Caught Up In The Flood - Saints Community Church

Caught Up in the Flood
How the streets of New Orleans stole our hearts
By Wayne & Kristi Northup
CAUGHT UP IN THE FLOOD
Copyright © 2010 by Wayne & Kristi Northup
New Orleans, Louisiana
www.saintscommunitychurch.com
ISBN 978-0-557-72384-3
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic,
mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief
quotations in printed reviews, without the permission of the authors.
Printed in the United States of America
This book is dedicated to all the people who have
joined us in New Orleans for the Mardi Gras
Outreach, and especially to our leadership team.
We could not have done any of it without you.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
i
iii
{ Chapter 1 }
Caught up in the Flood
02
{ Chapter 2 }
A Love for a City
06
{ Chapter 3 }
Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?
14
{ Chapter 4 }
Masquerade of Zombies
26
{ Chapter 5 }
The Furious Flood
38
{ Chapter 6 }
A City Lost; a Hope Restored
50
{ Chapter 7 }
A Chance to Die
64
Acknowledgements
A special thanks to Clayton Waters, who not only did extensive
work on the layout, but also headed the Creative Team at the Outreach
in ‘09 and ‘10 that captured almost every picture in this book. These
photos are amazing and it’s such an honor to use them. Also to Luke
Frederick for his design on the cover. You always dig deep to find an
image that says not only what it’s about, but who we are.
Thanks to Jade Cummings for helping us to get the ball rolling
and for transcribing hours of conversations, to Shea Spindler for
editing, and Tim Enloe who was a constant sounding board through
the entire process.
i
Foreword
I have had the privilege of investing my life personally into the
lives of many young men and women. By God’s grace, many of them
are now pastoring churches, leading national ministries, and serving
the Lord in inner cities and cross culturally around the world.
A true spiritual son and daughter that give me great joy are
Wayne and Kristi Northup. 3 John 1:4 says, I have no greater joy than
to hear that my children walk in the truth (NIV). My relationship
with Wayne goes back to his college days, and with Kristi, all the
way back to her childhood! Watching their leadership giftings grow
through influences, problem solving, integrity, and the way they
work together has been a joy. They are true people of prayer.
I know as you read Caught Up in the Flood, you will sense
the great passion and purpose of Wayne and Kristi’s lives. Their
character is above reproach, their leadership gifts are strong and
competent, and the chemistry of the teams they have assembled over
the years is incredible. Simply put, they are great people of character,
competence and chemistry. I hope you will be moved to help them
pursue their vision.
I heard a missionary say, “The local church is the hope of the
world.” I have passionately believed that since I first heard those
iii
words. Nothing is more joyful in life than being a part of a healthy
local church that is truly making a difference in people’s lives and in
the community where God has planted them. Wayne and Kristi have
a deep love and passion for the people of New Orleans, Louisiana.
They demonstrate true servant leadership that is expressed by their
great faith in people. They want to see Saints Community Church be
a healthy, passionate, multicultural expression of our Lord’s great
love.
Another sign of great leadership is the ability to effectively
communicate vision. As you will read in this book, they have laid out
a clear vision, developed a plan, and are already training leaders to
assist them.
Caught Up In The Flood will inspire you with fresh vision and
motivate you to continue with your own God given dreams. You care
enough to read this, and now I am asking you to take the next steps
to pray and give to help launch Saints Community Church of New
Orleans.
We owe a great debt to so many pastors, friends, and family
who have brought about the reality of Saints Community Church of
New Orleans. We are humbled and so very grateful for your prayers,
gifts, love, and wisdom. This book is really more about you than
anyone else. Thank you.
Gary Grogan (aka “Papa G”)
Lead Pastor, Stone Creek Church
Urbana, Illinois, U.S.A.
iv
02
{ Chapter 1 }
Caught up in the Flood
The flood—it changed everything in New Orleans.
It changed that distant, foreign-feeling city from a place that
many had heard little about to the most important domestic story of
the year.
It changed the people who called the historic city home.
Hundreds of thousands could no longer do so because they were
forced to relocate across America, and they could not afford to start
over yet again. Those who went back would now live in different
houses and different neighborhoods—even though many rebuilt in
the exact same locations where their home had been before Katrina.
It changed the spirit. Like an iceberg that breaks apart in
warm water, the spirit of slavery that hung over the city for centuries
couldn’t hold its grip any longer. The distrust of the outside world
03
was gone, replaced with unspeakable gratitude for the generosity of
an entire nation.
And it changed us. It changed all our plans for the fall of 2005,
because the moment we saw the devastating images we could think
of nothing other than the hurting people of New Orleans. We were
caught up in every story, every tragedy, every triumph. During that
season of intense rescue and relief, it began to dawn on us: our work
there would no longer be a once-a-year event at Mardi Gras. God
was supernaturally expanding our vision from temporary seasons of
ministry to a permanent calling. He was changing our hearts to love
and minister in New Orleans full time.
We have always had a dream to plant a church—a relevant,
Pentecostal, multi-class, multi-ethnic church. All of a sudden it was
becoming clear: how could we go anywhere but New Orleans? That’s
the city we prayed for when it was time to pray for our hometown.
That’s the city that had taught us so much about the power of God
and the depravity of man. That’s the city where our deepest spiritual
experiences occurred year after year. We couldn’t shake it. Though
the city had been flooded by the broken levees from Hurricane
Katrina, we were caught up in a different kind of flood—the flood of
God’s compassion and calling for the city of New Orleans.
The process has been unfolding for a long time, even before we
knew what God has been intending for us. After thirteen years on the
road as evangelists with Answering the Cries (ATC), we are untangling
ourselves from the web of engagements and responsibilities both
around the country and at home. It is a huge step of faith, but the
house is sold and the boxes are packed. We are moving to New
Orleans to plant a church!
04
In the next few pages you’ll read about how God has prepared
us to minister in New Orleans in a thousand ways over our lifetimes.
As you read it, our hope is that you too will be caught up in what God
is doing and that you will be personally encouraged to believe God
for a greater level of faith and favor in what He has called you to do
for His kingdom.
Our prayer is that some of you may be so moved, that you will
sense God’s divine direction to actually move to New Orleans with
us. Perhaps you may be so inspired that you feel God’s prompting
to give toward this awesome opportunity to heal a broken city and
invest in planting a new church in New Orleans. Our biggest hope is
that every person who reads our story will pray fervently—both for
our team and for the residents who are in such critical spiritual need.
We face a challenging future and a daunting task, but we are stepping
out of our comfort zone and into the exciting realm of God’s will.
In a place that has been known for unrighteousness and
corruption, God is rewriting a new, different, and miraculous end of
the story for people of New Orleans. We can’t wait to be part of this
new future, and we pray that you too will be caught up in the flood of
His heart for the city.
05
Wayne with Eddie DeLaRosa on their first trip to New Orleans, Summer 1997
06
{ Chapter 2 }
A Love for a City
Wayne
“Let’s grab dinner in the French Quarter.”
“The French what?” I responded.
It was my first trip to New Orleans. I had finished my second
year at North Central Bible College and had set out in my dad’s
brown industrial van as a light to the youth of my generation. Eddie
DeLaRosa, my best friend, was my partner in crime and in ministry.
Here we were, on our first trip as youth evangelists. Anxious to get
out and preach, we first had to fulfill an obligation with the college
by representing them during an inner-city missions trip. Several
Assemblies of God universities had sent students for that effort
sponsored by the School of Urban Missions. It was the summer of
1997.
07
We parked off Esplanade Avenue and walked a few blocks
on that hot, muggy evening. The streets in the Quarter were full of
people. We hadn’t walked very far when I felt my throat starting to
tighten. Tears were coming to my eyes. I kept thinking, What is
wrong with me?
We walked into a restaurant and sat down to order. By the
time my food came tears were dripping off the end of my nose into my
Cajun food. I thought to myself, Either God is doing something in
me or I’m completely losing my mind. Out of sheer embarrassment
I asked for the keys to the car, and I quickly found my way outside.
