Dear Prayer warriors.
Again it has been such a busy week, that I have way too much to tell and too little time.
Every day has its new set of blessings and trials.
I arrived back in New Orleans last Wednesday after taking the family home. Debbie mentioned that we had a bit of a flood. It didn’t look so bad, but the insurance company came in and removed the kitchen linoleum, they found a lot of water damage and it had already spread into three rooms. So now I have some work to do when I get back home for a few days on the 3rd of July. But, like Debbie said, the damage is nothing compared to the thousands of homes we see every day here in New Orleans, and maybe it helps us to keep things in perspective.
As many of you have probably heard by now, the Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco has asked for 100 National Guardsmen to assist the NOPD in the fight against crime. The murder rate of the city is going back up and last week four teenagers were murdered as they were driving down the street in the central business district. This was clearly drug related, but also a sign that some of the gang activity is returning to the city.
The seventy humvees and other military vehicles arrived in the city last Tuesday. The reason cited for this action, was the increase in crime and the inability of the already depleted NOPD, to cope with the situation. A quick pole taken shows that 86% of the people are in favor of this action. This is the second time since hurricane Katrina that the National Guard has been called upon to assist the city.
For AIM and many other ministries in the city this is a welcome sign that the local government is serious about dealing with the crime in the city. We have been working in all areas of the city and have not seen any sign of a criminal element. On the contrary, we have been welcomed with open arms by appreciative local residents trying to rebuild their lives.
One of our ministry partners, Good News in Bad Places, has become a central location for the National Guard to meet. The commander of the guard troops has said that our security worries are over, and that they would personally patrol our ministry sites. Needless to say this has calmed a lot of the worried parents.
Good News has proved to be an amazing partnership, and a blessing to us all. They have had 40,000 people come and stay in their tents since September 2005, and in all that time there have been absolutely no injuries. God has protected them miraculously. One of their workers, Patrick, had a bad car accident. He tore his cruciate ligament and had a broken bone in his foot. I saw him the day before he was due to see the orthopedic surgeon, to make plans for surgery. After a time of prayer that night, he went to the doctor the next day. The scan revealed that he had six months of ligament growth in five days, over the tear and no loss of mobility. He is walking around without a brace and praising God!!
Last week we had our smallest group of the summer, only 125 people. But for some reason it was the most tiring week. We were tested in many ways and had to pray for a lot of patience, not my strong point! I had three flat tires in one day. But I guess that is to be expected with all the nails lying around.
On Saturday night we attended a Christian music concert at the central park. There were many artists including Shaun Groves and the Newsboys. We got great seats as a result of being one of the Christian relief organizations. But unfortunately God blessed us with a huge thunderstorm about four songs into the Newsboys and the organizers called it off. It was such a blessing to see so many Christians in the city praising God and also to see all the Christian relief teams there.
Yesterday I made a trip to our base in Mississippi and was able to encourage our new leaders there as they received about fifty mission trip participants. Please be in prayer for the ministry in Mississippi, they tend to be forgotten. One of the most interesting statistics I heard while there was that even though Mississippi is right in the middle of the Bible belt, seventy percent of the people of Long beach are unchurched. This is a huge mission field and one that is really hurting right now.
Today I had one of the most incredible experiences imaginable. I still find it difficult to explain, but I will try.
Our construction coordinator told me that we needed to help a local alcoholic rehabilitation home. I really didn’t want to commit to more work, and didn’t see how we could possibly help. But I agreed and we headed off to the home. It was across the street from the Baptist Theological Seminary, for those of you who know the city. I was introduced to Pastor Mel Jones, who runs the mission; he is an incredible man and has a testimony that keeps one riveted. After talking for a while, he asked me where I was from, I told him that I was from South Africa and he immediately got on his cell phone and said that he wanted me to meet someone. In minutes I was talking to Rob Wilton, he is an American working in New Orleans with Mission Lab, a short term missions program of the Southern Baptist Seminary. He was in the area and decided to come over so that we could talk face to face. He told me how his parents had come from South Africa and that they are now pastoring a church in North Carolina. After some questioning I found out that his grandfather was John Wilton, who was the pastor of the church my family attended in Cape Town over thirty years ago!!! And the church that sent our family out, when my father began his life in fulltime ministry.
After some questioning, I found out that his whole extended family is in the United States and they are pastoring three churches in Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama. And that Rev John Wilton is well and living in Spartanburg, NC.
What an incredible blessing it was to talk to him and see how the Lord has worked through generations and across continents. We plan to meet later this week again.
The week we have about two hundred and forty people in New Orleans on mission teams with AIM. Please keep all of us in your prayers as we seek to meet the felt needs of the community and spread the gospel by showing the love of Jesus. It promises to be another busy week, and one that no doubt will bring a host of miracles.
Thank you so much for your prayer and support, I will try to keep my letters a little shorter next week.
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God bless you
Athol Barnes
