GNC: Portland Part 2

Over 58,000 individuals committed their Saturday night on April 29th to trying to make a difference in the lives of thousands of young Ugandian children's lives. Letters were written to the President and peoples perspectives were changed. Only time will tell what the complete impact of these events will have on history.

Here are a couple more shots from the Global Night Commute in Portland Oregon.




DK

GNC: Portland Part 1

The Global Night Commute is commencing as I type, but I just wanted to throw up some pictures of what's going on. We will have a post up from someone from our group who actually spent the night to explain what went on. While I was there the scene was deja vu (Not the movie with Val Kilmer) of kids piling into the basement of the hospital from the documentary on the Invisible Children. Pioneer Courthouse Square went from a scattering of sleeping bags to being lined with sleeping bags from side to side. The picture of Joe pretty much describes the mood of everyone downtown. The energy for the cause is amazing. It brought back memories of what it was like in New Orleans.

This is Pioneer Courthouse Square at roughly 7:30
And this is what it looked like within the next half hour.

People were stilling piling in when I left at 10:00.

And then here we are freezing our butts off... I respect everyone who is sticking it out and enduring the cold night. (Its dropping to about 38 degrees)

Pray that everyone's time and effort pays off! God Bless!

David Knepprath

Ultimate Frisbee!

There is another Christian club on campus that we are trying to connect up with more for events that we do, its NCM (Northwest Collegiate Ministries). They helped us out with the Fiddler on the Roof fundraiser for the Katrina Relief trip. Apparently, they get together every Saturday to play ultimate frisbee. (Oh man does that bring back memories of grade school summer camp) Anyhow, I received an open invitation to join them if you are interested. These are the details:

"If you and/or anybody else from Crusade is interested, a bunch of us, (from NCM, and other friends and roommates, etc.), get together every Saturday between 3:00 and 3:30 to play ultimate frisbee. We play at the Portland Adventist Elem. School across from Centennial High School on 181st between Division and Powell. It's lots of fun!!"

Anyhow, I will probably head out there this weekend with a group of people from Crusade, so there will be a few familiar faces if your looking for a reason to get outside and enjoy the weather!

DK

Latourell Falls

God truly has blessed Oregon with a beautiful landscape.

The Gorge looking out from the Vista House at Crown Point.

We had our first hike in the Gorge today, we figured we would start easy with Latourell Falls, which is just over 2 miles.

This is most of the group that was able to make it on such short notice (minus myself).

Some of the gang perusing the upper falls.

The lower falls.

Hopefully we will be having more hikes soon, and more of you will be able to join us! So if you are dyeing to get outside, we will have more hikes coming and there is always ultimate frisbee on Saturday afternoons! And stay tuned for an update from The Global Night Commute.

By God's Grace,

David Knepprath

Global Night Commute

I know some of you were there for the movie night when we watched the documentary on The Invisible Children, but if not I encourage you to browse www.invisiblechildren.com and get an idea of what it is all about. Specifically this Saturday night there is something going on called the "Global Night Commute". Its an opportunity to get involved with the situation and help raise awareness. Here is a PDF with a ton of info with about what exactly will be going on there:

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/media/pdfs/GNC_details.pdf.


It looks like we have enough interest to get a small group together if you are interested in what I'm sure will come be known as a landmark event. Please contact Lindy Heath and she can bring you up to speed on the details for our group. You can contact her at be_happy59@hotmail.com. They do ask that you sign up, it is completely free though, they just want to keep track of how many people they have involved. The registration can be done here:

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMovement/globalNightCommute/.

You can be part of the 40,000 individuals already signed up across the U.S!

We will have pictures up from Pioneer Courthouse Square (Portland areas meet up location) early next week.

DK

Hike in the Gorge #1

Everyday that we have weather like this, I get more and more excited for this hike! We will try for our first one this Thursday (April 27th), but we also hope to have many more in the near future (and maybe try a couple different days to accommodate peoples schedules.). Personally, with weather like this, I wouldn't mind having a hike EVERY Thursday and Saturday.

