In Their Own Words. . .Dana Jaehnert

When we first got to New Orleans, I had no idea what to expect. Little did I know that I was going to grow close to people and build relationships with kids'. I didn't know how and what God wanted to use me for this week. All I knew was that He was calling me to New Orleans and that I was to go and listen. At Challenge 2008 in SLC, there was a speaker who talked about poverty. He said that once you go out and do Gods work by loving people who are less fortunate than you, they are no longer just "poor people;" they are your friends. They're Demmi, Shanada, Kalil, Regan, and Imanii. They are people that just want to be loved and cared for like everyone else."Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" and I said "Here I am. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

In Their Own Words. . .Alex Gustafson

I absolutely loved New Orleans. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I thought the kids would be inner-city rough and wouldn't like us. I also thought we'd stick to our own youth group and, other than us; it would be all adults my parents’ age. My ideas and expectations were all wrong. I grew close to the group from Dubuque, Iowa, and especially close to a girl named Jessie. Jessie, Logan and I coached the Red Team for our outreach called the Challenge Circle. Our group split up each meal so we always sat with new people. My last expectation turned out to be false also. The main "adults" were interns in college. The youngest intern was 18. They were inspirational as the kids loved them. They always knew how to talk with the kids yet still hung out and joked around with us. Their love for God was obvious. Seeing it always boosted my spirits! The kids were sweet and ready to be loved. They always wanted to hang out with us and had huge smiles when you remembered their names. They seemed a little broken but opened up to us when we talked to them. The girls loved to do our hair and the guys liked to throw balls around. I became really close with a little boy named Reagan. He loved to talk and hug. His whole family was sweet and I was able to talk to all of them. I learned a lot on this trip. I learned to trust God, especially when I'm tired. I learned God makes a huge difference and there is good Christian rap. I saw God at work everyday and just truly learned to praise him through everything. My prayer life strengthened as did my relationships with my team. I really want to thank everyone who supported me as I really enjoyed this trip. Also, I want to thank my prayer partners and my parents because I really felt your prayers. I love you all.

In Their Own Words. . .Esther Baumgartner

I'm kind of shy so at the beginning I wasn't exactly sure how the week was going to go. As I spent more time with the team, I felt more comfortable. After lots of driving we arrived and had training. We also had bible studies and lessons. Most of the interns gave their testimonies. After hearing all the different testimonies, it helped me to realize God is still actively working in peoples lives. When I arrived in New Orleans, I was expecting to play with the kids and have God work in their lives, but God worked in my life also. I had an amazing time and hope I can come again next year.

In Their Own Words. . .Madeline Gustafson

New Orleans was AMAZING! I worked with the 6-7 year olds during Bible Camp and they were all precious. At the first Challenge Circle, I thought the kids would be excited but instead the kids wanted to give up. I was very discouraged after the first Challenge Circle. As I was feeling discouraged, I realized that my prayer life was dead and that I should be praying for these kids. I prayed that night for the kids at the Challenge Circle and Bible Camp. The next night the kids were excited to be there, thank the Lord! Everyday I would be in prayer for New Orleans and I saw God work in amazing ways! I want to keep my prayer life alive. “Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you" Jeremiah 29:12

In Their Own Words. . .Conner Knutsen

As many may know, this is not my first trip down to “Nawlins” so the experience was slightly different. The first night everyone got together to learn the cheers and get a feel for things. I looked around and saw the look of confusion on the faces of those who were new. I wondered if I looked like that my first time. Not only was it different from the aspect that I was in tune with how things should go but this year, instead of spending our days gutting houses, we spent the day helping with a day camp. I was given the chance to lead a young soul to Christ. If the Lord wills, I plan to return again next year. Another year and another step towards Gods plan for my life.

In Their Own Words. . .Cara Meidlinger

This was my first time going to New Orleans and my first mission’s trip. I was very excited to spend time getting to know and playing with the kids. I never expected the injury to my knee but I guess sometimes God just has to throw a curve ball. I learned that I needed to be flexible and go with the flow. The main thing I learned was Jesus first, others second and me third, even with my knee injury. I tried to maintain that status. It was a great learning experience and I would recommend it to anyone.

In Their Own Words. . .Anthony Hill

I thought this trip was different from most trips because of the people. There was a unique blend of outgoing and other types of people that made everything interesting. The activities we did were fun. Overall, the experience was good.

In Their Own Words. . .Kevin Zugschwert

This was my second trip to New Orleans so I had in my mind what to expect for this trip. However, God really surprised me by providing me with an entirely different experience than I had last year. He challenged me in ways I wasn't quite prepared for, but he taught me to trust him though it all. Also, because this year was aimed less at physical work and more at working with kids, I was able to develop relationships with kids much more than last year. All in all, it was a good experience. I thought that our team really started to grow and good things will come from this group in years to come.

In Their Own Words. . .Karen Baumgartner

New Orleans was AMAZING!!! The van was crowded but was still fun to get to know everyone better. Once we arrived in New Orleans, it was fun to be in a different environment and to talk to other teams. It was neat to see how they say words differently. One word they used in New Orleans differently than us was "krunk." There it meant to be hyped. It was great to play with the kids even when they kept asking to sit on your shoulders. It was fun to see them get excited and scream cheers about God. The one big thing I came away with from this trip was how powerful prayer can be so now I’ll be working really hard at praying daily. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me and for the youth group on this trip.