I sat in the car for two
hours, crying uncontrollably as
the Lord spoke to the deepest
places in my heart. “I’m going to
give you a love for a city like you’ve
never experienced.” I struggle to
put in to words what happened to
me on that hot summer evening.
All I know is that from that point
on, New Orleans felt like home.
I’m going to
give you a love
for a city like
you’ve never
experienced.
John The Baptist of the 1990s
I grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and my parents were deeply
spiritual people. They were committed lay people, who served as
small group leaders, visited the sick, and were even elected as elders.
Above all, they demonstrated a lifelong commitment to prayer.
One of my earliest memories is of my dad crawling down the
08
hallways of our home. Afflicted with multiple sclerosis, he didn’t
want us to see him in a wheelchair. He looked up at me and said,
“Son, someday the Lord is going to heal me.” And in time, the Lord
did.
People who live with the chronic threat of death see life through
a different lens. He would sit in a chair for hours, his eyes shut, and by
all appearances he appeared to be sleeping. But he wasn’t sleeping;
he was praying. The older I got, I became more elusive as I delved
into things I knew my parents wouldn’t allow. My efforts to hide my
actions were in vain—my dad would tell me where I had been, who
I had been with, and what we had been doing, because the Lord had
revealed it to him.
The most defining characteristic of my teenage years can be
summed up in one word: rebellion. Early on I began to drink, but I
quickly abandoned that pursuit when I discovered drugs, because I
could get high without getting sick. I drank, did drugs, partied, and
tried to pull other kids into drugs with me because deep down I was
very angry with God. I had read the book of Acts and I had heard
about the miracles of the early church, but I didn’t see it anywhere
around me. So I tore up Bibles, pressured kids in my youth group to
do drugs, and cussed out my youth pastor’s wife. But my parents were tough. After they caught me skipping
work to get high, my punishment was to work with my dad on
his route. He sold brooms and industrial supplies to the Amish
community around Fort Wayne. So, for the rest of the summer
that I was sixteen, every single day at 6:00 AM, we took the brown
industrial van into Amish country.
My parents never let me skip church. I remember my father
09
physically dressing me and holding my hand as we walked into
church, down the aisle to the second row where they sat every week.
I hated them, and I hated God. I would come home, my brain numb
from drugs and hear my mother crying out, “Lord, save my son!
Don’t let him go to hell!”
I got saved on a night my parents had made me go to church.
I sat in the back row scowling, but on the inside I felt very afraid. I
heard the voice of the Lord speak to my heart. He said, “If you want
to go to hell, you can go to hell. If you want me this is it. Tonight is
your night.”
The first person to meet me at the altar would become a
spiritual father—he was the new youth pastor. Tim Smith, known
as PT, was what I call John the Baptist of the 1990s. At 6’-4”—with
a city accent that was evidence he had grown up rough, he was a
formidable presence. His intention was not to pamper students;
instead, he deeply believed that they could have a life-changing walk
with God that could impact the world around them. He took our
youth group from 30 church brats to 700 radical students. He taught
us how to live in the supernatural. To prepare for missions trips, we
took classes on healing, casting out demons, praying, and believing
for God to raise the dead. From the beginning of my walk with Christ,
the supernatural was a normal part of Christianity for me. It was all I
knew.
Full of Zeal
I graduated from high school in 1994, and travelled to
Minneapolis, MN to attend North Central Bible College (now North
Central University). I can’t say that I was much of a student. Kristi’s
10
roommate used to say that I always had my Bible, but I never showed
up to class with a pencil.
My last two years of school I lived in an apartment with a
couple of great guys who became like family to me. We had a small
storage room in the basement that we set up as a prayer room. After
that first trip to New Orleans,
I couldn’t shake the bond that
I felt with the city during those
days I had been there. Everyday
I kept praying for the city. It was
during this time that I also found
out about Mardi Gras. What can
I say? I grew up in the Midwest
and didn’t know anything about
it. One day during my senior year
in college, I was in the basement
praying, and as clear as I’ve ever
heard someone speak, I heard the Lord. He said, “Take a generation
to reach a generation.” Being full of zeal but lacking wisdom, I started
making plans immediately.
We had no clue
what we were
doing. We had
no plan, but we
sincerely wanted
people to find
Christ.
I watched the altars after chapel and asked the people who
stayed everyday to go with me to New Orleans. It was not a scientific
method, but it worked for me. Eleven people agreed to my crazy
plan. We met for several weeks, praying and fasting, and then we
were on our way.
We had no clue what we were doing. We had no plan, but in
our hearts we sincerely wanted people to find Christ. We just did what
we knew to do—we street witnessed, preached from a bullhorn, and
stood on trash cans and shouted “Jesus!” In spite of our weaknesses,
11
we saw over 120 people come to Christ that week. Looking back
I recognize it was nothing more than the power of God. We were
simply willing. We didn’t have much to offer, but we were there and
God used what we had.
For many of us, the direction of our lives was forever impacted
by that single trip, and a bond formed among us that is strong to
this day. Andrea Kurtz began to fall in love with Justin Lathrop, and
they married two years later. Kristi and I have served with them
at two different churches and they are our closest friends. Lynette
Fredrickson ended up working among the poorest of the poor in
New Orleans for four years after college. Amy Branley went back
as well, and later ended up on staff at Saddleback Church. Jason
Nordlund has said that average Christianity is no longer for him. He
has committed himself to a radical lifestyle of faith, and continues
to lead intercession at the outreach. As for me, I never really said
goodbye to the Crescent City. I couldn’t get away from the hold it had
on me; I just kept going back.
12
Original Mardi Gras Team, Spring 1998
Top row: Jason Nordlund, Andy Lee, Kristi Carrington, Dave Carrington
Middle row: Curt Davis, Travis Dalenger, Andrea (Kurtz) Lathrop,
Tricia (Padgett) Larson, Amy (Branley) Nantkes
Front: Justin Lathrop, Wayne Northup,
Lynette (Freddie Fredrickson) Karulkar
13
Kristi performing jazz standards in college with friends
14
{ Chapter 3 }
Do You Know What It Means to Miss
New Orleans?
Kristi
Growing up in South St. Paul, Minnesota, I was a band geek.
Marching band, pep band, symphonic band, musicals, drumline, jazz
band—I did it all. In ninth grade I really started to get in to jazz. For
my sixteenth birthday, my sister gave me a tape of Harry Connick
Jr. Harry was my absolute favorite because he did everything—sing,
play, write, arrange, direct. He’s also from New Orleans, which didn’t
mean anything to me at the time. I played that tape until I wore it
out.
There was one song on it that got deep into my heart. I don’t
know why I loved it, but it was my introduction to New Orleans jazz.
There are many versions of this song—the original was sung by Louis
15
Armstrong and Billie Holiday—but these are the words I fell in love
with.
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?
And miss her each night and day
I know I’m not wrong, because the feeling’s getting stronger
The longer I stay away
Miss the moss covered vines, Those tall, sugar pines
Where mockingbirds used to sing
And I love to see that ol’ lazy Mississippi
Movin’ in the spring
Moonlight on the bayou
Creole tunes fill the air
I dream about magnolias in June
Right now I’m wishin’ I was there
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?
When that’s where you left your heart
And there’s one thing more, I miss the one I care for
More than I miss New Orleans1
I didn’t know anything about sugar pines, or Spanish moss,
and I thought magnolias were strong Southern women. But there
was something about loving a place so much that really got to me.
I would play it over and over again. Little did I know that I would
come to love those very things in that very same place.
Going into my junior year of high school, my parents made a
bold decision to move our family to Chile as missionaries. It was the
best thing that ever happened to me. I had grown up in a church with
a strong emphasis on the Word, but now I had the chance to be in a
church full of new believers. They had a fire for soul-winning I had
never seen. Almost everyone in my youth group smoked, but they
loved the Lord! As their young faith grew, their discovery of God at
work in their daily lives brought powerful change. It was amazing to
16
see how God restored their families and gave them a new purpose for
living.
