Ignorant people

Every day I am bombarded with ignorance regarding NOLA and Katrina.  People speaking to things they know nothing about…Take Craig from California. On the topic of New Orleans being back he says,  ”A whole bunch of lazy, uneducated, violent, criminal black people sitting around cashing tax-payer welfare checks, smoking crack, pimpin women, stealing, assaulting, killing, etc.Welcome back New Orleans!”

SERIOUSLY!? And that’s not even the worst that comes across my screen.  The core issues, that lovely individuals like Craig continue to site, are things such as – blaming the Corps of Army Engineers – expecting everyone else to do the work for us – and it’s been five years get over it.

First off – If it were not for the failure of the army corps of engineers the levees would not have failed in the first place.  Add on top of that the fact that they did not take responsibility for it until like 2 years ago…and yes there is a lot of anger.  That anger stems form the breakdown of government on all levels in regards to the evacuation process, the levees, FEMA, and a myriad of other things.

Secondly, No one here expects the govt to do anything for them.  Every person I know in this city is so eternally grateful for all of the help and love and grace that people throughout this country showed and continues to show.  I know 10 people off the top of my head, all encompassing different races and economic levels, who got screwed by insurance companies.  So they went to the govt who was offering help.  These ten individuals barely got help.  They were told help is on the way..it wasn’t.  So they rebuilt themselves and in 4 of their cases are still rebuilding and still living in trailers.  No one is expecting a handout…what was expected was that just as in any disaster that the govt. on all levels would follow through with the assistance that was needed.  If it weren’t for the gumption of the people here and the extreme generosity of others, very little would be done. So we trust people just not the govt.

Lastly, it’s been five years, get over it. – I honestly don’t know how to respond to this because I think my anger would get the best of me,  Let’s just leave it at this…when your life, your families life, and your friends lives are all destroyed – then tell me to get over it.

I am biased, true.  I lived here before and through Katrina.  There are still people that I have no idea where they ended up.  I still have scars, and above all else I love this place.  I don’t expect people to “get it”.  I don’t expect people to care as much as we do down here for our community and our lives.  What I expect is that people would conduct themselves with common decency.  That people outside of this city and entire gulf region would put an end to the ignorant ramblings.  And that if people really want to know…then do the research, come down here and I will introduce you to a whole lot of people that can give you the reality of Katrina.

I’m gonna go pray now so as not to be consumed with anger.

Believing in something greater

I think, within each of us, there is this desire to believe in something greater than ourselves.  We join clubs or fraternities.  We latch ourselves to a favorite sports team (Go Saints!).  We join churches, synagogues, masques, and other such institutions.  And we put our ideologies firmly on the shoulders of leaders making believe that we are some how apart of what they are doing.

This innate desire drives us, inspires us, comforts us, and at times it crushes us.

We have been living in New Orleans for 7 months now and everywhere I look I see people who are crushed because the “something greater” turned out to be pretty dang ordinary, or it just didn’t deliver.  The truth is, that it doesn’t matter which city we live in…if you take time to see people…and I mean really see them, I think you will find that all around us are people who are sad, or frustrated, or angry or lonely with nothing to believe in.

Right about now you might be thinking to yourself…thank you captain obvious, which is a fair statement. What I am saying is nothing new or ground breaking. My question is, what are you going to do about it? My belief in Christ will always be the lens I see life through and what I see is the church missing the boat on simply offering people hope to people who don’t believe in something greater.

In your city and in mine there exist a need for people of hope and grace and truth.  Christians who will come down from their lofty places and do something to actually care for the people around them.  It’s easy to go to church…but its whole other thing to be the church.

Until next time…

“Promise me you’ll come back”

It was a beautiful Mid-February day. The sun was shinning brightly from above, save for those times when those large gulf coast clouds would pass lazily in front of it. This day was different than most days that we spent in The Quarter because it would be our last. You see, early the next day we would be driving what remained of our new life up to Missouri. Having been married for only four months and after having gone through Katrina and a painful job loss I needed to move on. It was just too painful and I was incapable of dealing with that pain. So I figured the best thing for us to do was to leave and start over…or run and hide…take your pick.

We walked from the French Market up Gov. Nicholls and I watched as a man was finally taking the boards off of his windows. He was somber. Not sad, or frustrated, or even relieved…he was just somber. It was as if there was no other emotion left that could be conjured up…he was just to tired. I guess everyone was tired…drained…numb. We made a left on Bourbon and even though it lacked the familiar stench the street normally emitted it still had its share of tourists milling about from bar to bar and club to club. Seeking a good time oblivious to the thousands of people still seeking their lost friends and family.