We will be meeting up outside on the far end of campus by where we normally have Bible Study (Room 1609), so if you are willing to drive, try and think about parking in that area. While on on that subject, please get back to me as soon as possible if you are planning on going AND if you will be able to drive. We will carpool, but depending on how many people are going we need to plan drivers. We will plan on meeting around 12:30 and leaving no later then 1:00. We recommend that people bring something to drink like water and have some sort of snack or a sack lunch (We won't be taking a long break during the hike to stop and eat, so plan on eating before, on the way, or on the way back.) I would recommend to wear tennis shoes, not sandals, and bring a sweatshirt or wind breaker sort of jacket in case it is windy (look up the weather that morning, and try and plan accordingly, but as of today it is supposed to be a high of 76 with clear skies!!!). Sunglasses and a camera would be a good idea if you want to take pictures.

It will be a blast to get outside and actually enjoy the beautiful outdoors that Oregon has to offer which is almost impossible to enjoy 95% of the year, so I hope you all can fit it in to your schedule, bring a friend, if you want!

DK

What Is This Thing In The Sky!?

This picture was taken no less then half an hour ago. I'm still trying to grasp just what exactly it is. I have a feeling by the time I can fully comprehend what it is, it will be gone.

If you would be interested in further exploring this odd phenomenon, we are going to be doing a hike in the gorge in the next week or two. Try and keep your Thursday or Saturday afternoons open!

We watched "The Invisible Children" last night, hopefully we will be able to get a group of us together to join in with the rest of the country on the "Global Night Commute" this coming Saturday. The Portland meetup will be in Pioneer Courthouse Square, and there are already 769 people committed. We will have more details about this soon.

DK

The Invisible Children

We are having a movie night this Friday at 8:00 at Kristin's house. We will be watching a documentary on The Invisible Children along with another movie, hopefully to lighten the mood a bit.

"Look! Its Val Kilmer!" Cont.

As a continuation of the previous posting, we were downtown at night and weren't able to snag any good shots of the filming, but I was able to get my hands on some of the Deja Vu production pics from another student, from George Fox University, who was in New Orleans helping out with relief work the same week as us.

As far as I know, these are the only Deja Vu production pics on the internet, trust me, I looked. Aren't you lucky? So enjoy!

This actually turned out to be a pretty interesting story, albeit completely random.

Stay tuned for the inside scoop on the filming of Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (...I wish)

David Knepprath

"Look! Its Val Kilmer!"

When we were in New Orleans we saw the cast and crew (not personally, but from a distance) for the upcoming Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster, Deja Vu, starring James Caviezel, Val Kilmer, Denzel Washington, and music by Harry Gregson-Williams (Chronicles of Narnia).

The film features Denzel Washington as an ATF agent who falls in love with a complete stranger while racing against time to track down her killer. Jerry Bruckheimer has even worked Hurricane Katrina into the script by including lines of dialogue referencing the event and shots of debris and destruction left by the killer storm.

It is only in pre-production but I was able to scrounge up some information on it.

-The movie went through pre-production in New Orleans. Just weeks before production was to begin, Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. With the location in ruins, the movie made the decision to find a new location to shoot. Weeks after the decision, canceling the movie altogether was in talks. Finally, three months after the hurricane, the film returned to New Orleans, Louisiana and began pre-production once again.
-New post-Katrina Louisiana legislation provided a 25% investors rebate for this film plus 10% employment credit for local hires (unless the salary exceeded one million dollars).

This explains why Denzel Washington has been out of the spotlight for so long. They were filming the "Ferry Scene" when we were there. Clay Steakley is listed as being a "Ferry Worker".

How's all of that for a tad bit of useless information? So when you see Deja Vu, remember, this movie helped jump start the post-Katrina New Orleans economy, and more importantly, WE WERE THERE!

David Knepprath

Happy Easter!

On this Easter weekend, I cannot help but be reminded of the ultimate promise that was fulfilled confirming for each and everyone of us the hope of something greater then this earth. I cannot help but be forced back into thoughts of New Orleans, and all the grief and destruction. Our world is so torn by sin, and you can't help thinking that something just isn't right. Thank God for sending his only Son, Jesus, to live innocently to be OUR substitute in death, so that we can have hope for something greater then this scarred world.

