June Newsletter

News from New Orleans

from Matt & Jen DeGier and Chi Alpha Campus Ministries – June 2007

211 Cherokee St.
New Orleans LA 70118

www.nolaxa.com

Summertime Travels and Hijinks…

Jen and I are rapidly approaching the three-decade threshold in our

lives, yet we still live on the American academic calendar, which means our summers take on a unique pace, including many different activities than the rest of the year.

Last week, we went to Woodworth, LA to join the Louisiana Assemblies of God Youth Camp. As campus missionaries, we want to increase the fame of Jesus among those who do not yet

know him, and disciple young people who already name him Lord. Unfortunately, statistics say that too many Christian high school graduates walk away from faith during their college years; many of them never return to the faith of their youth.

There are many causes for this alarming statistic; one is the transition from the local youth group to a community of believers in the new college setting. We went to youth camp to spread the word about Chi Alpha to Christian teens, as well as to build relationships with youth group leaders, and pastors. It was a successful week.

Jen connected with Deanna, a senior from Slidell, LA who

is heading to college next year on a volleyball scholarship. Jen got to tell Deanna all about Chi Alpha, as well as pray with her during the evening worship services.

I met Alex playing soccer.

Alex just finished high school a year early, and plans to head to college in Texas this coming January. Alex is obviously a leader in his youth group. It’s my prayer that he won’t just survive in college, but truly thrive, making a powerful impact for Christ. We’ll help him connect with a Chi Alpha group in Texas so he can do just that.

Bonjou! Komon Ou Ye?

Hello! How are you? (Haitian Creole)

Our trip to Haiti was great. There were three main goals for our trip: 1) serve and bless those who lead

and work in the churches and schools and orphanages of Haiti, 2) get a general feeling for the way of life, and the general security of Haiti for potential trips with larger teams in the future, and 3) give God praise with our lives and service. With God’s help, some great hosts, and

hard work, I’d say we succeeded at all three goals, and I hope we will be returning again soon.

In this space, I’d like to share just a bit from our last day in the country. We had run out of work to do with Pastor Cange, our primary host. So we asked the couple we stayed with if they knew of anything we could help with as we spoke over dinner Wednesday night. (Bob and Carole work with many orphanages and churches all over Haiti, and host missions teams regularly.) They invited us to help with an urgent need: finish some ceiling construction on a new house for disabled orphans, and help move in children from
an orphanage that was closing that day.

Bill and I worked on the ceiling with Bob and two Haitian teens. It was hot, but we accomplished a lot. It was almost too rewarding to think that several children who had been discarded by society would rest securely under the ceiling we helped build.

I’ll let Laura share an experience she and Jen had that day:

The team traveled across town this morning with our host Bob to help at an orphanage for mentally and physically disabled children. While Matt and Bill helped with construction, Jen and I had a little free time to play with the kids. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do on this trip. Screaming and crying everywhere. Kids with an enormous variety of obstacles, without the constant supervision and attention they crave. None of them could speak English, but in the midst of chaos and frustration in the struggle to communicate with the children, I experienced a single, beautiful moment. Nearby the swingset where a little boy and I were laughing and swinging together, I could hear a little girl repeat a phrase over and over to Jen. Jen politely smiled, not knowing what the girl was saying or how to respond, then a caretaker walked past with a little laugh and said, "She says 'I love you.'" Life and joy appeared on their faces as they finally understood this universally precious and sacred phrase. Jen pointed to herself and then her heart and then the little girl, and they sounded out together in English, "I Love You."

update on current student trends from IvyJungle

"Porn Driven, Look-at-Me" Culture: The evidence of the mainstreaming of pornography is not hard to find in our culture today - from the provocative videos on YouTube to Myspace pages for adult film stars. Some researchers and observers continue to express concern over the impact on young people - particularly girls. "Sexiness" has become very important to girls, with an increasing push into raunchiness. High school counselors find themselves consoling teenage girls who have undressed and more in front of web cams. Employers are increasingly implementing dress codes. The American Psychological Association recently published a paper on the sexualization of girls. One great concern is that while boys tend to use pornography and other aspects of sex for their own pleasure; most girls who exhibit provocative behavior are doing so for the pleasure of someone else - often someone they don't know well (or perhaps not at all thanks to the internet). Some women claim they have more power with their sexuality, but many researchers are seeing a very negative impact - especially among teenage girls. (AP June 4, 2007)

from Ivy Jungle's monthly email newsletter

new newsletter out today or tomorrow

Louisiana Youth Camp 2007

This past week was a wild one! We went as representatives of Chi Alpha to the Louisiana A/G youth camp in Woodworth, LA. Our job was to meet and mingle and minister with the students, and with the youth pastors and leaders. It was a week of many names, lots of fun, lots of sun, little sleep, and powerful evening worship gatherings.

I'll be putting together a photo journal article for the upcoming newsletter - out next week!

Until then, you can view the pictures here: click me

Haiti Trip Photo Journal part 2

Most of our work was done around Pastor Cange's office. This office is the office for the Haitian Assemblies of God, Latin American Child Care, and Missionaries Bill and Dorothy Smith. Bill and Dorothy are currently state-side itinerating, and hope to be back in Haiti later this summer.
This particular room was a giant mess of storage junk. We really cleaned it up. It was dusty, but rewarding.

We spent a good chunk of the second week painting a couple rooms in the office building. What a difference a couple coats of paint can make! Pastor Cange was thrilled, which made us grateful -- our primary goal on this trip was to bless those leading and serving in Haiti.

Because of the concrete walls, the high humidity, and the inaccessibility of primer, we were forced to use oil based paint...a sticky situation

Devotional Classics

**more Haiti tomorrow of Friday**

This morning I read the first reading in Devotional Classics compiled and edited by Richard Foster and J.B. Smith; I think I'm going to love this book for many years to come.

The first reading is put together from excerpts of C.S. Lewis's classic Mere Christianity. The focus of this section is "Giving All to Christ."

This quote has grabbed a hold of me:

The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self--all your wishes and precautions--to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is to remain what we call "ourselves", to keep personal happiness as our great aim in life, and yet at the same time be "good". We are all trying to let our mind and heart go their own way--centered on money or pleasure or ambition--and hoping, in spite of this, to behave honestly and chastely and humbly. And this is exactly what Christ warned us you could not do.

And this reflection question has been banging around my head all day:

In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus encourages those who would follow him to "count the cost" of being one of his disciples. What has being a Christian cost you?

I hope they provide some spiritual challenge for you, as well.
Let us press on to know the Lord!

Haiti Trip Photo Journal part 1

Here are a few pics of the happenings of our first 4 days in Haiti.


Laura and Matt take some time to reflect on their initial impressions of Haiti in the dining room of the guest house we all stayed in.





A couple shots of the view from the guest house balcony. Obviously, we stayed in one of the more well-to-do areas of town.


We visited a few schools that are connected to churches and are a part of the Latin American Child Care ministry that sponsors children to help them get an education. At this particular location, the younger children learn outside. However, a brand new building began construction for them the day we left.


We got to try some fresh coconut!
Pastor Cange, our host on the right treated us on our trip to the beach with his family, and many youth from churches around Port-au-Prince. Yum!

Back Home

We had a great time in Haiti, and a splendid vacation in South Florida.

I will post pictures and stories soon.