DC Trip Media

Photos!
























Audio! - Message from Thursday Night Worship. Matt spoke with the help of UNO Sr. Nikki Gordy


Video !

DC Reflections.

Our trip to Washington D.C. was a blur, in a lot of ways, but a good blur.

I can't recount all of it, but plan to have a student story or two from the trip in our Mar/April newsletter that should show up within 2 weeks (that's called a teaser).

One of the most impactful experiences for me was the Seven Last Words of Christ service we visited at Georgetown University on Tuesday evening, the day we arrived.

Chi Alpha at Georgetown is one of several Protestant ministries affiliated with Georgetown's University Ministry. Like Loyola, Georgetown is a Jesuit Catholic university, however, their structure for Protestant student ministry is much more developed. As part of that affiliation, each of the Protestant groups are required to be a part of occasional meetings and special services. This Seven Words service was one of those required meetings.

My expectations were low: required cooperation in religious services tends to not go so well many times. However, I was moved and challenged, and really encountered God's presence in the remembrance of Jesus crucified.

The Gospel Choir led us in some hymns and spirituals, and each ministry had a representative share for 5-7 min on one of Christ's final words. Each representative had something truly powerful to share. I was especially blessed by and proud of Randy Demary. Randy was a student at UL-Lafayette when Jen and I were interns there, and is now a Chi Alpha missionary to Georgetown. He had to share on "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!" not an easy assignment, but he did it well, and challenged all of us to see the hope tied up in that statement, as it connects to the whole of Psalm 22.

The trip got better from there.

Wed & Thursday: Daytime advertising for Holy Week activities and engaging American University students in conversations about Easter, spirituality, etc... good times!
Wed Evening: hosted a program on the origins of Easter
Thurs Evening: participated in and spoke at AU XA's Thursday Night Worship
Fri: touring and sight seeing - we weren't very good at this.
Sat: helped Godzwa's clean around their house and headed home.

Activity at Tulane

We just arrived home from D.C. last night, and I'll post some updates on all that shortly, but here's a little current events blast from Tulane in the words of President Scott Cohen:

March 18, 2008

Good Morning:

I know I just wrote you a few days ago but I couldn't wait to tell you the exciting news that emerged from this weekend's inaugural meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative U (CGI U).

The energy was electrifying and the enthusiasm infectious as 700 college students joined activists, speakers, more than 30 university and college presidents, celebrities and guests from around the world to make commitments to specific solutions for global problems.

Tulane not only played host but also made several CGI U commitments of its own that address global issues in the areas of health, education, poverty and the environment. One Tulane CGI U commitment, announced by President Clinton himself, was our pledge to open several community health centers in New Orleans neighborhoods. These community centers will provide high-quality heath care for those who cannot afford health insurance and will also help revitalize depressed or hurricane-ravaged neighborhoods.

We also pledged to host annual summits, a web site and other efforts by which we will encourage universities throughout North America to implement our successful post-Katrina curriculum that makes public service a requirement of graduation. As the first major research university with such a requirement, we are already recognized as the national model and leader in civic engagement.

We also became the landmark 500th signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, pledging that the university will measure its impact on global warming and develop a plan to achieve carbon neutrality through reduced energy use, green building, increased recycling efforts and other measures. The one-minute interview at this link will tell you more about these commitments.

Since this will be my last Tulane Talk before our upcoming three-day weekend, I want to take this opportunity to wish each of you a safe and enjoyable holiday.

Meeting the Superintendent and A whole lot more

Wow, March has been a whirlwind of activity so far, and it continues tomorrow morning, as we take off with 6 students to our nation's capital where we will visit Georgetown Chi Alpha, and then partner with American U Chi Alpha for campus outreach. Please keep us, and our team in prayer.

Last week, we helped host a team from American U Chi Alpha during their spring break. They spent a day doing outreach with us at Tulane, and half a day with us at UNO. It was fun, and an exciting, bold move for our students, as we pushed past some fears and d

iscomforts to engage people in discussions about faith, spirituality, religion, and Jesus. The AU team spent the rest of their stay in New Orleans doing rebuilding work in the city with HisHands2Go, a ministry out of our church.

Speaking of our church, here are some pictures from our Palm Sunday weekend: Jen participated in Saturday's clean-up day, and then their are pictures from Sunday's service.

Also, there are some pictures of us with Rev. Doug Fulenwider, who is the Superintendent of the  Louisiana District of the Assemblies of God, and with Dr. George Wood, Superintendent of the General (national) Council of the Assemblies of God. It was fun to meet them, and share with them a little of what God is doing at St. Luke Assembly of God, and in Chi Alpha New Orleans.