The Aurora Methodist Church in Algiers has been hosting volunteer mission groups since right after Hurricane Katrina. Hundreds of adults and youth have made the church their home for a few nights or even a few weeks while they have helped in the clean up and recovery efforts of the city.
Today, the youth and counselors of Aurora Methodist packed up and headed out to Atlanta for their own mission trip to assist in cleaning, painting and repairing two homes for elderly Georgia residents. This is how you change the world...
The little guy in the middle is mine and is making his first mission trip.
Wishing all of them a safe journey....
Excellent. I love to see people giving back. Thanks for writing, Veronica
Kudos to your son for his work. I hope he has a great experience. He will come back a bit older, a bit wiser, and a really good tired. Thank him for us!
Awesome stuff Lisa! Thanks for sharing this with us all! I used to love these types of trips when I was younger!
Lisa: You're teaching your child very well--GIVING is SO much better than receiving and this group from Algiers IS truly 'changing the world!'
Lisa, How wonderful for your son to help out, it sounds like a terrific thing to give back! I wish them all a safe and wonderful trip as well!
Very nice of you and your son to give up some of summer to help someone else out.
Lisa, This will be a great experience for your son. I know you are proud of him.
How very awesome, and not at all a surprise, knowing you raised him:-)
Lisa, You most be very proud. He is a handsome young man. What an incredible cause and what an incredible group of people!!!
Lisa, this will be such a great experience for him. I know you're proud of him!!!
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! I appreciate your comments and well wishes. It's his first time away for an extended period, so I was very apprehensive about it, but I know it's going to be a great experience for him and, hopefully, a chance to make his own little change in the world.
How great is that.... sounds like you've done a great job teaching your son what's really important in life.
Wow Lisa!
You must be so very proud of your son. I believe that when we step out to lend a helping hand to others we see just exactly how blessed we are, and that helps us to grow by leaps and bounds. That son of yours has a beautiful heart to want to go help others, and I just bet that you must be so excited to see what kind of man he is going to become!
God Bless You, you son, and your family as well as your church for reaching out!
Nyana - Office Manager, Barbara Kehl Realty
Jesse! How nice to see you again! I can only hope that he's learning what's really important - maybe this trip will help drive that lesson home :)
Nyana, I am proud of him and I hope that he and the rest of group realize that each time they help someone else, they inspire that same behavior in others.
Tell your son that a crazy lady in Texas thinks he is one awesome guy for being part of something so worthy!
You did good, Mom!
Amanda, thank you :) I'll leave out the crazy lady part :))
How great! I'm so proud of all of these kids ~ and hoping this will be a generation that knows how important it is to give back and continues it throughout their lives.
Kelly, my son called to check in today and told me the absolutely best story. He said that the owners of the first house they were working at had a pretty bad opinion of people from New Orleans, based on what they had seen on TV post-Katrina. Now that they have met this group of volunteers who were helping them personally, they are ready to pack up and come down for a visit! That's making a real change.