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!!

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

My name is Kristina Anderson and beginning in May I will be the newest member of the Hope For Opelousas team. My relationship with HFO started about a year ago when I embarked on mission trip with a group of students from Bryan College, the school that I currently work for. I agreed to advise the trip with little expectations and even less enthusiasm. Although, I would like to think that this attitude is not characteristic of my personality, my selfishness was definitely getting the better of me in that time in my life. Within the first couple of days there God just got hold of my attitude and began to show me the things that He wanted to accomplish in that week that we were in Opelousas. There was a great amount of work being done in the city that week, but there was even more work was being done in my heart. God was stirring up a passion in me for the city of Opelousas as well as breaking down the plans that I I had for my future.

I was born in Sioux City, IA and spent the first 18 years of my life there. I grew up in a loving and supportive home, with athletics and academics taking up most of my childhood. There was not a season of the year that both my sister and I were not in sport all the way through high school. I went to college in Northwestern College in northwest IA, not too far from home. After I finished my BA in Psychology at Northwestern I moved to Pennsylvania to pursue a MA in High Education from Geneva College. I spent two years there finishing my degree and working with a college adventure and ropes course ministry. The transition from graduate school to my first full time position was one with a lot of questions on my part and my family’s. I was offered a Resident Director position at Bryan College in Dayton, TN. I had no desire or intention of moving south. I knew I wanted to move back to the Midwest near my family, but God had a different plan for me. After much prayer and wrestling with God I decided to take this leap of faith and be open to how He wanted to use me and also what He wanted to teach me. I have served at Bryan for three years and have had the wonderful opportunity to live life with the college students and engage in a very relational ministry with them. It is a blessing on my life to have the opportunity to mentor and encourage many women in this highly developmental time in their lives.

As I have shared already, working at Bryan gave me the opportunity to advise a mission trip to Opelousas and thus begins a relationship that can only be explained by God’s hand. I was able to spend my summer interning with HFO and in that time my excitement grew for how God was moving through in Opelousas. It was clear from day one that Loren’s and my gifts and working styles complemented each other. For me it was a very natural and encouraging work environment. God’s time is perfect! I knew this summer that I was probably going to be moving on from Bryan after the coming school year and HFO was growing to the point that a second staff person would be beneficial. So this summer we began to dream. I stayed in contact with Loren and Reggie and made a couple trips back to help out over the course of the fall semester. Through a lot of prayer and planning on all of our parts, the board approved the hiring of a second staff member. And during my visit in December, over breakfast, Reggie and Loren offered for me to come on staff with HFO. I was ecstatic! I am moving to Opelousas, I will be working with kids that absolutely blow me away constantly and with people that love the Lord and challenge me in my faith and to live out the Gospel in the midst of uncomfortable circumstances. I know that this is not a move that I would chose for myself, but I find great peace in God’s calling on me to Opelousas, LA. God said jump, so hear I go. Stay tuned!

Kristina Anderson

Their smiles, hugs, and excited attitudes confirmed why the Lord called me to Opelousas. As I watched the children interact with each other, I realized that the Lord desires us to love everyone, but especially children whose hearts are open to His love and truth. My life will never be the same as I consider what the gospel represents to my life and to those around me.

Melissa Longoria
Mission’s Team from Bryan College: Spring Break 2010

In a year where lots of governments, businesses and ministries shrank in size, HFO expanded. Growth could be measured in number of kids tutored, number of volunteers, tutoring space at Hill House, number of ministries serving Opelousas through HFO, and number of board members. HFO was recognized by local newspapers, TV and radio stations. Loren was able to introduce HFO by speaking at civic clubs, churches, local schools and to various local political and civic leaders. At our year end board meeting, we approved the hiring of our second staff member. These are only some of the milestones of growth at HFO during 2009. We have much to be thankful for.

“What does HFO do” is a common question asked. The most visible aspect of HFO is the Tuesday-Thursday afternoon tutoring program. Many of the same children tutored are able to go on field trips which venues vary from Chinese acrobat performances to LSU football games. Several of the older children made up what we call the HFO Adventure Crew which completed several days of outdoor high adventure in the mountains of Tennessee this past summer. HFO also partners with several ministries such as Home of Grace in Van Cleave, MS. HFO provides transportation and facilitates financial support for men and women addicted to alcohol and drugs who are recovering and finding Life at Home of Grace. HFO also works closely with the Opelousas Lighthouse Mission, a shelter for homeless men. HFO and OLM have done renovation projects, fund raisers, and bible studies together. Some men from OLM are volunteer tutors. HFO has been the destination for church youth groups, college mission teams and provided summer internships for college students over the last 2 years. This gives some of the answer to “What does HFO do” but not all the answer.

