Did We Skip Friday?

It seems that my post from yesterday disappeared! Well, if you're keeping track at home, yesterday was our practice discipleship day. We had an opportunity to worship with our synod, to break into small groups and meet new people, to have lunch at Hard Rock, and to GET WET! Yes, on Friday it rained 6.5 inches of rain in the French Quarter - too bad we can't bring some of it back to Wisconsin!

Here are a few pictures from our day.

Peace,
Dave

Update From Saturday

We've had a great day practicing peacemaking today, including time to play at the convention center, worship focused on peacemaking, and now our final evening in the dome.

Peace,
Dave

A Quick Update

Because I had to be up at 4:55 to prepare for worship as a Synod today (all 670 of us from Greater Milwaukee), this mornings post will be short. Today we are spending time with our synod, taking about discipleship, and having a scavenger hunt!

I'll leave you with a picture of yesterday - we practiced justice by cleaning up a park in west New Orleans.

I'll have more up this afternoon!

Peace,
Dave

Our view in the dome

Doris's Place

The building that Pastor Greg and crew worked on.

In the Garden District

A Busy Wednesday

Today our students had an extremely full, extremely meaningful day. We started off heading in a couple of different directions - part of the group chose to head down to the riverfront for a ferry tour, while the rest of the group took a bus out to the Garden District. We met up at Bethlehem Lutheran to have time with their folks, Pastor Keen and some of Bethlehem's other partner congregations. It was meaningful to see where Pastor Greg and a few of our members served this past January, and to see the progress that's been made on Doris's place. Our time included a fantastic crab and shrimp boil. Quite a few of the kids were willing to try blue crab, which includes tearing it apart to get to the backfin meat.

After a quick stop at the hotel after our time with Pastor Keen, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up, and then off to Champion's Square for a bite to eat. We headed into the dome at 7 pm, and then had a fantastic experience taking in the music, speakers, video, and the 35,000 Lutherans present.

We wrapped up the evening by spending some time at a dance and 'fun zone' at our hotel. I'll post some pictures soon.

Peace,
Dave

A Couple of Pictures

The Atonement/Bethel group waiting in line for music at Preservation Hall.



Jackson Square.

Tuesday Review

Yesterday was a GREAT day for the group. We had an opportunity to get some real flavor of the city - both literally and figuratively. We started the day at Cafe du Monde, and the students loved beignets. We then explored the French Quarter, taking in the sights and sounds of Jackson Square, local vendors and street musicians and performers. We grabbed a bite to eat on the square (many of the students had po-boys), and then headed back to the hotel for a little down time/pool time. After grabbing dinner (a few of us tried gulf shrimp stuffed with oysters and wrapped in bacon), we walked down Bourbon Street and arrived at Preservation Hall for an evening of jazz. The group LOVED hearing the Preservation Hall-Stars perform standard Dixieland Jazz. I was even amazed at how much they enjoyed it. Just wonderful musicians and wonderful music.

After a good nights rest, we're headed to the Garden District this morning, and out to Bethlehem Lutheran at 1 pm. Pastor Keen invited us to a crab boil at his church, and we couldn't turn that down! We'll head to the Superdome at 4 pm for some live music on Champion's Plaza, and then into the dome at 6 pm. Look for updates throughout the day!

Peace,
Dave

PS the picture is the group waiting for the music to start at Preservation Hall. Even without seats, being crammed into a room with 100 people, and no air conditioning, there was no complaining! They were way too into the music to complain!

Lunch on Jackson Square

Enjoying po-boys and jazz!

Getting a Start on Day Two

After a LONG day yesterday, we closed the evening with a 'Final 15' - fifteen minutes to process the day, talk about the day ahead, and pray together. It's encouraging to me to see how much our students are enjoying their time together. They're excited for our day ahead - we're leaving the hotel in the next couple of minutes to head to Cafe du Monde for beignets, walking around the French Quarter, visiting Bethlehem Lutheran, grabbing dinner at Louisiana Pizza Kitchen, listening to music at Preservation Hall, and immersing ourselves into New Orleans. Looks for photos and stories today from our students here on the blog.

Peace,
Dave

Finally settling in

After arriving this afternoon, we made it to our hotel - the Hyatt - and learned the rooms weren't ready. So, we made use of our time by playing some games and hanging out. We're now at House of Blues - we've got a great waiter and good food. This evening we're going to walk around the riverfront and get a (hopefully) good nights rest ahead of a busy day tomorrow!

Hanging out while waiting for our hotel rooms...

We're here! The Atonement/Bethel group arrived at 1 pm, and now we're loading in the shuttles and heading for downtown N'awlins.

And we're off...

We're ready to go! Our students and adults met today for lunch and last second updates about our trip to New Orleans, Louisiana for the ELCA National Youth Gathering! Tomorrow morning we'll be meeting at Atonement at 5:30 am to carpool to the airport! I'm excited to see how the Spirit moves in this group! Look for pictures and stories starting tomorrow morning!

Peace,
Dave

Welcome to our travel blog! Stop by often to keep up with the 22 youth and adults from Atonement and Bethel Lutheran Churches in Muskego, Wisconsin traveling to New Orleans for the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering! We will be uploading stories and pictures during our travels to keep you connected to this event. Peace, Dave Dringenburg