In Their Own Words. . .Logan Knutsen

Before I left for New Orleans, I kind of thought, “Why are we down here?” I thought that they had pretty much recovered from Katrina. However, I didn't realize or even ever think that there is so much evil and spiritual darkness in New Orleans. On Wednesday I went on a prayer tour where we drove around and stopped for a time of prayer at different places. Towards the end of this prayer tour, we stopped at the levy in the lower 9th Ward. When we got there, I looked around and saw all the damage that was done. Along with all the damage, I also saw all the good that resulted from it. It was at this point that I realized that no matter how bad Katrina was, God used it for His glory. Now there are organizations like Urban Impact who bring workers to New Orleans to care for the people and share the Good News with them. That is how I saw God’s handiwork this week.

In Their Own Words. . .Heidi Florin

I went on this trip not really thinking that it was going to challenge me. But, let’s just say your comfort zone is not a place God lets you spend a lot of time in. God really stretched and used me this week. During the afternoon we did a Day Camp where I helped out with the 8-9 years olds. It really challenged me to step up and be a leader which is not really my thing. In the evening we had Challenge Circle. I was at the housing project called Melph. It was so much fun to interact with the kids. The girls loved to do our hair. I actually got mine colored with sidewalk chalk! Ha, ha! We played four square. The Challenge Circle was a really different experience for me. A lot of the New Orleans kids wanted to quit when their team didn't win, but it was our job to get them excited to play. It was hard to really be happy all the time, but God really helped me love the kids. This trip taught me a lot and I really saw God at work in New Orleans. I am so glad I got to have this amazing experience and I will treasure it forever.

In Their Own Words. . .Natalie Schad

New Orleans was a life changing experience. The ride down was crazy and the hotel pools were amazing because of our aerobic instructor, Alex. The best part of the drive down would have to be the 24 mile bridge and the assigned seating. After arriving in New Orleans we went though training and had dinner. The first full day we went through Challenge Circle and Day Camp training. I was on the Red team for CC training; we lost but it was still fun. By the end of the first day, I had already had a ton of fun and was looking forward to all the other days. Monday through Thursday was amazing. We started off everyday with breakfast, devotions and chapel. At 12:45 the vans left to bring kids to Day Camp. I helped with crafts and ended with either paint or glue on my face everyday. When Day Camp was over, we had a couple hours to recover and meet other teams. After dinner we climbed into our vans and went to the housing projects. The housing projects I went to was known as the Melph. At the Melph, we played four square or had our hair done. When we started the Challenge Circle I was put on the green team. All the kids were adorable. My neck was very sore from carrying kids on my shoulders but it was worth it. Friday was extra special because it was the last day. The day was full of fun as everyone was taking pictures and all the kids and teens had huge smiles. At the Melph I said goodbye. I was very sad because the kids were amazing and they loved us being there. On Saturday morning, seven of the girls got up at 4:30 to say goodbye to other groups that were there with us. After our goodbyes, half of us went back to bed while the others stayed up to clean. The ride home was fun; we played “My Cows” the whole way. We had birthday cake for Eric’s birthday. New Orleans taught me patience and showed me a whole new culture. I loved it and really want to go back.

In Their Own Words. . .Eric Baumgartner

First of all, I'd like to thank you all for your prayers and support. It was really obvious that we were being supported with prayer while we were in New Orleans. This was my fourth time going to New Orleans, and every time I've been down there, I've seen God working in new ways, and so I couldn't wait to see what He would do on this trip.There are always new changes when I go down, so I tried not to go in with to many expectations of what i would be doing. Because of the number of youth who came to help, I ended up being on a team of seven guys who went out during day camp to play basketball at a local park with any guys from the community that showed up. This was a good experience for me because I've comfortable with sharing my faith with kids, but sharing God with adults has always been tough for me, so God kind of challenged me to step out of my comfort zone. I never got the chance to share, but I did get the chance to talk with one guy about why we were there.As always, God answers many of our prayers while we are down there, and it's obvious that there are many people supporting us through prayer. One thing that always amazes me is how the weather almost never affects any of our activities too much. It rained pretty heavily on two days while we were there, both times it was around noon so day camp hadn't started yet. The rain had mostly stopped by the time day camp began and only slightly affected the number of kids. Then by the time for Challenge Circle, the grass was dry enough that we could still run around on it.One thing I learned in New Orleans, is that God ALWAYS has a purpose for you wherever you are. On one of the rainy days, we had all run over to the Yellow House after chapel and then the cook had just gotten back from shopping for food for the week so a few of us helped her bring some food over to CastleRock in the rain. On the way over, we saw a teen trying to fix his bike and when he was still there on the way back, a few of us stopped to help. A screw had come off from his gear changer, and knocked his chain off. Right when we stopped to help, he found the screw and then we struggled for a good 10 minutes trying to get it back on. Then I realized I should pray for God's help, and then right away we finally got it on. But the gear changer was hitting the spokes, so we were trying to twist it to make it work, but nothing worked. So then I prayed again, and then, it just popped into place! We invited the guy to come to church on Sunday, he said he'd try to make it, and then he rode off. Afterwards I realized that if the cook hadn't gotten back at that time, and if we hadn't all been willing to bring the food over to CastleRock at that time, we never would have been in the place to help him.Since I first went down to New Orleans, I've been considering serving down there as an intern, and so I've been praying about what I should do, Last year when I was down there, I definitely felt God calling me to serve there as a sumer. I was considering doing it this summer, but I had so many other things that were going to be happening this summer. So I prayed about it and felt God said I could wait until next summer. Then when I was there this summer, I had three of the Urban Impact staff members (including Pastor John) tell me I should serve as an intern. So now I feel certain that God is calling me to serve there, and I plan on answering His call.Thank you all again for your support and please continue to pray for the staff at Urban Impact and that the ministry down there would continue to prosper.