As I stated above, 2009 has been a tough year in business but it has also been a trying year for another love of mine, LSU football. At a game early in the 2009 season, my Tigers were not looking good at halftime and I was really disappointed with them as I wanted a “beatdown.” Many times when I’m disappointed with one aspect of my life, the gloom colors all of my life. In this disappointed state I asked a close personal friend and supporter of HFO, “Is HFO making a difference? Are we making an impact on those we interact with?” My friend and his wife are supporters and have been from the very beginning of HFO. She is a regular tutor and interacts with many of the kids on field trips, parties and other activities. His immediate response was, “You know HFO is making a difference. It may not always show up on report card improvement but yes, HFO is making a difference.” My friend and his wife are not real religious people but God has used both of them to encourage me and show me how to love and accept people with different backgrounds and viewpoints. Through a close, non religious friend, at an LSU football game God reminded me of what we really do at HFO. HFO is a place, a platform, a point of intersection for God’s love to overflow onto us, and through us. Not just our loving the forgotten people of Opelousas, but their loving us. HFO is not a one way street where the haves help the have nots. It is a place for all of us to realize none of us has what it takes for joy, peace, and rest in this world. At HFO the haves and the have nots can come to the One who has Love and Life. HFO exists because God makes it exist to be a place where we live out of His Love and reflect that Love to each other. It’s hard to measure what’s done at and through HFO. It’s hard to measure Love and Life. 2009 was a year for me to see why HFO exists and what we do; we Live and Love out of His Love and Life. That’s how He changes us, others, and this tiny piece of the world known as Opelousas. I now realize I have been asking and answering the wrong question, What does HFO do? 2009 helped me see it’s what He’s doing!!! Thank You Lord for 2009 and for HFO.

Reggie

Fall is here, school is in session, and the Hill House is rockin! We are currently working with 20 students which doubled the amount of students we worked with last year. Due to a great response from the community we have also doubled the amount of volunteers serving at HFO on a weekly basis.

We have been blessed to have a new volunteer, Miss Raegan Quebedeaux, who is employed as a Reading Interventionist at North Elementary. Raegan is helping us do testing with each student to asses independent reading levels and know exactly where to begin working with students that are behind. This has been very exciting but also bitter sweet to see how far behind some of our students are.

With this information we have begun to meet with teachers, principles, school board officials, and parents trying to come up with a cohesive plan to help our students.

We need your prayers!

1. Pray that God would bless our efforts to help these struggling students.

2. Pray that we could have fruitful discussion with School Board Officials and Principles about interventions and class sizes. (we have 5 students in a class with 34 students and 1 teacher all day).

3. Pray for our parents that they would have the courage to do whatever it takes to help their kids succeed.

4. Pray for our students that they may make strong relationships with our volunteers and staff.

As usual I find myself somewhere between excitement and being overwhelmed. Excited about the great things the Lord has done, but overwhelmed by how far we have to go. Today I’m believing that things can change, and tomorrow we will look back and see how God is leading us and loving his people!

Special thanks to our volunteers for being the change, and being changed in the process.

loren

Wow! What a special night. It’s always great when you prepare and plan and then all of the variables that you had no control over make the night spectacular. Just in time the weather turned from overcast and stormy to cool with a beautifully painted night sky as our backdrop. We had a mixture of old volunteers/supporters and new people who were hearing about HFO for the first time. Our students and their parents did a wonderful job of preparing and serving dinner and the Adventure Crew was there to lead us in song.

These events always cause me to reflect and take in how special these experiences have been. Its amazing to think of all that has taken place in the last year! Its usually then that I find myself able to look forward with courage and excitement, and pray a bigger prayer for this next year!

Special thanks to everyone who made this night possible. If you were unable to attend and are interested in how to get involved please email me at loren@hopeforopelousas.org.

Blessings,
Loren

Click here

So I quickly set the boys up on the deck with stoppers and worms, showed them how to get the worm on the hook then ran to the house to get something. As I ran off I was consumed with thoughts of my to do list, and how this was slowing down my afternoon. All of a sudden I hear the boys screaming at the top of their lungs, “Mr. Loren!! Come quick!” I thought to myself, someone got hooked or fell in, but as I came running I saw them giving each other high five’s. Tav had called it, he was smiling from ear to ear dangling nice big bass on his line! Over the next two hours the boys caught a total of 9 bass all probably ranging from 1 to 2.5 pounds.

I was able to teach them how to bait a hook, hold a fish, and take a fish off the hook. Trevon took the fish to his grandfather who cleaned and fried em up that night.

It’s amazing how much we take for granted the experiences we’ve had in our lives. How many times did my dad, uncles, or poppa take me fishing? This little make shift trip with just a couple of hours of time will be something these boys will never forget!

God has a way of forcing me into situations where He arranges my schedule (without me even realizing it), lets me totally doubt (hot weather for fishing), then does something amazing! I’m so glad His work doesn’t depend on me, and I’m so glad He lets me know it!

Loren