helping out in the schools

Call me crazy, but I just absolutely love the fact that we have been able to help out in public schools since the storm. The above picture is from the Times-Picayune and it is of Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Algiers.

On Tuesday morning I walked into Tubman with a small team from Akron Bible Church. Before we walked through the gates, I briefly explained to the team the story of the Algiers Charter School Association and how we have been able to partner with them and send help their way. We held hands and prayed together and they walked into the courtyard on the side of the building.

The courtyard was filled with students. Teachers were doing their best to corral their
class together so that they could enter the building in a somewhat orderly fashion. The principal, Patsy Gearing is walking amongst the students, greeting some and pulling others back in line. Needless to say, they were a bit distracted with the beginning of the school day and we found ourselves sitting and waiting for the next half hour.

While we waited in a hallway of the school, Freddie, one of the team members, decided that we should pray. So we began to pray for the school, the students, the parents and the teachers. As we are praying, I can hear the voices of students and teachers walking back and forth between us as their day begins.

It was an amazing experience. I couldn't believe that we were able to do this in the halls of a public school.

That is such a great picture of what hurricane relief ministry has been. Doors that we never thought would open have been opened. We have been able to walk through those doors, with the help of work teams, and shine our light clearly and unashamedly. This is what the church is all about...being salt and light...bringing a dose of heaven into our broken world.

That has kept me going.