I have finally received everyone's pictures from the New Orleans trip, all 3,000 of them, so now I get to start sifting through them to make the compilation of pictures. If you are interested in a copy, it will only be the cost of the disc, send me an email at David.Knepprath@gmail.com.

We are working on planning a couple events on campus this term. In the next couple weeks, weather permitting, we will have a hike in the Gorge at Lattoural Falls. We are also planning a movie get together, next month, for everyone to invite their friends to go see The Da Vinci Code and go out for coffee afterwards to discuss it. We are currently looking for any opportunities to do some type of service project, locally, so if you have any ideas let us know!

"Give thanks to Jesus Christ, our Lord, who brought the gift of salvation to all people by his death on the tree of the cross, so that the devil, who overcame us by a tree would in turn by a tree be overcome."

Happy Easter!

DK

The Advocate

We made the front page and center spread in a special color edition of the schools newspaper, The Advocate. If you weren't able to get a print copy you can check out the articles online here. (Thanks a ton Janice!)



Friday night most of the team got together for our 1 week reunion! It was good times. We hung out at Kevin's house and watched The 'Burbs, a classic Tom Hanks comedy.


Tomorrow night (April 9th) at 6:00pm we are getting the team together to help present at Good Shepherd Community Church's College Group, which is being centered around God's work in New Orleans.

God Bless

DK

A Beautiful Masterpiece!

The Body of Christ: A Beautiful Masterpiece!
Jenae Kennington

I am blown away that we get to see God'’s image through his people! What really impressed me in our group was the uniqueness of each individual (diversity abounding) and yet the unity that comes from knowing Him. 1 Corinthians talks a lot about the necessity of each body part, this was obvious to me in New Orleans on the work sites as well and just hanging out together in the evenings. As believers we are called to suffer together and rejoice together (1 Cor. 12:26). We were able to mildly suffer together (enduring icy cold showers), and also share in the joy of a completed work project or in celebrating Lauren'’s birthday in the French Quarter and most importantly, being able to show the Love of Jesus through helping out the residents of New Orleans.

How amazing is it that we are all blessed with different personalities, senses of humor, quirks that can be appreciated, —our God is so creative! He calls us to care for EACH member of the body. Thanks friends, for how you did that in NOLA!

Brendan: hands-a little too tenacious with a hammer!

Dan: eyebrow-good for accusations in Mafia and for generating enthusiasm

Daryle: elbow-encouraging nudge or joking manner

David H: neck- frosty for whaaaa?

David K: blood-vital to the life of the trip and an addict of this new type of UNO

Ian: brain-vibrant imagination; analytical thinker

Janice: eyes- lens through which we'’ll always get to picture NOLA

Jared: vocal chords-no explanation needed. ;)

Joe: tendon-dynamic duo with Josiah of flexibility in helping two teams

Josiah: ligament-ever flexible, capable of many midnight carpools to the airport

Kevin: feet-livin true to Psalm 150, praise Him with dancing!

Kristal: ring finger-Betty'’s prized possession uncovered

Kristen: dimples-simply adorable

Lauren: ears-good listener; watch out for flying ear plugs!

Lindy: voice box-beautiful singing voice and contagious laugh

Mark: knees-supportive; doesn'’t buckle under stress/adversity

Matt: legs-endurance, encouraging others with discipline of daily devotions

Miranda: lungs-breath of fresh air; especially her cow stories

Molly: smile-sweetness radiates from her

Nick: soul-I’d be scared to face him on the line of scrimmage next yr. @ WO!

Rachael: biceps-she could'’ve gutted a house single-handedly!

Rebecka: heart-sensitive to NOLA residents

Reed: nose-apparently he could bring the (ware)house down with his snoring!

Rob: ribs-finger lickin'’ good fun

Sarah: funny bone-anything w/ her after midnight always turns into a party

Snowcloud: fingerprints-left '‘em everywhere in the house, —working maniac!

Sparky: diaphragm-elevates people through his encouragement

Tiana: adrenaline-inspiring, adventurous spirit; Germany, E. Europe, where next?

*Editors Note: And I will add one more, because she was humble enough not to include herself. ;)

Jenae: Immune System-very resiliant spirit, kept the team strong and healthy when under emotional strain.

