The Celebrate! Conference was a great experience. 700 students gathered in New Orleans for five days of ecumenical service and fellowship. The worship experiences and our denominational time were enlightening and empowering. Most importantly through the conference gave us a substantial opportunity to experience New Orleans. It was amazing to stay on the edge of the French Quarter and walk down to Bourbon St at night. That area of the city is alive and thriving. Yet right beyond the thriving French Quarter is another story. On a bus tour through the city, we saw the destruction from Katrina and the spray paint still left on the walls of houses counting the dead found inside. When we thought we had seen the worst, we entered the Lower 9th Ward and saw true destruction. Some people talk about the "rebuilding" of New Orleans, but there is really no rebuilding being done in the 9th Ward. It has all been left just sitting there for over a year. Some of the houses have been stripped on their contents, some have had the walls gutted, but there is no sign of life. For blocks at a time you don't even see a trailer. The people are still waiting for a sign that their country cares about them.

One of the responses to our presence that I heard the most was people thanking us for coming. It was a clear message that they didn't need our pity; they just needed us to be there and take their stories back home. They want people to know that the struggle is not over. The first night we heard from the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and we heard the pain and struggle through the musical genius of Irvin Mayfield. We also heard from the Sounds of Praise choir, with personal narratives between the songs. Another night we had a procession through the French Quarter, bringing life back to the streets with the help of an amazing marching band. These experiences showed us that the people of New Orleans are going to live through the struggle, and still occasionally find time to celebrate the fact that they're alive.

For our contribution back to the city, groups traveled into the destroyed areas to work. Accompanied by other students, I spent a day stripping off the walls of a house. After having being left for a year, the walls were covered with mold. The house was on a lake, and the waterline was about 6' high. We took everything out of the house and as the trash pile grew, the possibility for new life also grew. We truly experienced the city, and became a part of its pain and slow recovery. There was renewal and justice, and a celebrating crowd of students helping to make it happen.