The experience taught me so much. Not only did I learn
Spanish, I developed my own passion for the things of God. Living in
a Third World country rewrote my worldview in every way. I thank
God for parents who weren’t afraid to do something crazy!
I Only Went for Wayne
I went to New Orleans for the first time right before Wayne
and I got engaged. I definitely only went for him! Before we started
dating, I had never even gone street witnessing. To be honest, it was
not my style. But it mattered to him, and in time I would learn to
love it as well.
Driving to Louisiana from Minnesota is a 24-hour trip. As
we got closer to New Orleans, we came upon Lake Pontchartrain,
and we started driving over the swamp bridges. Thud thud… thud
thud… thud thud… It was dusk,
and I could feel the darkness begin
to surround me. The bus full of
noisy college students fell quiet.
Everyone felt the heaviness. I
have felt that heaviness many
times, crossing the bridges into
the city—even coming from the
West Bank into downtown on Fat
Tuesday. It’s the feeling of evil,
and I’ve never felt it anywhere else
It’s the feeling
of evil, and I’ve
never felt it
anywhere else
like I do when
I’m driving into
New Orleans.
17
like I do when I’m driving into New Orleans.
We spent the next day praying and preparing, and, while
it was getting dark, we drove into the French Quarter. We got as
close as we could on the buses
and then we walked about a half
mile. We entered Jackson Square,
and the walking streets were lined
with tarot card readers and palm
readers. With dim candles on
small card tables, I have to admit,
it was pretty spooky. We gathered
in front of St. Louis Cathedral,
and when 240 of us raised our
voices, you could feel the Lord’s
presence in that dark place. At
that point, my heart was so heavy
that I started to cry. It took almost
an hour for me to pull myself together. Looking across the square
at every kind of witch and warlock, I thought, Who will reach these
people? Defined by the demonic and alienated by the body of Christ,
they were untouchable. It was overwhelming.
Amazingly, over the years we have developed a respectful
relationship with the tarot card readers. They are often willing
to talk. Once, one of our staff members overheard a conversation
between two tarot card readers. One said disdainfully, “Who is this
group of Christians?”
Who would
reach these
people?
Defined by the
demonic and
alienated by the
body of Christ,
they were
untouchable.
The other responded, “This is the group that loves us.”
It’s the highest compliment we could ever receive.
18
No Nikes Here
Four months after my first trip to New Orleans, I was invited to
lead worship at Cam-Mission. It was a camp for students combined
with a missions trip hosted by a local church named Metro Praise.
The focus was not on the French Quarter, as during Mardi Gras, but
primarily in the housing projects throughout New Orleans. LaFitte,
Iberville, Fischer; the seventh ward, the second ward, the ninth ward:
These areas became familiar to me during that week long stay. They
left a haunting impression on me.
As a missionary kid, I have seen my share of the Third World. I’ve
seen shacks with aluminum roofs,
and dirt floors, and communities
built on garbage dumps. I’ve
seen nine-year-old kids smoking
glue. I’ve seen people selling their
thin, gold wedding bands to put
food on their table. Poverty is not
unfamiliar to me; in fact, growing
up some of my closest friends lived
under oppressive conditions. But
nothing—and I mean absolutely
nothing—prepared me for what
I saw in the vast expanse of New
Orleans that was simply known at
the time as “the ghetto.”
Absolutely
nothing prepared
me for what I
saw in the vast
expanse of
New Orleans
that was simply
known as
“the ghetto.”
My first service at Metro Praise was a youth service where I
hung out with about 150 kids from the poorest areas of the city. They
were collected in buses, and I still don’t know what drew them except
maybe a brief escape from boredom. Many of these young people
19
had never been out of the projects. Most, if not all, had never been
to a mall, or to the French Quarter, which was less than a mile from
their homes. Their clothes were absolutely in tatters. They were old,
unstylish, worn out hand-me-downs. No high-end Nikes here. This
was a desperation I had not even known existed.
The most disturbing thing for me was the glaze. I don’t know
how to explain it, except that every single one of them, without
exception, seemed glazed. It may have been drugs; it may have been
mothers who had used drugs, I truly don’t know. But reflecting on it
all these years later, it seems as if their eyes were devoid of a soul.
I struggled through the week to relate to the kids at all. I
couldn’t figure out how to get through to them, even how to joke with
them.
“Ronny is a
special kid.”
His mother said,
“Ronny is a
stupid kid.”
At that moment I
realized that not
one person in the
world wanted
these children.
One student made a special
impression on me that week. His
name was Ronny*. Ronny was 16,
and his four top teeth were capped
in gold—a sign of wealth in the
New Orleans projects. I could see
the faint light of Christ in his life.
He was responsive and sweet, and
trying to live for Jesus. At one
rally I met his mother. Wearing a
T-shirt with a picture of a kid who
had been shot the week before,
she was obviously high.
I said to her, “Ronny is a
special kid.”
20
His mother said, “Ronny is a stupid kid.”
At that moment I realized that not one person in the world
wanted these children.
I started to try to think of a way to get Ronny out of there. I
strategized with some of the leaders. Maybe he could live with one of
our families, go to a good public school. But even with the glimmer
of promise, I knew that he could not function in a suburban setting.
His education was so substandard, he would be branded an outcast
from the beginning. His accent was difficult to understand, and his
mannerisms would be interpreted as intimidating, even though in
New Orleans they were no different than those of anyone around
him.
I felt absolute despair because I couldn’t even save one. What
about all the thousands of others?
What was the solution? The gravity of the situation fell on
me like debris from a collapsing building, layer upon layer, deeper
and deeper. Every institution in these kids’ lives had failed them—
education, labor, the law, the city, the nation, the church, the family.
There was no opportunity. There was no sense of morality. I began to
understand the depth of corruption in New Orleans as I heard story
after story of law enforcement, government officials, educators and
private citizens using local tax dollars, federal funds and bribes to
line their pockets for generations. And I saw the effect—a wasteland
of human potential.
Am I saying it is this way everywhere? No. Am I saying systems
were entirely to blame? No. Am I saying that the government can save
21
anybody? No. Am I saying that individuals bear no responsibility for
their actions? No.
I didn’t have answers. Only questions.
Years later, Bishop Paul Radke, the pastor emeritus of
Westbank Cathedral, addressed our outreach team. Descending into
dementia, it was difficult to follow him as he tried to tell stories from
his years of ministry in the city. But there was one thing he shared
that I will never forget, and I believe it was prophetic. He called New
Orleans a modern-day Sodom. I couldn’t shake that name. I had
done an Old Testament study and had found that God destroyed
cities for more than one reason. The most obvious reason seemed to
be unrighteousness: a total disregard for morality. Cities in which
drunkenness, sexual perversion, rebellion, indulgence, gluttony,
idolatry, and self-fulfillment prevailed at any cost. But let me
promise you this—when you see unrighteousness, injustice is around
the corner. God destroyed city after city, people after people in the
Old Testament for their unrighteousness and their injustice. He
destroyed them for their oppression of the poor. Their imbalanced
scales. Their brutality. Their selfishness. Their love of money.
This is difficult for me as an American to understand. Part
of what has made the United States great is the intrinsic belief that
with hard work, anyone can change his or her circumstances and
succeed. To a great extent, that has been true for millions of people.
But it was a devastating revelation for me to realize that this is not
the case everywhere in our nation. While there are many people in
New Orleans who have served in civic duties with great character,
my heart was broken over the undeniable unrighteousness and the
injustice of New Orleans.
22
In 2002 I penned the words to the song “Pictures of Tragedy.”
It was about the images of 9/11, but I wrote it in New Orleans, and it
was also for the city. New Orleans was already a tragedy then, but as
Katrina unfolded the mask was removed and the whole world could
see her tragic state.
