Restored

Hurricane Katrina damaged or destroyed over 800,000 homes, many of which are still abandoned. This week, one of my groups visited the lower 9th ward, one of the areas most affected by Katrina. We worked in a community garden that provides fresh produce to the residents. While there are convenience stores and fast food restaurants in the lower 9th, there are no grocery stores. The community garden strives to meet this need by providing fruits and vegetables essential to a healthy diet. The garden is located in a lot that was abandoned by its owners after Katrina. Many of the lots are overgrown and dilapidated. However, this lot had been restored to meet a real need in the community.

Redeemed

What a beautiful picture of what Jesus does in our lives. Like this lot devastated by Katrina, humankind was wrecked by sin and its influence in our lives. The lot was cleaned up and restored for something beautiful just like Jesus took our sin, cleaned our hearts, and redeemed us to be his new creation. We had at least 12 such decisions made this week in my group's VBS. One camper gave his life to Christ after hearing a Summer Missionary's testimony video, and so did other children at Backyard Bible Clubs. Praise God for his redemption!

Repurposed

Sometimes God tears things down to build something new. Other times, he gives them a new purpose. The New Orleans Healing Center contains everything from a shrine to Marie Laveau (voodoo queen of New Orleans), to yoga classes, to the New Orleans School of Burlesque. However, the center also allows Refuge Church to meet within its walls. The church, instead of hiding away from the city's evil influences, has decided to be a visible and powerful light in the midst of the center's darkness. It is their prayer that people searching for healing will find that none of the other options at the healing center truly heal the soul, and that they will find true refuge in Jesus Christ.
I have also seen secular places that God has chosen for his sacred purpose. Church of the King, which I attended last Sunday, meets in a high school auditorium. Excite All-Stars, a youth sports camp MLab partner, meets in buildings at the Southern University of New Orleans. I love these partnerships. They are a great way to engage people who may never step foot in a church building, but would feel comfortable in a school.

Returned

I talked to a homeless man who's friend had recently been murdered. He cried in anguish as we prayed for him. When I asked him what he thought happened to people when they died, he said that he believes in reincarnation, but that there is nothing more than this. My heart broke for him. As believers, it is extremely hard to lose someone we love, but we know that we will see them again in Heaven. What must it be like for nonbelievers? Where is their hope? While I shared the gospel with this man, he called the story of Jesus a fable, but I believe that God can still restore him.
Regardless of your views on The Shack, William Paul Young makes an excellent analogy of how humankind has turned from God. Men turned to the work of their hands to find identity, value, and security, and women turned to men to find the same. Jesus offers the only solution: "by re-turning. By turning back to me. By giving up your ways of power and manipulation and just come back to me."
Our God is a God of restoration, of redemption, of repurposing, and of returning. He never gives up, always making something good out of the broken.

"You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust.
You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us." ~Gungor, "Beautiful Things"