No matter where I end up in life, Opelousas, Louisiana will always have a special place in my heart.  It’s amazing to me that a girl from the far north in Minnesota and people from the deep south in Louisiana could create such strong connections and relationships. I never could have imagined that this small town in Louisiana would be a place I would keep coming back to year after year, but I have found that God’s plans far exceed the expectations one has for their life.

The first time I visited was in the spring of 2008 with Northwestern College.  Loren Carriere had recently been hired as director of Hope for Opelousas and the group of 20 college students I came with were the first team they had hosted.  Being from the Midwest and not having spent much time in the South, this was one of my first experiences with Southern culture and Southern charm.  In no way would I have guessed that that specific week and my following visits would have had such an impact on my life.

One of my favorite parts of the week was when we went to the Hill and were simply able to hang out with the kids in the neighborhood.  Loren had his guitar, some people put on skits, and then there was a lesson.  But this wasn’t the lesson that is typical in a Sunday morning Sunday school class, rather it was one that proclaimed the word of God but also related to the individual lives and situations of these children.  You could instantly see what an impact is was already making on them.  The best part for me was simply being with the kids. I loved getting to know them and learning about their lives. The week went by in a blur and I knew I would be coming back.  I had fallen in love with the kids from Opelousas and wanted to see them grow.

That following summer I was blessed to have the chance to go back for the month of July as an intern.  It was an invaluable experience for me.  Along with Loren and another intern Corrine, we helped create and set up the after school tutoring program that is used at Hope for Opelousas today.  The greatest part of the month was when we put on a week long summer camp for the kids, which included a slip n’ slide, various games and crafts, and a hiking trip in Mississippi.

My life was changed through the short time I spent in Opelousas.  I saw God at work in ways I’ve never seen before and I learned so much, not only about myself but about the circumstances others live in and the daily issues they are faced with.  Times could be trying, confusing, and things weren’t always easy or smooth, but my experiences was highly valuable and exceedingly priceless.  I’ve returned to Opelousas two more times since then and I’ve loved seeing the kids as they’ve grown up and as the organization has evolved into what it is today.

God has used my time in Opelousas to help me truly realize the love I have for youth.  Since my most recent visit in May 2010 I went on a six week trip to Ghana, West Africa where I worked in a children’s home.  Now I am currently employed as an Americorps member providing an after school program for children living in St. Paul’s low income public housing.  I do many of the things in this job that I learned how to do in Opelousas.  I help with tutoring, provide educational crafts and activities, take the kids on field trips, and provide a safe and stable environment for the kids to learn and grow. One of the reasons I was accepted for this position was because of the time I spent in Louisiana with the Hope for Opelousas organization.  My life has not necessarily gone the way I would planned for myself, but the reality I’m living in now has far surpassed the expectations I once had.

Recently we had a fifth grade class from Westminster Christian Academy come serve with us for half a day.  We had nearly 20 kids and a few adults here ready to work.  That age group is so fun to work with.  They got here and they were excited about helping out.  So after a brief overview of HFO they split up into teams and started digging, hauling dirt, planting, and drilling.  That’s right we put them to work out in the hot sun.  We were building raised-bed vegetable gardens for five of our neighborhood families.  The Opelousas Lighthouse Mission had been selling seedlings that they had begun growing in their new greenhouse.  The greenhouse was built to aid in their organic garden project.  They were able to donate some leftover seedlings to us for our raised-beds.  The kids really knocked it all out in just a few hours.  By lunch time we had five newly planted gardens in our neighborhood.  These gardens will produce tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and watermelon for the families.  Many thanks to the fifth grade class at Westminster.  We enjoyed having you on the Hill.

I am writing to you today to tell you about my trip to Dallas. When we went to Dallas there were 17 kids and 5 adults. The boys were in one van and the girls were in another one. It was 6 hours before we made it to Dallas where everything is BIG!!

Mr. Loren told me that it was just going to be about 7 kids going. Come to find out when he came to pick me up they had almost all of them in there. When we made it to Dallas they said that we were just going to down town Dallas to walk around. When we went to Six Flags we asked “what are we doing here?”, he said that we are coming to PLAY!! First we ate lunch and then went to the park. When I got in I almost rode every ride. We got on a ride that was so fun that we rode it about 5 times. At the end of the first day we got on a ride that looked ok but it was not. It was the TEACUPS!! When DD, Ty, Kaylan, and I got off it we all were sick! After all of that was that was over Loren told us to get together to take a family picture.

That night we all went to the gym to play b-ball and take a shower. When we got to the church it was so big that it was about 2 blocks long. After that it was time to hit the hay. The next day Loren told us that we were going to a play were you get wet. We went to Six Flags waterpark. Over there I went on every ride. The wave pool was so much fun. The waves were about 8 feet tall. We were there for about 5 hours playing all day. Mr. Johnny, Matt, and Keanu were on the biggest ride there, the Sky Coaster. My favorite ride was the Black Hole. When we got back to the car we were ready to eat. We got back to church and went to the showers. After that we played Hide and Seek. The next morning we went to church with the people out there. Their church was the bomb. After church we went get all of the thing and came back home.

Some things I learned on the trip were no matter how far you go in life God can always turn you around. What I mean about that is that me and DD get into a fight and look we was together the whole trip. I also learned that no matter how mean you are to somebody you should always love that person. What I mean by that is no matter how I am to my sister are anybody I should love them because that is what the Lord would want me to do.

So that was
the trip to Dallas where
everything is BIG!!

I arrived here in Opelousas on May 15 and hit the ground running. My first week with HFO was the last week of school for the students. I was excited to make it in time to watch several of our students graduate from the 6th grade. The teachers did a great job putting together the ceremony. And one of our students Ariel emceed the event. She was name the Historian of the graduating class. Some of our other students were honored with various awards. Tavian and Trevon were recognized for the Social Studies project on Tyler Perry. Their project won first place in Parish and 3rd place in the district. Loren was even recognized for volunteering with the class trip to New Orleans. It was exciting to see the support the school has for HFO and visa versa. The relationships that are beginning to be built between the schools and HFO will only continue to grow each year as God continues to build up the community on The Hill.

Later that day we had our end of the year pool party. All of our kids and a few of our volunteers gathered at one of our volunteer’s house to swim and grill out. We had a blast swimming, eating, and enjoying each others’ company. At the end of the evening we awarded the kids with awards which we thought they were deserving of based on the year of tutoring. They were humorous awards and the kids had fun trying to guess who was going to receive each award. We had everything from the “Miss Boss” award, which of course went to the one and only Tyriana Joseph to the most “Most Dramatic Receiver” which went to Isaiah Charles. Thanks to Ms. Cecette Bassett for opening her pool to us and providing some amazing food as usual.

-Kristina