After I wrote this chapter but before the printing of this book, we
received word that Bishop Paul Radke, or “Rev” as the neighborhood
kids had called him, had gone to be with Jesus. He loved the city and
he loved the lost. His church, Westbank Cathedral, as well as his
family, has been a huge blessing to ATC. He will be dearly missed.
_____________________
* Name has been changed.
23
Kristi doing a crusade in the projects.
Ronny
24
My graduation from college, one week after we were engaged
25
26
{ Chapter 4 }
Masquerade of Zombies
Kristi
The French Quarter is the oldest part of New Orleans. It’s where
the city was originally founded in 1718 by Iberville and Bienville. It
was chosen because it is slightly above sea level, and further down
the river the land becomes too
marshy. The narrow streets are
on a grid pattern, which makes
it the only part of the city that is
easy to navigate. The houses are
reminiscent of Rio, Buenos Aires,
Paris, and Madrid. It doesn’t feel
like the United States; it feels
like many European and Latin
American cities. I suppose that’s because of the colonial rule of the
Spanish, and later the French that left an indelible imprint on the
In French, “Mardi”
means “Tuesday”
and “Gras”
means “Fat.”
Fat Tuesday.
27
city. Wrought iron balconies and multi-colored storefronts line the
streets. Visitors sit outside at Café Du Monde eating beignets and
sipping chickory coffee. The streets are full of the sound of live jazz.
Painters line the fence around the gardens in Jackson Square. Horsedrawn buggies slowly show off the “Big Easy.” The city’s nickname
describes the laidback approach of the locals and the way they enjoy
life. But the feel of the city is very different during the two-week
festival that proceeds the Catholic holiday known as Mardi Gras.
In French, Mardi means “Tuesday” and Gras means “Fat.” Fat
Tuesday. It’s the day before Ash Wednesday, the official beginning of
Lent. The idea is this: since we’re
about to hunker down for 45 days,
let’s cast off restraint and live it up
for a while. Let’s enjoy ourselves
before we commemorate the death
of Jesus Christ.
The idea is this:
since we’re about
to hunker down
for 45 days, let’s
enjoy ourselves
before we
commemorate the
death of
Jesus Christ.
Mardi Gras is celebrated in
various cities across the Southern
United States. But in New Orleans,
it’s bigger than Christmas. School
is cancelled for the week. Most
businesses are closed on Lundi
Gras (Monday) and virtually all
businesses are closed on Mardi
Gras. For the two weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday there are parades
morning and night—not just in the French Quarter, but in every area
of the city. Traffic is unimaginable, because the parade routes make
almost every major thoroughfare impassable.
Many New Orleanians are members of krewes. A krewe is
28
a Mardi Gras club that requires hefty dues throughout the year.
They celebrate the festival with outlandish floats, wild costumes and
glamorous balls. My mother grew up in Bolivia, where they celebrate
Carnaval, the same event as Mardi Gras. I see the similarities in
the culture and how money that could go toward clothing for kids
and fixing up a home is wasted on lavish parties and drunkenness.
Voodoo is still practiced in New Orleans
29
The tension is thick between Christians and Revelers
It’s heartbreaking to see kids on the streets with their parents
30
Revelers wear and give beads, sometimes for indecent behavior.
Sacrifices that could be made for education are made for the krewe.
In the midst of so much celebration, it’s heartbreaking.
Locals insist that New Orleanians don’t celebrate Mardi
Gras in the same way that the tourists do. But don’t be fooled into
thinking that the city turns away the lucrative business of adult
entertainment—through casinos, strip clubs, bars, and just a general
sense of lawlessness. So long as you don’t kill anybody, you can get
away with just about anything in the French Quarter during Mardi
Gras. Someone in Mississippi once said to me, “Mardi Gras is a
family event.” It might be in other parts of the city, but not in the
French Quarter.
Because our participants are so young (most of them are in
college), we spend most of the day praying and preparing for what we
will encounter on the streets. We go out in the evening for about four
hours, because that is about as much exposure to the heart-breaking
31
environment as we want our teams to take.
That means we are almost always arriving on the streets as
darkness is descending. The antique shops are all closed. The locked
galleries display art that looks as if it’s longing to get out, rather than
inviting you in. The painters in Jackson Square have packed up and
gone home. They have been replaced by spiritual mediums of all
persuasions with their tea leaves and tapestries.
The partiers have all come for a reason. It’s regular people
on the streets—dental hygienists, IT specialists, college students,
married couples. They come to masquerade as something they are
not, to cover the hurt and shame of their daily lives. It is a masquerade
of zombies. People dress up in every conceivable costume. At times
it’s interesting--even entertaining; but mostly it’s just plain gross.
The streets are packed with trash a foot deep in many places. In
fact, that’s how the city figures out
how many people have come—
they weigh the trash. The smell
is a mixture of booze, pot, urine,
incense and vomit. It’s crass,
crude and downright disgusting.
The most
devastating image
is not the binge
drinking,
lustful acts,
lack of clothing
or spiritual
darkness. It is
other Christians.
But by far, the most
devastating image is not the binge
drinking, the lustful acts, the
lack of clothing or the spiritual
darkness. It is other Christians.
I know that there are many
believers that minister in the
French Quarter out of a broken heart for lost people. Some of them
32
have methods that seem ineffective to me, but the Lord uses each in
different ways. Even so, there are a few groups that give us all a bad
name—including the name of Christ. They carry bullhorns and bear
signs that say things like “Jesus pukes on sinners,” “Get saved or go to
hell,” “God hates homosexuals, ‘Demoncrats,’ Catholics, rich people,
pencil-neck men…” It would fill the page to list all the people—not
sins, people—that they claim God hates.
A couple of years ago one of our leaders, Joe Membratu, was
talking with two young homosexual men. With tears in their eyes,
they asked him if the people with the signs were right. “Does God
hate us?” He explained to them, “No, God doesn’t hate you, the
enemy does, and he wants to destroy your life, your future, and your
eternity. That’s why God sent His only Son, Jesus, to make a way to
reach each person.” Right there, in Jackson Square, with the hateful
Christians holding cruel signs and a throng of revelers screaming in
their faces, he led those two young men to Christ.
Over the years many of our team members have been in
confrontations with these people who claim to represent Jesus. Their
argument is that the book of Acts never mentions the word love.
They truly believe that they will be honored for enduring persecution.
The reality is that their actions have deepened the divide for many
between God and people He longs to be in relationship with.
Most people out there partying know that what they are doing
is wrong. They know that we think their behavior is wrong. We don’t
have to scream it in their faces with a bullhorn to convince them.
I have seen the Holy Spirit bring powerful conviction when people
realize the true freedom they can find in Christ. Many people who
have attended church know that Jesus is their Savior, and many
people on the streets of Mardi Gras have told me Jesus is their
33
Savior. The key is understanding that Jesus is also our Lord. The
most powerful freedom comes from allowing Him to lead us in every
decision, every action, word, and thought.
Creative Explosion
After college the outreach exploded. It went from 12 people to
280 in three years. The leadership team grew up, and we recognized
the need for more permanency. We formed the non-profit whose
name has defined us both on the streets of Mardi Gras and in our
travels across the country: Answering the Cries.
After three years of doing nothing but cold-turkey street
witnessing, one of our bus drivers had a novel idea. Darrell
Dobbelmann from Dove International took a card table and a candle
to Jackson Square. He wrapped himself up in a blanket and put out
a sign that said “We’ll tell you your future for free.” His message was
basically that without Christ, you were going to hell. People lined up!
It sparked an avalanche of ideas the next year. We added a
prayer table and haircuts, and a map of the world where people put
a sticker on their home city. We also added games. When they were
free, no one would play them. But when we started charging a dollar,
the line was 20-people deep. The idea was to find any hare-brained
method that wouldn’t get us kicked off the streets, but would allow
us to start a conversation with people. Street witnessing is great,
and it’s one tool. But it is tough to walk up to people you don’t know
and strike up a conversation. These innovations paved the way for
people to come to us! It didn’t mean we were trying to be sly, it just
meant we were a lot more approachable.
