had a few hours of free time.  We went to the French Quarter, and got to see some amazing historical buildings, Bourbon Street, and an open market. Most of us loved the market, as we honed our negotiating skills, trying to get the best deals on gifts and souvenirs possible.  We also had great food, some choosing gumbo, po' boys, pralines, alligator (yes!) and Icebergs (show cones).  One man was so appreciative of the politeness of our group I (Lori) got a free iceberg!  It was amazing to see this historic area, and get a taste of New Orleans.

Thanks for praying for us, we are off in the morning.  We plan to leave between 8:30 and 9:00 or so.  We have to clean the house (girls) and load the vans, so it may not be quite as fast as some may wish (lol).  We have had an amazing time, and most of them are talking about what they could do to come back again, as well as how we can use what we have learned in our own communities.

New hat for Carls :)

This is Bitsy, the BEST!

Dean  being Dean...... .

Caleb chowing down some Gator!!!!

The Interns (some of them, at least)

The boys with Jolly

We LOVE this one!

This is the yellow house - where the girls live.

2 sets of twins=4 human beings

Eric is the only one strong enough and tall enough for this!

Please spray me!