My thanks to our congregation for the opportunity to go to New Orleans with our youth.  There were so many great opportunities to learn, worship, serve and have fun during the gathering that it’s hard to say what was the best, but what impressed me most was the enthusiasm that seemed to pour into the city everywhere we went from this massive group of Lutheran youth who came to the city to serve others (can you imagine 36,000 youth walking around the downtown area?)

What our youth saw and heard throughout the week was how they can be one person who listens to God’s call to serve and literally change the world – whether in their family, their neighborhood, their church, their city, or possibly even the world. 

What a message for us all!  We heard from the people of New Orleans - the workers in the city, and especially from the New Orleans mayor that our presence, energy and service was healing to the city and made a difference. We were told that it would have taken the city of New Orleans 3 years to complete the projects our group completed in 3 days.  What we heard from our group was that they wished we could have done more service time – they wanted to do something each day they were there! 

And I guess my final thought is, if these youth are the future of our Lutheran church, we need not worry, we are in good hands. --- Robbin Yothers

"The whole experience of the Youth Gathering was meaningful and fun. It was a pleasure to participate in this trip.Two of our speakers were very moving. The first spoke about being forced to be a soldier at the age of five. A second was a boy who stood up to a malitia group and as a result had his hand chopped off. The music and performances by the bands were good. One of the remarkable performances was by an eight year old who played the accordian. Not only did he play the music but did so in a variety of physical positons, such as playing the accordian behind his back. I enjoyed the opportunity to see the culture of New Orleans. We spent time seeing the french quarter and eating at local restaurants. Thank you for your support of us to attend the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering." Ellen Cutrell

“New Orleans was a life changing experience. It's hard to imagine 38,000 other teenagers gathering in one place to do God's work. Whenever a tragedy like Hurricane Katrina takes place you really need to have faith that things will get better in time and being there in the aftermath we got to see how having faith helped so many people survive. I really liked listening to all the speakers in the Super Dome who took action to make a change in the world. Also I like being able to experience the New Orleans culture and try their foods. Never in my life would I have thought I would try gator bites or frog legs. All in all it was an amazing experience and I would like to thank all of the congregation for supporting us and giving us the chance to do God's work and help New Orleans get back their Jesus, Justice and Jazz.”  Mary Maatta

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Photos taken by Korin Schafer

"I had an incredible time in New Orleans. Between the giant cross, crazy good bands, and very moving speakers, I learned a lot. It has changed the way I look at certain things in my life, including what I have, how privileged we are as a society, and where we live how far from any kind of disaster that could affect us like the hurricanes. I plan on changing the donations that my other youth group, DeMolay, gives every year to a program that is focused on rebuilding and helping the New Orleans area." Nolan Westerlund