34
Over the years we have experimented with dozens of creative
ways to reach people. It’s been incredible to see how God has shown
himself through our corny efforts in the middle of absolute chaos.
It’s amazing to see 19-year-olds discover that they can share their
faith—and that God proves Himself. And they see firsthand how
hundreds of people over the years have found Christ on the streets of
Mardi Gras.
We know that the most effective form of evangelism is based
on relationships. When people lead their friends to Christ, they
can be in their lives for the longterm. The hard part for many
believers is breaking through
the fear of sharing. What do I
say? How do I start? What if it’s
uncomfortable? Over the years
our mission statement has been
this: to win souls and raise up
lifetime soul winners. It’s not
just about the average American
college drug addict who leaves the
party and goes to Teen Challenge.
It’s also about the average
American college Christian who
led that addict to Jesus who leaves
mediocrity and becomes addicted
to sharing the transforming power of Christ.
The most
effective
evangelism
is based on
relationships.
The hard part
for many believers
is breaking
through the
fear of sharing.
We recognize that our previous ministry and outreaches in
New Orleans have been very different from how our church will
operate and minister day-to-day. We also realize that New Orleans
is not like Mardi Gras every week. But there are some things that
35
will not change as we minister there year round. The desire to reach
broken people in that conflicted city will never change. The need to
raise up soul winners who can lead others to Christ will never change.
The supernatural power of God showing Himself more victorious
than every binding trick of the enemy will never change.
Imagine how
amazing it will
be for our team
to lead people to
Jesus during
Mardi Gras
and then disciple
them in our
church.
Do you know how amazing
it will be to lead people to Jesus
during Mardi Gras, and then
disciple them in our church?
We can’t wait to see how God
continues to transform people.
We want a church full of ex-drug
addicts. We want small group
leaders who were former bar
tenders in the French Quarter.
We want awesome jazz players
who used to accompany strippers,
but now they play a new kind of
worship. They’re still in darkness,
but not for long.
36
An ATC participant talks with a man at the prayer table
Wayne leads a prayer rally in Jackson Square
37
38
{ Chapter 5 }
The Furious Flood
Wayne
Over the years, I remember hearing the locals say “The Big
One is coming.” They knew that the city was ill-prepared for a major
hurricane, and they would predict ten feet of water throughout the
city. It was only of matter of time. But no one was prepared for
how horrible the Big One would really be, especially the City of New
Orleans.
We were in a small church in Marshall, Minnesota the day
Hurricane Katrina hit. We anxiously tried to make it through the
day. We were so distracted that it was difficult to minister. We
just wanted to know something about what was going on there. We
couldn’t take our eyes off of CNN. It reminded me of when a family
member dies, and the thought that keeps running through your mind
is I just want to be near the relatives who are still alive. Even though
39
we were far away, the sense of foreboding was near.
Sunday evening things seemed okay. The news commentators
were saying that the city had dodged a bullet. We breathed an
uneasy sigh of relief. But then, that night several levees could no
longer withstand the immense pressure of the water that had been
stirred up in Lake Pontchartrain. We got the call at 7:00 AM. New
Orleans was full of water. The Superdome and convention center
were already full of people too poor to leave. There were 100,000
residents with no vehicles to escape the monstrous storm, and the
city had no plan for evacuating them.
The world watched helplessly as people languished on the
roofs of their houses. Days passed and complete anarchy took over.
Mothers had no food for their babies for days on end. Looters didn’t
just steal to eat; they stole televisions and sneakers. All of America
was ashamed and aghast. People evacuating from the Superdome
were called refugees. Children waded through toxic water full of
household chemicals. Couples who had lost their homes drove up in
their BMWs and stood in line for food. Mayor Ray Nagin was on the
radio cursing and crying about people dying in their houses. It was a
nightmare.
We felt helpless and completely devastated. We didn’t know if
our friends there were even alive. We cried for days, walking around
in a daze, with no idea of what to do. We thought to ourselves, How
can we even find them in the midst of this chaos?
Because of the Mardi Gras outreach, our phone was ringing
off the hook. Everyone was calling, asking us what our next step was.
After four days of paralysis, we decided that we had to do something—
even if there was no way to figure it out before we got there.
40
Luke Frederick was a student at North Central who had just
come on our staff in the spring of 2005. It was days before the fall
semester started, but he agreed to go to New Orleans to coordinate
relief teams on the ground. We didn’t know where to send him or
what it would be like when he arrived. But he packed up and left. It
was pure chaos there, with people scamming, along with legitimate
churches and outreaches. So many different organizations were just
thrown in together. He spent three months working alongside the
School of Urban Missions, which had suspended classes and opened
their doors to serve as a hub for every type of relief work.
Luke met up with Michael Vincent and Jason Anderson.
Michael had felt the Lord’s prompting to quit his job as an engineer
with his father’s construction company and to get rid of everything
he owned. He was in his youth pastor’s office when I called looking
for someone to go to New Orleans to help Luke. He was ready. He
raised the funds he would need in ten days and spent a year in New
Orleans supporting relief teams through SUM. He used to say, “I
take care of the people who are taking care of New Orleans.”
New Orleans Silenced
Chris Mancl, a fellow evangelist, accompanied me to New
Orleans three weeks after Katrina. We had to fly into Biloxi, MS. We
were not prepared for the devastation that surrounded us from the
moment we landed.
It took us an hour to drive into New Orleans. We mapped
out how to get into the city with military road blocks, but we got in
easier than I expected. The plan was to check on our friends and the
churches we had worked with—namely Lakeview Christian Center.
41
We headed there first.
There were no people. There were no cars. There were no
sounds. There were no birds chirping, no dogs barking, no leaves
on the trees. There was no life. Everything was brown, completely
dead. It felt dead, like a ghost town.
Every house had an X spray painted on it, with numbers and
a series of letters. We knew from watching the news that it marked
the number of bodies found. Most of the houses had a red zero
painted on them, but every once in awhile, we saw a one or two. It
was chilling.
We pulled up maps on Google Earth and tried to find
landmarks. What had flooded? What was okay? There were so
many churches that had helped ATC, and we were desperate for
information. Thankfully, though they had some storm damage, most
of our partner churches were spared from major flooding. But the
unimaginable had happened to our dear friends located two blocks
from the now famous 17th Street Canal.
Lakeview Christian Center had for many years been our host
church. We could see from the satellite pictures that the church was
surrounded with water.
When we finally made it there, the front door to Lakeview was
ajar. Chris and I walked into the church, where we saw bulletins
dumped in the middle of the lobby. We had the feeling that we weren’t
supposed to be there because no one else was. The floor was wet and
squishy. I could still see the brown stained waterline about 20 feet
up on the wall. Everything was covered in mud. In the sanctuary,
where we had once held so many outreaches, the chairs looked like
42
they had been flung all around. We stood in the sanctuary and just
cried. When we reached the kitchen the smell was indescribable.
Mold had grown in the cabinets and on the walls.
The strangest part was that the upstairs of the church was
perfectly intact—exactly the way they had left it. The youth room was
fine, with the stage and sound system still in place. We couldn’t help
but think, Are these people from the church even alive? We knew
the staff by name, but everyone was scattered, so we had no way of
knowing who had survived.
We left Lakeview and headed for the downtown. We were
relieved when we began to see a trickle of people. Not everyone was
talkative, but every person we came in contact with had a shocking
story. They were angry at their government. New Orleans was
hopeless, and its citizens felt trapped: there was no way out of the
mess they were in. We spoke to a
Cajun woman who had stayed in
her house with her husband, and
when the looting started he had
scared away thieves by shooting
a hunting rifle. He hadn’t slept
day or night, instead he had sat
outside in a lawn chair, terrified,
trying to protect his neighbors’
homes. She said the atmosphere
resembled the Wild West.
Each and every
person—whether
they lost their
home or not—
had been through
unimaginable
trauma.
