My trip to New Orleans

Landing in New Orleans airport I was a little hesitant. What on earth was I doing here? There were so many fears that were running through my mind, and I could not gain control of them. Taking our first step it instantly smelt differently and it was humid. We piled into a van and started driving. Everything was so different that I felt like I was in a dream. For the first time I was lost. I had no idea where I was or how to get back in case of anything. Everything was so new that I couldn’t keep track of the path we were on. For the first time in a long time I had to completely depend on the leaders of this trip because I had not the slightest clue as to where to go.

            We went out to breakfast and could not have been more tired from the plane ride where I got very little sleep. I still wasn’t sure about how I felt about being in New Orleans. After breakfast we went to the hotel to check in and there was a delay in getting our room. By the time we were able to lie down we had enough time for maybe a two hour nap. We woke up and got ready for dinner and went over to Pastor Jimmy and Francine’s house. We met all the pastors that were part of the comity for the Wow Jam in New Orleans, and then we had dinner. Dinner was incredible. The food was absolutely amazing there was just so much flavor in everything. After dinner they took us on our surprise outing to go on a horse carriage ride through the French Quarter and eat Beignets. As we were on the carriage ride you can feel the brokenness. We went through Bourbon St. and my spirit began to take a plunge. There was something about it that just drained me. There were Voodoo shops, bars, and strip clubs. Most of the buildings were supposedly haunted, and it wouldn’t be surprised if spirits did live in the upper stories of the building. There was apparently a huge fire that had happen many years ago and people were trapped at the top of these buildings and had the choice to either burn or to try jumping out. Many people lost their lives that day. So now there are many buildings that the top floors remain vacant. What surprised me the most was that there were people giving haunted tours. The tours didn’t bother me but it was the tour guide that had so much passion for the houses being haunted. You could feel the demonic spirits flowing through some of them. There was walkway in front of a church that had palm readers and tarot cards. This city was so broken and you could feel it.

            The next day we went over to pastor Jimmy’s church and had our first session, which was basically a teaching that we would have once a day by different pastors from the partnering churches. We then went to Household of Faith with Pastor Barriere to have our kick off rally. Their worship team came out and led us in southern soul worship. It was absolutely amazing! Then Dr. Flores shared a word with us, and we just watched how people would pull on the speaker encouraging and feeding back into them. It was powerful because it would give the speaker strength and motivation to keep going and to continue to let the Holy Spirit minister. That was one of the key principles that I can say that I am taking away. Stephen talks about key principals all the time so I’ll be sure to point them out as I go along.

            Sunday morning we left the hotel around 7am and went out to the park to begin setting up. There was news cast that wanted to come and film the crew setting up, and get some interviews in. As we were setting up Dr. Flores was called for an interview. They asked to have some students around him and I was one of them. After the interview they wanted an interview of a student and they chose me. After setting up we went to Household of Faith for service, and Pastor Barriere just brought it home. He spoke on how God wants to bless us, but most of the time we don’t make ourselves available to Him. We make ourselves so busy that we don’t find our giftings, we don’t serve in the church and we never see the fruit that God is trying to flow through our lives. * note- key principal* after service we headed back to the park preparing for volunteers that were starting to flow in. One o’clock and WOW Jam has just started. Let me break down a Wow Jam. Basically it is a free event where people can come and get food, get there hair cut, face painting and other kid activities, free groceries for families, hang out in a safe environment and most importantly they hear the Good News. At first there weren’t a whole lot of people that were coming. The booths are only open for a small period of time and then the rest of the time everyone’s attention is on the stage for raffles, games and the message. When the booths starting tearing down you began to see many people coming to the front of the stage curious to see what was to come. Key principal- Stephen has been teaching us about being finely tuned to the Holy Spirit, and just in the middle of the daddy push up contest the atmosphere shifted. It was time to go to work. Stephen started ministering and people started listening and crying. Then within seconds people were receiving the Lord. I was in front and had a group of three kids Keyo 5, Christina7, and Christopher 9. Christopher and Christina’s other brother Israel, the youngest of them, joined us after. I could see such an anointing on Keyo’s life. They were all so sure of their decision, and in that moment I thought that life couldn’t get any better. Quickly I was reminded about crabs. Now hear me out. You never have to put a lid on a pit of boiling crabs because if one tries to escape the ones in the water will reach out and drag them back into the boiling water. New Orleans is a pot of boiling water full of many crabs that keep the one’s who try to do better down in the water. All four of the kids had made the decision to be baptized, but both of the moms said no. When Keyo found out that his mom said no he began to weep. There is a difference between a kid crying and throwing a tantrum and a kid weeping. He knew in his heart that this was the right thing, but people were standing in his way I saw him a little bit later and I asked if he was ok, and Keyo just began to cry. I hugged him and assured him that he would have another opportunity and told him that I loved him About 150 people received the Lord that day. I never thought that I could be apart of something so amazing.

