And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. –Acts 2:42–
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am among them.” –Matthew 18:20–
Saturday was the day. The day where all the participants (minus a few stragglers) converged on the city of New Orleans. The energy was high among us all. Smiles graced the faces of everyone in lime green backpacks and orange shirts. Many “A”s and “O”s were exchanged as forms of greeting fellow Lutherans and the high fives started and continued with much enthusiasm the entire weekend. None of this excitement and anticipation was more noticeable than amongst Team OSCAR. After we trained in our last couple of rooms for Bible Study ushering, we all went to lunch at Subway. Thinking that there would be no line, however, was a rather naive mistake as many more of our YAVs had the same idea of eating healthy, nutritious food. After fellowshipping in line we proceeded back to the convention center as a group, entered the food court area, and joined together for lunch.
It was a sight to behold. Fifteen college-age students sitting around one long table, breaking bread together in the name of Christ Jesus. Laughing, joking, learning to play the dart game and studying the Bible as one. Surely God was working, since He promises in His word that “where two or three gather together in my name, there am I among them.” We were actually living Acts 2:42! I’ve said it many times, but I’m going to say it again: God is awesome!
That lunch fanned the flames the rest of the day and into the night, when we had to go back to the Superdome at 5 pm to train the rest of our usher teams. See, Team OSCAR members were the head Mass Event ushers, and teams Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta had not had usher training yet. It was great getting to meet five new people on Usher Team 9. We rocked it! I want to especially thank Emelia Abbe, Katie Weander, Peter Reichert, Erika Wolf, Tara Wilkins, and Sarah Nelson for doing such a wonderful job guiding and directing people to first and foremost slow down and to help them find their seats. It was a privilege to serve with and serve you guys.
At 6 PM, we made our way down to Gate G to get ready for the mass of people lined up to rush into the building and find their seats. Already there were quite a few groups at the doors and, well, they looked kind of bored. So we as ushers put our heads together and came up with some entertaining games to do while they waited. I think at one point we managed to get the entire front row to wave their hands in the air, and one night we did a skit. And of course, we line danced for them. Ushers know how to put the “Fun” in Fun, Friendly, and Flexible.
Seven o’clock came and whooosh! It was a mad house. Dogs and cats, living together, mass hysteria! But our lines held. We put our hands across and slowed the crowd down. Each usher group broke off to their assigned sections and to the organized chaos of looking for seats, ensuring there was room for groups coming late, and directing people to the floor followed for the next hour. That first Mass event was all a blur. There’s not much I remember except two vitally important things: 1. The Reverend Terry Dittmer opened the gathering with an amazing, outstanding cheer. He introduced it well, highlighting the fact that even though we can’t believe for someone, we can still and accurately say that “We believe” in the apostle’s teaching as we all confess it together. We can come together and live in community and shout “We believe!” Which we did. ”DO YOU BELIEVE?” And over 25,000 voices echoed back, “WE BELIEVE!” 2. The Reverend Greg T. Manning from Kansas City stated that even though he was legally blind, he could see. He had seen Jesus Christ work in him to kill him and create him anew to serve and love and proclaim the Gospel to the world. I will never forget that.
In conclusion, I would like to pray for each and everyone of us who attended that gathering. I pray that Jesus would surround us with fellow Christians to spur us on, encourage us in our faith, and who also serve their neighbors. May these Christians in our home congregations step in where we left off at the gathering and maintain that fellowship. May the young and the old of the congregation come together in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and press on into the darkness bearing light to the world. I pray that the fire would not die, but be fueled even more and that God would guard and keep us from temptation to fall away and become complacent in our lives. May we live in authentic koinonia, community, with one another. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Until next time, God’s peace be with you.
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