Each and every person—whether they lost their homes or
not—had been through unimaginable trauma. The human suffering
was overwhelming.
43
The number of housing units damaged, destroyed, or
inaccessible because of Katrina: 850,791. The number of churches,
synagogues, and mosques damaged or destroyed: approximately
900.1 The percentage of homes that remain empty as of July 2010:
36%.2
Thousands of schools, businesses, and hospitals have yet to be
rebuilt or are in need of extensive repairs.
The Goodness of God
Everyone in New Orleans agonized about how the government
had failed them. But no matter who they were or what they believed,
they said that the church had been there for them when they needed it
the most. So many different Christian denominations came through,
and everyone worked together. They were the only ones who seemed
organized and brought hope. It changed the way New Orleans saw
the church. Hard hearts were softened, because people from all over
the nation came and sacrificed for people they didn’t even know. As
a result, people in New Orleans were more receptive to the Gospel
than I had ever seen in all of my years of ministry there. They wanted
to hear more about Christ.
We personally know so many wonderful believers who lost
everything—hundreds of them. Natural disasters happen, and when
God’s people suffer it breaks His heart. But He is sovereign, and He
is working things together for our good.
44
We’re Coming Back
The progress has been painfully slow, but house by house
New Orleans is coming back stronger and better. Whereas before
the whole town looked a little run down, now everything has been
redone. Stores and gas stations are freshly painted. Streets are being
repaired.
The local population has been scattered all over the country.
About half have returned. But many who built new lives have decided
to stay where they landed.
Many people ask us, why do they want to go back? We
believe it’s because your home is your home. And when it’s taken
away from you by force, it makes you want it so much more. Against
insurmountable odds, tens of thousands of people have committed
to stay, gutted their homes, and rebuilt. The unique culture of New
Orleans is deeply entrenched in its people. The history and tradition is
so rich as one of the oldest cities in America. New Orleans sociologist
Silas Lee once said, “Tradition is a cultural heirloom that people in
this community will pass from one generation to the next.”3
The Superdome was the symbol of everything that went wrong
in the aftermath of Katrina. But when the Saints won the Superbowl
in 2010, people felt that it changed everything. It has been gutted
and completely renovated, sporting the team’s gold and black colors.
The Saints and their stadium now represent the determination of the
city to overcome adversity and beat the odds.
There’s a sense that an increasing number of people want to
come home. Federal money is still pouring into the area. The New
Orleans Recovery School District has hired all new teachers, and
45
many schools are in various stages of being rebuilt.
The housing projects that were destroyed will not be rebuilt.
This has caused some controversy, but the truth is that the city lacks
the social services and infrastructure to support that population
group. Sadly, it was their home, too, and I can understand why they
would want to go back. But the superior support in other states and
cities has truly given some of New Orleans’ most struggling people a
chance at a better life.
New people groups have come into the vicinity as well.
Before the storm, there were virtually no Hispanics. Because of the
abundance of work and severe lack of workers, approximately 30,000
Latinos poured into the area.4 While many of them have moved on,
tens of thousands have stayed and are now scattered throughout the
community. They seem a natural fit in the city with their Catholic
roots and their love for parties. I know that in time they will make
their mark on the ever-evolving culture of Mardi Gras.
Lakeview Christian Center
has been totally rebuilt. Our
leaders cried when Lakeview
reopened it’s doors to Answering
the Cries. Their testimony is truly
an inspiring message of hope.
The people of
New Orleans are
incredibly strong.
They will take the
hits, and they will
keep getting up.
This city has dealt with
tragedy after tragedy, blow after
blow. It has always been a tragedy,
and it will continue to be. But the
people are incredibly strong. They will take the hits, and they will
keep getting up.
46
We took this photo in May 2006. It shows that the house was searched twice,
and the second time a body was found
The contents of a life destroyed by Katrina. What kills me about this picture are
the family photos
47
An ATC team member painting a church destroyed in Katrina
48
50
{ Chapter 6 }
A City Lost; a Hope Restored
Wayne & Kristi
By now, you are beginning to understand our deep love and
commitment to the city of New Orleans. But we want to share a little
more about the beauty and incredible opportunity awaiting us there.
When Kristi and I describe New Orleans as a beautiful place, people
are often surprised. They are even more shocked when we talk about
living there. The truth is, New Orleans is a place of great extremes.
It has extreme heat with extreme beauty, wild flamboyance with
sobering human suffering.
There is a richness of culture, a layering of architectural eras
that is reminiscent of Rome. You can take the electric street car
through the Garden District and see houses that were built before the
Civil War that still remain as single family dwellings. Trees that are
hundreds of years old with Spanish moss hanging off of them show
51
the strange but beautiful nature.
New Orleans has
extreme heat with
extreme beauty;
wild flamboyance
with sobering
human suffering.
New Orleans is the
birthplace of Jazz. Greats like
Louie Armstrong, the Marsalis
family, and Harry Connick Jr. call
it home. Thousands of musicians
are employed at establishments
throughout every community.
Artists were particularly hard hit
after Katrina, but have fought to
maintain the integrity of their
history.
You can’t possibly talk about New Orleans without talking
about the food! Everything from the French doughnuts known as
beignets, to po’ boy shrimp sandwiches and crawfish, to gumbo and
jambalaya, the people of New Orleans take their food very seriously!
It’s a mixture of Creole and Cajun, seafood and spices. From cheap
to expensive, the food is excellent, deep fried and made with bacon
grease! What can we say? From the food to the architecture, we love
this city.
The cultural diversity is unique, as well. Settled by the French
and Spanish, New Orleans was far from colonial New England and
the rest of the Protestant South. Much of the early African American
population arrived directly from West Africa, bringing their customs
and music along with them. Later they were joined by an influx of
refugees from Haiti. These early groups forged a new identity as the
Creole culture emerged. Predominantly French-speaking, Catholic,
and with a love of spicy food, New Orleans was set apart from the
rest of the South. This diversity is evident in the distinct way that
52
each sector of the city has been established. In the mid 1800s, a
massive settlement of Irish and Germans added to the unique blend
of culture.1 This helps, in part, to explain the accent. When you hear
the New Orleans accent, it sounds more like someone from the Bronx
than someone from the South. It’s one of a kind. There’s no place
quite like New Orleans.
Kristi
Religion
Recently Wayne met with Pastor Frank Bailey from Victory
Fellowship. Victory has been a soul-winning church and has been an
invaluable support to ATC. Pastor Frank himself came to the Lord
years ago through a track given to him by a teenager walking along
the Lakefront. He understands first-hand the power of evangelism.
Wayne asked Pastor Frank, “We know Mardi Gras, but we’re
still learning New Orleans. What can you tell us about reaching
people in this city?”
His reply was simple. He
said, “Many people try to make
it more complicated than it is.
The biggest thing you need to
understand about this city is that
it is Catholic. Every other major
city in the South is Baptist, but
New Orleans is Catholic.”
Every other
major city in the
south is Baptist.
New Orleans
is Catholic.
Although we already knew that Catholicism was an important
53
Live music fills the streets
54
aspect of life, this statement opened our eyes to an important truth:
God has uniquely prepared us to reach this city. My hometown
in Minnesota is South St. Paul. Growing up, it was so Catholic,
we didn’t have homework on Wednesday nights because virtually
everyone went to religion classes. Then my family moved to Chile.
It is commonly known that almost every country in Latin America is
devoted to Catholicism. Reflecting on this, I realized that God has
uniquely prepared us to reach this city. Reflecting on New Orleans’
religious heritage, I was relieved and excited.
Fruit Basket Upset
The city was formerly divided into strict cultural areas, but
Katrina has caused a “fruit basket upset.” It has broken down
many of the class divisions, and allowed for mixed-income housing
throughout the city. A half-million dollar home may have a lot next
to it that has been cleared and sits empty. On the other side may
be a home that has not yet been gutted, followed by a more modest,
rebuilt home. This pattern is repeated through every neighborhood
that was flooded.
