Last month, our teens found out what they were made of during a backpacking trip spanning 26.8 miles over four days in central Arkansas. We took advantage of the local school break, and loaded up the van. Seven hours later, we confronted the Eagle Rock Loop Trail in the Ouachita National Forest. This was the longest trip that the crew has attempted this year; we knew we were entering uncharted waters, with surprises and challenges ahead.

Before even stepping foot onto the trail, we knew that tackling some team-building preparation was going to be necessary. A ropes course tucked back in the woods of northern Louisiana energized our team for their time on the trail. Our facilitator had planned hours of activities that would promote team unity on a low ropes course. Completing each element—such as a 10,000 square foot maze—encourages perseverance and taps into solving problems as a group.

We took the opportunity to rest up our first night on the trail, enjoying time playing in the water, cutting up with the kids, and worshipping together. The next morning we hit the trail hard. Looking ahead at the nearly 30 miles waiting for us, a lot of optimism was in the air that first day. Those first eight miles included only one steep incline to warm us up, and plenty of hiking along the river through heavy forests. It was important to get through a lot of mileage right away, because awaiting us on day two were four steep inclines rising back to back. Good thing we started out easy!

It was intense. I was encouraged to see all of the kids supporting each other, all of them taking turns both leading out and struggling through. The end of day two found us hustling to set up camp with an unexpected storm moving in fast. No sooner was the last stake shoved in the ground than the torpedoes of ice began pouring down on us.

The hailstorm was forceful, scary at times.  As I sat under the girls’ tarp, nervously devouring the rest of my trail mix and listening to the storm, the other girls slept curled up next to me in their sleeping bags. I guess they weren’t worried the way I was—what would we do if this storm continued through the next day? What if our tarps broke under the barrage of ice bullets? Fortunately, the storm’s intensity lasted less than an hour. The rest of that night was full of relaxing—hanging out in the tarps to avoid random gusts of wind surprising us with showers from the water soaked canopy of trees.

The morning after the hail storm brought the steepest climb of the trip. After this difficult push, we were rewarded by a beautiful forest that’s been described as something out of “Lord of the Rings.” By lunchtime the third day on the trail, the kids were dreaming about clean clothes, their own beds, and McDonald’s. Loren and I began talking about finishing the trail a day early, instead of saving the last few miles for the next morning.

We handed the challenge over to the kids! They could push it as hard as they wanted to in an attempt to make it back to our original campsite and set up for our last night a day early. Well, they accepted the challenge to power through and we finished the trail! Everyone was very proud of their accomplishments and what lay behind us. They were ready to head out early the next morning.

While getting ready to set up camp, we pulled everyone together for one last team meeting and made a surprise announcement. We were actually getting in the vans to head home that night! The excitement was overwhelming. With vertical jumps leaping higher than Michael Jordan could have imagined, the kids gathered everything and headed straight to the van. The trail was complete. With another notch proudly added to everyone’s hiking belts, we were on our way to Golden Corral, a veritable four star restaurant when you’ve been on the trail for three days.

We were so thankful for God’s provision for this whole trip. He saw us through some difficult times that helped us grow (with minimal injury and a deeper appreciation for each other). He also kept us safe by calling the trip a day early, which we appreciated quickly after getting on the road. Twenty minutes into our drive, an onslaught of scary storms hit us. We would later find out that these storms also produced damaging tornados earlier that same day in Texas. Those storms made the hail storm encountered on the trail seem gentle, and I’m extremely thankful that God called us off the trail that night.

And so our last big training trip of the year ended successfully—with each and every body safe, sore, and satisfied. We’re so grateful for this wonderful group of kids that we get to encounter such adventures alongside…what a crew!

These lyrics describe a place I will always call home. Two days before my 19th birthday, I walked into the ‘Home of Grace’ chapel at the end of Jericho Road. That moment marked the end of another personal road—I had just been released from jail with a court order to complete the 90 day drug and alcohol program at the HOG. You might assume I was feeling pretty hopeless, but instead I remember a nearly overwhelming feeling of excitement. A program or a place alone can’t change you but it can certainly be used. In that program, that place, and that community of brothers I experienced the love of Christ. And that changed me!

Over the last 12 years I have been able to partner with more than 100 men and women in their search for hope—hope found in the sanctuary of HOG. Lives of strangers, friends, and family members have been restored because of Christ’s freedom taught in that place. This month, the connection with HOG has deepened in some unexpected ways.

Recently, I have been able to visit with several local judges and Drug Court representatives to tell the stories behind the impact of the HOG. The Assistant Director of the HOG, Josh Barton, also visited Opelousas to meet these community members and share the vision. Our goal is to see men and women caught in the judicial system for drug or alcohol offenses have the opportunity to attend the HOG instead of going straight to a jail cell.

