plant and run

Chase Oaks Trip

So I’m down in bayou country for the weekend. I just finished a 10 mile race [Middendorf's Manchac Race. Ran a 1:18:07] and just showered up at my Mom’s house in Algiers.

Boy, has it been a good weekend. I wanted to take a couple of minutes and fill you in on what’s going on.

There is a group of 21 people from Chase Oaks Church in Plano down. This is their…I don’t know…seventh or eight Katrina mission trip. Lots of familiar faces and old friends.

But this trip is different. The energy and excitement is palpable.

Chase Oaks sees it.

This crazy idea to plant a church and turn short-term mission work into long-term church work is something that they understand and they are ready and willing to fight for it.

Over the past couple of months, we have been humbled as we have watched this church pick us up and carry us on their broad shoulders. Yes, they are supporting us financially, we are thankful for that, but they refuse to merely mail a check. They are spilling their blood in this city.

Over the past couple of days, they have been divided into three teams…

The first team has been at Alf’s House. They have caulked and painted the exterior, installed the hardwood floor and basically put all of the finishing touches on 4910 Arts St. They will help to move-in the Nelson family today. Mike Martin [one of the team members] said last night in our meeting that he is a little dumbfounded with how much work they completed in 48 hours. He said, “I don’t know. It just flowed.”

What I see is a group of people that understand the sacrifice that Alf and Aly have made to return to New Orleans. They are thrilled to play a crucial role in getting the Nelsons into their house and empowering them to focus their attention on entrenching themselves into the Gentilly community. That passion is fueling some serious sweat power.

The second team has focused on helping one of our partners: Crossroads Missions. In fact, Chase Oaks is the reason we are partnered with Crossroads [one of the staff, a guy named Bruce, is related to a Chase Oaks member]. Crossroads has focused them on helping at St. Roch Community Church. [If you recall, I blogged a couple of months back about St. Roch.] The team has focused on preparing St. Roch’s church facility for today’s visit with some key partners from Florida [in town for some football game].

What I see is a group of people who are strengthening some relationships that are important to us as a church plant. We absolutely love what both Crossroads and St. Roch are doing in the city! We want to support and partner with both as much as we can.

The final team as been doing street ministry with Lawrence. Lawrence has taken 5-6 team members down into the French Quarter each day armed with McD’s hamburgers. God has blessed and they have come home with some awe-inspiring stories of doors blown open to minister in a significant way to the homeless population of New Orleans. Oh, and it doesn’t stop there: they might be taking two individuals back to Dallas with them to connect them into rehab programs at Union Gospel Mission.

I see a group of people who share our passion for the homeless population of New Orleans and seek to provide holistic ministry that meets the physical, emotional and spiritual needs that exist in their lives.

In short, Chase Oaks is literally part of the team that is planting a church in Gentilly. We couldn’t be happier.

This is not ya momma’s church plant. This is post-Katrina New Orleans where you can not only partner through prayer and financial support, but you can come down and join the team. This is a movement of God’s Spirit that extends beyond the borders of New Orleans and into churches all over the US.

We need Chase Oaks. And we need you. We can’t do this alone.

the Chase Oaks Church [street ministry]

So sometime today a couple of the guys from Chase Oaks Church in Plano, TX [I think it's Mike Martin, Mike Brookshire and Dennis Elenburg] should be rolling into NOLA. It is very cool to see what God is doing in them and through them. Figured I would take a moment and tell you their story.

Alf and I both interned at Chase Oaks will in seminary. The long and short of it is that we heard amazing things about this church [then called "Fellowship Bible Church North] and their pastor. We heard that it was a really healthy church. It was successful (at the time the congregation was prob about 3000) and had done it the right way. We were both very impacted by our time there.

Flash forward to Katrina. Chase Oaks becomes one of the hundreds of churches that wants to help in NOLA and desires to do so through Berean because of our personal connection. They have been down here…I think…5 times. Each time, they dive deeper and deeper into ministry here in NOLA. [Coincidentally, God has called Chase Oaks to dive deeper and deeper into their community back home in Plano. See the connection?]

During their last trip in the Spring, God allowed them the privilege to watch Him work in a humoungous way in the lives of some that we minister to from the streets.

[I will avoid using names due to the nature of the information.]

They met T who had recently come off of the streets and was beginning to integrate into our body. This man’s discipleship is marked by men and women from Chase Oaks Church. He is now living with a family from Berean and winning the battle with his past.

They met J who detoxed off of heroin right before their eyes in a ratty motel room. She did amazing for a couple of months and recently has lapsed. We have no clue where she is right now.

They met S who perhaps had the most amazing transformation of all right before their eyes. He has turned his life around and desires to be in ministry. When they met him, he was a drunk ex-con who came to the streets to die. He has also had his own struggles and now finds himself back in jail and prepared to serve an extended sentence for old charges from before he turned his life around. His prayer is that prison will provide a place for him to grow in his faith.

All three of the above individuals, by the way, have been in Plano over the past couple of months. Trips that were impactful in their lives as the people of Chase Oaks loved them and sought to bring further growth in their lives. Chase Oaks isn’t willing to leave this ministry totally in our hands thankfully. They have had these guys in their homes, they have surrounded them with prayer in their small groups, they have sacificed their time and money to see that this work continues.

So pray for my brothers from Plano this weekend as they are here in NOLA to encourage T, visit S in prison and perhaps find J on the streets. May God continue to use them in the ways that He has over the past couple of months in countless ways.

This is what it should look like to partner with us in our ministry here in NOLA. I understand that not all can do this. We covet your prayers. We can only survive with your financial support. But what we want more than anything is to lock arms with you and see God use you firsthand to minister to the people of New Orleans.