We headed back down to Jackson Square for some lunch and after watching my mother in law flirt with our waiter at lunch (those hand grenades will getcha every time) our family friend Tara and I set out to take some pictures. It was on this last little quest to capture life, or what was now life, that I ran into hope and conviction. I was roaming Chartres heading back from the Ursuline Convent and then made my way back up to Royal and while I was still on St. Philip St I heard it. Loud, jubilant, jazz.

It was the Krewe of Cork. The Krewe of Cork celebrates all things wine, food and fun and they were taking part in their annual Royal Street Stroll. As a crowd began to form I couldn’t help but begin to tap my feet to the infectious beats pulsating from the trumpet and snare drum. A middle age woman standing next to me had tears in her eyes as she leaned into me and said, “It’s so good to hear that sound again”. She asked me my story. How she knew I wasn’t a tourist I’ll never know but as I began to tell her my story and as she shared with me hers I realized that even though we didn’t know each other from Adam we were inexplicably bonded together through shared experience.

As I was getting ready to say good-bye she asked me what was next and I told her we were moving. She grabbed both of my arms and looked me straight in the eye and told me that I couldn’t leave. The city needed me, she said, needed us…all of us. It was in that moment in that random encounter that I felt the conviction of my own selfishness, but it was too late…we were moving away. She gave me a hug and she took her Krewe of Cork throw off her neck and put it around mine and she said just promise me you will come back. “Promise me you’ll come back”, she kept saying. “Promise me, you have to come back”. Now close to four years later we are going back. Going back to the Crescent City, the place we fell in the love with, we are going back.

You know, I still have that throw that woman gave to me. It’s in my camera case. I have kept it as a reminder of a promise I made to a friend I never knew I had. I kept it as a reminder of the broken beauty that is New Orleans. I kept it as a reminder that the plans God has come to fruition. I kept it because that cheap plastic strand of beads stands for something greater than itself. Something few could understand…resurrection.

Resurrection of a city, of a people, and of a shared dream.

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? I do, but not for long…

Transitions

For many people change is a curse word.

The fear it.

Run from it.

Hide from it.

I embrace it.  It is a reality and inevitability of life as well as growth. However, just because I like change does not mean its always easy.  Specifically those large transitions in your life that change everything.

Today is a rough day because the realities of the current transition and coming change have befallen me.  Where as my wife will struggle and mourn the changes once they have happened I struggle and mourn long before the changes actually occur.

I love the church we are leaving.  I love the people, the leadership, and the vision.  Over the past three years (specifically the last year and a half) we have shared intense brokenness and healing together.  We have shared frustrations, joys, heartache, and much ridiculousness.  It’s hard to just walk away from that, even if it is following the call of God on your life.

As I finish up at Revolution, doing my best with the ministries I am involved with and helping in the transition of new people, I also am looking ahead to New Orleans.  I never knew how overwhelming it could be to be in the middle of the two worlds. On the one hand you have the realities of New Orleans.  Obvious facts like, the city is different since we left, most of our friends are gone, we have no place to live or jobs to make money, and then we have the exciting but complicated and time consuming process of beginning a community center and possibly a church launching out of that community center.

Couple that with the realities here in Southern California, namely, not being around family and friends as often, walking away from a ministry that you know God has used you in ways you didn’t even think possible, finishing strong, and the odd sensation of helping plan for a future that you will not be apart of.

It is all of these things that for some reason have all come crashing down on me today.  It will all be fine, I know that in my head and heart, but today I mourn the transition because I need to.  I need to wrestle with the pain, fear, doubt, and loss that accompanies change.  If I don’t how can I move forward with the excitement and passion that is lurking deep within?

So I guess I leave you with this, transitions and change are not the end of the world…

but today, for me, it kind of feels that way.

Until next time…

An Announcement!

Well my blogging fast is finally over.  Of course I am 13 days late in breaking said fast but I needed to wiat for a few things to happen first before I broke my fast with our announcement.  So here it is…

Leanne and I are planning to move back to New Orleans. While leading Revolution’s annual mission trip to New Orleans during the first week of July, Leanne and I were overwhelmed with a call to return to a city we’d left almost 4 years ago.  After much prayer and fasting by us and many others, it became clear that we needed to take a giant leap of faith and commit to an unknown calling in a city that we care deeply about.

When that decision was made in early August, we only knew two things. 1. We were going back to New Orleans and 2. We felt strongly it should be near the beginning of 2010.  Other than that we knew nothing.  We had no idea where we would work or live.  Nor did we know what specifically we were being called to do in the city.  All we knew is that we had on overwhelming sense that we were supposed to go and serve the people as best we could in ways that would meet their tangible, emotional, physical, and spiritual needs.

