Mission Trip To New Orleans

We drove home from Memphis and began to plan a trip to New York. Kevin and I had no money. The entire year had been a terrible financial drain with no end in sight. I simply prayed and gave it to God. I was in so much pain and unable to do anything about the situation except trust God. I consumed my time listening to praise music. The music eased my physical pain and increased my spiritual strength.

Dramatic events have occurred frequently in my life, and some affected me more than others. Some had negative effects like from first to third grade when I was bullied because of how I talked and my last name which led to me becoming shy and less talkative. My mission trip to Kentucky didn’t just help the people we were helping, but it also helped me in different ways. The work and what I saw made me appreciate what I had here, and got me to want to help people whenever I could. During some free time when the others where away, me and 2 friends got permission to go climb a mountain that was steep and tall. On the way up, a root came out of the wall and I almost fell, but it wasn’t tall and wouldn’t have done a lot. After getting to the top, we just started walking around and there was a small hill that we went down, but when I got to the bottom it was hard to stop and I was barely able to stop before I went off the edge. That part experience helped my fear of heights for the most parts. There have also been many people that have helped me out so much along the way, but the people that have done the most has been my church family. My church has allowed me to do many things, for example, like the Kentucky trip, a trip to cedar point, a church sports camp, and other things like cloths and food. The stuff my fellowship has done for me has gotten me involved and want to help others. Those are events and people that have

When I was a kid, I was taken to church on a weekly basis. My foundation in God was learned as a child. I loved to read the bible and there was this one particular Bible story book that I had, which I read cover to cover. My favorite story to read was the book of David. I was very intrigued with him and all that he had gone through prior to becoming a king. I loved the fact that David liked to dance. Once I grew up, I continued to go to church, but it was more out of ritual. I was not learning because the pastors would talk above my understanding most of the time. The only thing that I did understand was that when it was almost time to dismiss there would began to be a lot of whooping hollering and spitting. I would be at the club getting my bounce on Saturdays and I went to church on Sundays sometimes just hours after coming home from the club. I knew that I should have been living a more Godly life than i was, but I continued to have my fun

When I was ten years old my mother took my family to New Orleans for vacation, and I remember going to the French Quarter and being in awe because I had never seen something so unique. I remember thinking New Orleans was one of the coolest cities because it was drastically different than any place I had ever been to. There was soulful music on every corner with French food and gumbo on every street. Fast forward five years to when I traveled with my church to go to New Orleans on a mission trip and we stayed on campus at Tulane. That was the first time I had ever seen the campus and I loved it: the trees where overwhelmingly beautiful along with the gothic architecture in the buildings. It was entirely different than any school I had ever seen.

I first have to say that though I identify as a Christian I am not a big advocate in the religion itself. This stance comes from various experiences that I have had and/or witnessed happen in the church. I do know some preacher’ kids that stay in the church when they are older but there are a few that leave. The reason this may be, or at least it’s the reason for me, is that what is taught in the church isn’t practiceded by the people of the church. Because of this I have taken a step back from religion and I feel like this has allowed me a new look on life, myself and religions in

My parents decided to visit the church that we were a part of when I was a baby.  The worship was a bit old fashioned, but it was good.  The Wednesday of that week I told my mom that I wanted to go to the churches youth group that met that night.  She let me attend and the pastor's wife introduced me to the youth pastor and his wife, along with some of the youths or students as they call them there.  They welcomed me with open arms and warm hearts.  In that youth group, I not only met my best friends but gave my life to the Lord and got my life back on track.

I have grown up in the church, I don’t remember much from before I actually became a Christian. Being raised in a church is a great thing for kids because it provides a community that you know you can trust for them to grow up in. Statistically speaking, children who grow up in the church tend to leave the church behind because they think it is childish and just a story, however, this is not true for me. When I was a kid I thought they were great stories of a hero who saved everyone, this continued until my 8th-grade year when my Grandma became very ill, she had dementia, high blood pressure, arthritis, and the list continued on. The summer of my 8th-grade year she passed away. My great Grandmother was still alive. It was hard for me to see

During elementary school I decided I wanted to move in with my father who did attend church religiously every Sunday morning. Catholic mass was awful and difficult to understand. My father put my brothers and I through communion and made us participate in church bible study to further understand the religion. As I got older my views on Catholicism had gotten worse, I started hating going to church. When the nuns called my age group to have children’s church my father forced me to go, they took us to a room that had no windows and was always cold. The nuns made us read the old testament in the King James Bible version and I always had a hard time reading and understanding it because of the way it was written. This experience made me hate and

Growing up in a Christian home and then slowly departing from that teaching can be difficult for most Christians and more than a struggle for some. Yes, I’m certain that we are all aware that the bible says “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6. I’m not sure if I agree with that anymore. Why? Well, my parents raised me as a Christian. I went to church, not faithfully but I went majority of the time. I was in praise dancing and even went to bible study. Now it’s like every since I came to Olivet, I feel as if religion is forced upon me. I didn’t feel this way when I was younger. I’ve departed from giving God my full attention, attending church regularly, being a full-time Christian, and reading the bible. I believe in God, but something is missing. I want the freedom to know him, not the force.

