Oh my Nola...

Dear Friends,
As most of you already know I grew up at the Carrollton Avenue Church of Christ in New Orleans. It is an amazing church that truly embodies the church described in Acts 2:42-47. After the storm, the church had nothing. No money in the bank, no insurance, no pews, no song books, no equipment, nothing. The church saw the great need of the people of New Orleans, so instead of getting the building back in shape we used the facility to help support relief work.
The building is still not totally together for this reason, however the church remains as a beacon of hope in a city in such desperate need. The truly amazing about Carrollton is that out of their desperate situation they still managed to give faithfully to God's people and have planted a church in a neighborhood that was spiritually wasting away. This summer we hosted a 3 week drama and art camp for 45 children (the largest number we've ever had). The church works with the neighborhood schools to help them get the supplies they need and they just started an ESL class two days a week to serve the influx of non-english speaking Hispanics since the storm.
The Carrollton church taught me what it reall means to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and is perhaps the reason I have any faith at all. If you were to analyze Carrollton and look at all of the small parts, it certainly seems less than mediocre. We never start on time, the singing is never totally on key, the sermon is never the best one you've heard, and sometimes the planning is a little to be desired. But when you are there you leave different, because you met Jesus, and no one who ever meets Jesus walks away unchanged.
The church building at Carrollton has come a long way in the four years since the storm. We're back to a safe, functional place to fellowship, worship, and minister in most of the facility. But we have one last "gotta fix" item, and that's the windows in the auditorium. Numerous panes are broken or cracked, letting heated or cooled air out, and humidity, bugs and critters in. Most of the frames are rusted, many are frozen (some open, some closed). This is something that must be done professionally, and ordered to fit the existing structure. We are having a special offering on Sunday, December 13th, 2009 to raise the money needed to replace the windows. We're still receiving bids, but we estimate the total cost to be between $50,000 and $60,000.
We ask you to
*prayerfully consider helping
*SPREAD THE WORD to volunteers, churches, Carrollton members far and wide, and to those who love what the church is doing in the heart of New Orleans. We have a small list of contacts and we need help spreading this call to as many as possible
*check the website carrolltonavenuechurch.org for a small video that shows the condition of some of the windows
We have other areas that need some TLC as well, but they are things we can do as we have time, funds, or labor to complete. Thanks for taking the time to read this note and please consider passing this information on to others who might be in a position to help.

"These people were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. God had planned something better..." Hebrews 11:39-40a