Although we still do not know where we are going to live or work, there are a few exciting things that have become clear to us that we want to share with you.

1. Leanne is going to (once again) pursue graduate level studies in Community Counseling.  This is something that Leanne began before Katrina, but was forced to put on hold after the storm.  Leanne has never lost her passion for making a difference in urban areas and now, as we get ready to move back, it appears that God’s original call in this area wasn’t wrong…it was just preempted.

2. The Center – Having a job is one thing.   Having a call and purpose are entirely different. Last weekend, Leanne and I felt that God finally unveiled his purpose for our lives in New Orleans.  A community center.  A community center that targets kids, teens, and adults of every background, socioeconomic status, and education level.  A community center that lives out what being “missional” is all about–going into the community to be the hands and feet of Christ by meeting the needs of the people.

This is obviously not a small undertaking…let alone something either one of us knows anything about.  It is a God idea- something that we fully believe is from Him, but we want to be sure.  Which is why we are asking you to pray for continued clarity and direction.  We want to ask you to pray for us about this and give us your honest feedback.

We want what God wants. Period.  So as we begin to move forward, it is important for us to have people praying for us every step of the way.

Please pray for….

• Vision, Clarity and Wisdom.
• The time frame in which all of this is happening.  We don’t want to move before God wants us to move.
• Location of our future home as well as a site for The Center.
• Fellow workers who are committed to the city to be called alongside us in this endeavor.
• Financial provision/jobs
• Provision for Leanne’s schooling.  God began to answer this prayer four years ago, so we are confident He is able to do it again!
• Comfort for our families, friends and church family we are leaving behind.
• For Bella’s purpose in all this to be evident as well.  God gave her to us for a reason.  We want to honor Him with her.

Feel free to email Leanne and I with any questions, thoughts, and encouragements.

So there you have it!  As we move forward Leanne and I will both be blogging this process, and you know me, I’ll always have the random blogs thrown in.  We thank you in advance for being there for us.

Ready to see what God will do,
Christopher  and Leanne Lytle

Christopher@revolution242.com
562-505-8302

LeanneLytle@gmail.com
562-484-4852

I’m 30. I guess that means I’ll start blogging again.

Well…It finally happened. I turned thirty. I know, no big deal for some of you, but for me there has always been this strange fear of thirty.

I’m not going to so much recap my birthday…although it was an awesome one…instead I want to share with you my list of ten things I want to accomplish within the next year of my life. These are in no particular order.

10. Take the thirty day challenge (some of you know what that is)
9. Intensely study the book of John for the next 12 months and write coinciding curriculum.
8. Learn to fly fish.
7. Drive up the coast to Oregon with Leanne.
6. Get certified for scuba diving.
5. Go camping with a bunch of guys.
4. Write a childrens book set in New Orleans
3. See U2 in concert.
2. Take my grandmother on a vacation.
1. Be a better person.

NOLA Day 6

This morning started off much later than all our other mornings. I ended up waking up at 8:20…about 10 minutes before devo time! Kati and Angie (and Angie’s 2 boys) brought over boxes of clothes they’d had in storage for a while that needed to be sorted in preparation for a $1 sale to raise money for their ministry. We had a great time helping them with that and then making sack lunches for them to hand out. They have a very deep sense of calling to the street ministry they do. They work with senior citizens, gutter punks, homeless, etc who live on the streets as well as any and everyone they come into contact with. They do most of their ministry in and around the French Quarter.

After our time with Kati and Angie, we set about getting ready to spend some time with Ms Doris. We wanted to help her with her house, but knew there were a lot of projects we either weren’t equipped to do ourselves or we simply wouldn’t have the time to finish. So we brought a gift basket and some dinner and simply spent time with Ms Doris and her family. It was a great time for our team to really see what it feels like to call New Orleans “home”. It was such a blessing to simply be with those women and I know that even though we may not have done any hard labor, we were doing exactly what God wanted us to do.

