So far the trip has gotten off to a great start.
  Everyone has had places to go and the Lord has started working in the youth’s lives and its so neat to see and talk with them.
  I have been slightly organized – only by the Lord’s grace – and so we have a schedule and I haven’t lost anything!:)
  I wanted to share a story from one of the girls, Liz from yesterday.
  God used her and broke her heart – praise you Jesus!

 Liz writes:

Monday, a group of us went to the Distribution Center to give out food and clothing to the victims of Katrina.
  Normally, I’m a very outgoing person and I had an arrogant attitude of, “Oh I can
easily hand out food and clothes, no problem.”
  Then, the man in charge, who was explaining a few things before we started, said that the people were going to sign in, be handed a cart, and we would walk around with them, encouraging them, sharing our faith, and walk them to their cars and pray with them.
  And suddenly, I felt like I was three inches tall, and knew I couldn’t do it.
  I was right;
I could not do it, but God could through me.
 

Everything started, and people were meeting and greeting people and walking around with them.
  I was hoping for a sweet old lady who would not intimidate me, and around the corner walked a big, buff man in his early thirties, holes all over his clothes, duct tape holding together cuts and scrapes, and I quietly turned around and whispered, “Here’s someone, who’s going next?” But when I turned around, no one was there…
OK God, I understand.
 So we started walking, as we walked, the pain in his eyes made my stomach churn; he looked so emotionally scarred as he told me about how the hurricane has changed his life.
  We then went to the clothes shop, and he explained to me, with tears in his eyes, that it didn’t matter what clothes he got because his wife of ten years left him the other day for “a better option.”
  My heart was so broken for him that, with God’s help, I knew I had to pray for him.
  We walked outside, and with God’s strength, I asked him if I could pray for him.
  He literally stopped moving, and starred at me saying, “You…you would do that…for me?”
  We both bowed our heads, and prayed that God’s love would fill him up, and that God would heal the emotional and physical wounds.
  We thanked God for knowing the past, present, and future.
  When we finished praying, he hugged me and his voice was quaky. He couldn’t even look up but he got these words out, “I have never felt like this before…you have no idea what that meant…thanks kiddo…”
 

I was able to hold it in for a little but then sat and cried for ten minutes, in complete awe of our awesome God, and what he can do through ordinary people.
  We are nothing special, and I was reminded that even though we came to help these people, they are helping us so much, it’s unbelievable.