            The next day we passed out flyers for the next WOW Jam that would be on Tuesday. Then the rest of the evening we spent time making phone calls trying to go and do home visits. There was not much success, but we called everyone that had accepted Christ to encourage them. Tuesday came and it was time for the second WOW Jam. We began setting up the tents but the weather began to fight us. The wind picked up and tried taking the tents with them. Finally after nailing the tents into the grass things started to go smoothly. It seemed that this was the easy WOW Jam that we had experienced. Things were flowing and people were having a great time. During the singing competition people began to let their guard down and it was time to go to work. There was an eight year old boy who sang “Eye on the Sparrow.” It’s an old worship song and honestly I don’t know how it goes, but I do know that a lot of people were touched by not only this young boy’s talent, but by the words of the song. Stephen had the boy sing it again and people began to break down. Stephen began to share the good news, and that day we had more people saved than at any of the other WOW Jams. When it came time to get into groups and pray I had three families in my group. The first the son was receiving the Lord and his mom and sister were there. The next family was the Bradfords. It was Connie and Kenneth Bradford who were young grandparents. The last family would not open up to me. After praying the Bradfords accepted my invitation of coming back the next day and praying with them. It was quickly arranged and the next day Nathan, Rebecca Siarra, and I went to visit them. Three of the grandkids were saved and baptized the night before, and so we were explaining what it all meant. Good thing that it was a team effort because it was the first time I had ever had to explain baptism or salvation to anyone. So we were able to bounce off each other and give different perspectives to them about why their decision was so great. As we were getting ready to leave Kenneth pulled Nathan aside outside and thanked us for coming. Kenneth went on to explain how that had been the first time that the whole family was in the same room since they had moved in there, and that he knew that God was there at the WOW Jam. It was amazing to hear when we got back in the van and headed back to the church.

            The next day was our day off. We spent it in the French Quarter shopping and just walking around. We walked down Bourbon St and my spirit was drained. We passed bar after bar and the further we went the darker it got. We saw Voodoo shops and strip clubs, and it was just a dark place even though it was still midday. When we got off that street I felt that I had trouble breathing. I just felt brought down for a while. Danni came and prayed for me and I felt better for a while, but the whole rest of the day was just off. At the end of the day on the way back to the hotel we were talking about dark spirits and them sticking to you, and Nathan led us I prayer just in case. It wasn’t until after this that I felt released from the funk that I had been in and was able to be myself again.

            Friday was the day of the last WOW Jam and this one was in Algiers. This was a very hard city. From what we heard there was probably sex offenders, drug dealers, gang members, crack addicts, and prostitutes at this WOW Jam. From the beginning we could sense a difference in the feel of the place. As the WOW Jam went on we kept hitting a spiritual wall. The enemy was not happy that we were there. Rose came up to us and told us that we really needed to be walking around and praying, but a small group of us went behind the truck and began to pray. We went back out and things hadn’t lifted. Tony came over and said for us to round up all the students that we could and to meet in the back of the truck to pray. This time there was about ten of us along with Robert and Dee Dee, as well as Titus from our catering company. We just prayed out hearts out for maybe five or ten minutes. We went back around to the front and within a few minutes it started to shift, but it started with a lady having a seizure. Stephen took a hold of the moment, and though there were people tending to the lady he began take a hold of the crowd. We later found out that it was not a seizure, but an overdose on pills. Within a few minutes of that happening another lady fell into what we thought was another seizure. As Stephen really grabbed the crowd back Rose went and began to assist the second lady. This was not a seizure either. The lady was under a spiritual attack and had been taken over by a demonic spirit. When Rose realized what was happening she began praying against it, and though it put up a fight it finally left her. During all of this my heart is just broken now. What was I supposed to do? I felt like God did not want me to move from the spot that I was in. I soon found out why. God wanted me there for Armeshia. Armeshia had been crying into her friends arm for a while as Stephen had been preaching. I finally walked over and began to pray over her, and I just held her. She suddenly walked away. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if to follow her or to stay for the altar call which was about to happen. I decided to go after her. I asked why she had left, and she told me she needed to walk away in order to stop crying. I told her it was ok to cry and that my shoulder was made for tears. She cried in my arms and managed to tell me that she had been living the wrong lifestyle since her grandma died two years ago. It was then that I was given the opportunity to share my story and how God has redeemed my life. At first I was nervous because I had never told my story to strangers; it was always with people that I had already trusted as friends. She looked at me and was able to understand that God would be able to change her life to. The next day I met with her again and found out that she had been living the gay lifestyle since her grandmother died. She brought her best friend with her who was also gay and between Nathan, Brian, and I we were able to spend time loving them. It was hard to even know what to say when she has told me how so many believers have condemned her and told her she was going to burn in hell. I had never faced homosexuality as a believer, but we were able to open them up to the love of God and His restoration. Since then I have remained in contact with Armeshia we deal through the struggles of life together.

            This trip was an eye opening experience. God has since been teaching me the value of a soul, and how hard we must fight not only to get one but to keep it. These were just a few stories of what happened in those ten days time. So many amazing things happened, and God used me in a way that I could never have imagined. It has always been hard for me to pray for people because I never thought I said the right thing. God transformed that. I never thought that I would be able to walk with them as they are discovering God, and to be a witness as He transforms their lives. I thought a lot of negative things about my own unworthiness, and since then God has been showing me how desperately He needs that to change in order for Him to be able to continue to use me. Today I am here before you ruined in by all measures to ever let myself be the same as I once was. God has showed me a new level of deep to explore even further for the ministry that He is currently preparing me for.