At around 7:30, we said goodbye to Ms Doris, Elaine and Courtney and headed across the river (you know…the Mississippi River) to the Westbank. There’s a place over there called Mardi Gras World. This is where most of the big floats and props for the Mardi Gras parades are housed. They hosted an all day event complete with face painting, mask making (which we missed out on by about 10 minutes), food, music, and free tours of the prop rooms. The festivities ended with a 6 piece jazz ensemble complete with a 2nd Line (you’ll have to look that one up if you want to know what it is) out to the levee right before the fireworks began. We sat on the levee to watch the fireworks, then decided we should try using kati’s blanket to slide down the hill on. Then we thought we should roll down the hill. Then we realized if one person sits on the blanket and 2 people pull it, you go down the hill a lot faster. It was like being a kid again. )

After we were sufficiently dirty and dizzy, Kati, Angie and the boys went home and the rest of us headed Uptown to meet Paul at Camellia Grill for some dessert. For those of you not familiar with the staples of the city, Camellia Grill is one of them. After the storm, the owners moved to Mississippi. People started leaving notes on the doors of the restaurant to “Please come back”, etc. Someone asked the owners if they could buy the restuarant so it could open up again, and the owners agreed. So the new owner hired back all the old workers (the same guys have been there for years and years) and reopened without changing anything at all…except they now take debit and credit cards instead of just cash.

And now, after a minor run-in with Essence Fest traffic, we are home and once again snug in our beds (except me). I want to thank everyone who’s been praying for us. God has really done amazing things for each one of us during this week and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to bring a team to serve a city I love. We’ve all learned so much and have been so inspired and encouraged by the people we have met. I hope you will ask about our trip. But don’t just ask me…ask Karina, Jeny, Heather and Jessie. They have a lot to share.

We only have one more day left, and it’s a pretty kick-back day. We will be making breakfast for a group of ladies in the morning and then doing some sightseeing and shopping in the afternoon, as well as tying up some loose ends and running a couple of errands. We will still look for opportunities on the streets and may even catch up with Kati and Angie while they’re out doing their thing in the Quarter. It will be a pretty early evening because we have to leave at 3:45 Sunday morning to get to Gulfport. I may or may not do an update tomorrow night, so until the next time…

Goodnight!

NOLA Day 5

Today has been amazing. Most of the day up until around 3:30 was bittersweet. We had our last day with the kids today. On top of it being the last day, it was, yet again, our most difficult day with them. We had to cut out the entire last segment of the program because they just didn’t want to cooperate with us this morning. I don’t think it mattered much because, really, we were just glad to have the time with them. Even if they were difficult. I’d be difficult too if I had their lives. The most important part is that we did get to develop relationships with them and share God’s love. Jeny was just sharing tonight how one little boy asked her if she loved him and she was able to say, yes, of course I love you. It’s possible that that’s the only time he heard someone say that to him today. Thank God for that opportunity.

Karina was finally able to come out and gut with us a little bit today. I don’t think she expected it to be such hard work, but just like the rest of the week, she was a total trooper! We ended up calling it quits early again today…no, there weren’t any more tetanus shots. There was a pretty big storm headed our way, so we needed to get all the tools in the truck and back to the office before it started. Metal and lightning don’t mix.

Tonight, our team decided they wanted to invite Ms. Doris out to dinner with us. Ms Doris is a 78 year old woman who volunteers at BBC; we’ve been working in her territory everyday this week. So we took her and Angela out to La Madeleine (the most amazing place ever) and the girls were able to get to know her better and hear some incredible stories and life experience. Between dinner and meeting Ms Doris’ daughter and granddaughter when we took her home, we heard a lot of their Katrina story. Their house is in the section of town that was only roof tops after the storm. Although they had evacuated to McComb (Mississippi), some other family members decided to stay at Ms Doris’ home during the storm. They ended up getting flooded out and having to break through the window in the attic. The woman and 3 children were picked up by a helicopter, but the 2 year old was left because there was not enough room. The other adult rigged up a boat from an old tire to put the child in and swam to the interstate bridge that’s about a mile from their house. They all survived, but as Ms Doris had told us earlier, she “lost a lot of people to that storm”. And she still smiles and laughs and loves her life. She works at BBC because she feels like she’s been given so much that she just wants to give back and meet people who can influence her life and vice versa.

When we did our high’s and low’s tonight at debrief, Ms Doris was almost everyone’s “high” for the day.

So now we are all (sans me, of course) tucked away safely in our beds. We don’t have our next assignment until 9am (praise Jesus!), and it’s being delivered to us! We’ve been up and ready by 6:45 everyday so far, so the girls are all very excited for a little extra rest tonight!

On a personal note, God has been teaching me a lot this week about the power of a prayer said in faith. He’s answered a couple very specific prayers of mine instantly this week. He showed me tonight that I talk a good game when I’m leading other people, but when I’m on my own, I have a serious lack of faith. He also showed me that my prayers are effective with others and that he listens to me at those times and that he can (and wants to) listen to me when I’m simply praying for me.

I pray I can learn that lesson and live my life knowing that my God is the one with the power and He is constantly on the lookout for me…just waiting for me to ask. After all, He is a Good Father.

My eyes are starting to shut. Goodnight to you and as always, there will be more tomorrow…