From my distant childhood memories, I believe that our family went to church regularly. However, after Hurricane Katrina, our family didn’t attend church because we were so occupied with rebuilding our lives. Yet, I was still able to have exposure to Christ from my God-fearing parents and my Catholic school. Eventually, due to the conviction in my parents’ hearts, we found a church home. From there on, I could receive the Word in a church setting regularly. As time went on, I matured in my faith and became fond of the things of God. I wanted to discover him and understand why I believed in Him. In my early high school years, I talked about Him with my friends for I had a passion for Him. However, it was becoming increasingly aware to me that I was being a lukewarm

I grew weary of the "church people" and was turned off by the hypocrisy I was experiencing. This led me on a path of agnosticism with bouts of atheism for awhile. When I was 22, my pregnancy led me to really became deeply aware of my sins which led me into prayer and a turning away from those things. After my son was born, I was so full of love and appreciation towards God and I was determined to get to know everything I could about Him. I don 't think I would have come to that kind of love and appreciation if I had not first be made aware of the gravity of sin as the bible describes it. My first

The beginning of my relationship with Christ began in my household. Starting with my parents who instilled their faith and belief in Christ Jesus into my day to day life. I was taught to pray, sing to the Lord, read and memorize scripture, and attend church weekly. The Christian life became my lifestyle and up to this day I am so blessed and grateful for my parents’ bold decision as placing Jesus as the foundation of our household. April 16, 2006 the pastor at my former church began describing how tangible God’s love for us is and how he sent his son Jesus to die for our sins. He vividly described the image of a loving, merciful and Almighty Father. When the call for salvation was made I was quick to raise my hand.

Baptized in the Lutheran Church as a baby, religion was always something I had known. Growing up, my family and I went to church weekly. From the time of being born, to my last year of elementary school, a semi-contemporary, Lutheran Church was my home. My first year of middle school, my family decided to switched to a more traditional church. Filled with the smell of senior citizens and old hymnals, church was no longer enjoyable. My Dad decided to not attend to church anymore (besides occasional holidays), as my siblings and I were older and he felt as if he did not need to pretend to advocate church anymore. On the other hand, my other three family members and I continued. Twelve-year-old Me believed in a God. Though felt like a chore going to church and forcefully reading my Bible. God was a one-day, Sunday morning routine on my behalf. The idea of God was something I had stored into a box and opened as needed. My prayer life consisted of my Confirmation class teacher praying and when I really wanted something. I know now that God does not work that way. My middle school years as a Christian was everything less than desired. Going to a Christian school, I did not mind God but I did not want to put in the effort of having a relationship with Him. Christianity was just a bunch of impossible rules to follow and I was just a rebellious pre-teen. Getting into bad habits of disobeying my parents, cursing, bullying, negativity and living selfish had caught up to me. It took

My spiritual journey began as a child who was enrolled in St. Cyril’s Catholic kindergarten in Danville, Pennsylvania. Most prominently, I remember going to the Chapel and praying as a class. One of our assignments was to think about someone who needed a prayer. I would listen to the other children who were praying for their parents, grandparents, and pets. I remember talking to my mom one evening about who I should pray for. At the time, she talked to me about my cousin who was a soldier in the United States Army, and explained to me that he was deployed to Iraq. She told me that I could pray for him to return safely. When it was my turn to share who I was praying for, I told the class I prayed for him. I don’t remember how many times we went to the chapel during the week, but I remember praying for him for a few weeks. I also recall our teacher taking us around to each stained glass in the chapel and telling us a story about each window. I do not remember too much of the story she was telling, as I was just interested in looking at the sunshine projecting through the glass.

My Dad has been a pastor all my life and I have always been heavily involved with my church. However, Even with a large christian background I never truly became a Christian until I was about ten years old. That is when I went to Big Sandy Bible Camp and made the decision to let Christ be the center of my life. Almost immediately after my initial decision to dedicate my life to Christ I noticed a dramatic change in my lifestyle. Before I was a real Christian I sought out to find my value in earthly things like money, video games, or being in a good clique. After I became a real Christian I stopped trying to find my value in those material things and found my identity in Christ. I started looking at scripture as the truth inspired by God rather than just some meaningless book we recited in church. I now have a scheduled quiet time each day that I spend in prayer and scripture. One of the reasons I am now such a strong christian is that i have many places where i find christian fellowship. Some of the opportunities I have for that include, youth group, sunday school, finding christian