Families on Mission brings 98 volunteers to New Orleans

July 31, 2007

By Marilyn Stewart
Baptist Press

Linda Donalson and Randy Hixson (left), both from Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Florida, shared digital photos and the gospel with   "Rooster," a survivor of Katrina's flooding. Photo By Gibbs Frazeur.

New Orleans homeowner Willie Bridges (center) is presented with a poster with the handprints of children who worked on his home – along with a Scripture plaque. Photo By Gibbs Frazeur.

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- For the 32 families battling the sweltering heat and humidity of New Orleans in June, the first Families On Mission (FOM) project ever conducted in the “Crescent City” was more than a mission trip, it was a chance to pass on a legacy of mission service, evangelism and faith to a younger generation.

“I wanted to serve with my grandchildren,” said Ella Mae Myers, whose three grandchildren traveled in from out-of-state to join her on the trip. “By serving with them, I hope they will always remember that we are to help others in the name of the Lord.”

The New Orleans project was the first of four projects this year uniquely designed to include the whole family. The projects were launched following last year’s successful pilot program and are slated also for Lynch, Ky., East St. Louis, Ill. and Mobile, Ala.

“We want to give parents the opportunity to share the missions experience with their children,” said Rick Head, adult volunteer mobilization senior associate for the North American Mission Board (NAMB) in Alpharetta, Ga. “The legacy that we as parents, and as Southern Baptists, want to pass on to our children is that we are called to missions and to serve.”

By partnering with Operation Noah (New Orleans Area Hope) Rebuild — the initiative of NAMB and Louisiana Baptists to reach New Orleans for Christ as they rebuild flooded homes — families on mission were linked to families in need. From age six to senior adults, team members ministered together and modeled before their children and grandchildren a lifestyle of service and witnessing.

“This has been a terrific, terrific experience for me as a grandmother,” said Myers. “And the kids have loved it.”

The New Orleans week was one of five Families On Mission projects taking place through the United States this year. Other projects are taking place in Lynch, Ky., East St. Louis, Ill. (two projects) and Mobile, Ala. NAMB partners with state Baptist conventions and local associations to identify ministry areas and makes all of the needed arrangements so when families show up, they have everything they need for their mission week.

Thirteen of the 98 Families On Mission participants worked at the home of Willie Bridges, a long-time New Orleans resident and one of the first in his neighborhood to return home following Hurricane Katrina. The Southern Baptist team painted and planted flowers in front of Bridges’ house. When neighbors and passers-by stopped to comment, team members took the opportunity to hand out tracts and explain that their faith in Christ was their motivation for coming.

“We hope the neighbors see the love of God through us and understand that Christians want to live out their faith,” said Margaret Outlaw, who came with husband Joe and four children, ages 7-13, from Cumming, Ga.. “And, that’s what I want my children to see, as well.”

Seven-year old Caleb Outlaw painted and helped prepare the flower beds by digging in the soil. When asked why he had come to New Orleans, Caleb said, “Because Jesus wants me to tell others about him.”

For James and Cheri Tew’s two children, inner-city New Orleans, with its damaged and vacant homes, was far different from the Tew’s 2,300-acre cattle ranch in Florida where they live. The differences were somewhat intimidating, said Tew.

“We shared the Gospel with an older gentleman in the neighborhood while prayer walking,” Tew said. “My son said, ‘That was awesome!’ and after that, my kids were no longer nervous. We would not have experienced that if we had not come here.”

While watching their parents and grandparents share the Gospel, the children learned other lessons as well. Bridges told members of the group his story of the hurricane and his struggles to rebuild.

“Sometimes friends aren’t there in hard times,” said Bridges. “But there has never been a time when I got down on my knees in prayer that God didn’t answer.”

“I hope my children know that trouble is just a reality of life,” said Tew. “But in those times, I want them to remember that God knows where His children are and that He will meet their needs.”

Blocks away, another FOM team worked at a New Orleans home whose owner lived out-of-town while rebuilding. Rod Epperson, a salesman who came with his wife and an “adopted daughter” for the week, said the team prayed that God would give them an opportunity to share the Gospel with someone even though the neighborhood was predominantly vacant.

“No more than 10 minutes later, the homeowner walked in,” said Epperson. After allowing the gentleman to tell his story, the conversation turned to why the team had come to help. Epperson shared the Gospel and led the man to faith in Christ.

“We hope that modeling the Christian lifestyle before the children will not only lead them to the Lord but that God will use what we’re doing to call them to the mission field,” Epperson said.

God’s timing through the events of the week did not go unnoticed.

Fourteen-year old Elizabeth Hixson said the homeowner was grateful that Epperson had shared the Gospel with him. Later, Elizabeth learned that her mother, Sharon Hixson, had fallen into a conversation about the Lord with a man in the local hardware store while the team shopped for supplies.

“I told him that it was no coincidence that we had met that day,” said Sharon Hixson, who discovered that the man’s background was similar to her own before coming to faith in Christ. “It shows how creative God is to have brought people together in this way at this time to meet needs.”

Amy Byrd, the New Orleans FOM project summer staff communications specialist and a college senior, said the projects are helping families gain an Acts 1:8 focus and an understanding of missions as “not a trip, not a week, but a lifestyle.”

“I want my kids to know that all people, no matter who they are, have the same basic need – Jesus,” said Tew. “I hope my kids take away from this the desire to share Christ in our local community.”

“I hope they know how great God is,” said 13-year old Margaret Hunter Outlaw. “And that it’s not us who are making the difference here, but God.”

For more information about Families on Mission, visit www.namb.net/fom.

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