This was the grace I was given. I would have stayed in jail if not for a judge allowing me to attend the HOG; that allowance changed my life forever. Praise God for working in powerful ways even through the structures and systems in our communities. Pray that we might see financial provision for these men and women from our parish. Pray to get them the help they need to become restored to their families and communities. Pray for the Home of Grace to be supported and that Opelousas can continue to be a part of that ministry.

 

From Left to Right: Jonathan Fisher, Jonathan Moore, Josh Barton, Loren Carriere, and Johnny Carriere. Four HOG graduates now involved in various ministries across Acadiana with Josh Barton Assistant Director and grandson of the founder of the HOG Bill Barton.

One short year ago, I wandered back onto Northwestern College’s campus in Orange City, IA laden with gratitude, memories, and new friendships from a Spring Break spent in Opelousas. That single week tossed a curveball that landed me in an unexpected spot for the second spring in a row—this time excitedly waiting in Opelousas to play host!

24 college students piled out of giant vans marked with Iowa and Tennessee license plates, piloted by 4 energized student leaders and 3 brave adult mentors. Bright-eyed and eager teams come every year from Northwestern College and Bryan College to support the Opelousas community in service—partnering with HFO to work with the Opelousas Lighthouse Mission, the New Life Center, and Opelousas schools. They bunk in a truly communal fashion, drifting between Hope Presbyterian Church and the adjacent apartments and house. For returning students, a welcome to the Hope House feels like “home.”  

This year the work projects focused on renovations of our second property—appropriately deemed ‘The Blue House,’ electrical handiwork at the men’s mission, painting at the women’s shelter, and plenty of classroom support, observation, and LEAP test preparation at South Street Elementary, Westminster Christian Academy, and Opelousas Junior High.

This week was an absolutely incredible show of generosity, grace, hard work, and big laughs. We got to spend early mornings preparing—coffee in hand—for days of sanding, demolishing, and painting. Introducing friends over pots of gumbo and tables piled with crawfish shells always seems to form strong bonds. Precious nights forge our team into a congregation offering prayers, reflections, and encouragement. It is not just the productivity that makes Spring Break a truly sustaining time for HFO!

We look forward to showing you more pieces of this sacred time as we load up pictures and share memories. In the meantime we invite you to check out our friends thoughts from the Bryan College team: http://bfcopelousas.blogspot.com/

Peace, friends.

-Hannah

So today, I am very pleased to shine a little light on the spring 2012 ‘Agents of Hope’. . .

We all get to have a hand in working with these interns—Kristina plans the tutoring expectations and schedules, Loren provides feedback and accountability for the work accomplished, and I (an intern-of-sorts myself) have the great privilege to befriend, mentor, and challenge these incredible young adults in a weekly discussion time. We research college scholarships, learn how to construct resumes, and talk about the truths of growing up. This semester we are also reading a book together, and I encourage you to look into it!  The Kai’Ro Project

Briah Mayo:

Last semester we hired Briah’s twin sister, and we are doubly blessed in our “discovery” of the Mayo girls! Briah is a self-titled nerd who also manages to play basketball and stand up to our feisty middle-school boys. I love the gentleness and warmth that Briah shares with us.  Whether she decides to go into nursing or business, I know peers and clients alike will find her a treasure. Next to her tendency for quiet and tidiness, Briah’s dream to try bungee jumping is impressive . . . but I think that field trip will have to wait for a more adventurous chaperone . . .

McKenzie Brown:

I have learned that McKenzie has the gift of curiosity . . . in abundance. I am so impressed by her thoughtfulness and uninhabited questions, which will serve her well as she works to become an electrical engineer. McKenzie describes herself as mystical and quiet, but I will also tell you that she is a great conversationalist with a ready laugh. A member of the OHS dance team, a fan of competition and a hopeful LSU freshman this fall, McKenzie tutors one of our 8^th graders with commendable patience!

 Bryan Tyler:

Bryan is a generous young man who shares his thoughts easily and gives great suggestions for local restaurants. While Bryan plans to go to LSUE to be certified in fire safety, he dreams of owning a coffee shop to host jazz musicians and poetry slams. A true high school student, Bryan loves eating pizza and hanging out with his friends in his down time, but Bryan also has a great work ethic. He always seems to be opening doors for me or asking Loren how to do a new task.

 Karlotta Fruge’:

An Opelousas debutante, Karlotta would say that her heart still belongs to her home state of Texas. Karlotta loves her English class and sharing book suggestions with me—a girl after my own heart! She hopes to live in Baton Rouge after finishing college as a “classy” paralegal. It’s no surprise to hear week after week about new school activities Karlotta is involved in, and projects she’s checking off her list. The students she works with have a great example in her organization and studying techniques, which I am sure they are thrilled to try!