In the years since the storm, many businesses have struggled
to find enough workers to maintain a regular schedule. Because of the
abundance of jobs and the amount of reconstruction in a struggling
economy, thousands of “outsiders” have moved to the area. Along
with them is an army of relief workers known as YURPies—Young
Urban Recovery Professionals. While the name is tongue in cheek, the
local population is grateful to this group, recognizing that they could
not rebuild without the help of many self-sacrificing individuals.
We want to seize the day. While the city is still rebounding, we
55
want to go in on the ground level and establish a new kind of church.
Too many churches have been lost. Reestablishing the Church in
New Orleans has to be a collaborative effort by the Body of Christ,
and that’s what we want to be a part of.
Wayne
The Call
About three years ago, God began to place a specific call on us
to do more for the city of New Orleans. We had been doing ministry
at Mardi Gras for ten years, but this calling was different. We began
to feel it more and more deeply.
By God’s grace I have been a youth evangelist for thirteen
years. I have preached to hundreds of thousands of people, speaking
to over half a million students alone. I have spoken in public school
assemblies, camps, conventions, and churches travelling roughly 48
weeks out of the year. Kristi and I have been married for ten years,
and she has become a force in her own right. In recent years, she has
had many doors open for her among women and college students,
and she has also traveled extensively. We have seen thousands saved
and healed. We have ministered in crusades in Latin America. God
moved us from Minneapolis to Dallas for three and a half years, where
we have been a part of an incredible church, The Oaks Fellowship.
We truly have a great life. But we know that nothing great comes
from comfort. Now I get to live what I have always preached when I
ask students to lay everything down to follow the call of God.
I remember speaking with Pastor Benny Perez, who had also
had a traveling ministry for quite some time. He was tag-teaming a
56
camp with me when he began to talk about the things he loved in Las
Vegas, where he had recently planted a church. He talked about Las
Vegas with stars in his eyes. It was then that I realized I felt the same
way about New Orleans. Every time we prayed in a service for a city,
no matter where I was in the country, my mind and heart always first
went to New Orleans. I literally felt a tie to this place.
I began to secretly dream
about planting a church in the
city. I dreamed of winning back
the lost of New Orleans, giving
them a place where families are
restored and different people
groups can worship together. I
dreamed of a church where people
love each other, where they would
see healing and miracles on a
regular basis.
As I considered living
there, raising my kids, I wondered
if people would even come to my
church. I wondered, Could we
make it? I thought about having
been an evangelist for over a
decade. If I spoke more than
two weeks in a row, would I get
on people’s nerves? But I felt
the Spirit reminding me—this is
God’s calling, not mine. We’re not
running from anything—far from
it; we’re running into the center of
57
I began to
secretly dream
about planting
a church in the
city. I dreamed of
winning back
the lost of
New Orleans,
giving them a
place where
families are
restored and
different people
groups
worshipped
together.
God’s calling.
God often uses my wife to show me whether it is really God’s
call or just a crazy idea. But I knew it was God when Kristi began to feel
the pull as well. She had always
had the desire to plant a church;
she just never dreamed it would
be in New Orleans. We began to
talk about it as a possibility. After
many conversations and the Lord
dealing with each of us, we were
both completely on board with the
idea. The “why” turned into “what
if?” Then finally the “what if” turned into “when?!”
The “why?”
became “what if?”
Finally “What
if” turned into
“When?!”
We now agree that God is calling us to launch the church in
the fall of 2011. We face this next dream with incredible anticipation
and huge expectations in our hearts of what God can do. We are full
of the fear of failure, but posess a greater fear of not following the
true and complete call of God in our lives. We know the best thing
we can do with our lives is to be obedient, for “obedience is better
than sacrifice.” (I Samuel 15:22, NIV) Kristi and I want to make sure
that when we stand before God, we have done what God told us to do
while we were still able.
We know we have to count the cost. Why would anyone move
their kids to one of the most dangerous, devastated and dying places
in America? We are asked that on a regular basis. As anyone who
lives on a mission field would respond to a well-intentioned question
like this one, our response is that we only know to follow Him. All
we can say is that we know if the Lord has called us, He has called our
family as well. He has plans for our kids that we can’t even anticipate.
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The safest place we can be is in the center of His will.
Saints Community Church
After much prayer and consideration, the name we feel the
Lord has led us to is “Saints Community Church.” This name speaks
to many things. It speaks to New Orleans. The most famous song
about the city is “When the saints go marchin’in.”
It is a name that is welcoming to people of all backgrounds.
Whether people are Catholic or Protestant, black or white, it will be a
place of community for all believers.
It speaks to unchurched people. We surveyed more than
50 people in the local mall, and this name received overwhelming
positive feedback from people of all ages, ethnicities and religious
backgrounds, whether or not they knew anything about Christianity.
Why does it speak to unchurched people? Because everyone
in the city loves the New Orleans’ Saints. While we realize this may
not always be the case, the word “Saints” conveys a positive, familiar
message to the local population.
Because of everything New Orleans has been through in the
last several years, the passage of scripture the Lord has lead us to is
the book of Nehemiah. We see many parallels between the restoration
of this biblical story and the restoration of New Orleans.
As Nehemiah heard about the devastation in Jerusalem, he
came to realize that his role was to help the Jews, who were his people,
to rebuild the broken-down walls and the temple. His obedience
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brought back many wayward people as the safety and splendor of the
city were restored.
We have been inspired by the story of Nehemiah, and feel
that it is a passage God has led us to believe for what He is doing
in this broken-down city. As God is calling us to New Orleans, we
feel privileged to play a part in spiritually rebuilding a city that is in
ruins. We know it will take every ounce of leadership we have. We
are aware that it may take many years of blood, sweat, and tears. Yet
we sense that God is saying “Go!” Just as in the days of Nehemiah,
working to restore the city spiritually and physically, broken people
will be made whole.
A Family and a Father
All these years, Answering the Cries never could have
accomplished the Mardi Gras Outreach if it weren’t for the support
of many local churches in New Orleans and the surrounding area.
Lakeview Christian Center, Westbank Cathedral (now known as
God’s House), Victory Fellowship and Cornerstone Christian Center,
among others, have thrown open their doors to a rag-tag bunch of
college students and their leaders. They have allowed us to sleep
in their offices and sanctuaries, cook in their kitchens, and utilize
every square inch of their facilities. Beyond that, their belief in our
purpose and their ownership of the outreach was, at times, the thing
that kept us going. Those relationships are the foundation on which
we come to New Orleans to plant a church.
One person has supported us and cheered us on every step of
the way. Pastor Gary Grogan from Stone Creek Church in Urbana,
Illinois is a mentor and a spiritual father not only to both of us but
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to many of our friends. Wayne was his staff evangelist right after
college, and I was his intern. Not only did he play a part in us getting
together, he married us a year later! He has paid his own way to
come to Mardi Gras every year so he can pour into our leaders and
be a pastor to the outreach and to us. He has been part of our story
since the beginning.
His faithfulness and wisdom have been an anchor to us through
every major decision we have made. His unwavering commitment to
the city of New Orleans has kept us going when we wanted to quit. This is why it only makes sense for Stone Creek Church to
be our parent church. Their philosophy of leadership and their
priorities have molded us over fifteen years of ministry. With
their emphasis on prayer, discipleship, and racial unity, we
know that they will continue to be a constant source of wisdom
for us. We are so blessed and so honored by the way the people
of Stone Creek Church have gotten behind us in this endeavor.
_____________________
1 The People And Culture of New Orleans
By Arnold R. Hirsch and Joseph Logsdon, Department of History, University of New
Orleans, www.neworleansonline.com
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This picture was taken at Gary & Bonnie Grogan’s 20th anniversary as
pastors of Stone Creek Church in 2008. We surprised him. You can see the
tears on his cheeks.