Ephesians 4: 15-16
We will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

---

I hope everyone is getting a better understanding of how amazing this trip was. In the relationships that were formed, and the lives that were changed.

Also, make sure you pick up the latest copy of the Advocate (Special color edition! Woot!), we made the frontpage and the center spread article!

DK

The Message of Hope and Love

A short story on Rebecca's experiences with the Katrina Relief project:

The second house to me was an amazing story of how god can use his people. When we first got to the house we worked on there was a lot to be done. The damage from the hurricane was horrific. The doors had to be broken down just to get into the homes to remove all the damaged household items such as couches, chairs, refrigerators, and many other personal items. I was in Reed's group and the one thing the owner asked for us to find was a tin box which was found by Nick as Lauren and I searched the owners bedroom, we were thrilled to find the one and only thing she wanted. In the tin box was all of her insurance information on her home. I prayed real hard that God would help us find this item for my heart was truly broken for the owner at all she had lost. God is really good. One thing I noticed about the owner was how she had many pictures and photo albums of all her family members most of which were completely destroyed however two albums were not destroyed, and were saved for her. Just before we left for the day the owners son came by and talked to all of us what a privilege to meet him. When he told his story of how he escaped out of his home on the day of the hurricane I felt so overwhelmed with emotion tears filled my eyes. He was so thankful to us. He said on the day of the hurricane he was napping when the water started to cover his body he climbed out his window onto his neighbors roof. This seemed so terrifying to me, but I also felt so overjoyed that God would use our group in such an amazing way to touch the lives of this family. The owner told us how he has been personally affected by slavery, and how at times he has had so much anger in his heart, but how God has removed that anger and replaced it with love. He told us that he loves Gods people, and that we are Gods people. He then hugged each and every one of us. This is my story on my experience on how God used me, along with many others, to spread the message of hope and love to a hurting world.

Sincerely
Rebecca Smith

New Orleans Food!

I'm having a craving for a good ol' Po-Boy, a bowl Gumbo, and Barq's Red Creme (This is quite the delicacy, here in the NW you would have to import it from TotallyNawlins.com). Then finish that off with a few Beignets and Coffee.


Authentic Gumbo w/ Crayfish


Left: Shrimp Po-Boy, Right: Roast Beef Po-Boy

Doesn't get much better then that!

Of course, Rob does make these ribs look good.



We are working on compiling everyone's pictures together, and many of us are working on writing up stories of our experiences. School is getting in the way of that a bit, but definitely more to come soon!

DK

Smile in Their Voices

This will be the first in a series of accounts of the trip by the individuals who served on the team in beautiful New Orleans.

"I LOVE NOLA"
-Kristal Hoffman

Today I sit and reflect; reflect on a week of my life that took my breath away. This week was a week spent in New Orleans. As the group from Mt Hood community college gathered together to help the people of New Orleans I never thought I would come home changed. The thing is: I had time to see the beauty of broken things. Time to gather my own emotions as we helped families pick up the homes that Hurricane Katrina left scattered and destroyed. I saw the helpless looks in the eyes of the home owners but I also saw the love and the conviction in there smiles. One, never truly knows the impact that they can leave on the heart of man when they serve. Service in the sight of God is service well deserved. As our Heavenly Father loves and cares for His children He knows what is best. As Christ is no longer on this earth we are to be his hands and his feet, we are to serve and to give in his name! It is a beautiful thing really, when reflected back upon. About 32 of us came together to serve and to not be served! Personally I would not have changed that for the world. If asked to talk about an experience that stands out in my mind it would be really hard because the week in and of itself stands out to me. Yet at this time I will reflect back on the 2nd day of being in New Orleans. It was a Sunday. A group of us decided we wanted to go on a little stroll. We started to walk around not exactly knowing where we were going but hoping to end up along the Mississippi River. Soon we saw the destruction deeper and deeper still. We walked down a side street and ran into some individuals who asked us: "who we were, where we were going and what we were doing in New Orleans." What caught my attention was the love, the laughter and the smile in there voices. Yes, I said "smile in there voices." Only because when you heard them talk without even seeing there face you could see there smile. Even through the heart of the destruction they kept there spirits high. It moved me. Allowed me to see that in my own life things will happen that will be unexpected but I can rise above the heartache and move forward with love. I'd be back in New Orleans in a heart beat if I did not have school and jobs to attend to. I learned so much. About myself and about the people I went with and most importantly about the town I went to help. New Orleans is a gorgeous place. Even through the broken things you could see the Beauty. God loves even broken things:

(Song written by: Kenneth Cope)

Broken clouds give rain
Broken soil grows grain
Broken bread feeds man for one more day
Broken storms yield light
Break of day heeds night
Broken pride turns blindness into sight
Broken souls that need His mending
Broken hearts for offering
Could it be that God loves Broken things?

Broken chains set free
Broken swords bring peace
Broken walls make friends of you and me
To Break the ranks of sin
To Break the news of Him
To put on Christ tell His name feels Broken in
Broken souls that need his mending
Broken hearts for offering

I believe that God loves Broken things
And yet our Broken faith
Broken promises
Sent love to the cross
And still that Broken flesh

That Broken heart of His
Offers us such grace and mercy
Covers us with love undeserving

This Broken soul that cried for mending
This Broken heart for offering
I am convinced that God loves even Broken me
Praise his name my God loves Broken things
So Broken clouds give rain
And Broken soil grows grain
And Broken bread feeds man for one more day

This time is a time to think back to the beauty that I truly did see even if the things I saw were broken. I felt the touch of the Masters Hand as I extended my hands in His service. I'll never forget New Orleans and how it changed me. How I know it can change you!

Home (AKA. Light City)

To help you understand what the situation was like in New Orleans, I will begin by explaining what our own personal living conditions were like.

Before the hurricane, and before Campus Crusade for Christs' renovation to provide living conditions for the 8,500 volunteers over 3 weeks, Light City provided a very important resource to the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

And now for the grand tour of Light City:



I will use this map to help you build a mental picture of the complex and piece together the following pictures.

















At the bottom left hand corner is the information/registration desk as well as the main entrance.

















At the top left hand corner is one of the male sleeping quarters known as "The Palace". This is also were the males in our group stayed.

















"The Cave" is another men's sleeping area.






















"Cot Castle" is one of the women's sleeping quarters where the females in our group stayed. ("The Cottage" and "Heartbreak Hotel" are the other 2 female areas)

















"The Pigeons Roost" is yet another male sleeping area. Over 1,300 individuals were staying at Light City in the week we were there.

















These are the shower tents in the upper right hand corner. Many an hours were spent waiting in line only to sprinkle yourself with either ice cold or scalding hot water.

















"Porta-Potty Alley" along the right hand side of the map.

















This is the secured parking lot adjacent to the right side of the camp. Also seen are the piles of trash. In New Orleans there is no point to trying to contain all the trash, so it is simply heaped into piles and picked up on a regular basis.

















This is the tool room found between "Cot Castle" and "The Pigeons Roost". All tools (shovels, hammers, crow bars, rakes, brooms etc) and air filtration N95 masks were provided to us.

















One of the many awesome 24 hour armed security guards keeping us safe.

















"The Subway", which had been gutted, was used for group meetings as well as job signups.

















Inside "The Subway" was also a complimentary cellphone/camera recharging station. Very convenient.

We are all already having withdrawals from each other on the team, so a couple of the girls took the initiative and planned a get together for tomorrow night. We are meeting at Billy Bobs (used to be The Keg) to watch the NCAA Championship game. Who knows, maybe a spontaneous game of UNO will break out!

Personal stories coming very soon!

In Christ Alone,
DK

Safely Home!

Relationships were created, people were healed, houses were cleaned, memories were made, stories were written, pictures were taken, Beignets were eaten, and God's mighty power was demonstrated!

God is Amazing!

(Where we learned to call home for the last week, pictures here with one of the mountain of water bottles shipped in almost daily.)


(Why we went to New Orleans)

(Team arriving safely home March 31st at Sea-Tac airport, minus 5 who had separate flights and plus 2 we "adopted" from Linfield University)

We will have up many more pictures and stories from the trip over the next couple weeks, so check in regularly for updates!

God Bless!

DK