Wilbert Rosette:

Wilbert pronounced himself “very loyal” this past week, which does not shock me at all. He takes a beating from our elementary students—answering demands for games of “gotcha,” “Jenga,” and flashcard competitions. The truth is that Wilbert’s willingness and generosity are a wonderful example to our kids. He owns the OHS band family as one of his favorite parts of his home town; it’s no wonder since he plays several instruments and travels competitively as a leader in the brass section. Wilbert hopes to support a family of his own someday by working in non-destructive testing.

Each of these students has a real heart to contribute to the people around them, and a maturity we greatly appreciate. We hope you enjoy getting to know them as much as we have.

-Hannah

 Okay, I know this looks bad. Let me explain. . .

This picture was taken yesterday at a DARE program where I had the opportunity to speak to the 5th grade class of South Street Elementary. No, I was not arrested yesterday. But the fact is, 11 years ago I was arrested. Those shackles were the grand crescendo, the “EPIC FAIL” of my young 18-year-old life.

Yesterday’s program let me share my story in a way I haven’t before. It was surreal. I distinctly remember in junior high a DARE presentation was made at my school where an inmate in an orange jumpsuit shared his own “epic fail” story about drugs ruining his life, and ultimately landing him in jail. That junior high version of me thought I was so different from that inmate, and that I would never go to jail.

Yesterday it all came full circle.

I was the one standing up in an orange jumpsuit, pleading with these young people for their futures. I feel like I am a lifetime away from my experience with drugs. The spell of deception has been broken and all I see is the reality of the death it carries! With stories of friends’ funerals and images of families broken to pieces in my head, my passion to fight the war for the hearts of these young people is fueled by everything I know is at stake.

As I look around Opelousas, I see a deep oppression the dope game has had on the people that live here. A self-inflicted slavery, it is championed by music, culture, and especially those trapped in it. Misery loves company.

I’m praying for the liberation of souls in this city. I am ready to go to war for it, my brothers and sisters.

Would you pray and fight with me?

-Loren

There is nothing quite like an early morning, a cup of coffee in your hand, and thirty teenage girls standing on your lawn. On such a day, we began to chip away at the list of projects attached to our recent property purchase. Before bids for roofing could be compared, before the handicap access ramp could be poured, and even before we could repaint the big empty rooms, some dirty chores were calling across the lot.

And so it was that one fateful Friday, three staff members, one teacher, and a whole crew of high school girls went to town . . .

“The feeling of getting something done to help people in a way that they needed without expecting anything in return impacted me the most.”

HFO has been experiencing the development of a rich friendship this year between the Academy of Sacred Heart and our tutoring program. Every week, Miss Ali Purpera brings several of her students to volunteer—to sit on the steps and talk with our interns, to keep up on the basketball court, and to coax 7^th graders into studying for impending biology tests.

“… not really knowing what it was or who was involved. Now I see how much soul there is in this project and helping out that day made me want to do more.”

Ali teaches, along with several other religion classes, a course in social problems. Amid discussions on poverty and economical struggles, Ali includes a day dedicated to working in the community in hopes of connecting her students with some of the topics on a more personal level.

“The thing that impacted me the most was about halfway through the day, I realized that while I usually have a strong aversion to manual labor, I did not have one thing to complain about. Also, at the end of the work, to see that not one girl had anything to complain about either, even though they all had just spent the day working and getting dirty.”

This year, HFO gratefully hosted the work day. For about four hours we cleaned floors, scraped paint, pulled carpet, hacked at bushes, and wrenched old nails, doors, and fences out of stubborn holds.  Who knew that 11^th grade girls carry such a penchant for destruction?!

“I had so much fun, probably the most fun I’ll ever have ripping up old pieces of a house. Everyone just came together for this big movement, it was amazing.”

In the afternoon, the girls were treated to a lunch hosted by the Opelousas Lighthouse Mission. There we heard about the unexpected situations that lead to poverty, spoke to some heavy demographics in our country, and shared the gospel truth of caring for our neighbors.

“They really opened my eyes to the fact that poverty can happen to anyone no matter the background.”

It is always hard to relate one short-term experience to the reality of another person’s life, but I think that those conversations proved compelling.

“…it helped me realize stability is fragile…”

This day proved to be surprisingly sweet, and not just because we were set upon by a reckoning workforce! We shared our hearts and made new friends. HFO is so grateful for the blessings of that day, and for the chance to work alongside such giving young women.

