LutherTube has a burst of new videos available: “Jesus, Buses, and Blisters,” “Welcome to JusticeTown,” “Interaction Center Fun,” and “Joe Brown Park Cleanup.”

Click “Continue Reading” below to see them, or peruse the whole gallery. (more…)

Thousands of young Lutherans are doing good in the New Orleans community.  Here’s what a few of them had to say after their time serving New Orleanians (namely, working up a dripping sweat doing manual labor for hours on a muggy, 97-degree bayou morning):

Friday was the second day of the ServantLife events–JJJ youth going out into the New Orleans community to help out in countless different ways.  Ms. Pitts, a resident of the Lower 9th Ward, spoke with me yesterday about the impact of just one of the many service-minded groups: “Since we got back here in ’06…we’ve been, you know, trying to get our house together and everything.  And by the grace of God we’re getting everything together, and hopefully we’ll finish soon.”

This house was a part of a broad field of largely empty lots.  Youth Gathering participants spent a muggy morning gathering 4-year-old Katrina refuse that still remains scattered across the Lower 9th Ward, as well as bringing the waist-height grasses under control.

“They’re helping us out tremendously.  They’re picking up a lot of the debris that [was] around, and they’re cutting the grass.  They’re helping us out–that’s all I can say.  It’s been a blessing, and I thank them so very much,” Pitts added.

How do the youth feel about the task they were given?

“We’re cleaning up so the city doesn’t take these peoples’ land away from them.  They say they’re wanting to make this into big warehouses and stuff.  We’re trying to get people back to their homes.”

“It’s hot, but, I mean, it’s good work.  Good to know that you’re doing something to help other people, and it makes you feel good.

This afternoon, I was handed the following letter from the St. Bernard Parish President.  (St. Bernard Parish, just southest of New Orleans, still displays the devastating effects of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.)

Dear Orange-Shirt Brigade (Youth Volunteers),

I wanted to take a quick moment to welcome you to St. Bernard Parish and to let you know how much we as citizens of this great community appreciate you giving of yourself to assist us in rebuilding our community.

As you arrive at your various work sites, it may seem as though there is less need for help than one may have thought but keep in mind that we have a long way to go to recover our community to pre August 29, 2005 status.  Your efforts today will help more than you know and the true value of your time and energy is your gift of allowing our community to take another step toward uniting and reuniting families, friends, and neighbors.

I do offer one specific challenge to you.  our recovery has been divinely inspired over the last almost four years and the blessing is that the presence of Christ has been overwhelming since Hurricane Katrina.  As you go about your good wo0rks this week, I challenge you to find Christ in the activity that you do and the places and people you encounter- Your time as a volunteer may just turn into something that only He can make happen.

Thanks again for your partnership and God Bless you.

Sincerely

Craig P. Taffaro, Jr.

St. Bernard Parish President

Take a look at this introduction to the Gathering, courtesy of LutherTube by Brett Nelson:

In a variety of ways, the people of New Orleans are truly excited to see the youth of the ELCA arrive and prepare for their ServantLife events. The presence of 37,000 participants sets the stage for much-needed service work to be done on a massive scale.

The city has rolled out a red carpet for the ELCA youth. You may have seen my previous picture of the Welcome banners lining Canal Street and Convention Center Drive, but it certainly doesn’t end there.

Even the Hard Rock Cafe has entered the game with a limited edition Youth Gathering commemorative pin. By the time you read this, they may have already been sold out, because they had sold 90% of their 500-piece printing by Tuesday night.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune ran an article today describing the arrival of all the Jesus, Justice, Jazz youth, who “filled more than 70 hotels to capacity and engaged the services of 300 buses” in New Orleans.

But perhaps most telling are the words of the New Orleanians themselves.  Conversations, blogs, and Twitter are abuzz with comments overheard on the streets of New Orleans: “The Lutherans are here.”

Tomorrow, all the preparatory work begins to pay off in service to the people of New Orleans–God’s work, our hands.

UPDATE:

I’ve been sent two more news articles from Louisiana’s WWLTV:

City Flooded with Teens Giving…

Lutheran Convention (video)