Wayne, Kristi, Libby & Lincoln Northup
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{ Chapter 7 }
A Chance to Die
Wayne & Kristi
Every community has unique needs, strengths, and challenges.
We want to share a little about the specific plans we feel the Lord has
given us to reach our new community.
Experience God
We believe that people want not only to hear about God, but to
experience Him. People in this generation want to feel His tangible
presence. New Orleans is a city that is unafraid of the supernatural,
a city that embraces the unknown. There is a demonic power there
that cannot be ignored. We recognize that conventional church has
not worked in New Orleans. We know that we need prayer to be the
bedrock of everything that we do.
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What we want is relevant Pentecost integrated into people’s
everyday lives. We want people to operate in the gifts of the Holy
Spirit in a practical way. We want
people to know that miracles are
still real. If we can teach people
how to flow in the gifts in a natural,
yet supernatural way it has the
power to change the city.
The objective is
discipleship—
raising up true
followers of
Jesus Christ who
walk in the fruits
and the gifts of
His Holy Spirit.
The
objective
is
discipleship—raising up true
followers of Jesus Christ who walk
in the fruits and the gifts of His
Holy Spirit. Our job is to teach
people to hear the voice of God and
then respond to it. We want to give people a continual opportunity to
experience God.
Empower Families
After 13 years of full-time youth ministry, I have found that a
parent has the greatest opportunity to impact a student’s relationship
with God. Instead of expecting a youth pastor to spend an hour a
week molding a teenager into who he or she is supposed to be for
the rest of his or her life, what if we go to the place where that young
person has developed a set of beliefs and convictions?
We want to focus on strengthening marriages and
relationships within the family, as well as giving parents the tools
to lead their families in Christian lifestyle and learning. We know
that many households only have one parent, but they too can raise
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powerful men and women of God. We want to do creative things to
encourage unmarried couples who
are raising children together to
marry. This includes financial
management classes, marriage
retreats, practical support on
raising children and after- school
programs for students.
Parents have
the greatest
opportunity to
impact a student’s
relationship with
God. We want to
help parents
do that.
Over the years we have
heard people say that, while high
schoolers understand, elementaryage children will get it later in
life. This is not only contrary to
the teachings of Jesus, it goes against statistics. The fact is that in
the United States, 85% of believers make a decision to follow Christ
between the ages of 4 and 14.1 Ministry to children is a vital part of
any flourishing church, and it will be a top priority for us. We believe
this will also be a major door into the community, as we partner with
local schools and organizations to support their students. From
the time they are small, we want to integrate our children into the
life of the church, allowing them to build relationships with mature
believers. Again, a major emphasis will be coming alongside parents,
helping them develop ways to disciple their own children.
The biggest question we are asked in regards to this core
value is, what about the kids whose parents don’t attend church? We
believe this is why it’s even more important that they be integrated
into the whole church. These are the kids who fall away from church
after graduation in staggering numbers. We will endeavor to teach the
body of Christ to be the family for them. We will empower families.
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Embrace Diversity
Just like New Orleans, we want our church to be integrated.
There is beauty in what each cultural group brings to the church,
enriching each other’s understanding of faith.
Diversity doesn’t just happen; it has to be intentional. We
don’t think we have all the answers, but we want to make an
intentional effort to approach the
issue. Our dream is to establish
a relevant, Pentecostal church
that is diverse in color, class, and
religious upbringing.
Our dream is to
establish a relevant,
Pentecostal
church that is
diverse in color,
class, and religious
upbringing.
With the massive influx of
Hispanics, there is a great need
for ministry among this group.
Wayne has spent the last eight
years diligently learning Spanish,
and we now realize that this was
God’s preparation for the ministry we will be doing among Latinos.
Most of New Orleans proper is predominantly African American.
We want our church to reflect the racial make-up of the community
in which we are located. This desire will affect everything from our
promotional material to our core leadership. From our style of
worship and preaching to who makes announcements—everything
will be done with diversity in mind. As the Apostle Paul said, “we
want to become all things to all people that we might reach some” (I
Corinthians 9:22, NIV). We can’t wait to embrace diversity.
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Equip the Saints
One of the greatest ways for people to find fulfillment is to use
their God-given gifts to bless others. We take very seriously the call
to equip the saints, and we want each individual to be involved in the
work of the ministry. The idea laid out in the New Testament is for
a team of people with various roles to work together in training the
people of God to accomplish the mission of the church.
We believe that there are people who will come to church who
are business owners, construction workers, nurses, bus drivers, and
others from every imaginable walk of life. They want to live for God
and be trained to do His work while continuing to be an influence
in the marketplace. How fun will it be to create a church that helps
people discover their gifts? We want to equip the saints.
We’re Going In
Our hope is that as you’ve read this book you can imagine
the sights, the smells, the sounds, and the people. Even if you have
never been there, we hope you feel like you know the place. But most
importantly, our hope is that you
feel the momentum of what God is
doing in the city of New Orleans.
It seems as if our entire lives
have been preparing us for this
next chapter. Every conversation
in the French Quarter, every
crusade in the projects, every
wheelbarrow gutting out homes
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Our hope is that
you feel the
momentum of
what God is doing
in the city of
New Orleans.
has intensified our love for a place that has literally been shaken to
its foundations. This is our moment—while hearts are still open and
doors are unlocked—to go in with a plan for reaching the city. And
that is our goal—to plant a church that ultimately affects every area
of the city for Jesus.
We know that a long road lies ahead of us. Trying to bring
change to a place rooted in tradition and corruption will certainly be
met with opposition. But this is what God has called us to do. We
believe that He will make a way for us.
What Do We Need?
What do we need? We need some people to go. Some of you
reading this have been to Mardi Gras with us. At some point in your
life, God put a call in your heart to go back to New Orleans. Others of
you may have never been to the city, but you sense that God may be
speaking to you to come with us. We can’t offer money or position.
As Amy Carmichael said when people wanted to go back to India
with her to work in the orphanage, all we can offer is “a chance to
die.” We know that people shouldn’t come because they love us; it
can only be because of a deep love and calling from God for the city.
It is too difficult of a place to ask anything less.
Most of you can’t go with us, but you can help us get there.
We are asking you to give. In business and in the church, the
most difficult and expensive people to reach with your message are
those who have never heard. We not only want to rent a facility,
we want to do some creative things to get the message out about
Saints Community Church. Our pastor in Dallas, Scott Wilson, calls
this “evangelism support.” We need signs and stickers. We need
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flyers and cards and magnets and mailings. We need portable sound
equipment specifically designed for church plants that comes in a
trailer, with a truck to haul it. We need toys for kids’ ministry and
lights for the stage. We need a whole lot of stuff just to get off the
ground.
There are individuals living in the city right now, living in
bondage, living in darkness. These are the people we want to reach—
those who have never really heard the message of Jesus Christ and
the power, love, and freedom that come from knowing Him. Two
years from now they could be free. Ten years from now they could
be leaders in the church, raising their children for God. Forty years
from now they could have raised generations of Christ followers,
having become mothers and fathers of the faith. Help us reach these
people; be a part of what God is going to do.
And more than we have ever needed it, we need prayer. It
won’t matter how much money we raise if a person comes to the
church desperate for healing and we are not prepared to meet their
spiritual need. It doesn’t matter how good our promo is if addictions
can’t be broken, or the demonized can’t be freed. We need God to
show Himself powerful in our spiritually primed city. We also need
prayer support to face the battle that the enemy will wage against
us. We need prayer for favor with the city, with leaders, and with
institutions. Please pray for us as we do the scariest and most exciting
thing we’ve ever done.
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We’re going in.
We leave you with the words to the most famous song from
New Orleans:
When the saints go marchin’ in
When the saints go marchin’ in
Oh Lord, I want to be in that number
When the saints go marchin’ in
If you would like to contribute to the launching
of this new church, or would like more
information, please contact us at:
Saints Community Church
P.O. Box 24299
New Orleans, LA 70184
www.saintscommunitychurch.com
_____________________
1 www.ihop.org
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