 “I really hope we do this again soon.”

So do we!

 “…the Good Samaritan parable taught me not to judge the men who did nothing because I probably would have responded similarly. It also taught me that service is one of the most central requirements of being a Catholic Christian. Having a lot of faith isn’t enough, and service without faith isn’t enough either.”

We hope this post finds you refreshed and grateful at the close of another year! HFO experienced some incredible growth in 2011–in the depth of our programming, scope of fundraising, and student relationships. As you may know, each blessing brings more responsibility, challenges, and hope along with it. Thankful for these opportunities, we would like to re-cap some of the highlights—

• HFO excitedly received our first and second grants from the Pugh Family Foundation to fund the ‘Agents of Hope’ high school internship program, which launched with the hiring of five seniors from OHS to work with our after-school program.

• Spring Break mission teams visited Opelousas once again! We played host to thirty college students for a week, serving all over Opelousas in the name of Christ. This work included helping to raise $13,000 with ‘A Night on the Town’ homelessness awareness event, with more than 600 attendees.

• Two interns helped support us this year—the ‘2011 Summer Internship’ program brought Nadine Lundgren to HFO to serve as our summer intern. HFO also hired our first ‘Grace Corps’ member, Hannah McBride, to have our dream for a year-long internship position realized.

• HFO brought twenty-three kids to the ‘KAA Summer Camp,’ a week long Christian sports camp, instigating a new summer tradition. What a blast!

• Eight students traveled with us to the 9th Ward in New Orleans for the first ‘HFO Mission Trip’ to work, pray, and play with new friends.

• ‘Adventure Crew 2011’ canoed the Buffalo River and Heber Springs in Arkansas for forty miles of cliff diving and fishing adventures.

• And last, but not at all least, HFO purchased a second home next door to our current property to expand our after-school program, looking to double the amount of students we serve by 2013.

We share our joy with you—our supporters, mentors, and family—in these milestones and the restoration they bring. We are thankful to all of you who have walked with us these last four years and we are trusting to God’s loving provision to overwhelm our family, and yours, in 2012.

Peace!

 This year I had the privilege of delivering the gifts from WCA to our HFO families. How exciting for me to see the faces of those moms! I pulled up bearing gifts for their children, food for their tables, and a check to help them finish Christmas shopping. Sitting down with some of them sifting through the boxes of donations was like Christmas morning right then and there. I watched Tremika, mom to three HFO students, find the family-sized rice cooker she had needed. I saw the look of relief on another mother’s face as she opened a check that would get her family through the month. These women were full of disbelief, and great appreciation. Aren’t those what our emotions should be over Christmas every year?

 The Savoy family was one of the families blessed by the kindness of WCA students. Ravin Savoy and her five kids were adopted by Ms. Vis’ first grade class. The first-graders excitedly presented toys, new dishes, and silverware. A few weeks ago Ravin approached me about thanking Ms. Vis’ class. Knowing what her own kids enjoyed, Ravin initiated a class party. Last Friday, the two of us headed over to WCA with cupcakes, ice cream, and little goody bags for each of the students.

 When we pulled up, those little first-graders looked like they were meeting superstars, without even knowing what was going on! While Ravin passed out the treats, Ms. Vis remarked, “you now have twenty-five new best friends . . . they will be talking about this for weeks.”

 It was so much fun to share this experience with Ravin. Not only was she blessed by the generosity of those kids, but she was blessed by their little spirits of thankfulness when she visited that day. Ravin has a beautiful, wide smile, and let me tell you, that smile was all you saw in the time we spent at WCA. She commented afterwards that visiting the class made her want to get back into substitute teaching. I hope she does. Ravin has so much to offer her community, and it’s a joy to know this working mother of five. What a beautiful reminder of how valuable relationships are, and what precious gifts to experience year-round.

-Kristina

That something good seems to be every day, even when we don’t realize it. I bet God is watching us scramble around, attempting to pick up HIS ingredients to put them into OUR pot.

“Oh yeah, Trust would be perfect right about now!!”

And then He nods. And maybe laughs.

___________________________________________________________

Well, we are pumping out some fierce hope over here, and this is where we are longing to hear your support and prayers.

Turns out that a property right next-door to the Hill-House has become available for purchase. This would mean expansion. As in, easily doubling our programming overnight. BAM. We got a chance to walk around and saw a beautiful opportunity: a big kitchen central to the whole house with doors leading into a spacious bathroom, potential intern spaces, office and computer labs, a game room. Plus, tall ceilings and plenty of storage make this baby feel like the HFO Loft!

We want it. We want to fill it with kids and learning and love. Pray for us in this big hope, and let’s see the other ingredients God tosses our way!!