I can’t believe we have been here almost 2 weeks already! Time is flying by so fast. Over the last week, all of our summer staff has arrived safely in NOLA and we have been doing training with them and just getting to know one another.
Our staff: Paige High – Shannon Klein – Jill Andre – Michelle Carroll – John Kale
Please keep us all in your prayers over the next 10 weeks. Our 1st group arrives this afternoon (Saturday). They are here through Friday morning. That is how each week looks. So, we get about 24 hours of “down time” between groups. Over the last week, Mike and I have worked at least 12 hours every day. Please pray for energy for us and our staff this summer.
Also, please be praying as we begin ministry this week. A couple of our ministry partners are not working out, so Mike and I are finding new churches to partner with. God is definitely opening the door for ministry in new areas for us. Our goal at AIM is to produce disciples, not just converts. So, in each area we minister, we partner with a church and refer people to them. Please pray for us as we try to find churches to partner with in the new areas God is opening up.
A little bit about our ministry opportunities:
· Phyllis’ house – this is the lady who owns the duplex Mike and I are currently living in. The contractor she hired took the money and ran. So, she has been left with an unfinished (and incorrectly done in some areas) home. AIM will be finishing up the outside of her home over the summer.
· Broad Street Mission – opportunities here include a summer day camp for kids, a learning center, a soup kitchen, also prayer walking, personal evangelism, and relational ministry in the surrounding area
· Holly Grove area – we will be doing prayer walking, personal evangelism, relational ministry (meeting people, seeing their needs, and finding out how we can help)
· Old abandoned school – we will be cleaning up the neighborhood, trying to start a VBS or sports ministry, prayer walking, personal evangelism, relational ministry
· Ray Ave Church (Pastor Brown) – This community is only about 15% back even now after 3 years since Katrina. We will be doing prayer walking, personal evangelism, relational ministry. Also, we may be gutting some apartments in the community.
· Gentilly area / Beacon of Hope – this is an organization that seeks to re-connect neighbors and establish the community again. They have been focused on the Lakeview area over the past year and it is beginning to thrive again. So, they are beginning to work in the Gentilly area now. We will be doing welcome buckets, going door-to-door, seeing who has come back and what help they need. We will also be doing some prayer walking
· Central City Mission (Mark) – We will be doing VBS in the evenings and also doing prayer walking, personal evangelism and relational ministry in the surrounding community
· Tent city – under I-10, there are homeless people living in tents. We will be doing water ministry and making lunch for them from time to time
