it was AMAZING!
I always thought that Mardi Gras was just old ladies flashing parade floats to get beads, but it was actually far from it and way more than that. Ha!
Mardi Gras felt like the excitement of the Christmas holiday and Halloween costumes all mixed in together. Everyone would greet each other, "Happy Mardi Gras!" and you would reply the same greeting back to them. Locals would debate about who would makes the best King Cake in the city and tourist would basically be hammered 24/7 because they're visiting "The Big Easy."
My church is a part of a non-profit organization called Answering The Cries (ATC) and we hosted about 150 college-aged students for our Mari Gras Outreach. They would have these young adults go out and just love and serve our city. When I first heard about the outreach, I imagined these people standing in the street corner with Jesus Loves You picket signs, but it was quite the opposite.
The weekend before Mardi Gras, we had teams go out to the French Quarter and set up face paintings and had music for dance teams. It was pretty sweet! They would go out and talk to people about life, build relationships and invite them to church. If you think about it, it's pretty intimidating to go up to a stranger and talk about God. However, if you do it with the right mind and spirit these conversations turn out to be divine appointments.
As a traditional Christian, some may stay as far away from the partying as possible, Some may look the other way and others may be rebuking Mardi Gras from a distance. During our first Mardi Gras, we jumped right in the middle of everything and loved every moment of it.
If we weren't in the French Quarter, we would have never met Javier who needed direction in life, we would have never met police officer Andrew to restore his faith in Christianity again; and we would have never met Ash who gave his heart to Christ. You just never know.
Trevor said this quote last week and it really made me think.
"I don't always want to show people the hurt in my city as much as I want to show them the opportunity for hope. "
I know that Trevor and I are here in New Orleans for a reason. We're here to serve, share God's love and bring hope. Where ever you may find yourself right now, I pray that you may be inspired to do the same. I pray that we all could find the boldness through Christ and be an impact in our local communities. There's always opportunity for hope.
Love you guys!
-Sara
Ps-all photos are Trevors. You can check out more at trevormark.co
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