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Super youth

On on the opening night of the 2009 Youth Gathering, Lutherans streamed into the New Orleans Superdome.

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They tried various ways to keep from getting separated.

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Lutherans unmasked

Devin-and-Austin

ELCA teens love the masks of New Orleans .

(Left) Devin VanBibber, 16, and Austin Bates, 15, are headed to the downtown convention. They’re both members of Grace Lutheran Church, Bandera, Texas.

Oakly-Zink

Oakly Zinc,  16, of Hillsboro, N.D., turned out at Youth Gathering opening event in the Superdome with his horned hat.

Click below to see what they look like unmasked. (more…)

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A rubber boots day

boots.200I wanted to know who was doing the dirty work.

The teens that’d volunteered for a July outdoor assignment in New Orleans.

The teens that worked up a sweat because the labor was intense and not simply because the weather was hot.

The teens forced to endure all of Louisiana’s elements.

Those are the teens I wanted to highlight in Youth Gathering stories. If they were going to do all that hard work, the least I could do is watch them. (Tell their story, too!)

Today was the day I met up with Youth Gathering teens an hour south of New Orleans. We drove as far as we could. Then we were taken on a 45-minute ride by other means to the work site. (more…)

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Dancin’ in the dome

Headed to a work project now with youths. Below is a brief summary of ingredients from last night’s Superdome event. More later.

  • SuperdomeBig purple cross
  • Ten big screens
  • Fireworks
  • Bathtub bishop
  • Cartoon Martin Luther shirtless and wrapped in towel
  • Lots of talk about waters of baptism
  • “Be the change”
  • Community service
  • St. Bernard Parish Project
  • The wave
  • Conga lines
  • Avatars
  • Jazz
  • “When the Saints”
  • High-five exercise
  • “Stomp.” “Stomp.” “Clap.”
  • “Where’s the food?”
  • God’s Work. Our Hands. (more…)
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4:20 p.m.; Marriott lobby

Music starts at the Super Dome at 6:30 p.m. Will we make it?Youth

At my hotel, it’s pure Lutheran madness (in a good sense). Lots of teens still arriving. Four busses are parked outside and more are lined up down the streets.

The lobby is a sea of hyperactive teens wearing backpacks and carrying luggage.  It’s loud — the sounds of laughter and storytelling everywhere. The excitement is palpable.

But the elevators are impossible. If I go back to my room, will I make it to the Superdome on time? Probably not. My floor is in the 20s.

The restaurants are packed, too. I didn’t bother with breakfast or lunch. The youths were smarter. They ordered pizza and had it delivered.

Outside, along Canal Street, the sidewalks are every bit as packed as the main drag. Lutheran teens are walking in groups, each wearing distinct T-shirts. Drivers patiently allow the red group pass, then the neon-green group and, finally, the group wearing horned viking helmets.

I’m guessing they’re from Minnesota. In fact, I’m convinced that there are no Lutheran teens left in Minnesota. They’re all here this week. Three out of four times I stop a teen for an interview, it goes something like this: (more…)

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Emma’s surprise

Meet Emma Sieling.Emma

She’s 17 years old and from Alexander, Minn. She’s attending the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans with about 30 other teens from her town.

They’re hoping to do volunteer work on Saturday at a health fair being held for the people of New Orleans.

Emma arrived in the city last night, wide-eyed and hungry. While her friends ate pizza, she shared the sobering things she’d learned on the ride from the airport to the hotel.

“Our bus driver gave us a little history of New Orleans and the big hurricane,” Sieling said. “I couldn’t believe how bad things looked in some places. It surprises me. It’s been four years. It just makes you want to work all that much harder to help the people.”

(more…)

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N’awlins nosh

It’s time for lunch, so let’s talk food. Gumbo.300

New Orleans is famous for its restaurants. Yesterday, I enjoyed an yummy and affordable meal at Lil Dizzy’s. It’s in the Treme neighborhood, a culturally rich area — one of the seedbeds of the African American community.

Hurricane Katrina brought water to the restaurant’s doorstep, but never ventured inside. The Treme neighborhood is adjacent to the French Quarter, the high traffic tourist area that was largely spared in the storm.

Lil Dizzy’s serves gumbo by the cup or bowl. You can order off a menu or from the buffet line. And you can get plenty to eat for under $10. The restaurant is owned by Wayne Baquet, from one of the celebrated families in New Orleans cuisine. (more…)

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Willie returns home

Willie Franklin

Willie Franklin hadn’t been home for four years. He fled to Texas the day before Hurricane Katrina struck.

Willie's House

Franklin’s small house is on a patch of land not far from the Clairborne levee. The levee was high enough to handle the soaring waters. It just wasn’t strong enough. When the water broke through, it swallowed nearly everything in Franklin’s neighborhood, the Lower Ninth Ward. (more…)

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A New Orleans centerpiece

“Lifting, Loving, Learning” read the headline in this morning’s New Orleans Times-Picayune.Times-Picayune

Underneath was a large photo of Lutherans streaming into the downtown convention center. A long story about 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering followed.

The event is a hopeful sign to the city because it’s the largest convention booked since Hurricane Katrina struck four years ago. Secondly, the youth gathering is sending out thousands of youths and adults to work on recovery projects on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Here’s an except from the article:

After Katrina, “there was no way we could not come to New Orleans,” said Donna Wiegel, a Lutheran planner and an early, passionate advocate for the city in the critical days of 2006 when church leaders had to finalize their 2009 meeting plans.

To order a copy of today’s paper, call 1-800-925-0000.  It will cost $2.15, including shipping.

(more…)

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Volunteers told: “Be God’s hands”

volunteersPastor Sean Ewbank told a room full of youths that Lutherans are scarce in the New Orleans area.

With only a few congregations around, many people aren’t aware of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

But this week, they’ll learn. ELCA members will be evident everywhere working in the muggy heat to help the area with ongoing Hurricane Katrina recovery. The teens will be working in schools, cemeteries, wetlands, parks — just about everywhere — in hopes of making life a bit better here.

Some 37,000 ELCA youths and adults are expected in New Orleans for the 2009 Youth Gathering, which begins Wednesday. The 300 volunteer leaders of the Servant Life projects, as they are known, met this morning for a final worship service together.

Ewbank spoke to the volunteers about the ELCA tagline, or motto: “God’s Work. Our Hands.”

“We’re here to be those hands,” he said.  “What an amazing witness that is.”     (more…)

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